News & Commentary

The criminalization of marijuana has unnecessarily created a lot of harm, particularly to people of color. That statement may seem obvious. But it was the message that we felt compelled to hammer at an event we attended last week with a few dozen policymakers, students, researchers, scientists, and reporters in Pittsburgh.

In honor of National Constitution Day and the ACLU’s centennial year, we’re rolling out a list of fun facts about the mighty document that governs our nation. We recommend that you store some of these factoids in your back pocket because on February 29, 2020, we’ll be holding our Centennial Celebration in Philadelphia, and Constitutional Quizzo will allow guests to walk away with some special prizes.

Ten years after the state legislature mandated that the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing create a risk assessment tool to be used at sentencing, the commission finally voted on and passed a proposal in early September.

It has been said that the definition of insanity is repeating the same action and expecting a different outcome. This week, the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing may be approaching their own brand of madness.

On June 27, after analyzing over 30 incidents involving state police stops and interactions that impacted over 150 people, the ACLU of Pennsylvania and a team of volunteer attorneys filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Pennsylvania State Police and seven troopers.

After more than a year of gathering data and urging Philadelphia bail judges to follow the letter of the law, in early July, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court announced that it would launch an investigation into the use of cash bail in Philadelphia.

Imagine a world in which you can be detained by police and thrown in jail for taking a phone call from a family member. Or for walking down the same street in your neighborhood that you’ve been taking for years. Or for getting laid off from your job.

From Franklin Roosevelt’s “fireside chats” on radio to John F. Kennedy’s mastery at the televised debate, politicians have made use of the latest communications technology to reach people with their message. Today, elected officials as different as Donald Trump and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have mastered social media as a platform.

The Frankel-Adair scholarship provides $1,500 in support of post-secondary education to an LGBQ&T student residing in the greater Philadelphia area. The scholarship honors the late Larry Frankel, former executive and legislative director of the ACLU-PA, and the benefactor, Thomas T. Adair.