News & Commentary

NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union spent $28.3 million in the midterm elections by supporting ballot measures, raising civil liberties issues in candidate races, and building a massive voter mobilization program across the country. Anthony Romero, ACLU Executive Director, offered the following reaction:“Millions of Americans exercised their right to vote in this election. In key battleground states, that right was also expanded so that 2 million additional voters will be able to be cast their ballots in Florida, Michigan, and Nevada in 2020.”“Voting is the bedrock principle upon which our democracy rests. We are proud to have played a part in expanding voting rights to more than 2 million people in key states: by re-enfranchising 1.4 million people with prior convictions in Florida, and through a suite of voting reforms in Michigan and Nevada. These reforms enacted by these ballot referenda will have impacts for elections to come. They will help create a groundswell of energy and engagement in future elections.”“Civil liberties and civil rights were on the ballot across the country and voters responded in a big way. From expanding voting rights to protecting immigrants’ rights and transgender equity, people headed to the polls and supported civil rights and civil liberties. The ACLU has always been and will continue to be on the frontlines of these fights. We felt the imperative to get involved this election cycle – because so much is at stake, especially for the marginalized communities we care about.”The ACLU hired dozens of new staff, mobilized volunteers and directly contacted three million voters through a significant investment in its new ACLU Voter program.

NEW YORK— In response to reports that President Trump has asked Attorney Jeff Sessions to resign, the American Civil Liberties Union executive director Anthony D. Romero issued the following statement:“Jeff Sessions was the worst attorney general in modern American history. He was an egregious violator of civil rights and civil liberties. From his plot to deport Dreamers, remove police and law enforcement accountability, discriminate against trans people, perpetuate and expand senseless enforcement of racist drug laws, use of religion to discriminate against LGBTQ people and undermine reproductive rights, abandon protections for women against violence, and even lie to the Senate to cover up Trump campaign contact with Russian officials, his tenure as the highest chief law enforcement officer was a complete disgrace to our nation’s constitutional protections. Sessions allowed the Department of Justice to function as the political arm of the Trump administration to undo fundamental rights that protect each of us, disregarding years of legal precedent and settled law.“The dismissal of the nation’s top law enforcement official is a huge step, one that should not be based on political motives – and certainly should not be done to protect the president or his cronies from the law. While the constitution grants the president the authority to dismiss his cabinet members, we will be keeping a close watch on the future of the special counsel’s investigation and the impact of the appointment of a new Attorney General. The Senate must demand that any nominee for attorney general must commit to not interfere in the special counsel investigation, and continue to have Robert Mueller operate under the special counsel regulation.” For the first time in the organization’s history, the ACLU filed a bar complaint against an attorney general for unethical conduct.More information on that is available here:https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-files-ethics-complaint-against-attorney-general-sessions-false-statements-made-during This statement is online here:https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-comment-trump-dismissal-jeff-sessions

By Jensen Matar, TEAP-MS Advocacy Coordinator

By Jensen Matar, ACLU of MS Transgender Education & Advocacy Program Coordinator 

By Ezekiel Edwards, Director, ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project

By James Esseks, Director, ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & HIV Project

NEW YORK—The Trump administration is reportedlyworking to dramatically roll-back protections for transgender students and narrow the definitions of sex and gender that courts have increasingly used to provide protections for LGBTQ people.

We’ve partnered with Oscar and Grammy-winning artist Common to launch a video that reminds voters of what’s at stake in 2018 and how we can build a fairer and smarter criminal justice system. If we Vote Smart Justice in 2018 and beyond, we can build a system that prioritizes people instead of prisons.

By Arthur Spitzer, Legal Co-Director, ACLU of D.C.