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04.20.21
[Content Warning] I Witnessed a Police Shooting in 2008. 13 Years Later, I Can Still See It.
Jocelyn Rosnick
In 2008, I was a junior in college at West Virginia University. I didn’t have class on Fridays which made it easy to visit my sister in Pittsburgh, PA for a long weekend. On May 23rd I did just that.
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10.30.19
How Halloween Inspired My Activism
Jocelyn Rosnick
For most people Halloween conjures up images of ghosts, monsters, and too much candy. For me, I’m taken back to a time I was growing my activist wings – even though I didn’t know it at the time.
When I was nine, I petitioned my own city council.
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08.16.18
Setting the Record Straight on the First Amendment
Jocelyn Rosnick
The First Amendment is 45 words. 45 powerful words. But do you know what the First Amendment does and does not protect in the realm of online content, especially on social media? It might not protect what you think it does.
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01.13.17
Monitoring Assemblies and the Importance of Dissent
Jocelyn Rosnick
The right to dissent is a founding principle of our country. Often, in the United States and abroad, powerful forces attempt to suppress speech in times of political tension or when people are making demands for change. Yet, this is exactly when speech and assembly are most important.
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08.23.16
The DOJ Is Ending Its Use of Private Prisons: But What About Ohio?
Jocelyn Rosnick
Last week, the Department of Justice announced an end to using private prisons to hold federal prisoners. This decision followed a scathing report which highlighted that private prisons are less safe, provide less services and programs, and do not substantially save on costs.
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06.17.16
Orange is the New Black Tackles Prisons For Profit
Jocelyn Rosnick
Orange is the New Black – the binge-worthy, Peabody Award Winning, Netflix series – returns with Season 4 on June 17. Last season, the fictional Litchfield Correctional Facility faced closing its doors due to lack of funding and is soon after taken over by a private prison corporation.
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04.22.16
Meeting a Transgender Person Changes Minds
Jocelyn Rosnick
The invisibility which used to cloak the transgender community is starting to fade as transgender people gain more presence in the public eye. Too often they are seen through the prism of violence, but we have also witnessed an increasing amount of public figures come out as transgender in recent years.
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12.11.15
Ending De Facto Debtors’ Prisons in the United States
Jocelyn Rosnick
This piece is also featured by the Vera Institute.
John and Sam were trapped in a vicious cycle of incarceration. When money was scarce, John would make Sam’s court payment instead of his own so she could stay out of jail and care for their child.
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11.10.14
Mayor’s Courts’ Caseload Declines But Big Problems Still Exist
Jocelyn Rosnick
The Ohio Supreme Court recently issued a new report documenting the use of mayor’s courts in 2013 and highlighting a decade-long decline in caseloads. But don’t let that fact fool you.
Sure, mayor’s courts in Ohio are hearing 14 percent fewer cases than 10 years ago, but other kinds of courts are hearing fewer cases, too.
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10.20.14
Inspiring a New Generation of Activists
Jocelyn Rosnick
Belle Likover and Susan Galloway It’s not where you’re from; it’s not where you are—it’s what you do.
Long time ACLU supporters, Ed and Belle Likover are shining examples of activists who truly lived and breathed this sentiment. Ed Likover stood for what he believed in even if he stood alone, and his courage never wavered.
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10.03.14
ACLU of Ohio Receives Award For Combating Debtors’ Prison
Jocelyn Rosnick
With so many nonprofit organizations working on important issues across the state, what made the Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations (OANO) present the ACLU of Ohio with a 2014 Nonprofit Excellence Award?
For the past two years, the ACLU of Ohio has worked to end debtors’ prison across the state, and we’ve had some amazing achievements so far!
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06.04.14
Sued for speaking out? Learn how ACLU of Ohio is combating SLAPP suits.
Jocelyn Rosnick
SLAPP suits, a.k.a. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, date back to the earliest years of our country, long before the term existed. Although the right to speak your mind and fight for what you believe in is one of our nation’s oldest and dearest principles, those with vast resources have often tried to silence those who disagree with them.