News & Commentary

Mar 06, 2024

Commentary: Once part of the problem, we are now part of the solution

Since my release, I have now become part of the solution to crime and violence in the same community where I was once part of the problem.

Anthony Muhammad, Yanet Amanuel, and Sonia Kumar stand together in the Maryland chamber houses on the day of a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee for the Maryland Second Look Act.
Mar 05, 2024

A Lobby Day to Remember

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

Day of Action: Justice for Children & Incarcerated Marylanders. Monday, February 19, 2024. Group photo of advocates and directly impacted Marylanders in Annapolis on Lobby Night for 2024 Maryland Legislative session.
Feb 08, 2024

Get All the Facts on Children’s Due Process Rights

Defend the Childhood Interrogation Protection and Juvenile Justice Reform Acts.

By

Defend Children's Rights! The legal justice scales statue is on the left side with a blue and yellow gradient. A Black parent with their Black child are in the bottom right corner, also with a blue and yellow gradient. The child has their head down.
Nov 20, 2023

Defend Kodi Gaines' Rights

The family of Korryn and Kodi Gaines is suing to bring accountability for Kodi Gaines. Seven years ago, Baltimore County Police Officer Royce Ruby shot and killed 23-year-old Korryn Gaines. In the process, the officer also critically wounded her son, then five-year old Kodi.

Korryn Gaines and her son
Oct 18, 2023

Young Activists Are Building a Sweet Future This October

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

By

Defend Children's Rights! The legal justice scales statue is on the left side with a blue and yellow gradient. A Black parent with their Black child are in the bottom right corner, also with a blue and yellow gradient. The child has their head down.
Sep 20, 2023

Opinion: ‘The People’s Council’ must allow independent review of police misconduct

As residents of Prince George's Co., the litmus test for whether this new council is genuinely dedicated to the concerns of the people, particularly, the needs of residents from less affluent, over-policed communities, is the passage of a Police Accountability Board bill.

Rally signs are taped to the side of a car. They say, "Public Input = Public Safety. Current Police Practiceds Killed Willian Green, Gray Hopkins, Jr., Archie Elliot!
Jun 14, 2023

Timeline: The Case for Justice for Anton Black

It’s time for people and institutions to be held accountable for brutal police actions and for this systemic racism to change. Anton Black’s life mattered.

By

Timeline: The Case for Justice for Anton Black. Black and white photo of Anton Black smiling and looking to the right. Background is black.
Jun 13, 2023

5 Years of Making “Good Trouble”

Dana Vickers Shelley celebrates and reflects on her fifth anniversary as Executive Director of the ACLU of Maryland.

By Dana Vickers Shelley

Dana Vickers Shelley is a Black woman with warm light brown skin, blond short hair, and is smiling at the camera. She is standing in front of a brick wall.
Mar 15, 2023

Commentary: The smell of marijuana and the stain of racism

As of July 1, 2023, marijuana will be legal in Maryland. There is no reason why the odor of a legal substance should continue to be used as a tool by law enforcement to stop and search people, especially when police have disproportionately stopped and searched Black and Brown people.

By Yanet Amanuel, Dana Vickers Shelley

Advocates are pressing for a bill that would remove marijuana odor as the basis for reasonable suspicion for a police investigation. Stock.adobe.com photo by Alixandria Chen.