News & Commentary
Latest Event
The Alabama Solution
Join us for an important screening of The Alabama Solution, followed by a community conversation around detention conditions in Oklahoma. The Alabama Solution is a powerful documentary that exposes the realities of Alabama’s prison system and centers the voices of those living within it. The brutality shown in the documentary is not unique. In a way, it shows every prison because of the violence and oppression that prison breeds. The film invites us to confront the human cost of incarceration, the forces that allow injustice to persist, and the urgent need for accountability and systemic change. Join advocates working across issues of incarceration, immigration detention, and the death penalty in Oklahoma for a community conversation after the screening that discusses how the film relates to what is happening in Oklahoma and actions you can take to fight injustice in our state.
Hosted by the Tulsa Artist Fellowship, the Julius Jones Institute, and the ACLU of Oklahoma, this event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served, and we will be joined by local community organizations who will provide free resources and ways to stay involved in advocacy efforts.
ACLU of Oklahoma Applauds District Attorney’s Call for Direct Appropriation from the Legislature
OKLAHOMA CITY –
By Bryan Newell
THE WAR ON MARIJUANA IN BLACK AND WHITE
OKLAHOMA CITY – According to a report by the ACLU, Blacks were arrested for marijuana possession at nearly three times the rate of whites in 2010, despite comparable marijuana usage rates. The report, Marijuana in Black and White: Billions of Dollars Wasted on Racially Biased Arrests, released June 5th, is the first ever to examine state and county marijuana arrest rates nationally by race. The findings show that while there were pronounced racial disparities in marijuana arrests 10 years ago, they have grown significantly worse.[1]
By Bryan Newell
TESTIMONY OF RYAN KIESEL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ACLU OF OK TO THE ENERGY AND AEROSPACE COMMITTEE OF THE OK HOUSE OF REPS FOR INTERIM DRONE STUDY
September 26, 2013
By Bryan Newell
ACLU OF OKLAHOMA HONORS FIVE LAWMAKERS FOR 2013 SESSION
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK–The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma is honoring five lawmakers for the 2013 legislative session. The Oklahoma legislature has a history of being home to true champions of civil liberties. These giants stood guard of the Constitution in a state more often known for its efforts to trample civil liberties than to protect them. The courage of these legislators to do the right thing regardless of the political consequences not only has mitigated some of the worst assaults on our freedom, but on occasion have led the charge for Oklahoma to be more free and more just than it was before their service.
By Bryan Newell
ACLU of Oklahoma Challenges State Capitol Ten Commandments Monument
OKLAHOMA CITY – The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma and the national ACLU have filed suit on behalf of several Oklahomans challenging the constitutionality of the state’s Ten Commandments Monument.
By Bryan Newell
ACLU of Oklahoma calls for Criminal Charges and State Investigation in Caddo County Drug Task Force/Desert Snow Profit-sharing Scheme
OKLAHOMA CITY – The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma today called for an OSBI investigation of the recent activities of the District Six Drug Task Force, and for criminal charges to be filed against members of Desert Snow, LLC, a private contracting company hired by Caddo County District Attorney Jason Hicks to help run drug interdiction stops of motorists along I-40 in exchange for a percentage of the Task Force’s profits.
By Bryan Newell
Coming out of the Shadows of a Broken U.S. Immigration System
Deisy Escalera–Latino Community Organizer, ACLU of Oklahoma–was born in Aguascalientes Mexico, raised in Oklahoma City. She is a student at the University of Oklahoma, former Miss Hispanic OU, Affiliate Lead for Dream Act Oklahoma, and in 2012 she was named one of Oklahoma’s 10 Most Influential Hispanic Leaders.
By Bryan Newell
ACLU of OK RESPONDS TO ANONYMOUS ANALYTICS REPORT ON CORRECTIONS CORPORATION OF AMERICA
“Today’s report from Anonymous Analytics only confirms what we have known in Oklahoma for sometime now; private prisons are a bad investment. Normally, I would say a business model that depends upon politicians making short-sighted, self-serving policy decisions would be a sound investment, but it is becoming more clear by the day that the private prison industry is a bad investment for states and shareholders alike. We urge policymakers to reconsider their appetite for private prisons and instead focus their attention on actual criminal justice reforms that make us safer and protect our tax dollars.”
By Bryan Newell
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