News & Commentary

Not only did the protests that followed Minneapolis police murdering George Floyd fail to lead to meaningful police reform, but there’s been an awful move in the opposite direction.

While the Constitution protects the rights of students at school, many school officials are unaware of students’ legal protections, or simply ignore them.

Students around the country are turning last week’s heartbreaking school shooting in Parkland, Florida, into an inspiring and exemplary push for legislative change. In the last few days, many people have asked whether schools can discipline students for speaking out.

ACLU of Louisiana has long been committed to supporting and defending the rights of indigenous people and communities. We recognize the vital roles peaceful protest, nonviolent civil disobedience, and activism play in defending our civil and human rights.  We have seen firsthand in our own Louisiana communities the chilling and destructive results of militarized response to protest. The ACLU of Louisiana stands with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its allied indigenous nations and supporters across the globe as they speak out against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. As such, we denounce any government suppression of the right to protest and militarized policing of protesters by the state of North Dakota.

East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar R. Moore announced today that more than half of the people arrested over a three day period of protests between July 8 – July 11 will not be charged with a crime. This should not be seen as a victory for the protestors, because they should not have been arrested in the first place.

Eyewitness accounts at demonstrations taking place in Baton Rouge and surrounding cities following the shooting of Alton Sterling brought to light the militarization of and illegal use of force by police on protesters.