ACLU of Texas - Projects - Press Releases

For more information about issues presented to the media on various topics, please check our program pages to the right in the relevant issue area. If you are a member of the media and you wish to speak to the ACLU, please call 512-478-7300. If you are on deadline please tell us your deadline.

ACLU of Texas DISPATCH Newsletter

The DISPATCH Newsletters from the ACLU of Texas are archived here.

Sexual Abuse of Female Detainees at Hutto Highlights Ongoing Failure of Immigration Detention System, Says ACLU
A Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) employee at the T. Don Hutto immigration detention facility in Taylor, TX today was charged with sexually abusing numerous female immigration detainees. Read More...

Christian Prisoner Entitled To Seek Monetary Damages For Violation Of His Religious Rights, Says ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas filed a friend-of-the-court brief today with the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the right of a prisoner in Texas to seek monetary damages from the state under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 after he was denied access to a prison chapel for religious purposes. Read More...

Shackling of Inmates During Labor and Delivery Continues Despite State Law
ACLU of Texas and Texas Jail Project Seek New Standards From Texas Commission on Jail Standards Read More...

ACLU of Texas Urges Fort Worth City Council to Seek Independent Legal Evaluation of Outdoor Event Ordinance
Ordinance Has Constitutional Implications, Civil Rights Group Says Read More...

ACLU of Texas Sues Hidalgo County, Challenges ”Debtor’s Prison” for Truant Teens
The ACLU of Texas has filed a federal class action lawsuit against Hidalgo County. The lawsuit asks a judge to enjoin practices that have improperly sent dozens - possibly hundreds - of the county's low-income teens to jail for weeks at a time for fines related to school attendance violations they were unable to pay. Read More...

ACLU of Texas Annual Meeting and Conference Next Week
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas Annual Meeting and Youth Rights Conference is now little more than a week away with the event promising to be the premiere civil rights event of the summer in Texas. Read More...

City of Helotes Parade Ordinance May Violate First Amendment
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas today asked city officials in Helotes to respond to concerns that the Bexar County town’s parade ordinance is unconstitutional because it allows “unequal enforcement and targeting of an event based on its content.” Read More...

ACLU of Texas Calls for Stricter Hiring, Training Standards for Border Patrol
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas today called for better training and stricter hiring standards for the federal agents who patrol the country’s borders following the death of a teenager at the hands of the U.S. Border Patrol earlier this week. Read More...

ACLU of Texas Annual Meeting Adds Speakers
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas has added several speakers, including an attorney who has successfully argued a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, to its Annual Meeting and Youth Rights Conference, Saturday, July 31 in Austin. Read More...

ACLU of Texas Announces New Director of Development
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas today announced Cheryl Newcomb as new Director of Development beginning June 1. Read More...

ACLU of Texas Condemns Reported Sexual Abuse at Hutto Facility
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas is deeply disturbed about reports that female detainees held at the T. Don Hutto Detention Facility in Taylor, Texas were sexually abused by a guard employed by the Corrections Corporation of America, a private for-profit prison management company that operates the facility under contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Read More...

Austin City Council Should Take Action On Privacy Policy For Regional Intelligence Gathering
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas today called upon the Austin City Council to take action on a privacy policy relating to local and state domestic intelligence gathering practices. Read More...

ACLU of Texas Calls Upon Lawmakers To Address Abuse of Power By SBOE
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas today thanked legislators who, along with more than 200 other witnesses, participated in 22 hours of testimony during a State Board of Education (SBOE) hearing on proposed social studies curriculum standards. Read More...

ACLU of Texas Warns Parker County About Restricting Access to Abortion Services
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas today sent a letter to Parker County explaining that the County does not have legal justification to restrict access to abortion services by refusing to transport county jail inmates to off-site medical facilities. Read More...

ACLU of Texas and United Sikhs Release Joint Letter to Texas ISDs
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and UNITED SIKHS today released a joint letter reminding school districts of the protections for religious dress required by state law and the U.S. Constitution. Read More...

ACLU of Texas Tours North Texas Fusion Center
Stresses privacy policies as well as law enforcement. Read More...

Know Your Religious Rights in Public Schools
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas today issued a new ”frequently asked questions” (FAQ) sheet that is intended to help parents and students understand their rights with respect to religion in Texas public school curricula. Read More...

CAP Leads to Racial Profiling in Irving, TX
A report by the Warren Institute at the University of California-Berkley School of describes the effects on the community resulting from the Criminal Alien Program in Irving, TX., a law enforcement effort that has led to diminished community confidence in police and has wasted crime-fighting resources. Read More...

Quick Quote from Rebecca Bernhardt
Comment on unlicensed driver in Austin, TX. Read More...

Banned Books Week Event Corpus Christi
Banned Book readings in Corpus Christi. Read More...

ACLU of Texas Condemns Harris County's Combative Response to Federal Jail Investigation
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas today criticized Harris County's choice to invest significant time, resource and effort in compiling a lengthy objection to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) findings concerning the Harris County jail system, rather than working expeditiously with DOJ to address well-documented problems of overcrowding and poor health care. Read More...

Federal Judge Approves Passport Case Settlement
A federal judge today gave final approval to the settlement of a class action lawsuit that charged the U.S. Department of State (DOS) with violating due process and equal protection rights of virtually all U.S. citizens delivered by midwives along the Texas-Mexico border. Read More...

Step Up the Vote in Texas
The League of Women Voters of Texas and five advocacy groups have come together to propose non-partisan principles to replace the very partisan principles that have been offered for election reform in Texas. We are convinced that the principles that we propose would not only improve valid voter participation but would also find and address election problems, whether the problems are fraud, misinterpretation of the law or voter intimidation. Read More...

Terri Burke
Read More...

ACLU of Texas Announces "Freedom Speakers"
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas today announced formation of its Freedom Speakers, a public service providing speakers to community organizations in the state. Read More...

Coalition Asks DPS to Rescind New Driver’s License Regulations
A civil rights coalition today said new driver’s license rules pose an impermissible hardship to citizens and non-U.S. citizens with permission to reside lawfully in the U.S. Read More...

Restricting Access to Driver’s Licenses Hurts All Texans
New Regulations Mean More Uninsured Drivers And Higher Insurance Rates Read More...

ACLU Wins Right for American Indian Kindergarten Student to Return to Class
Judge finds school district restrictions unreasonable. Read More...

ACLU of Texas Concerned Ordinance Passed by Irving City Council Unconstitutional
Today, the ACLU of Texas calls on the City of Irving to repeal regulations passed Thursday night in the name of “cleaning up crime” when in fact they can only be interpreted as an attack on the privacy of landlords, renters and low-income families. Read More...

ACLU Challenges Solitary Confinement And Unwarranted Strip Searches Of Girls Held In Texas Youth Prison
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas filed a class action lawsuit today. Read More...

Judge Orders Children Returned To Their Families
Judge Barbara Walther ordered the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services today to return more than 400 children removed from the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas to their families. Read More...

ACLU Urges Court to Correct Constitutional Errors
The ACLU of Texas is encouraged by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther?s scheduling of a hearing for 2 p.m. today to address yesterday's Texas Supreme Court decision. Read More...

ACLU Victorious In Voting Rights Act Challenge
Court rebuffs Austin MUD's challenge to declare Section 5 unconstitutional Read More...

Texas Supreme Court Calls Removal Of Children From Yearning For Zion Ranch "Unwarranted"
Ruling Concurs With ACLU Position Read More...

ACLU Releases New Report on Government "Fusion Centers"
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today released a report outlining serious concerns about new institutions called ?fusion centers,? which have been created in over 40 states around the nation ? including Texas. Read More...

New ACLU Report Details Pervasive Racial Discrimination in America
Today, the ACLU and the San Antonio Human and Civil Rights Coalition commemorate International Human Rights Day by calling on the Mayor and City Council to adopt a resolution committing to enact policies to eliminate racial discrimination in the city. Read More...

Federal Court Strikes Down National Security Letter Provision of Patriot Act
In an ACLU case, a federal court today struck down the amended Patriot Act?s National Security Letter (NSL) provision. The law has permitted the FBI to issue NSLs demanding private information about people within the United States without court approval, and to gag those who receive NSLs from discussing them. Read More...