10.02.14
Worse Than Adults: The Shackling of Youth in Juvenile Court
By Shakyra Diaz
This is the second in a series of posts on the topic of juvenile shackling. “I have worn physical restraints while in the court room and meeting with my attorney. It doesn’t make you feel like anybody really cares about you and you are being treated like an animal. “I noticed that a lot of… more »
10.01.14
Treating Our Addiction to Mass Criminalization
By Shakyra Diaz
“The United States will never be able to prosecute or incarcerate its way to being a safer nation,” said last week U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, at a conference held by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. This sentiment is one shared by many around the country. As… more »
09.30.14
Voting Rights for Ohioans with Disabilities
By Adrienne Gavula
Imagine visiting your polling place on Election Day and discovering there is no parking, the sidewalk is blocked, and the door is locked. Yet, despite all this, you manage to get into the building only to find out the poll workers do not speak your language and the voting machine is out of reach. For… more »
09.26.14
Fight for Voting Rights in Ohio Goes to the U.S. Supreme Court
By Tim Cable
After a federal district court judge ruled in the ACLU of Ohio’s case NAACP v. Husted that cuts to early voting opportunities in Ohio must be restored in time for the November 2014 election, Secretary of State Jon Husted could have taken the opportunity to accept the court’s order and begin educating voters about early… more »
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09.25.14
Books and Ballots: Voting Rights For Students
By Steve David
As the summer draws to a close, thousands of students have packed their bags to return to college campuses across the state. Among questions about professors to take, how late you can wait to drop a class, and if you can really afford that textbook, is one they may not have not considered: How are… more »
09.24.14
You Are Never Too Young To Ask For an Attorney
By Shakyra Diaz
“We are only 14 years old. We aren’t thinking about lawyers,” a teen declared in the middle of a presentation I was giving at his high school. The topic of the presentation is based on the ACLU of Ohio’s publication What To Do If You’re Stopped By the Police. This wallet-sized card outlines rights and… more »
09.20.14
Banned Books Week: A Celebration of Intellectual Freedom
By Tim Cable
Every year during the last week of September, Banned Books Week reminds us not to take for granted our precious freedom to read, write, and think whatever we want. Across the country, books are still regularly challenged and targeted for censorship. The Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association (ALA) receives hundreds of… more »
Tags: Banned Books Week
09.19.14
Court Affirms: You – Not Government – Decide What’s True
By Drew Dennis
“In short, the answer to false statements in politics is not to force silence, but to encourage truthful speech in response, and to let the voters, not the Government, decide what the political truth is.” With these words, Federal District Judge Timothy S. Black summarizes the thrust of his September 11 order permanently blocking Ohio’s… more »
Tags: first amendment, The Constitution-
09.17.14
The “Felon Factory” and the Voting Block
By Shakyra Diaz
I often refer to Ohio as a “felon factory.” I came up with the term a few years ago to convey how mass incarceration and criminalization has replaced manufacturing as an industry in the Buckeye State. Ohio, once a major industrial powerhouse, is now among the top 10 prison states in the country. Like a… more »
Tags: Re-entry, Voting Rights 
09.16.14
Senate Bill 349: An Attack on Civil Rights Protections
By Ellen Kubit
Have you shown up to rent an apartment, but were turned away because of the color of your skin? Or because you have a disability? The law might not be on your side anymore. Discrimination in access to housing is unlawful. If a landlord is found guilty of discriminating against housing applicants or tenants, Ohio… more »
Tags: civil rights, Nondiscrimination