News & Commentary

Anthony Childs shouldn’t have had to die for Shreveport to repeal its unconstitutional ordinance. Now it’s on all of us to honor his memory by keeping up the fight against all forms of racial injustice.

Communities of color continue to be brutalized and killed by police without accountability or reform.

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.

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.

Details surrounding the shooting last night of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, continue to emerge. In reaction, ACLU of Louisiana Executive Director Marjorie Esman issued the following statement: