October 7, 2010
CONTACT:
Bear Atwood, ACLU-MS Acting Legal Director, 601-354-3408 or 862-8658; bearatwood@aclu-ms.org
Brent Cox, ACLU-MS Public Education Coordinator, 601-354-3408; bcox@aclu-ms.org
TUPELO, MS – The ACLU of Mississippi is appalled by the unconstitutional jailing of attorney Danny Lampley. On Wednesday, Chancery Judge Talmadge Littlejohn jailed Lampley in Tupelo, Mississippi because Lampley declined to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
The state may not constitutionally compel anyone to recite the Pledge of Allegiance against his or her conscience. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects an individual’s right not to speak, as well as to speak. The ACLU-MS calls on Judge Talmadge to honor the First Amendment rights of individuals in his courtroom.
“In America, patriotism is best exemplified by exercising our constitutional freedoms, including freedom of conscience,” said Nsombi Lambright, ACLU of Mississippi Executive Director. “You can love your country and decline to say the pledge. True patriots don’t jail people for exercising their constitutional freedoms.”
“The right to be free from state-coerced oaths is a fundamental constitutional protection,” said Bear Atwood, Interim Legal Director for the ACLU of Mississippi. “This issue usually comes up in a school context, and courts have repeatedly and resoundingly upheld the right of students not to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. A judge has no more right to order an attorney in his court to recite the pledge than a teacher does in a classroom.”
The ACLU has been defending freedom of conscience and the First Amendment since 1920, and the ACLU of Mississippi office was founded in 1969. Attorney Lampley’s actions remind every ACLU member and supporter that true patriotism is more than reciting words, it is standing up for fundamental freedoms, even when doing so may be uncomfortable or unpopular.
More information about the ACLU and Freedom of Speech can be found at www.aclu.org/free-speech.
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Tags: Freedom of Speech & Press
Posted in Press Releases
March 23, 2010
Alternative MSSC Prom Open To All Students Will Be Held May 8
CONTACT:
Chris Hampton, ACLU LGBT Project, 212-549-2673, champton@aclu.org
Brent Cox, ACLU of Mississippi. 601-502-5520, bcox@aclu-ms.org
ABERDEEN, MS – A Mississippi federal court today ruled that school officials violated a lesbian student’s First Amendment rights when it canceled the high school prom rather than let the student attend with her girlfriend. The U.S. Court for the Northern District of Mississippi stopped short of ordering Itawamba Agricultural High School to put the school prom back on the calendar because of assurances that an alternative “private” prom being planned by parents would be open to all students. The American Civil Liberties Union had requested a preliminary injunction stopping the Itawamba County School District from canceling the prom and from prohibiting Constance McMillen from bringing her girlfriend as a date and wearing a tuxedo to the event.
“It feels really good that the court realized that the school was violating my rights and discriminating against me by canceling the prom. All I ever wanted was for my school to treat me and my girlfriend like any other couple that wants to go to prom,” said McMillen, an 18-year-old senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi. “Now we can all get back to things like picking out our prom night outfits and thinking about corsages.”
In the 12-page ruling, the court wrote, “The record shows Constance has been openly gay since eighth grade and she intended to communicate a message by wearing a tuxedo and to express her identity through attending prom with a same-sex date. The Court finds this expression and communication of her viewpoint is the type of speech that falls squarely within the purview of the First Amendment.
The Court is also of the opinion that the motive behind the School Board’s cancellation of the prom, or withdrawal of their sponsorship, was Constance’s requests and the ACLU’s demand letter sent on her behalf.” Further, the court says that since the school represented the private prom being organized by parents at a furniture store as open to all students, then the court expects that event will indeed invite McMillen and her girlfriend.
McMillen said that she plans to attend the “private” prom, but has also long planned to attend the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition’s Second Chance Prom, to be held Saturday, May 8 in Tupelo. That event, sponsored by Green Day, Tonic.com, Iron Chef Cat Cora, and Lance Bass, among others, will be open to all LGBT students in the state, as well as straight students who are LGBT-supportive. The MSSC and the ACLU deal every year with complaints from LGBT students all over Mississippi who face resistance from their schools about bringing same-sex dates to proms or who don’t feel safe going to their own school proms.
“Today’s ruling isn’t just a win for Constance and her girlfriend – it’s a win for all the students at her school, and for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students who just want to be able to be themselves at school without being treated unfairly,” said Kristy Bennett, Legal Director of the ACLU of Mississippi. “Public schools can’t just stomp on students’ free expression rights just because they don’t want to deal with these students, and if schools do try to do that they’ll be dealing with us.”
“We are grateful and happy that IAHS’s attempt to cancel the prom has been seen for the thinly-veiled ruse to violate Constance McMillen’s First Amendment rights that we always knew it was,” said Christine P. Sun, Senior Counsel with the ACLU national LGBT Project, who represents McMillen along with the ACLU of Mississippi. “These school officials should be ashamed of themselves for trying to scapegoat a young girl and then trying to lay the blame for their bad behavior at her feet.”
McMillen’s case attracted national attention and dozens of offers to host or help fund an alternative independent prom from around the country after school officials announced they were canceling the IAHS prom. The school board canceled IAHS’ prom shortly after the ACLU and the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition demanded that the district reverse its decision to prohibit McMillen from attending the prom with her girlfriend, also a student at IAHS. According to McMillen, school officials told her that she could not arrive at the prom with her girlfriend and that they might be thrown out if any other students complained about their presence at the April 2 event. Since McMillen’s case was filed, a Facebook page set up for her case has attracted over 400,000 supporters to date.
McMillen is represented by Bennett and Sun, as well as by Norman C. Simon and Joshua Glick of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, and Alysson Mills of New Orleans.
The case name is Constance McMillen v. Itawamba County School District, et al. Additional information is available at http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/fulton-ms-prom-discrimination.
There is also a Facebook group for people who want to support McMillen, “Let Constance Bring Her Girlfriend to the Prom,” at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Let-Constance-Take-Her-Girlfriend-to-Prom/357686784817.
The Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition was formed in the fall of 2008 to address discrimination faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, or students perceived to be LGBT, in Mississippi public schools and colleges. The MSSC works closely with the ACLU of Mississippi to educate teachers, students, and administrators about the rights of LGBT students with the aim of making schools safer for all. The MSSC is youth-led, and any questions about student rights at prom, starting a gay-straight alliance club, or any other safe schools issues can be directed to Ashley Jackson, facilitator, at ashley@mssafeschools.org. More information about MSSC and the Second Chance Prom can be found at the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition website at http://mssafeschools.org/.
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Tags: Freedom of Speech & Press, LGBT Rights, Students' Rights
Posted in Press Releases
March 16, 2010
CONTACT:
Chris Hampton, ACLU LGBT Project, 212-549-2673, champton@aclu.org
Brent Cox, ACLU of Mississippi, 601-502-5520, bcox@aclu-ms.org
ABERDEEN, MS – The American Civil Liberties Union today asked a federal court to act quickly in its lawsuit against a Mississippi High School that says it will cancel the prom rather than let a lesbian high school student attend with her girlfriend. In legal papers filed today, the ACLU asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi to issue a preliminary injunction stopping the Itawamba County School District from canceling the prom and from prohibiting Constance McMillen from bringing her girlfriend as a date and wearing a tuxedo to the event. A hearing on the motion has been set for 10 A.M. Monday, March 22 at the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi in Aberdeen.
‘The prom is important to all of the students at my school, and I never thought the school would try to cancel the prom and hurt everyone just to keep me and my girlfriend from going together,’ said McMillen, an 18-year-old senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi. ‘A lot of people have made really generous offers to pay for a prom somewhere else, which I really appreciate – but all I’ve ever wanted was to be able to just go to my own school’s prom with my girlfriend.’
McMillen’s case has attracted national attention, and dozens of offers to host or help fund an alternative independent prom have flooded in from around the country since the news came out last week that school officials were going to cancel the prom. The School District’s announcement came shortly after the ACLU and the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition demanded that the district reverse its decision to prohibit McMillen from attending the prom with her girlfriend, also a student at IAHS. According to McMillen, school officials told her that she could not arrive at the prom with her girlfriend and that they might be thrown out if any other students complained about their presence at the April 2 event. Since McMillen’s case was filed, a Facebook page set up for her case has attracted nearly 300,000 supporters to date.
‘It’s wonderful that so many people have come forward to support Constance, and we hope that the support helps convince the school that it should treat all of its students fairly and equally,’ said Kristy Bennett, Legal Director of the ACLU of Mississippi. ‘Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students have a right to be open and honest about who they are at school, and schools shouldn’t treat any students worse or differently because of who they are.’
‘We are determined to get the IAHS prom back on the calendar and open to all students,’ said Christine P. Sun, Senior Counsel with the ACLU national LGBT Project, who represents McMillen along with the ACLU of Mississippi. ‘What this case comes down to is the school taking the extraordinary measure of canceling the prom rather than live up to its legal obligation to fairly treat all students who want to come to it.’
McMillen is represented by Bennett and Sun, as well as by Norman C. Simon and Joshua Glick of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP.
The case name is Constance McMillen v. Itawamba County School District, et al. Additional information, including a copy of today’s motion, is available at http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/fulton-ms-prom-discrimination. There is also a Facebook group for people who want to support McMillen, ‘Let Constance Bring Her Girlfriend to the Prom,’ at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Let-Constance-Take-Her-Girlfriend-to-Prom/357686784817.
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Tags: Freedom of Speech & Press, LGBT Rights, Students' Rights
Posted in Press Releases
March 11, 2010
CONTACT:
Chris Hampton, ACLU LGBT Project, 212-549-2673, champton@aclu.org
Brent Cox, ACLU of Mississippi, 601-502-5520, bcox@aclu-ms.org
OXFORD, MS – The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit today against a Mississippi High School that has canceled the prom rather than let a lesbian high school student attend with her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo. In papers filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, the ACLU asks the court to reinstate the prom for all students at the school and charges Itawamba County School District officials are violating Constance McMillen’s First Amendment right to freedom of expression.
“All I want is the same chance to enjoy my prom night like any other student. But my school would rather hurt all the students than treat everyone fairly,” said McMillen, an 18-year-old senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi. “This isn’t just about me and my rights anymore – now I’m fighting for the opportunity of all the students at my school to have our prom.”
Today’s filing comes after the Itawamba County School District issued a statement yesterday saying it was canceling the prom, following a letter from the ACLU and the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition demanding that it reverse its decision to prohibit McMillen from attending the prom with her girlfriend, also a student at IAHS. McMillen said that before that happened, school officials had told her that she could not arrive at the prom with her girlfriend and that they might be thrown out if any other students complained about their presence at the April 2 event.
“Itawamba school officials are trying to turn Constance into the villain who caused the prom to be cancelled, but that just isn’t what happened. She’s fighting for everyone to be able to enjoy the prom,” said Kristy Bennett, Legal Director of the ACLU of Mississippi. “The government, and that includes public schools, can’t censor someone’s free expression just because some other person might not like it.”
In today’s legal complaint, the ACLU asks the court to reinstate the prom for all students, charges that the First Amendment guarantees students’ right to bring same-sex dates to school dances, and cites cases holding that other parties’ objections don’t justify censorship. The ACLU also said that the school further violates McMillen’s free expression rights by telling her that she can’t wear a tuxedo to the prom.
“It’s shameful and cowardly of the school district to have canceled the prom and to try to blame Constance, who’s only standing up for herself. We will fight tooth and nail for the prom to be reinstated for all students,” said Christine P. Sun, Senior Counsel with the ACLU national LGBT Project, who represents McMillen along with the ACLU of Mississippi.
The ACLU will ask the court in the next few days to grant McMillen a preliminary injunction ordering the school to reinstate the April 2 prom, let McMillen and her girlfriend go to the prom together and let McMillen wear a tuxedo to the event.
McMillen is represented by Bennett and Sun, as well as by Norman C. Simon and Joshua Glick of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP.
The case name is Constance McMillen v. Itawamba County School District, et al. Also named as defendants are Superintendent Teresa McNeece and Itawamba Agricultural High School Principal Trae Wiygul and Vice Principal Rick Mitchell. Additional information, including a copy of today’s legal complaint, is available at http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/fulton-ms-prom-discrimination. There is also a Facebook group for people who want to support McMillen, “Let Constance Bring Her Girlfriend to the Prom,” at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Let-Constance-Take-Her-Girlfriend-to-Prom/357686784817.
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Tags: Freedom of Speech & Press, LGBT Rights, Students' Rights
Posted in Press Releases
October 19, 2009
Expulsion Highlights Pattern Of Unlawful Conduct By Authorities In DeSoto County, Mississippi
CONTACT: Will Matthews, ACLU national, (212) 549-2582 or 2666; media@aclu.org
Kristy Bennett, ACLU of Mississippi, (601) 540-6642; kbennett@aclu-ms.org
OLIVE BRANCH, MS – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Mississippi today filed a lawsuit charging DeSoto County, Mississippi school and police officials with retaliation for expelling a ninth grade student who in April filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging that county authorities assaulted and racially discriminated against a group of schoolchildren riding home on a school bus.
Just four days after that earlier case had been resolved, the child, who was a freshman at Olive Branch High School and is indentified in the lawsuit by his initials, A.S., was targeted for nothing more than quietly singing to himself while sitting in the bleachers during an assembly and bopping his head and bumping his fists to the beat. Officials claimed his behavior constituted gang activity in violation of the district’s disciplinary policy.
“To expel a high school freshman from school simply because he was singing to himself during an assembly is patently absurd,” said Kristy Bennett, Legal Director for the ACLU of Mississippi. “A.S. has never been involved in gang activity and school officials never claimed that he was associated in any gang, disrupting any other students or interfering with any school activities. Rather, it is clear that A.S.’s expulsion was motivated by his involvement in the previous lawsuit.”
Today’s lawsuit is the third federal civil rights lawsuit filed by the ACLU against school and police officials in DeSoto County since last April. Taken together, the lawsuits reveal a systemic pattern of arbitrary and unlawful conduct by school and police officials and highlight the disturbing national trend known as the school-to-prison-pipeline, wherein children are pushed out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. All too often, as all three ACLU lawsuits show, children of color are disproportionately targeted by such policies.
Last month, the ACLU also sued on behalf of a middle school student wrongfully expelled from school after authorities illegally searched his cell phone and found what they claimed were photos depicting “gang-related activity.” In fact, the photos mainly depicted the student dancing in the bathroom of his own home. In that case, as well as in today’s case, school officials cited a district policy prohibiting the “wearing or displaying in any manner…messages associated with any gang or social club that is associated with criminal activity, as defined by law enforcement agencies.” It provides no further guidance as to what kind of conduct is prohibited.
“The anti-gang policy here, which permits limitless and unfettered discretion to punish children for virtually any kind of conduct, constitutes a clear violation of students’ rights. It encourages the arbitrary imposition of suspensions and expulsions on children, as was the case here,” said Catherine Y. Kim, staff attorney with the ACLU Racial Justice Program. “It provides no notice to students that they could be expelled for, for example, wearing a cross, carrying a rosary or simply raising their fist in the air.”
Today’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi and which names as defendants the DeSoto County School District, the city of Olive Branch, Olive Branch High School Principal Kyle Brigance, Assistant Principal Todd Nichols, Olive Branch Police Sergeant Toni Lesure and Olive Branch police officer Doug Stanek, charges that A.S.’s expulsion violated his rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution as well as his rights under the Mississippi Constitution.
During a ninth grade assembly on Aug. 10 – the first day of the current school year – A.S. was sitting with his classmates in the bleachers of the Olive Branch High School gymnasium quietly singing to himself while bopping his head and bumping his fists to the beat. Stanek, a school resource officer assigned to the school, ordered A.S. to descend the bleachers and then escorted him into a hallway outside the gym where they were met by Brigance, Nichols and Lesure. After being taken to Nichols’ office, Stanek accused A.S. of throwing “gang signs” without providing any substantiation for his claim.
A.S. was suspended from school for three days and then ultimately recommended for indefinite suspension and expulsion. Since August 10, A.S. has been excluded from his classes, as well as all other services and extracurricular activities offered at Olive Branch High School.
Tags: Freedom of Speech & Press, Students' Rights
Posted in Press Releases
October 15, 2009
School must allow lesbian student to wear tuxedo in senior portrait
CONTACT:
Sarah Young, ACLU of Mississippi Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Project Coordinator; 315-396-5892 / syoung@aclu-ms.org
Kristy Bennett, ACLU of Mississippi Legal Director, 601-540-6642 / kbennett@aclu-ms.org
Jackson, MS – The ACLU of Mississippi has sent a letter to Copiah County School District demanding school officials immediately cease violating a student’s rights. The school has barred the student from wearing a tuxedo in her senior prom picture, despite the fact that boys are allowed to wear them. Such a requirement for gender-specific clothing is a violation of students’ rights to gender equality and self expression.
School officials told Ceara Sturgis, an openly gay senior at Wesson Attendance Center in Wesson, MS, that her photo would not appear in the yearbook because in it she is wearing a tuxedo, not the traditional drape worn by other female students. Assistant Superintendent Robert Holloway informed Ceara’s mother that there was no policy in the student handbook requiring females to wear drapes. The decision by school officials to require Ceara to wear a drape is arbitrary, discriminatory and unconstitutional.
In its letter to the Copiah County School District, the ACLU-MS reminds district officials that students’ right to self expression is protected under the First Amendment of the constitution. Clothing, such as a tuxedo, worn as a statement of lesbian and gay rights, has been upheld by courts to be symbolic speech that is protected by the First Amendment. Schools have an obligation to protect, not extinguish, such speech.
The letter further reminds district officials that the 14th Amendment prohibits public schools from engaging in gender discrimination. Courts have also consistently upheld the First Amendment right of female students to wear tuxedos to senior proms. While school officials may impose a requirement of proper, even formal attire for senior photographs, officials cannot lawfully mandate requirements based on notions that only boys may wear tuxedos and only girls may wear dresses or drapes.
Dfferent treatment based on sex is constitutional only if supported by a significant governmental interest. The ACLU-MS certainly sees no significant governmental interest in barring girls from wearing tuxedos or forcing them to wear dresses/drapes.
The ACLU-MS is demanding the Copiah County School District comply with the law by allowing Ms. Sturgis’s photo be included in the student yearbook.
(ACLU demand letter can be found here (PDF): http://www.aclu-ms.org/downloads/wesson.pdf)
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Tags: Freedom of Speech & Press, LGBT Rights, Students' Rights, Women's Rights
Posted in Press Releases
September 1, 2009
CONTACT: Kristy Bennett, ACLU-MS Legal Director, (601) 540-6642
SOUTHAVEN, MS – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Mississippi today filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of a middle school student wrongfully expelled from school after authorities illegally searched his cell phone and found what they claimed were photos depicting “gang-related activity” – when in reality the photos mainly depicted the student dancing in the bathroom of his own home.
Richard Wade was a 12-year-old honor student at Southaven Middle School when he had his phone confiscated and searched last fall by several of his football coaches, his class principal and a Southaven Police Department sergeant after he read a text message during football class in violation of school rules.
“The rights of students to be free from unreasonable search and seizure and to due process are not suspended when they walk through the schoolhouse door,” said Kristy Bennett, staff attorney with the ACLU of Mississippi. “There was absolutely no basis for school and police officials to search through Richard’s phone after it was confiscated, and there was absolutely nothing to substantiate the baseless accusations that pictures on the phone showed that Richard was involved in gang-related activity. The entire incident was a gross violation of Richard’s constitutional rights, including his right to freedom of speech. Like most of us, Richard carries personal and private data on his cell phone, including photos that are for his own viewing.”
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi and which names as defendants the DeSoto County School District, coach John Stevenson, principal Kenneth Walker, the city of Southaven and Southaven Police Sergeant Nicholas Kennedy, charges that the searches and expulsion violated Richard’s rights under the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, as well as his rights under the Mississippi Constitution.
After receiving a text message in August 2008 from his father in South Carolina which he thought might indicate an emergency, Richard flipped open his phone to read the message. But rather than simply confiscating the phone and turning it in to the school office as required by Southaven Middle School policy, several school officials, including Stevenson and Walker, searched through the private and personal pictures Richard had stored on the phone, despite not having any reason to believe that Richard had done anything wrong other than possessing the cell phone. The phone was subsequently turned over to Sergeant Kennedy, who claimed that the pictures constituted “gang-related activity” and “indecent pictures.” Richard was suspended for three days and ordered to attend a disciplinary hearing the next week.
During the disciplinary hearing, which Richard attended with his mother Jennifer and a family friend, Walker argued without substantiation that Richard posed a threat to school safety and Kennedy asserted, also without providing any factual basis supporting his claim, that he recognized gang signs in the photos Richard had stored in his phone. As a result, Richard was expelled from school by the county school board.
“This is a case where an honor student was expelled from school because a police officer and school officials decided without any basis that innocent pictures of a kid dancing conveyed ‘gang-related’ messages,” said Reginald T. Shuford, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Racial Justice Program. “School officials and the police officer involved never pointed to anything that would suggest that pictures of Richard dancing were linked to a gang in any way. From the day he had his phone confiscated until the day the county school board expelled him, school and police officials showed a callous disregard for Richard’s rights.”
As a result of his expulsion, Richard was forced to enroll at Oakhaven Middle School in Memphis, Tennessee, a school plagued by serious gang problems and which posed a constant threat of harm to Richard. At the end of last school year, in an effort to escape that harm, Richard and his mother moved to Savannah, Georgia, where he has enrolled for the 2009-2010 school year.
Among other things, the lawsuit seeks to have the charges related to this incident expunged from Richard’s law enforcement, academic and disciplinary records.
A copy of today’s lawsuit is available online at: www.aclu.org/racialjustice/edu/40884lgl20090901.html
Additional information about the ACLU of Mississippi is available online at: www.aclu-ms.org
Additional information about the ACLU Racial Justice Program is available online at: www.aclu.org/racialjustice
Additional information about the school-to-prison-pipeline is available online at: www.aclu.org/stpp
Tags: Freedom of Speech & Press, Students' Rights
Posted in Press Releases
April 29, 2009
CONTACT:
Nsombi Lambright, ACLU of Mississippi, (601) 354-3408; nlambright@aclu-ms.org
Kristy Bennett, ACLU of Mississippi, (601) 540-6642; kbennett@aclu-ms.org
JACKSON – On Thursday, April 23, a Jackson Municipal Court Judge found ACLU Public Education Coordinator Brent Cox not guilty on charges of interfering with police officer duties and disorderly conduct. The case was tried by ACLU Staff Attorney, Kristy Bennett, on Monday, April 16th, 2009, in Jackson Municipal Court. Cox was arrested on September 14, 2007 after watching a Precinct Four officer question an individual in front of Rainbow Whole Foods in Jackson, Mississippi.
While observing, Cox was told to move further away from the interaction and obeyed that command while continuing to observe. After the questioning of the individual ended, Cox asked for the name and badge number of the officer and was arrested.
The ACLU supports the right of citizens to monitor police activity within a reasonable distance of the encounter. By passively observing police and documenting police misconduct, citizens help ensure that the rights of persons being detained are not violated during the encounter. Observing police also promotes government transparency and leads to improved police policies and practices. The right to observe police is guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Arresting citizens for observing police activities is not only unconstitutional; it has a serious chilling effect on the ability of citizens to hold law enforcement accountable. By simply witnessing and documenting possible incidents of police misconduct, citizens can serve as a deterrent to police misconduct. Unfortunately, Cox’s arrest is not an isolated incident. Law enforcement officers far too often arrest individuals who are monitoring police activity or who ask for officers’ names and badge numbers.
The ACLU holds trainings to teach citizens how to lawfully monitor police activity. These trainings are part of a larger campaign to stop the abuse of power by officers by ensuring that law enforcement officers respect the Constitutional rights of citizens. Not only can police monitoring sent a message to law enforcement that the citizens they serve are paying attention, but it also helps to hold police departments accountable when they violate citizens rights as well as support against any unfounded abuse allegations when officers are abiding by the law.
The ACLU of Mississippi is also fighting against other unlawful police practices, such as racial profiling, and is working to establish civilian review boards within local communities. We are working towards the passage of legislation requiring law enforcement agencies to have policies prohibiting racial profiling and requiring agencies to collect data on the race and gender of individuals who are pulled over during traffic stops.
Cox was represented on this matter by ACLU Staff Attorney Kristy Bennett and ACLU Cooperating Attorney Chris Graves.
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Tags: Criminal Justice Reform, Freedom of Speech & Press, Human Rights, Open Government
Posted in Press Releases
April 17, 2009
CONTACT:
Sarah Young at (315) 396-5892 (cell), (601) 354-3408 x 225 (work) or email (syoung@aclu-ms.org)
Elizabeth Pellegrine at (601) 260-1319 (cell) or email (sep145@msu.edu)
JACKSON, MS – More than 100 high school and college students around Mississippi are silent today—a form of protest against the discrimination lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students endure in Mississippi and around the nation. The students are participating in the international Day of Silence, started in 1996 by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). According to GLSEN, Day of Silence is the largest student-led day of activism in the world.
‘Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students face harassment every day in Mississippi,’ states Elizabeth Pellegrine, a freshman at Mississippi State University. ‘One of the most upsetting things is that the harassment is often endorsed or ignored by the very adults that are responsible for creating a safe environment for all students—the teachers, administration, and staff.’ According to GLSEN’s 2007 report, Mississippi ranks last out of all 50 states for creating a safe and supportive environment for LGBT students, the only state to receive a negative score out of 100 points.
Student events for the Day of Silence in Mississippi is as diverse as the youth participating, and includes taking a vow of silence for the entire school day, tabling to raise awareness of anti-LGBT bullying and having a public silent demonstration. The MS Safe Schools Coalition, of which the ACLU of MS is a member, is deeply invested in making schools safer for LGBT students in Mississippi. For more information on how to make your school safer, please email changemyschool@gmail.com or visit the website at www.supportstudentsafety.com.
Tags: Freedom of Speech & Press, Human Rights, LGBT Rights, Students' Rights
Posted in Press Releases
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