News & Commentary

NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans City Council yesterday unanimously approved an ordinance that will eliminate bail for most nonviolent municipal offenses, becoming the first major city in the state to pass a meaningful bail reform plan. The fight for bail reform in New Orleans has been tirelessly led by the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC), of which the ACLU of Louisiana is a founding member.

The ACLU of Louisiana is outraged at the news of a young Muslim woman being assaulted and robbed of her hijab in Lafayette yesterday morning. The report that her attackers also shouted slurs and wore Donald Trump clothing is especially troubling in light of Mr. Trump’s frequent use of anti-Muslim rhetoric on the campaign trail.We condemn this rhetoric and this behavior. We call on all Louisianians to reject anti-Muslim bigotry. Muslim Americans and residents have the same rights that we all d

The Lafayette Police Department has announced that it has dismissed its investigation of an anti-Muslim attack after the victim recanted her story. We don’t know the full story of what happened yesterday, and we don’t know what caused her to recant.

On October 11th, the ACLU of Louisiana sent a letter to the members of the council, advising them that a proposed ordinance requiring permits for panhandlers violated the Constitution. None of the councilmembers responded to the letter.

According to news reports, a man was arrested in Lafayette yesterday and charged with 'flag desecration.' Charri Mohamad was charged under LA Rev Stat § 14:116 following complaints from a local business, whose security cameras recorded footage appearing to show Mohamad burning an American flag, and tearing up another.

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.

After receiving reports of Louisiana students being punished for sitting during the Pledge of Allegiance, the ACLU of Louisiana sent a letter today to the superintendents of all Louisiana public school districts, reminding them of their obligation to protect students’ First Amendment rights.

The ACLU of Louisiana has learned that a man in New Orleans was booked on hate crime charges this week under the new ‘Blue Lives Matter’ law. During his arrest for an unrelated property crime, Raul Delatoba allegedly shouted sexist and racist slurs at officers in the 8th District police station, leading to the addition of the hate crime charge. Delatoba’s behavior, while deeply offensive, is not illegal and in fact is protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

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.