News & Commentary

The following statement can be attributed to Vic Walczak, legal director at ACLU of Pennsylvania:The shooting of any individual is tragic, but it does not give police license to run roughshod over peoples’ constitutional rights in their effort to arrest the suspect. Now, a day after the terrible shooting of the police officer, it is highly unlikely the McKeesport police can justify continuing the search methods we witnessed yesterday. Warrantless, non-consensual entries into peoples’ homes, suspicionless vehicle stops and searches of motorists’ cars and trunks, and checkpoint stops cannot be justified under the fourth amendment to the U.S. Constitution or Article I, section 7 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. The people of McKeesport should know that they have a right to say no to these searches, but they also should understand that they should not interfere in police operations even if it’s clearly illegal and unconstitutional. The fix for unconstitutional searches lies after the fact, in a court of law. If the police try to search your home or your car without a warrant, state clearly that you do not consent but that you will not interfere in their actions if they insist on acting unconstitutionally. To prevent or minimize harm to yourself or your family, get out of the way and talk to a lawyer later about whether you can sue for the violation. 

By all rational measurements, the 2020 election was a success. Voters turned out in numbers not seen in 100 years. They did their part and had their say, despite efforts by powerful people to make voting more difficult – efforts that were aimed particularly at people of color.

ICE’s cruelty knows no bounds: they refused to agree to even this short respite for our medically-vulnerable clients. So we were forced to seek emergency relief from the court.

The following questions and answers are based on conversations from ACLU of Pennsylvania’s Speaking Freely podcast episodes.

Is it better to vote by mail or vote in person?

What is considered normal adolescent behavior is often dealt with in a criminal justice setting, and that’s reflected in the high rates of arrests in some districts and in some states. Pennsylvania has had among the highest rates of student arrests in the country for at least a decade.

Donald Trump is doing everything he can to stop Americans from deciding his fate as president on November 3.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor Diversity Award Acceptance Speech

Over the last two legislative sessions, the ACLU-PA has been urging state legislators to reform Pennsylvania’s archaic and overly-punitive probation system. Although the probation system itself is complex, the changes needed to fix it are not.