News & Commentary

By Rene’ C. Swafford, Esq., counsel for the Black family

We have seen a rise in racist attacks against Asian Americans since the COVID-19 pandemic hit and recently we saw a horrible and heartbreaking reminder of our country’s history of racial discrimination and violence against Asian Americans.

By Dana Vickers Shelley, Executive Director, ACLU of Maryland; and Gustavo Torres, Executive Director, CASA

Women’s History Month

We Need Marijuana Reform Now

A Mother Has Waited Half a Century to See Her Son Be Paroled

Often for Cultural Heritage Months, we try to highlight people whose experiences and identities shaped them into the activists they are today. Kristen is one of those phenomenal activists who does amazing work on the ground to push to reimagine policing and dismantle white supremacist structures.

Sara Medrano, a Latina grandmother and Frederick County resident, was driving her daughter and two grandchildren to pick up laundry detergent on her way to work when a Frederick County sheriff’s deputy pulled her over, purportedly for a “broken” taillight — that was working just fine — and detained her. In Medrano’s words: “I was so scared thinking that this stop would be the last moment I would have with my grandchildren and my daughter.”

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.