News & Commentary

Former DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis is joining the ACLU of Georgia as its first political director. “Burrell brings a wealth of professional experience and unique perspective to our work for civil liberties and especially criminal justice reform." Andrea Young, ACLU of Georgia Executive Director.

A federal prison officer demanded I remove my headscarf before entering the visitation area. According to the officer, the headscarf would have been allowed if I were Muslim or Jewish but, he claimed, the prison did not recognize “Christian head covering.” That was wrong.

The ACLU of Georgia and the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion & Belief have sent a letter to the United States Penitentiary of Atlanta in response to their discrimination against Audra Ragland, a Christian woman who covers her head.

Atlanta – Yesterday President Trump met with a small group of Senate Republicans to discuss a potential legislative fix for the 800,000 young people who are living in limbo since the politicians canceled the Dream Act almost two months ago. These politicians ruled out fixing the problem that they themselves had created unnecessarily.

“As a nation based on laws, we must move forward, not backwards. I remember the signs that said ‘whites only’ and ‘colored only.’ I remember when businesses open to the public engaged in blatant discrimination against people based on religion, race, and gender.

The ACLU of Georgia and ACLU Disability Rights Project have filed an administrative complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development charging that Cumming Home Ministries, a Christian transitional housing shelter, violated the federal Fair Housing Act when it denied housing to Jeremy Jay Woody, 47, simply because he is deaf. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of disability. Cumming Home Ministries’ homepage states that it has been “Serving Men Needing Transitional Housing since 2010.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia brought its Freedom School volunteer training to Douglas County at the Dog River Public Library on Saturday, August 26. The Douglas Women Unite hosted the event which is part of a series of volunteer trainings the ACLU of Georgia organizes around the state. Fallon Traylor, ACLU of Georgia’s Policy Advocate, equipped local participants with practical skills needed to advance civil rights and defend the Constitution in their communities.

Fifty-two years ago this week, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, prohibiting racial discrimination in voting. It was a defining moment for the Civil Rights Movement and for all of us who had marched in Selma