Latest From ACLU of Washington

The latest content and updates from the ACLU of Washington website.

Harassment and Bullying: Feds Give Schools a Stern Reminder and Underscore Rights of LGBT Students

Published: 
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Schools must protect students from harassment, and if they don’t, the federal government will have something to say about it.  That was the message sent by the White House and the Department of Education on October 26th when they issued new guidance designed to make clear that schools have a legal duty to protect students from harassment under existing federal civil rights statutes. Read more
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California Transplants: Tell Friends and Family Back Home to Vote.

Published: 
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Next Tuesday, Californians will vote on the historic Proposition 19, which would decriminalize adult possession and growing of marijuana for personal use. It would also allow cities and counties to adopt regulations permitting the commercial production and distribution of cannabis to consumers. More importantly, Proposition 19 would represent a huge step forward in ending the civil liberties and civil rights abuses fostered by the War on Drugs, like racist enforcement of drug prohibition. Read more
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Teen Pregnancy, Discrimination, and the Dropout Rate

Published: 
Monday, October 25, 2010
When teens get pregnant, most drop out of school. When they drop out of school, they likely face a life of economic insecurity. And the role that discrimination plays in their decisions to drop out raises serious civil rights concerns. Read more
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Truancy, Due Process, and What's Best for Students

Published: 
Friday, October 22, 2010
Fall is a heavy season for truancy courts. Truancy court is a place where the school and the court systems converge. In truancy proceedings, it’s important to safeguard both the due process rights of youth and their best educational interests. Read more
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Holding Government Accountable

Published: 
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
  Public disclosure laws play a vital role in keeping governments in check.  Documents released to the ACLU via public records requests served as the catalyst for many of our efforts, including our ongoing project on government surveillance.  We encourage all of our activist members to file records requests to learn more about what the government “knows.”  Washington has a robust public records law that requires government agencies to disclose all records, subject to a list of specific exemptions for privacy, law enforcement and security reasons.   Additionally, the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts require all federal government agencies to disclose, upon request, a great deal of existing records. Learn more about requesting government records. You might be surprised what you can discover, if you simply ask.  
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Medical Marijuana Law Ripe for Action by the Legislature

Published: 
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Yesterday, the Tacoma City Council agreed to delay taking action on cease-and-desist letters sent to eight medical marijuana dispensaries until after the upcoming 2011 state legislative session. The incident is only the latest in a string of recent stories from across the state highlighting the need for the legislature to tackle the question of how Washington patients with terminal and debilitating conditions, whose doctors have authorized the medical use of cannabis, are supposed to get it. Currently, the law says a patient or her designated provider may possess a sixty-day supply of cannabis for the patient's medical use, but it's silent on the question of where to acquire that supply. It defines "medical use of marijuana" to include "production" - i.e., growing - but where does the patient or provider obtain seeds, starts, or cuttings? The Washington state legislature will be ready to tackle these questions in 2011. Read more
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Lessons from the Roslyn Overdose Story

Published: 
Monday, October 18, 2010
A recent story about a college party in tiny Roslyn, WA, in which nine people were taken to the hospital for possible overdoses, has received national media attention.  It’s alleged that drinks at the party were spiked with drugs (possibly Rohypnol, aka “roofies”), although authorities are still awaiting toxicology reports. If students were indeed drugged without consent, let’s hope law enforcement catches up with those responsible. However, a less talked about and equally disturbing aspect of the story is that “not one person chose to call 911." This is unfortunate on several levels, but most glaringly because Washington state recently enacted a law specifically designed to deal with this type of situation. The 911 Good Samaritan law works as follows: If you think you’re witnessing a drug overdose and seek medical help, you will receive immunity from criminal charges of drug possession.  The overdose victim you’re helping is protected, too. Calling 911 is always the right response.
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Court Upholds Amazon Users’ Privacy and Free Speech Rights

News Release, Published: 
Thursday, October 14, 2010
In a victory for privacy and free speech on the Internet, a federal court emphasized  that government officials cannot watch over our shoulders to see what we are buying and reading.
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The Reach of the Death Penalty

Published: 
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Defense attorney Mark Larrañaga visits Bellingham to speak about his experience as an attorney for defendants facing the death penalty. How many people does an execution affect? Prior to hearing Mark Larrañaga’s insights into the vast reaches of the death penalty, I naturally assumed that the defendant, his or her family, the victim(s), and the victim’s family were the principle people affected by the death penalty. I never considered how deeply jurors, attorneys, and their families can be affected. Years after a trial had come to an end, some jurors’ family members are brought to tears just talking about it. These persons are often so affected by the lengthy, emotionally straining process of a death penalty trial that they too often turn to substance abuse to help them cope. “He’s never been the same. He started hitting the bottle pretty hard when the trial ended,” one woman said of her husband’s experience as a juror. Mr. Larrañaga has become so keenly aware of how traumatizing a death penalty trial can be that in many of his cases he has requested that counselors be available to all involved parties after the trial is concluded. Read more
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