News & Commentary

The ACLU of Louisiana and the City of Slidell have reached a final settlement agreement for attorneys’ fees in their lawsuit over Slidell’s unconstitutional panhandling ordinance. Slidell has now paid the fees because it required panhandlers to register with police and obtain a permit in order to ask for money. In June, a federal judge ruled that the city’s panhandling ordinance was an unconstitutional infringement on First Amendment rights, and ordered Slidell to reimburse the ACLU for its costs and fees in representing its clients.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana today praised the Caddo Parish Commission’s Long-Range Planning/Special Projects Committee for voting to remove the parish’s Confederate monument that stands outside the Caddo Parish Courthouse.

The Trump administration today announced the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program. The DACA program has served as a critical lifeline for nearly 800,000 young immigrants, or “Dreamers,” who came this country as children and know the United States as their only home.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana sent a letter today to Louisiana State Police Superintendent Kevin Reeves condemning retaliatory action taken against a driver who gestured at a state trooper with his middle finger. 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana today reiterated its support for Gov. John Bel Edwards’ executive order protecting LGBT Louisianans from discrimination in seeking state employment or services, and condemned Attorney General Jeff Landry for continuing to challenge it in court. The First Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in the case tomorrow (August 15).

People awaiting trial before a Baton Rouge criminal court were coerced into paying hundreds of dollars to a company before they were released from jail – even after they had paid their bail, according to a lawsuit filed last night by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the ACLU of Louisiana.

The ACLU Louisiana, affiliates in nine states, and the national ACLU filed open records requests today demanding copies of any communications between the Louisiana Office of the Attorney General and the federal government regarding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) program.

In a victory for religious freedom, the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals today sided with the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana and ruled that the state Department of Corrections’ (DOC) prohibition on dreadlocks violated the rights of their client, Christopher Ware.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana today condemned  Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s decision to appeal a ruling ordering him to identify the prosecutors in his office who have issued or authorized false subpoenas, or documents that claim to be subpoenas but were not issued by a court.