News & Commentary

The President and the Attorney General are working hard to turn local police departments and sheriffs into branches of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  It’s a bad idea that breaks up families, harms local communities, interferes with law enforcement, and sows distrust and fear. 

There are bills (SF 247 & HF 400) moving through the Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate that would require anyone entering into a contract with the state having a value of more than $1,000 to certify that they had not discriminated and would not discriminate against Israel.

After serving for 20 years as the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota's Executive Director, Charles "Chuck" Samuelson will be retiring at the end of February.

Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that private, for-profit companies, cannot be forced to provide insurance coverage for certain types of contraception. This decision stems from a lawsuit filed by Hobby Lobby (a craft store chain), who objected to providing certain types of contraception that was mandated to be covered under the Affordable Care Act. The ruling said that these private companies could not be required to provide coverage for some types of IUDs and emergency contraception because it forced the owners of Hobby Lobby to compromise their religious beliefs.

For nearly sixty-five years the ACLU of Minnesota has stood as this state's premier defender of freedom and justice for all. We have worked with and battled against leaders of all parties in Minnesota to ensure that our state makes good on its constitutional promise to protect the rights and privileges of all Minnesotans.

ACLU of Minnesota has long been committed to supporting and defending the rights of indigenous people and communities. We recognize the vital roles peaceful protest, nonviolent civil disobedience, and activism play in defending our civil and human rights. ACLU of Minnesota stands with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its allied indigenous nations and supporters across the globe as they speak out against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. As such, we denounce any government suppression of the right to protest and militarized policing of protesters by the state of North Dakota.

The Minneapolis Police Conduct Oversight Commission released a report this week entitled “The Complaint Filing Experience” after receiving numerous complaints saying that the process for reporting police misconduct was flawed. The PCOC sent testers to each precinct who asked to file complaints. Individuals should be allowed to file in-person complaints at all precincts however in 13 of the 15 attempts, complainants were not offered the opportunity to file a complaint at the precinct. Testers were often told that no paper forms were available or that they needed to file their complaint at another precinct despite policy that states complaints should be accepted any precinct regardless of where the incident occurred.

Philando Castile should still be alive.Mr. Phil (as he was known at school) worked at my son's elementary school in the cafeteria. My son started pre-K thi

Deer poaching doesn't sound like a typical ACLU case. We aren't an animal rights organization and we don't weigh in on hunting, when the season can begin or how many deer someone is allowed to kill. Joshua Liebl is accused of illegally poaching dozens of deer and was charged with multiple crimes in 2014.