News & Commentary

As the Governor’s Juvenile Corrections Review Committee considers how best to serve juvenile offenders in the future , the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin urges committee members to place the highest priority on the needs of youth in the system and to make decisions that will facilitate, rather than hinder, successful reentry into the community. The Committee is expected to decide on recommendations at a June 21 meeting.

Happy Mother's Day from the ACLU of Wisconsin! Today, you can do your mom and women around the world a favor.

The district attorney in Juneau County has made an ill-advised attack on Wisconsin’s newly passed comprehensive sexuality education law. The Healthy Youth Act raises the state standards for human growth and development curricula. But the letter from District Attorney Southworth erroneously compares teaching the facts about reproduction and contraception to the sexual assault of children. “District Attorney Southworth has taken it upon himself to threaten possible prosecution of public school teachers in the county if they implement the new standards that require medically accurate and age-appropriate sex education,” said ACLU of Wisconsin Executive Director Christopher Ahmuty.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Wednesday struck down a law that barred transgender people from receiving medical care while they are incarcerated. The American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal challenged the law in January 2006 on behalf of transgender prisoners, some of whom had been receiving hormones in Wisconsin prisons for years prior to the passage of the law.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Wednesday struck down a law that barred transgender people from receiving medical care while they are incarcerated. The American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal challenged the law in January 2006 on behalf of transgender prisoners, some of whom had been receiving hormones in Wisconsin prisons for years prior to the passage of the law. The lawsuit charged that it is a violation of the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection as well as the guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment to bar transgender inmates from access to individualized medical care. The legal groups based their challenge on federal case law that establishes that health care providers must determine proper treatment for all prison inmates.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Wednesday struck down a law that barred transgender people from receiving medical care while they are incarcerated. The American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal challenged the law in January 2006 on behalf of transgender prisoners, some of whom had been receiving hormones in Wisconsin prisons for years prior to the passage of the law. The lawsuit charged that it is a violation of the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection as well as the guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment to bar transgender inmates from access to individualized medical care. The legal groups based their challenge on federal case law that establishes that health care providers must determine proper treatment for all prison inmates. 

Today, Christopher Ahmuty, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin issued the following statement regarding an incident at a student protest at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee (UWM).

The district attorney in Juneau County has made an ill-advised attack on Wisconsin’s newly passed comprehensive sexuality education law. The Healthy Youth Act raises the state standards for human growth and development curricula. But the letter from District Attorney Southworth erroneously compares teaching the facts about reproduction and contraception to the sexual assault of children. “The district attorney in Juneau County has taken it upon himself to threaten possible prosecution of public school teachers in the county, if they follow a new state law that requires medically accurate and age appropriate sex education. He says that accurate information encourages teens to have sex, but the new law actually requires teachers to inform their students that sex with a minor is illegal.”

Today the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin asked Wisconsin State Senate majority leader, Russell Decker (D-Schofield), to schedule a vote on legislation to address discriminatory race-based school team nicknames, logos and mascots. Last Thursday, the Wisconsin Assembly passed an amended version of such legislation with bipartisan support.