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Bans on School Mask Mandates Discriminate Against Disabled Kids Sep 16, 2021

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As millions of children head back to school, some states have banned mask mandates on school grounds. As of this recording, school districts in eight states cannot require students to wear a mask in school; if they do, many risk losing crucial state funding. This ban ignores national recommendations by the CDC to wear a mask indoors for those who are unvaccinated or in an area of high COVID transmission. For children with disabilities or families with high-risk medical conditions, the ban makes in-person learning perilous. Many children are forced back into remote learning even though studies have shown students -- particularly students of color and those with disabilities -- fall behind when they can’t attend school in person. Excluding these children from in-person learning violates federal law which is why the ACLU’s Disability Rights Project is suing on behalf of groups of parents with vulnerable children in both South Carolina and Iowa. Joining us to talk about the case is Samantha Boevers, one of the parents in the case, and Susan Mizner, the director of the ACLU's Disability Rights Project.

Survivors of the CIA Torture Program Almost 20 Years Later Sep 09, 2021

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As we pass the 20-year mark since September 11th, we are following up with the clients and the attorney of one seminal ACLU lawsuit on the CIA’s post-9/11 torture program, a program that ended in 2010 but that continues to haunt its survivors and to stain the U.S.’s international human rights record. The lawsuit Salim v Mitchell was filed in 2015 against James Elmer Mitchell and John “Bruce” Jessen, two psychologists contracted by the CIA to design, implement, and oversee the agency’s post-9/11 torture program. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three of the program’s victims. All three were kidnapped by the CIA, and then tortured and experimented on according to Mitchell and Jessen’s protocols. One of the men died as a result of his treatment. The other two men continue to endure the effects of their detention. In 2017, the psychologists agreed to a settlement — a first for a case involving CIA torture. We’ll speak with ACLU Staff Attorney Steven Watt about what the litigation achieved and what still needs to happen to help prevent any future use of torture. We’ll also have a chance to listen in on Steven’s own recent conversations with our three clients as they rebuild their lives and navigate the continued effects of the torture program.

How To End the Preschool to Prison Pipeline Sep 02, 2021

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Over the coming weeks, kids will be heading back to school – over a million of them to preschool. And while many of these preschoolers will learn about colors, shapes, and the ABC’s, thousands will learn what it’s like to be suspended for the first time. On average 250 preschoolers are suspended each day of the school year. Compared with K through 12 students, preschoolers are suspended at nearly 3 times the frequency of older students. Our guest today has spent decades raising awareness about this trend and its effect on a child’s long-term outcomes. Dr. Rosemarie Allen is an associate professor at the School of Education at Metropolitan State University of Denver where she teaches students about power, privilege, and the education system. She joins us today to discuss the preschool to prison pipeline, the punitive culture in educational spaces, the mental health care of students, and alternative approaches that teach rather than punish.

Jill Lepore on What It Means to be an American Citizen Aug 26, 2021

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In this episode, we are diving into the At Liberty archive and returning to a conversation with historian Jill Lepore. We are on the brink of a once-in-a-generation change: Congress is considering a plan to create a pathway to citizenship for up to 8 million people. This September, the ACLU is urging Congress to pass a reconciliation package which includes a path to citizenship for Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status holders, farmworkers, and other essential workers. But what does it mean to be an American citizen? And how did we get here, to a place and a time when we deny so many the ability to become an American? These are the questions that Jill Lepore explores in her book, “These Truths” which tells the story of how our nation has evolved from its origins. Jill is a professor of American history at Harvard, a staff writer at The New Yorker, and a prolific thinker and writer on history and contemporary politics. In this conversation, Jill speaks to former At Liberty host Lee Rowland. We hope you enjoy this conversation.

Ashley C. Ford on Growing Up With an Incarcerated Parent Aug 19, 2021

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One in 12 American children, more than 5.7 million kids, have experienced parental incarceration at some point during their lives. Black Americans are 50 percent more likely than white Americans to have a family member who is formerly or currently incarcerated. At the ACLU, we are working to reform the criminal legal system in order to significantly reduce its footprint in the United States, because we know the ramifications of incarceration are broad, complex and damaging. Incarceration doesn’t *just* impact the person incarcerated, but we don’t often engage in that conversation. The American jail and prison system pulls apart entire families and communities, predominantly those of color. Our guest today understands all of this on a visceral level. Ashley C. Ford is a writer, podcaster and educator who deals with topics including race, sexuality and body image. This June, Ashley released her debut memoir called Somebody’s Daughter, where she details her experience growing up with a single mom and an incarcerated dad as a Black kid in Indiana. When released, Somebody’s Daughter became an instant New York Times bestseller. Ashley joins us on the podcast today to talk about her book, mass incarceration, and what “justice” means to her from where she stands today.

Simone Biles, Sha’Carri Richardson, and How the Olympics Failed Black Women Aug 12, 2021

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Every two years the Olympic Games promise to be historic. Athletes defy odds, break records, and achieve feats unimaginable to most of us. But the 2020 games have consistently made headlines for the wrong reasons, particularly for the US Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee’s poor treatment and discrimination of athletes, especially Black women athletes. From Sha’Carri Richardson’s pre-Olympic suspension for smoking legal marijuana to the International Federation’s ban on swim caps designed for natural Black hair, or from the testosterone testing of two Namibian runners to the decades long abuse, lack of accountability, and disregard towards the mental health of athletes. The stories are almost too many to keep track of, but thankfully Ria Tabacco Mar, the Director of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project helps us parse through what we’ve watched unfold.

Kimberlé Crenshaw on Teaching the Truth about Race in America Aug 05, 2021

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Lawmakers, parents, think tanks, and conservative pundits have waged a war over how to teach students about systemic racism. As of this recording, 27 state legislatures and 165 national and local organizations have made efforts to restrict education on racism. As a result, school board members have been ousted, and some educators have resigned over the death threats, social media bullying, and harassment they’ve received from those who are adamant that teaching a more inclusive history harms students. These activists and lawmakers have centered much of their anger on a framework called Critical Race Theory. Though they’ve used it as a catchall for wokeness, political correctness, and leftist indoctrination, the term actually refers to a body of legal scholarship from the 70s and 80s that says racism is not just a result of individual prejudice, but something embedded in the legal system and in government policy. Our guest today Kimberlé Crenshaw was among the scholars who developed the theory. She also coined the term “intersectionality,” a framework that takes into account how a person’s identities combine to create unique forms of discrimination or privilege. She is a Distinguished Professor of law at Columbia University and at UCLA, co-founder of the African American Policy Forum at Columbia, and host of the podcast “Intersectionality Matters.” She joins us to help us understand the true meaning of Critical Race Theory and how it became a political flashpoint in schools and beyond.

The Texas Legislature's Culture War Jul 29, 2021

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On July 12th, Texas House Democrats boarded two planes headed for Washington DC in a last-ditch effort to deny Republicans the quorum they would need to pass restrictive voting measures during a special legislative session. The Democratic exodus not only stalled the GOP-led election bills, it also delayed Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s longer agenda for this special session, including legislation to ban trans youth in sports, further limit access to reproductive healthcare, and dictate how U.S. race history can be taught in school. The Texas Democrats who fled said they aren’t returning until the special session expires on August 6, but Governor Greg Abbott said he will continue calling special sessions into next year. Joining us to talk about this legislative stand off is Sarah Labowitz, policy and advocacy director at the ACLU of Texas.

Tony Winner Ali Stroker Reframes Disability Representation and Identity Jul 22, 2021

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In this episode, we continue our celebration of Disability Pride Month with a conversation about representation. Across the top 100 movies of 2019 only 2.3% of all speaking characters had a disability. What’s more, the rare times we do see a character with a disability, they aren’t played by someone with a disability. In fact, one study found that in the top 10 TV shows for 2018 only 12% of disabled characters were played by disabled actors. In contrast, around 133 million Americans live with visible or invisible disabilities — that’s 40% of the public. To put it plainly, there’s A LOT of room for improvement. Enter Ali Stroker, a singer and actress phenom who became both the first person using a wheelchair to perform on Broadway and the first person using a wheelchair to win a Tony award. Ali, in many ways, has put disability on the media map, landing roles in film, television, theater and even writing a children’s book. She joins us on At Liberty to discuss the importance of the representation and celebration of disability in the entertainment industry and beyond.

Do Black Americans Have the Right to Bear Arms? Jul 15, 2021

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In 2021, the U.S. experienced over 200 mass shootings. Americans are more likely to be killed at the hands of firearms than in vehicles. This years-long gun violence epidemic continues to spark debate about the 2nd Amendment and who has the right to bear arms. But often absent from the debate around gun violence is the anti-Blackness at its core. In her latest book, The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America, our guest, historian Carol Anderson, counters the elegiac worship of the Second Amendment by tracing how anti-Blackness determined the very decision to include the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights and has informed its unequal and racist enforcement over the last several hundred years. Anderson is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies at Emory University. Her previous books include White Rage and the 2018 One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy.

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