News & Commentary

Aug 17, 2021

2021 Freedom Ride: What Can the Past Teach Us?

Civil rights leaders, religious officials, activists, and elected officials take a “Freedom Ride” from Annapolis to Ocean City.

By Neydin Milián

Maryland's Freedom Summer bus beside a sign celebrating the icon Harriet Tubman.
Jun 11, 2021

Racist Rhetoric in Maryland’s Capital

Freedom of speech is one of the most important of our State and federal constitutional rights, which is why the ACLU of Maryland is dedicated to protecting this freedom for all Marylanders.

By Neydin Milián

Maryland State House in Annapolis has a bitmap treatment over it with red and dark navy angled lines.
Mar 18, 2021

Let’s Not Repeat a Racist Past: The War on Drugs

We Need Marijuana Reform Now

By Neydin Milián, Yanet Amanuel

Stop the racist war on weed. Image shows text in yellow and white over a green background with a marijuana leaf.
Mar 17, 2021

The Promise of Parole Should Be Honored

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

By Neydin Milián

Kenneth Tucker receives diploma from Essex Community College. He is pictured with family members.
Dec 09, 2020

“Free the Vote” Documentary Blog Series Part 5: The Voices Leading the Fight

People Who Were Imprisoned Are Leading the Fight to Free the Vote

Free the Vote. Nicole Hanson Mundell, Monica Cooper, Earl Young, and Qiana Johnson are standing together behind posters from the Civil Rights Movement calling for voting rights now. The poster has a pink and brown theme.
Dec 09, 2020

“Free the Vote” Documentary Blog Series Part 4: Voting is a Human Right

The Vote Cannot Be Chained Down

Protest with a Black person in the center with their fist raised. The signs say "no more drug war" and "Black Lives Matter" and "resist".
Dec 09, 2020

“Free the Vote” Documentary Blog Series Part 3: Voting and Incarceration

Connecting Voting to Incarceration is Dangerous and Racist

Parchman Prison labor done by people who are incarcerated in 1911.
Dec 09, 2020

“Free the Vote” Documentary Blog Series Part 2: The Present

The Fight to Free the Vote is Still Not Over

Black marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge holding a banner that says "From the back of the bus ot the front of the prison, the struggle continues."
Dec 09, 2020

“Free the Vote” Documentary Blog Series Part 1: History up until the 1900s

300 Years Earlier: How Does the Legacy of Prisons and Policing Impact Black People’s Vote?

First Black Senators and Representatives in the United States