News & Commentary

On Nov. 9, 2014, Jose Orellana made a mistake that many people make, but it cost him and his family more than it should have. Jose was arrested for drinking and driving. , One day later, a judge set his bail and Jose's family began working to raise the money to pay it and free him. The holidays were nearing, and Jose's wife had just given birth so it took a few days to get the money together.

Contributed by Mahad Olad

News sites like the Washington Post; The Guardian have started a formal tracking of people killed by police around the U.S. These databases are cropping up amidst general outcries against police brutality and discrimination against people of color. We know there is pervasive disparity in policing in Minneapolis, so we wanted to localize the discussion to talk about whether Minneapolis has the potential to erupt in protests similar to Baltimore or Ferguson after the deaths of people like Freddie Gray and Michael Brown.

Next time you see her, be sure to congratulate the Statue of Liberty on her recent “marriage”! Now that same-sex marriage has finally been legalized nationwide, the joyful union between Mrs. Liberty and her beloved new wife was witnessed by many during the Twin Cities Pride Parade this year. The newlyweds rode together in the back of their honeymoon truck surrounded by energetic volunteers who willingly braved the hot sun and crowds of people in order to witness this historical moment. The crowd lining the street of the parade exuberantly cheered for us when we marched by- they were pretty psyched to get beads as well. Crowd estimates are chalked up to almost half a million people and many veterans of previous Pride gatherings in Minneapolis said it was the largest turnout they had ever seen.

Great news out of Minneapolis, you can no longer go to jail just for spitting on the street! Yes, this was actually a codified ordinance along with lurking. Excitingly, the Minneapolis City Council voted to repeal both the spitting and lurking ordinances on June 5.

Every year in Minnesota, thousands of people, mostly immigrants and people of color, are detained in county jails on behalf of the Federal Government. They are held on the basis of a detainer that is authorized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It goes like this, when an individual is arrested for any reason and booked into jail, the jails send booking information to ICE. ICE then singles out individuals based on things like being foreign-born or a fingerprint "hit" in an ICE database. Some jails also report individuals to ICE if they suspect they are noncitizens subject to detainers. We have heard that individuals with foreign sounding names or limited English proficiency are often singled out to be reported to ICE. ICE then sends a detainer, which is a formal request to a local jail to notify ICE before they release somebody from custody, and to hold the person for up to 48 hours (not including weekends or holidays) after he or she would otherwise be released so that ICE can arrange to take over custody. If the county chooses to honor the request, they will detain the individual, sometimes for up to six days beyond when they should have been released.

On May 26, 2011, Congress passed a four-year extension of three expiring Patriot Act provisions without making much-needed changes to the overly broad surveillance bill. The extended provisions are set now set to expire on June 1, 2015. Despite bills pending in both the House and the Senate to amend the three expiring provisions and other sections of the Patriot Act, Congress decided instead to move ahead with a straightforward re-authorization.

The ACLU-MN recently wrote a law review article that laid out a clear analysis for why driver's licenses should be available to all Minnesota residents, regardless of immigration status. 

Contributed by: Charles Samuelson, Executive Director of the ACLU-MN