News & Commentary

December 1 is the anniversary of the day in 1955 when Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. Back then, racism was visible in signs that marked Jim Crow policies of segregation. We know that it took courageous organizers – like Rosa Parks, and thousands of others - and a national movement to shift our laws and policies toward racial justice.

The ACLU of Wisconsin is conducting its Biannual Education Survey, and has sent open records requests to 107 of the 425 school districts in Wisconsin to see how they are doing on some of the ACLU’s priority issues: nondiscrimination, bullying, and the right of each student to an adequate education.

The ACLU of Wisconsin does not endorse candidates, so we did not have a partisan stake in the outcome of yesterday’s election. However, we are committed to ensuring that Wisconsin citizens can cast a ballot without misinformation, intimidation or barriers. We focused our efforts leading up to November 6 on educating voters about their rights and working alongside partners in the Wisconsin Election Protection 866 OUR VOTE hotline project and poll watching.

ACLU of Wisconsin attorney Karyn Rotker responds to CBS 58 video of Whitefish Bay early voting polling station workers asking a voter to show photo ID when registering. The story link has the video.

Attorneys are standing by to answer voters’ questions now through Election Day. The Wisconsin Election Protection voter hotline is available to anyone. Stacy Harbaugh with the ACLU wants voters to know they can call with election-related questions or complaints.

Jail staff are given the exact date of the inspector’s arrival. That’s a practice that doesn’t sit well with an ACLU Wisconsin legal director Larry Dupuis, who told the newspaper many county jails are mismanaged. He said the pre-scheduled inspections allow jails to conceal things that “might otherwise raise concerns” in order to get a clean bill of health from the state. Although the announced inspections are a concern to the ACLU, state lawmakers who chair legislative committees with DOC oversight have nothing to say on the topic.

Chris Ahmuty, executive director of American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, said the proposal is problematic. “Good law enforcement doesn’t have to violate the rights of suspects in order to be effective. Don’t we lose something in terms of privacy and personal autonomy and what we expect to be reasonable police procedures?” Ahmuty said.

Other nonprofit organizations are helping to bolster the humanities for MPS students. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) received a grant of $10,000, down from $30,000 last year. Still, the non-partisan civil-rights organization hopes to serve about the same number of students as last year’s 2,700.

Young people are held in solitary confinement in jails and prisons in across the United States, often for weeks or months at a time, the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.