Legislation

As communities nationwide grapple with the best ways to promote transparency and accountability in law enforcement agencies, the implementation of body cameras has become a major part of the discussion.

For individuals who are transgender or gender non-conforming, the ability to access private and safe bathroom facilities is critical.

In a move to address the fundamental due process implications of civil asset forfeiture, we supported legislation which would have provided stricter judicial oversight to the process and ensured that law enforcement cannot seize and forfeit a person’s belongings in the absence of criminal charges.

While supporting the goal of this legislation which would establish an alternative sentencing method for individuals with severe and persistent mental illness, we expressed concern that the legislation contained sparse detail on how the implementation of the program would occur.

In a move to ban a pervasive form of racial discrimination, we strongly supported a bill which would have expanded the definition of race under our state anti-discrimination laws to include “traits historically associated with race,” importantly including hair texture and protective hairstyles.

While we have no objection to the goal of educating hotel employees to ensure that they understand the issue of human trafficking, we opposed provisions within this bill which would obligate employees to report “suspicious” activities.

Building upon the important work of the Reproductive Privacy Act, the Equality in Abortion Act would have ensured that abortion care is covered by Medicaid and within the health insurance plans of state employees.

Legislation supported by the ACLU would have allowed for certain terminally ill patients to make knowing and competent decisions about death and peacefully determine the end of their lives with dignity, autonomy, and privacy.

As the ACLU and others press to remove law enforcement from schools, a bill introduced this session would have instead created a “school security committee” charged with facilitating the presence of “armed security personnel” in every school and promoting techniques for student surveillance.