Finally, legal use marijuana in Maryland is becoming a reality - but that doesn't mean that it's officially legal just yet. Here's a timeline breaking down everything you need to know around this next phase of marijuana laws. 

Read the full timeline here: https://www.aclu-md.org/en/news/road-marijuana-legalization-timeline-so-far

Reading Freely: The Road To Marijuana Legalization Timeline So Far

Pride is more than a place holder on a calendar - it's protest. 

Over 50 years after the Stonewall Uprising, and six months away from the 50th anniversary of the now overruled Roe v. Wade, we can feel the tides changing, pulling us back into the past. The very first sounds of LGBTQ+ freedom and liberation were hundreds of queer folx screaming and chanting "out of the closet and into the streets!" 

Decades later, we have returned to the streets desperate and determined not to return to a life of persecution and secrecy. The very core of queerness is radical revolution – existing proudly regardless of others' disdain or the status quo.

Be sure to check out the written version here: https://www.aclu-md.org/en/news/pride-more-month-its-mentality

Reading Freely: Pride Is More Than A Month - It's A Mentality

Know The Facts. Immigrants' rights are more important now than ever. And one pressing issue on the minds of many in Maryland is that the 287(g) program continues to plague us. The program deputizes local and state law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws.

A couple years back, the ACLU of Maryland shared data in Seven Truths Surrounding 287(g) Programs showing just how racist immigration enforcement is in Maryland. Now, we have the latest data showing the same depressing results.

Be sure to check out the written version here: https://www.aclu-md.org/en/news/know-facts-about-racist-anti-immigrant-287g-program

Reading Freely: Know The Facts About The Racist, Anti-Immigrant 287(G) Program

Our vote is a fundamental freedom and our democracy is threatened without real access to everyone. The ACLU of Maryland has long worked to stop voter disenfranchisement in all its forms. 

In this audio blog, learn how tactics of ballot exclusion have evolved over the years, and how the path to overcoming this ailment and expanding fundamental suffrage is no modern idea.

Check out the written version at https://www.aclu-md.org/en/news/enfranchising-maryland-during-era-disenfranchisement

Reading Freely: Enfranchising Maryland During An Era Of Disenfranchisement

Many Maryland children are heading back to school. After a year and a half of virtual learning, most students will go back into their school buildings. But what experience will they step back into?

On this episode we speak with key ACLU experts, Justin Nalley, public policy analyst, Frank Patinella, senior education advocate, and Tierney Peprah, staff attorney, about the work we will be doing to ensure an education system that values and uplifts students’ humanity.

Back to School: A Race Conscious Call to Action

On April 20, 2021, the jury in the Derek Chauvin trial issued a guilty verdict on all three counts for the murder of George Floyd. However, one verdict is not justice – it’s simply accountability. Over 5,000 people were killed by police in the U.S. since 2015, including George Floyd and Anton Black, who were killed by police in eerily, terrifyingly similar ways. We talked to LaToya Holley, the sister of Anton Black, Dayvon Love, Director of Public Policy for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle and Sonia Kumar, Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU of Maryland about the Derrick Chauvin verdict, the work being done to get justice for Anton Black and what we must do to reform policing the create a system that values and protects Black lives.    

Watch: Assessing the Claim or "Movement" to Defund the Police with Lawrence Grandpre, Director of Research for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle: https://youtu.be/BuG_yqnfQoU 

Read: Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle’s "When Baltimore Awakes" publication: https://bit.ly/3dMGDYk

The Derek Chauvin Verdict, Anton Black, and Protecting Black Lives

Immigrants in Frederick County have been fighting for their rights for years. We’ve seen some great victories this year. Immigrants have won in the courts and in local policy that helps the community, despite the odds. In this episode, we talked to Sara Movahed, ACLU of Maryland board member and founding partner at Movahed & Fisher Law, LLC., - www.movahedfisher.com and Brian Whittaker of Nixon Peabody LLP - nixonpeabody.com who represented Sara Medrano and the RISE Coalition in their successful legal challenge to racial profiling by local police deputized to act as ICE agents. We also hear the words of Sara Medrano and Flor Garay of the RISE Coalition of Western Maryland about being able to fully participate in society regardless of citizenship or legal status without discrimination.

Life, Liberty, and Humanity: Women in the immigrant community fighting for a better Frederick

Police officers on Maryland's Eastern Shore killed Anton Black, a 19-year-old Black teenager, on the afternoon of September 15, 2018. Over two years later, the family and the Coalition for Justice for Anton Black are still fighting for justice for Anton Black. To talk more about this we will speak with Antone Black, the father of Anton Black, Richard Potter, an educator and President of the Talbot County Branch of the NAACP, and Deborah Jeon, legal director for the ACLU of Maryland, about the impact they hope their legal challenge will have as part of the work to reimagine policing in Maryland.

To take action to demand police reform visit: https://www.aclu-md.org/reimaginepolicing

Coverup, Police Killing and the Medical Examiner: Anton Black should still be alive today

The right to vote and participate in our democracy is currently denied to over 18,000 citizens who are incarcerated in Maryland. Dating back to the racist Jim Crow era, state felony disfranchisement laws were created to prevent Americans entangled in the legal justice system from voting. After the Civil War, there was a concerted effort to incarcerate thousands of Black people who were newly freed, in order to weaken their political power. In Free the Vote, a new documentary by the ACLU of Maryland, we talked with people who were formerly incarcerated, politicians, historians, and advocates who share their experiences and dreams of a Maryland and country where the right to vote is restored for every citizen who is currently incarcerated.
 
In this episode listen to Farajii Muhammed, host of “For the Culture” on WEAA 88.9 FM; Qiana Johnson, executive director of Life After Release; Dr. Pippa Holloway, author of “Living In Infamy: Felon Disfranchisement and the History of American Citizenship”; Chris Wilson, serial social entrepreneur, storyteller, artist, social justice advocate, and author of "The Master Plan"; and me, Amber Taylor, the producer of Free the Vote and digital communications strategist at ACLU of Maryland. Together, we explain why we need to ensure every citizen who is incarcerated has access to the vote and the ballot behind bars.

Learn More: https://www.freethevotemovie.com/

Free the Vote: Let people who are incarcerated access the ballot

After the 2020 election, a national awaking on systemic racism, COVID-19, and a politically divided nation, it is important to reflect on where we have been and where we could go. As 2021 draws near, Maryland and our country have much to do to empower people to exercise their rights so that the law values and uplifts their humanity. On Thinking Freely this month, we were joined by Dana Vickers Shelley, the Executive Director of the ACLU of Maryland, and Marion Gray Hopkins, President of the Coalition of Concerned Mothers, mother of Gary Hopkins, who was killed by police in Prince George’s County and an ACLU of Maryland board member, about some of our visions for Maryland and how you can get involved.

Welcome 2021: Still work to do (Bonus Episode)

Another Maryland Legislative session is upon us, with the General Assembly set to start on January 13, 2021. Due to COVID-19, this will be a virtual session and we will work to make sure people’s voices are heard by legislators as they make decisions during this challenging time. That’s why it is important to stay informed on what’s happening next session. In 2021, the ACLU of Maryland will be working along with our partners on 5 priority areas as we reimage policing: 1) Repeal the Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights, 2) Restore control of the Baltimore City Police Department back to Baltimore City residents, 3) Make investigations into police misconduct transparent by reforming the Maryland Public Information Act, 4) Limit the use of force by law enforcement, and 5) Remove law enforcement from our children's schools. ACLU of Maryland will also advocate for education rights like the Blueprint for Maryland’s future Act, fight to enact a statewide trust act, to defend the rights, of immigrants in our communities, and to take the Politics Out of Parole. Yanet Amanuel, Public Policy Advocate, Joe Spielberger, our Public Policy Council, and Justin Nalley, our Education Policy Analyst join Thinking Freely this month to talk about this work and how you can get involved.

Take action: https://bit.ly/3lAorTe

Reimaging policing and more in Maryland's 2021 legislative session

School Resource Officers, more commonly known as SROs, are really school police. There are thousands of them in schools across Maryland, even though many of these same schools don’t have access to guidance counselors, therapists,or nurses to support students’ growth. The evidence is clear that school resource officers are associated with higher increases in arrests of students, and there is an unacceptable, disproportionate rate of Black and Latinx students who are arrested, including children with disabilities. We must work to reimagine an education system that keeps students safe and respects their rights. Maryland needs to invest in students' education, not in their incarceration.

To learn more visit: https://www.aclu-md.org/ReimaginePolicing

If you have questions or comments about the show please send us an email at aclu@aclu-md.org

Police Free Schools in Maryland

Listen to a special episode of the Thinking Freely podcast, as we talk with experts on making voting safe, easy, and accessible for voters during the 2020 election this year's constitution day event.

Learn more about your voting rights: https://www.aclu-md.org/voting

Constitution Day 2020 - Let People Vote

As we celebrate Latinx Heritage Month, we must continue to uplift the humanity of Latinx people. We need to protect immigrants from victimization and criminalization. No one should be, but too often, they are profiled for their skin color or denied the respect and dignity that every human being deserves. No one should be "othered" for merely existing. But the Latinx community is resilient, and groups like the RISE Coalition of Western Maryland are finding ways to support their community and exercise their rights. They show how we can make a better and safer community for our Latinx neighbors and Maryland as a whole.

Note: Since recording this podcast, the R.I.S.E Collation of Western Maryland hit their community fundraising goal. You can continue to support them and their efforts by visiting their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RISECoalitionMD

Still Rising: How the Latinx community is exercising their power in Frederick

The fight for voting rights remains as critical as ever, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. We talked to leading voting rights experts in Maryland: Joanne Antoine, Executive Director of Common Cause, Reverend Kobi Little, President of the Baltimore Branch of the NAACP, and Dana Vickers Shelley, Executive Director of the ACLU of Maryland. We talked about our voting rights, the challenges of voting during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what you need to know to exercise your vote by Tuesday, November 3.

Your Voice, Your Vote: Let’s Make Sure Everyone Can Vote in the 2020 Election

With police spy planes, everywhere Baltimore goes, the government will always know. Spy planes carry sophisticated cameras developed for the military, mounted on airplanes, that can see the entire city, and that track the movement of every person or vehicle moving outside. Baltimore has a terrible history of racial bias and a lack of accountability for abuses by police. It should be the last place to use a program of mass surveillance.  In this episode, we talk with Dayvon Love, the Public Policy Director for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, a grassroots think tank that advances the public policy interests of Black people in Baltimore, and David Rocah, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU of Maryland, to talk about the spy planes program, the legal case, our privacy rights, government surveillance, and the impact the spy planes are having on residents of Baltimore, especially Black residents. Let’s stop the Baltimore Police spy plane program.

Stop Spy Planes Over Baltimore: End Mass Surveillance

Too many people have lost their lives at the hands of police. But perhaps the saddest thing is that many of these deaths were unnecessary and could have been avoided. Today, we will be joined by Tracy Shand, sister to Leonard Shand, and Shamāiah Manriquez, sister to Emanuel Oates, to share their experiences about how the killing of their brothers by police could have been and should have been, prevented. We will also talk to Jay Jimenez, our Legal Program Associate, about some of the trends we are seeing in police killing and important recommendations for the police that would reduce these tragic deaths.

No More Police Killings – Reimaging Policing Now

Knowing your rights is vital. Especially during police interactions. You cannot assume that officers will behave in a way that protects your safety or that they will respect your rights even after you assert them.  That’s why the ACLU of Maryland developed our free Know Your Rights program so that you can know how to exercise your rights and what to do when your rights are violated. This month, we talked to two experienced Know Your Rights Trainers, Kimi Washington and Gus Griffin, along with Amy Cruice the Director of ACLU of Maryland’s Know Your Rights Program, about why knowing your rights is so important and how you can request a KYR training.

Know Your Rights: What to Do in Police Encounters

During these difficult times, the ACLU of Maryland is here to defend and protect our civil rights and civil liberties. We are providing guidance to our elected officials, so they can craft a COVID-19 response that is compassionate and protects the populations most vulnerable to harm, including immigrants and those caught in the legal justice system – as well as all Maryland voters. As always, we will provide people with action items you can do to support this vital work.

Uplifting our Humanity and Rights During the COVID-19 Crisis

For Women’s History Month, we are highlighting the issues facing women exiting the criminal legal system and why we need a dedicated pre-release facility for women.

The number of women and girls in the criminal legal system has grown substantially over the past several decades. The over-incarceration of women devastates families, because 75% of women who are incarcerated are the primary or sole caretakers of children. Currently, the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services operates nine dedicated lower-security facilities for men who are preparing to return to their communities from prison. But there are none for women. The re-entry services available to women are inadequate as they are, but the situation is even more egregious in light of the services available to men. We were joined by Qiana Johnson, the Executive Director of Life After Release, to discuss why women need a dedicated pre-release facility in Maryland and how to support incarcerated women.

Thinking Freely

Thinking Freely

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