At Liberty

This week marks the one-year anniversary of arguably the most important privacy ruling of the digital age. In Carpenter v. the United States, the Supreme Court ruled that police violated the Fourth Amendment when they secured months’ worth of a robbery suspect's location information from his cell phone company without a warrant. Nathan Freed Wessler, the ACLU attorney who argued and won the case, discusses Carpenter’s legacy and where the battle for digital privacy is headed next.

As discussions about racism in America gain traction, so too does the question of reparations. Broadly defined as some form of repayment for the harms inflicted on enslaved peoples and their descendants, reparations have earned increased visibility thanks to advocacy by the National African-American Reparations Commission and other groups. The issue has become a 2020 presidential campaign issue and the House of Representatives will hold a hearing next week on H.R. 40, a bill to set up a commission to study the matter. Why is this happening now? How would reparations work in practice? And what are the prospects for genuine change? Jeffery Robinson, deputy legal director at the ACLU, joins At Liberty to discuss these questions and more.

On this week’s episode, Georgetown Professor Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor, joins At Liberty to discuss his book, "Chokehold: Policing Black Men"; how the criminal legal system has Black men in its grip; and why it's so hard to change the system from within.

In the last few months, six states have passed laws that essentially ban abortion, and several other states have similar bills pending. Restrictions on access to abortion have been building for decades since the Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that abortion is a constitutional right. But these direct assaults on abortion represent a turning point. Brigitte Amiri, the deputy director of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project, has litigated several major abortion rights cases. She joins At Liberty to talk about how the new state bans could play out and what it’s like to be on the frontlines of the battle for reproductive rights.

Olivia Wilde and Katie Silberman, the director and the writer of the new movie “Booksmart,” joined At Liberty to talk about storytelling, casting without bias, and why "The Big Lebowski" was an inspiration. Wilde is known for her roles on TV shows such as “The O.C.” and “House” and in many films, including the Oscar-winning film “Her.” She is a longtime activist and a board member of the ACLU of Southern California. Katie Silberman has written for TV shows and movies, including “Set It Up” and “Isn’t It Romantic.” This episode was taped live at Brooklyn Public Library.

May 17 marks the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court case that declared state laws enforcing racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Yet more than six decades later, segregation in some public school systems is worse than ever. Dr. Ansley Erickson, associate professor of history and education at Columbia University's Teacher College, joins At Liberty to discuss Brown’s legacy and why desegregation has been so hard to achieve.

Wyatt Cenac is an actor, writer, producer and comedian ("The Daily Show," “Medicine for Melancholy”). He joins At Liberty to discuss balancing comedy and social commentary and his new show “Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas,” now in its second season on HBO.

Mitra Ebadolahi, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Border Litigation Project, joins At Liberty to debunk misconceptions about the border and discuss the fight to hold CBP accountable. For more information visit: www.holdcbpaccountable.org.

A few weeks ago, the ACLU and other civil rights organizations announced a landmark settlement with Facebook to prevent advertisers from using ad-targeting filters based on race, gender, and age on job, housing, and credit ads. But Facebook ads are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the use of algorithms to reinforce and automatize bias. ACLU attorneys Galen Sherwin and Esha Bhandari join At Liberty to discuss the impact of these technologies on people’s lives and fighting discrimination in the digital age.

On Tuesday, April 23, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear the case Department of Commerce v. New York, which asks whether a question about citizenship can be added to the 2020 Census questionnaire. The case will be argued by Dale Ho, the director of the ACLU Voting Rights Project. He joins At Liberty to discuss the case and how he's preparing for oral argument in our country’s highest court.

At Liberty sits down with Meg Singer, the Indigenous Justice program manager at the ACLU of Montana, and Lillian Alvernaz, the ACLU’s first Indigenous Justice Legal Fellow, to discuss Indigenous justice and organizing for social change in Indigenous communities. To learn more about Meg and Lillian and the ACLU of Montana’s Indigenous justice work visit www.aclumontana.org.

Sergio de la Pava is a critically acclaimed novelist (A Naked Singularity, Personae, Lost Empress) and a full-time public defender who has represented thousands of criminal defendants over the last two decades. He joined At Liberty live at the Brooklyn Public Library to discuss his literary and legal work and his approach to life.

Nicole Ozer, the Technology and Civil Liberties director for the ACLU of California, has been at the forefront of debates around privacy and technology for more than 15 years. She joins At Liberty to break down the current state of facial recognition technology and why it raises civil rights and civil liberties concerns.

Reginald Dwayne Betts is a published poet, memoirist, and legal scholar who's currently pursuing a Ph.D. in law at Yale. His legal work, like his poetry, is informed by the years he spent in prison as a teen. This week he sits down with At Liberty to discuss his journey to the legal profession, his perspective on the criminal justice system, and his art.

This week, At Liberty comes to you from Austin, TX, where we recorded in front of a live audience with Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave, and The Nightwatchman. We sat down to discuss “Atlas Underground,” Morello’s new album of “social justice ghost stories,” as well as his decades of activism on issues like criminal justice reform, income inequality, unions, free speech, and mental health. Morello also announced his new role as an ambassador for the ACLU’s Campaign for Smart Justice, a nationwide effort to reduce the U.S. jail and prison population by 50 percent and to combat racism in the criminal system. Learn more about the Campaign for Smart Justice at www.aclu.org/smartjustice.

Rocky Myers is one of 175 people on death row in Alabama. The devastating flaws in his case from the moment of arrest to his sentencing displays the injustice of a brutal criminal system. His attorney Kacey Keeton and investigator Sara Romano join At Liberty to discuss the death penalty, Rocky’s case, and his appeal for clemency. Learn more and sign the petition for clemency at www.aclu.org/rocky.

As Black History Month comes to an end, Professor Carol Anderson (Emory University) joins At Liberty to discuss ongoing voter suppression efforts in the United States, and as a bonus, she tells the story of how the NAACP helped lead the global struggle against colonialism in the 1940s and 1950s.

Alan Rusbridger is the former editor of The Guardian and author of "Breaking News: The Remaking of Journalism and Why It Matters Now." He joins At Liberty to discuss the state of journalism in the social media age: what has been lost in this information revolution and what has been gained?

This Valentine's Day, we're joined by Melissa Murray, NYU Law professor and expert on the legal regulation of sex and sexuality. Professor Murray and host Emerson Sykes discuss the legal institution of marriage as it has been used by and against marginalized people, and consider the victories and setbacks in the fight for marriage — and nonmarriage — equality.

As part of the "Night of Philosophy and Ideas," renowned philosopher and NYT Ethicist columnist Kwame Anthony Appiah joined host Emerson Sykes — and a live audience! — to discuss identity, ethics, and the law. The event was hosted by the Brooklyn Public Library and the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.

In his new Oscar-nominated film "Vice," Adam McKay(Saturday Night Live, "The Big Short") tells the story of Dick Cheney's journey from college dropout to becoming the most powerful — and probably the most controversial — vice president in American history. McKay joins At Liberty to discuss Cheney's legacy and why he chose to tell this story now.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has become a cultural icon, inspiring internet memes, popular biographies, documentaries, and a new feature film called On the Basis of Sex. This week, we reflect on her impact on the ACLU, where she founded the Women’s Rights Project in 1972. We’re joined by Lenora Lapidus, the project’s current director, to discuss the fight for women’s rights then and now.

A raft of new state and federal laws are seeking to stop people from participating in political boycotts aimed at the state of Israel. ACLU attorney Brian Hauss has challenged these laws across the U.S., and just this month argued against one in Arkansas. He joins Emerson Sykes — At Liberty’s new host! — to discuss what exactly this all means and why it's a major threat to the First Amendment. Update (1/18/19): After this episode was released, J Street clarified that the organization does not, in fact, support or engage in settlement boycotts.

The Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade in 1973, establishing access to abortion care as a fundamental right. But state legislatures have been chipping away at that right ever since, passing thousands of restrictions on abortion access and targeting abortion providers with burdensome rules. Several states now have only one abortion clinic left. Millions of women have no meaningful access to abortion care. Louise Melling, deputy legal director of the ACLU, discusses what to watch for at this pivotal time for reproductive rights.

For our final episode of 2018, we're making a slight departure from our typical format. As we wind down the year and prepare to spend more time indoors, we've asked ACLU staff to give you their movie recommendations to make sure you're properly entertained this holiday season. Happy viewing, and we'll be back to regularly scheduled programming in 2019.

As homelessness steadily rises in America, so too does the willingness of state and local governments to use criminal laws against their homeless residents. Earlier this year, a federal appeals court found that laws making it illegal to sleep in public violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment when they're used against individuals without access to shelter. Maria Foscarinis, the founder and executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, discusses the decision, criminalization broadly, and other systemic obstacles to addressing the needs of homeless people.

Almost 250 years after the adoption of the Declaration of the Independence, debates about founding principles like equality, rights, and representation are as fraught as ever. Jill Lepore, a Harvard history professor and New Yorker staff writer, discusses her latest book, “These Truths,” an ambitious exploration of the evolution of our nation from its earliest days.

The state of transgender equality is in rapid flux in state legislatures, in federal law, in the courts and at the ballot box. Progress is consistently met with backlash. In the past midterm election, Massachusetts voters staved off an effort to dismantle legal protection for trans individuals in public spaces. Yet the Supreme Court is poised to reconsider legal victories won by trans plaintiffs in the federal courts, and Trump's White House seeks to exclude trans people from the military and from federal anti-discrimination law. Chase Strangio, staff attorney with the ACLU’s LGBT and HIV Project, discusses the current legal landscape.

In recent weeks, hundreds of Amazon employees have spoken out to oppose the company marketing its facial recognition software for use by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They join a chorus of voices — both in the tech world and outside of it — who are concerned about the use of artificial intelligence by law enforcement. We’re replaying a recent episode on the impact of A.I. on our civil liberties, featuring Meredith Whittaker of the AI Now Institute.

Florida seems perpetually to be at the center of the national conversation and news cycle. The current recount to determine the results of Florida's Senate and gubernatorial races is just the latest in a series of high-profile elections and attention-grabbing cases in the Sunshine State. This week’s guest, Howard Simon, has had a front row seat to it all as the executive director of the ACLU of Florida for over 20 years. We’re asking Howard for his insights into a state that reflects a lot of the divisions in this country.

The midterm elections made a lot of news, but one result particularly stands out: Florida's vote on Amendment 4. In a historic change, Floridians voted to amend their state constitution to restore voting rights to most people convicted of felonies once they've completed their full sentences. It sailed over the 60 percent threshold it needed to pass. The passage of Amendment 4 marks the largest single expansion of voting rights since the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18 in 1971. In a state where one of 10 adults couldn’t vote, 1.4 million Floridians will now be able to reclaim their place in civic life. To mark the occasion, we’re replaying an earlier episode of At Liberty, which explores the history of felony disenfranchisement and features Desmond Meade, one of the leaders of this historic effort.

With the midterm elections only a few days away, voting rights advocates have been working furiously to ensure that the result will be the product of a free and fair election where everyone eligible to vote is able to do so. Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, discusses the state of the vote in 2018 and the biggest challenges and opportunities for voting rights this election season.

One year ago this month, the first bombshell allegations against Harvey Weinstein appeared in The New York Times and The New Yorker. Shortly thereafter, #MeToo went viral on social media. But the origins of this movement are at least a decade older. They lie with the work of Tarana Burke, a civil rights advocate devoted to fighting sexual harassment and violence. We talk to Tarana and actor and activist Alyssa Milano, whose tweet helped bring #MeToo mainstream.

The 2018 midterm elections will determine the fate of governorships nationwide, the party that controls Congress, and the outcome of hugely consequential ballot questions in many states. The stakes are high, including for key civil rights and civil liberties. This week, At Liberty features Faiz Shakir, the ACLU’s national political director, who discusses what we can expect from next month's ballot, and how the ACLU is getting involved.

Harvard University is facing a lawsuit alleging that its undergraduate admissions practices unlawfully discriminate against Asian American applicants. This suit is the latest salvo in the legal battle over whether and how schools can consider race as a factor in their admissions process. Jin Hee Lee, senior deputy director of litigation at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, joins At Liberty to discuss the case. She represents 25 Harvard students and alumni groups who have filed briefs in defense of Harvard's current use of a holistic and race-conscious admissions process.

The nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has turned into a full-blown national drama, amid credible sexual misconduct allegations against him. Late last week, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that Kavanaugh assaulted her when they were both in high school. Kavanaugh denied her claims in a combative and emotional response. The ACLU does not ordinarily oppose or support judicial nominations. However, the day after the Senate hearing, the ACLU’s national board voted to suspend that policy in order to formally oppose Kavanaugh’s nomination. ACLU President and Brooklyn Law School professor Susan Herman joins At Liberty to discuss the decision.

More than 2,000 firefighters battling the blaze in California this summer came from inside the state’s prison system. They were part of a national workforce of incarcerated people, paid pennies per hour and sometimes nothing at all, for hourly labor benefiting the U.S. economy. Driven in part by demands for better working conditions and wages, incarcerated workers last month began a nationwide prison strike. David Fathi, a longtime prison rights advocate and director of the ACLU National Prison Project, discusses the strike and the organizers’ demands.

America’s response to the 9/11 attacks have dominated our foreign policy, military priorities, and human rights record for 17 years now. Perhaps no place on earth is a better symbol of that response than the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Today, 40 prisoners remain, as does the legacy of torture — in the bodies and minds of many of these men, and in the lingering stain on our legal system. Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, discusses how the “War on Terror” has changed America.

More than a month ago, a federal court ordered the Trump administration to reunite immigrant children and parents it had separated at the U.S. border. Yet hundreds of children remain on their own in government custody, and many of their parents have already been deported. Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project and attorney for the separated families, just returned from a trip to Guatemala to find some of the parents whose children are still being held in the U.S.

The Supreme Court is meant to protect the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. Historically, however, it has repeatedly failed to live up to that promise. Can one justice change the course of the Supreme Court? Erwin Chemerinsky, a Supreme Court litigator and dean of Berkeley Law School, discusses the court’s history and the threats a Justice Brett Kavanaugh could pose to our constitutional rights.

Many of the children who are presently gearing up for a new school year are also preparing to face police on a daily basis. The numbers of cops in schools is growing, which often means that instead of a detention or a time out, routine misbehavior can result in arrest and criminal charges — with children of color disproportionately impacted. The U.S. Department of Education recently released data collected from America’s 96,000 public schools. That data shows that students of color make up the majority of public school students for the first time. It also details police presence in schools, the lack of social services in many schools, and the growing racial disparities in public school systems serving 50 million students. The ACLU is partnering with the UCLA Civil Rights Project on a series of reports and data tools to enhance the public’s understanding of the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). Amir Whitaker, an attorney at the ACLU of Southern California and co-author of those reports, joins At Liberty to discuss the school-to-prison pipeline, how the Trump administration might address it, and what it all means for our children.

President Trump often demonizes entire immigrant groups, referring to Mexican people as “rapists” and undocumented immigrants as “animals.” Yet statistics show that immigrants, both undocumented and otherwise, are actually less likely to commit crimes than the average U.S. citizen. How did our American political conversation start to conflate immigrants with criminality? And how has immigration policy changed along with this rhetoric? Cecilia Wang, the deputy legal director of the ACLU, discusses the legal and political history of immigration criminalization. At Liberty is also joined by Ravi Ragbir, an immigrant and activist leader waging a legal battle against his own deportation.

The United States sends more people to prison or jail than any other nation in the world. Donald Trump pledged to be tough on crime, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions has pushed to reinvigorate the war on drugs. They're contributing to the mass incarceration crisis, but they didn't create it. It's the result of decades of criminal policies enacted in every state in this country. Local prosecutors are big drivers of mass incarceration. Can they be part of the solution? Udi Ofer, the deputy national political director of the ACLU and the director of the ACLU Campaign for Smart Justice, discusses ways people can fight against mass incarceration in their communities.

On August 12, 2017, a group of white supremacists gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia. The day was a disaster, with violence in the streets and Heather Heyer murdered by a man who drove his car into a crowd of anti-racist protesters. The ACLU of Virginia had represented Jason Kessler, the march organizer, in a First Amendment lawsuit when city officials attempted to move the location of the event. The ACLU’s representation of Kessler has renewed debate, both inside and outside the organization, about its role as a prominent defender of both free speech and racial justice. With white supremacy rearing its head, can the same organization effectively advance both principles? Dennis Parker, director of the ACLU Racial Justice Program, and Ben Wizner, director of the organization’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, reflect on the ongoing debate.

It seems like artificial intelligence is everywhere these days — in our homes, in our cars, in our offices, and of course online. Government decisions, too, are being outsourced to computer code. In one Pennsylvania county, for example, welfare services use digital tools to assess the likelihood that a child is at risk of abuse. Los Angeles contracts with the data giant Palantir to engage in predictive policing, in which algorithms identify residents who might commit future crimes. Local police departments are buying Amazon's facial recognition tool, which can automatically identify people as they go about their lives in public. What does all this mean for our civil liberties? And how can the public exercise oversight of a secret algorithm? AI Now Co-founder Meredith Whittaker discusses this brave new world — and the ways we can keep it in check.

In recent months, Black Americans have had the cops called on them for things like waiting in Starbucks, entering their own dorm rooms, moving into their own apartments, and barbecuing in a public park. Why are these stories making waves now, and what do they say about being Black in America? Jeff Robinson, director of the ACLU Trone Center for Justice and Equality, discusses America’s history of criminalizing race, and how we can meaningfully confront it.

The 14th Amendment, ratified exactly 150 years ago, promises equal protection to everyone. But it’s also used to strip the right to vote from millions of Americans who have been convicted of felonies. How did this happen, and who’s affected? Desmond Meade talks to At Liberty about his campaign that could restore voting rights to a huge number of Floridians. We also hear from the ACLU’s Dale Ho, about why the Florida initiative could tip the scales — in a good way — for the rest of the country.

On the eve of the five-year anniversary of the creation of Black Lives Matter, Patrisse Cullors discusses the life that led her to co-found one of the most consequential racial justice movements of our time. She talks about the evolution of the organization since its inception, what it’s like to live under surveillance, the books that inspired her, and more.

An eventful Supreme Court session just came to a close. This year, the court handed down major decisions on partisan gerrymandering, warrantless searches and seizures, union dues, the religious rights of business owners, and the Trump administration's notorious travel ban — to name a few. But the most consequential news from the court came once the session ended, with Justice Anthony Kennedy announcing his retirement. ACLU David Cole looks back on the most important cases of the session, and considers the court’s very uncertain future.

Lee Gelernt has been fighting Trump’s family separation policy since early this year, months before it became the subject of national outrage. Thousands of children remain separated from their parents, despite the president’s executive order purporting to end the practice. Just hours before taping this interview, a federal judge issued a decision calling for the government to take immediate action to unify these families. Lee discusses the future of this policy and the consequences of the Supreme Court’s Muslim ban ruling on immigration policy broadly.