ACROSS THE COUNTRY, fundamental freedoms are under attack: from near-total abortion bans to the criminalization of trans people to endemic voter suppression. We’re proud that Massachusetts leaders have charted a […]
Carol Rose
Executive Director, ACLU of Massachusetts
Posted inOpinion
Next steps beyond Roe v Wade
WITH THE LEAKED Dobbs v. Jackson draft opinion, the US Supreme Court confirmed what we saw coming: the high court is preparing to overturn federal constitutional abortion protections and push abortion out […]
Posted inOpinion
Make Mass. a leader in reproductive freedom
FORTY-NINE YEARS ago today, the United States Supreme Court issued its historic ruling in the case of Roe v. Wade, confirming that access to abortion is a right guaranteed by […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
We need a new post-pandemic ‘normal’
AFTER MORE THAN a year of restrictions, Massachusetts is returning to something like normal. But the pandemic has made it painfully clear that, for many people, “normal” was never just […]
Posted inOpinion
My checklist for Beacon Hill
WHILE A FEW remaining ballots have yet to be tallied, this much is certain: For the second time, and by a margin of two to one, Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly rejected […]
Posted inOpinion
Election highlights our collective responsibility
THIS ELECTION is unprecedented in many ways: our country is still in the grips of a pandemic; millions of Americans are voting early and by mail for the first time; […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Attacks on Postal Service are attack on democracy
FOR OVER two and a half centuries, the United States Postal Service has, in one form or another, served an essential function: to facilitate the exchange of goods, services, and […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Here’s the police reform bill the ACLU wants
ACROSS THE COUNTRY, people have been taking to the streets to protest against police brutality and systemic racism. In some states, their calls for change have been met by even […]
Posted inOpinion
In police licensing, the details matter
THE POLICE KILLINGS of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and other black people have brought renewed, international attention to racism in law enforcement. Thankfully, Massachusetts elected leaders have taken […]
Posted inOpinion
For those in jail, COVID-19 could be death sentence
LEGAL GROUPS, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, have made an urgent plea to the state’s highest court. “There are about 16,500 human beings in our prisons and […]
Posted inOpinion
Safe Communities Act needed now
AS WE GATHER this holiday season to reaffirm our commitment to family and community, people of good will have an opportunity to raise our collective voice to urge Gov. Charlie […]
Posted inOpinion
Face surveillance tech unprecedented threat
DOZENS OF ADVOCATES—including district attorneys, MIT researchers, educators, and tech business leaders—sounded the alarm this week on an unprecedented threat to our civil liberties. We testified before state lawmakers, and […]
Posted inOpinion
Do the right thing on immigration
IN MARCH OF 1861, a newly-elected Abraham Lincoln delivered his first inaugural address to a nation bitterly divided over its moral, political, and economic future. In that iconic speech, Lincoln […]
Posted inOpinion
Why free speech must be defended
ON SATURDAY – and earlier this month – students around the country organized marches and staged a nationwide walkout to honor the lives of the 17 people killed at Marjory […]
Posted inOpinion
DAs need to be held accountable
WHO ARE THE MOST POWERFUL people in the criminal justice system? A lot of people quickly say, judges. The real answer: district attorneys. Look no further than the timely case […]
Posted inOpinion
Turning protest into policy reform
AS 40,000 PEOPLE converged on the streets of Boston in late August to march against white supremacy, Massachusetts stood as a beacon of nationwide resistance to the racist policies coming […]
Posted inEconomy
Taking on the Trump deportation machine
MANY OF US CHOOSE TO LIVE in Massachusetts because of its freedom, relative to the rest of the world. While imperfect, our Commonwealth is safer, richer, cleaner, and fairer than […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
A Massachusetts freedom agenda
THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION election unleashed forces of racism, sexism, anti-immigrant sentiment, and authoritarianism that, we now know, have been simmering just beneath the surface of the collective American polity. But […]
Posted inPolitics
Fix the broken Public Records Law
WE IN THE cradle of liberty think of ourselves as national leaders when it comes to government openness and democracy. After all, Massachusetts colonists used public “broadsheets” to inform people […]
Posted inPolitics
Rule of law triumphs in resolution to Occupy Boston
the rise and fall of the Occupy Boston encampment at Dewey Square has been hailed as a model of how police and city officials should respond to peaceful political dissent […]