News & Commentary

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia (ACLU-WV) has filed a lawsuit in Cabell County Circuit Court against the county’s 911 system and county commission for violating state open records laws.In October, county emergency officials refused a records request made by

Over the past few months, the city of Morgantown has bulldozed multiple tent encampments belonging to unhoused people. It has also failed to provide low-barrier housing for the people displaced by its actions. The city has also failed at times to maintain an accessible warming shelter for unhoused people, including during the recent snowstorms.

As we reflect on the first anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, it’s easy to think of that day’s attack as an isolated incident — a singular outlandish, violent siege that threatened our democracy. But beginning long before Jan. 6, there has been a sustained attack on our fundamental right to vote — the cornerstone of democracy. Devoid of the guns, knives, and bats wielded by the Jan. 6 insurrectionists, this threat may seem modest, but the future of our democracy is still very much in peril.

The new year is a time for reflection, resolutions, and commitments to self-improvement. It’s also the start of another West Virginia legislative session. What a great time for legislative leaders to commit to responsible governance.

2022 is nearly here, and this will likely be another tumultuous year for civil liberties in West Virginia.

Twenty-one months into the pandemic, many people outside of jails, prisons, and civil detention centers in the U.S. are rushing to get their booster vaccines and are spending time with friends and family in ways that felt impossible less than a year ago. The pandemic is far from over, as the omicron variant has made clear. Still, heralding vaccines and rapid tests, public officials are urging vaccinated Americans to celebrate the holidays together, carefully. “We’ll get through this,” President Biden said in his address this week.

Workers still are routinely denied the temporary job changes they need to have healthy pregnancies — but a bipartisan bill is poised to provide millions of workers with these protections.

The West Virginia Criminal Law Reform Coalition hosted an advocacy day at the Capitol to bring awareness to the issues constituents hope to see addressed during the 2022 legislative session.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A federal court in West Virginia this week rejected the efforts of several defendants to deny Becky Pepper-Jackson her day in court to challenge a discriminatory West Virginia law, H.B. 3293, that would block her from participating in school sports. The ruling came in the lawsuit challenging the ban filed by Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of West Virginia, and Cooley LLP.