News & Commentary

In Pocomoke City, a small town on Maryland’s lower Eastern Shore with a centuries-long history of racial oppression, three Black officers have fought against racial abuse from white coworkers, supervisors, and officials. In 2016, Police Chief Kelvin Sewell, Lieutenant Lynell Green, and Detective Franklin Savage sued officials in Worcester County and Pocomoke City, challenging a conspiracy of race discrimination and retaliation. This week, Chief Sewell and Lt. Green reached financial settlements for the racism they endured while on the force, as well as a Consent Decree to bring reform to the Pocomoke City Police Department. But the fight for justice still continues for Detective Savage.

The “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” (HB1413/SB1030) bill is the first action on recommendations from the Kirwan Commission. The bill as introduced includes funding for expanding pre-kindergarten, increasing teacher salaries, and providing grants for concentrated poverty and special education. The ACLU testified in support of this bill, urging state legislators to develop a targeted and comprehensive formula which is the only way to seriously begin to combat decades of gross underfunding for students and families. As of now, the Kirwan “Blueprint” bill is pending the results of the State Budget process.   Currently, the House and Senate versions of the budget (SB125/HB100) do not match. Only the House version of the budget funds the entire Kirwan “Bluep

On March 15, Ms. Hui Fang Dong and her three children— ages 14, 11, and 9 — appeared before Judge George Hazel at the United States District Court in Greenbelt to fight ICE’s cruel “bait and switch” tactic. Her husband, Wanrong Lin, himself could not be present because he was working at their family restaurant in St. Mary’s County, and because he was scared of what might happen if he entered another government building again.

This piece originally appeared at in the Afro. 

On March 12, the Maryland Judiciary Committee considered HB 1001/ SB 774, which would limit the use of “restrictive housing” – the State’s term for solitary confinement – on children.

On June 11, 2018, a Montgomery County police officer fatally shot Robert White, an unarmed Black man who was walking in his own neighborhood. So far, no one has been held accountable for his death. Shamefully, this is not surprising. An ACLU report found that between 2010-2015, at least 130 people across Maryland died in police encounters. Eleven of those individuals were in Montgomery County. There was no accountability: Police were criminally charged in less than 2% of those cases.

Deshawna Bryant, a senior at Baltimore City High School, dreams of becoming a child psychologist. The youngest in her family, all her life Deshawna’s parents opened their home and hearts to many foster children, too. After high school, she plans on going to a university in Florida, and a big reason why is that it’s warm there all year round.

This Valentine’s Day, the ACLU of Maryland is celebrating the love between Mr. Wanrong Lin, and Ms. Hui Fang Dong, a courageous Maryland couple recently reunited by a federal judge after ICE used an unlawful “bait and switch” strategy to lure them into a meeting with ICE officials offering assistance in the immigration process, then switched tracks and threw Mr. Lin into jail and deportation proceedings.