Legislation

This legislation would protect individuals from being prosecuted when they seek medical assistance for someone experiencing an alcohol overdose and alcohol use by minors.

As part of a package of computer crimes legislation put forward by the Attorney General's office, whistleblowers would be treated the same as malicious hackers, subjecting them to felony penalties for gaining "unauthorized access" to a computer.

Every year numerous bills are introduced into the General Assembly that seek to expand the use of background checks in professions and or volunteering opportunities that rather than promote public safety, further push ex-offenders outside of a positive community atmosphere.

Under the proposed legislation, juveniles who are sentenced as adults would automatically come before the parole board after fifteen years, regardless of the length of their sentence, giving these young adults the chance to prove their fitness to return to society.

After a great deal of political maneuvering, the General Assembly passed a package of bills aimed at improving the criminal justice system.

In February the ACLU and the Urban Justice Center testified on a bill that has some laudable provisions designed to address the scourge of human trafficking, but that also had a number of problematic provisions.

In February, the ACLU testified in front of the House Judiciary committee stating that treating crimes against police officers as hate crimes devalues the discrimination that truly marginalized communities such as members of the LGBTQ community and people of color have faced for decades.

Based on new federal regulations, legislation was introduced which would establish a formal process for the incarceration of an individual to be taken into consideration for the purposes of modifying child support orders.

In April and May, the ACLU testified before the House and Senate Judiciary committees, respectively, in support of legislation to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana use by adults.