Free Speech

Today, the ACLU of Washington (ACLU) and Columbia Legal Services (CLS) voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit after successfully getting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release hunger striking detainees from solitary confinement at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma, Washington.  The ACLU and CLS had filed this lawsuit on April 2, 2014 to prohibit ICE from retaliating against detainees at the NWDC who engage in First Amendment protected activities by placing them in solitary confinement.

Federal immigration authorities have released hunger strikers from solitary confinement at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma. The action came after the ACLU-WA and Columbia Legal Services sued U.S. Immigration and Enforcement for retaliating against hunger strikers. 

The ACLU-WA and Columbia Legal Services are seeking a court order to prohibit federal immigration authorities from punishing  hunger strikers by confining them isolation cells at the NW Detention Center. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will hear oral argument in a lawsuit to uphold Working Washington’s free speech rights on light rail trains. The case will is being heard today, Friday, March 8 at the U.S. Courthouse in Seattle (1010 Fifth Ave., 7th floor). The ACLU of Washington is representing Working Washington in the suit.

January 23 - Update:  The jury today reached a verdict and ruled in favor of the City of Tacoma.  No decision has been made yet as to whether to appeal the case. Suit Says Police Actions Aimed to Prevent Peaceful Protest The ACLU-WA is representing six citizens who are suing over violations of their rights to free speech and assembly by police at anti-war demonstrations at the Port of Tacoma. A jury trial in the case began in federal district court in Tacoma on January 7.

A veterans group which has marched in Auburn’s Veterans Day Parade for the past six years is suing to march in the 2012 parade. The group says that the city of Auburn officials are violating free speech rights by unfairly denying its application to march in the civic celebration.