Legislation

A perennial anti-immigrant bill, requiring all nongovernmental employers with more than two employees to enroll in and use the controversial federal E-Verify program, has had its hearing in the House.

For the third consecutive year, legislation was introduced that would strengthen the state‘s Access to Public Records Act in numerous ways.

ACLU attorneys who worked on a recent truancy court lawsuit were stunned to find how difficult it was to obtain copies of their clients’ Family Court records. This bill would address this problem by explicitly authorizing parents and their attorneys the right to review and copy these files.

The ACLU introduced legislation this year that will prohibit police departments from instituting quotas, or a set number of tickets, arrests and investigatory stops an officer must meet within a certain timeframe.

In 2008, the legislature authorized broad-based medical testing of newborns. This year, an ACLU bill was introduced to fine-tune the statute, requiring a medical benefit and known treatment before “other conditions” can be screened for.

ACLU-promoted legislation was reintroduced to restrict political surveillance and data collection by police.

For over thirty years, a federal statute has made it unlawful for any “federal, state or local government agency to deny to any individual any right, benefit, or privilege provided by law because of such individual’s refusal to disclose his or her social security number".

Legislation to stigmatize and humiliate the poor — by requiring welfare applicants to be drug-tested and fingerprinted — was the subject of recent hearings.

The ACLU testified against a bill greatly expanding the scope of criminal record checks performed on Department of Children, Youth and Families employees and volunteers.