News & Commentary

In honor of this year's Banned Books Week, some of our staff members are sharing their favorite banned books. From coming-of-age stories to challenging topics, or simply stories of resistance and history, these are some of our most cherished literary works that remind us why the fight against censorship is a fight worth having for our freedom to read.

By its terms, the policy would restrict treasured classics that young people have come of age reading for generations: To Kill a Mockingbird; The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank; A Wrinkle in Time; The Outsiders; Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; Little Women. All verboten.

When police point guns at children, they don’t just risk physical harm – they inflict lifelong trauma. That’s why what happened to a 15-year-old Frederick County child.

We held a children’s rights focused Day of Action in Annapolis to pass some good bills.

Defend the Childhood Interrogation Protection and Juvenile Justice Reform Acts.

Teens Launched Youth Justice Action Month to Defend Children’s Rights

Here at the ACLU of Maryland, we wholly embrace and support efforts to help kids be safe, but curfews have repeatedly been shown to be ineffective in making kids safer or less likely to get in trouble.

It’s that time again. Spooky season. But there are new laws taking effect this month that are definitely NOT spooky. And, they’re great news for children in Maryland too!

Typically, a child can let you know what kind of pizza to order for dinner and what flavor of soda to go with it. But if that child is put in a cold dark room with three law enforcement officers to be questioned about a robbery or murder that they have no knowledge of, there must be an adult in the room to protect the child’s best interest before they answer questions in a way that could change their life forever.