The single interaction of a stop and frisk can be life-changing. Being stopped and searched by a police officer on the assumption that you may be committing a crime can range from humiliating to deadly. I should know.
The ACLU of Pennsylvania calls on Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, the state Supreme Court, legislators, and other stakeholders in the criminal legal system to identify certain classes of incarcerated people who should be immediately released to ensure that jails and prisons.
Too often, the use of cash bail keeps those who cannot afford to pay in jail, while wealthier individuals can buy their way to freedom. That’s not right.
These are truly unusual times. The coronavirus pandemic has created a situation unlike any other in living memory. The civil liberties implications of this outbreak are significant, and our team at the ACLU of Pennsylvania has been working tirelessly to protect our constitutional rights.
It’s critical for Pennsylvanians to let the members of the commission know that we won't accept the commonwealth being one of the worst states in the nation when it comes to mass incarceration, and that we demand better from those who represent us.
Perhaps less well known is that, since its founding in 1920, the ACLU has been engaged in the fight for civil rights and racial equality. In 1931, it took up the case of the Scottsboro Boys – nine African-American teenagers wrongly accused of raping two white women.