News Releases

  Oral argument is being held on Oct. 25 in an ACLU lawsuit defending the rights of adults to access information on the Internet on public library computers. The suit challenges a central Washington library system’s filtering policy that hampers adults in researching school assignments, locating businesses and organizations, and doing personal reading on lawful subjects.   

A unique coalition of government officials, law enforcement agencies, and community groups – including the ACLU-WA – are backing the  innovative new LEAD program. Instead of arresting and prosecuting low-level drug offenders, law enforcement will divert them to community-based treatment and support services – a welcome alternative to the War on Drugs approach. 

An ACLU lawsuit defending the rights of adults to access information on the Internet on public library computers will continue in federal court in the wake of today’s Washington Supreme Court 6-3 ruling rejecting claims under the Washington State Constitution. The suit challenges a filtering policy that hampers adults in researching school assignments, locating businesses and organizations, and doing personal reading on lawful subjects.

Major Margaret Witt reflects on her lengthy legal battle against her dismissal and the importance of the repeal of DADT. Represented by the ACLU-WA, Maj. Witt won a landmark ruling that helped pave the way for the end of the discriminatory policy. Pictured above: Major Witt (far right) deployed in Oman.

The ACLU of Washington has joined a class action lawsuit filed against Mount Vernon and Burlington over the cities’ failure to provide meaningful assistance of counsel to indigent persons who face criminal charges in municipal court. Defendants are being denied their fundamental rights because their public defenders have shockingly huge caseloads.

The ACLU –WA and other privacy advocates have announced that Gibberbot, a secure instant messaging and chat app, is the winner of the 2011 Develop for Privacy Challenge. The Challenge co-sponsors made the announcement in a celebratory event at the DEFCON security conference.

The ACLU-WA is seeking to learn when, why and how local law enforcement agencies are using cellphone location data to track Americans.  We’ve started with public records requests today to the cities of Bellevue, Tacoma, Yakima, and Spokane.

Personal mail to inmates at Spokane County Jail will no longer be limited to postcards, under terms of the settlement of a lawsuit filed by the publication Prison Legal News. The ACLU-WA filed a brief in the suit, explaining that the restrictive policy violated the rights of both inmates and individuals who correspond with them.

The Washington Supreme Court ruled against an authorized patient who was fired for using medical marijuana, even though there was no evidence that its use interfered with her job performance. In a disappointing 8-1 opinion, the Court found that the Washington Medical Use of Marijuana Act does not protect employees who are discharged for exercising their right to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Pierce County Jail inmates filed a class action lawsuit on September 20, 2010 challenging jail officials’ illegal treatment of Muslim inmates. As the suit alleges, jail officials routinely treat Muslim prisoners worse than others when it comes to accommodating religious dietary needs, allowing for group prayer, and providing access to religious resources.  The jail also operates a special unit known as the “God Pod,” where Christian inmates enjoy housing and programming privileges that are denied to prisoners of other faiths.