Benton County Democratic Central Committee

It’s Banned Books Week, ACLU Supporter, and we’re in the middle of a crisis: Book bans have increased 40% compared to last year.

This school year, a long list of books have been pulled from library shelves across the country, including Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Art Spiegelman’s Maus, and Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. It’s a direct attack on First Amendment rights.

The truth is, there’s only one reason elected officials and school districts are banning books again: They want to prevent students from learning about racism, sexism, and history – but these conversations are essential to educating the next generation of our nation’s leaders.

So the ACLU is working to defend First Amendment rights by challenging classroom censorship laws in Florida, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma. Students, their parents, and community members are joining the fight. Follow this link to learn more about why our supporters are defending the right to learn!

Thanks for reading,

The ACLU Team

American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004, USA

October is an exciting month for the National Democratic Training Committee: we Build Blue, hit major milestones, and get excited — no, really! — for 2024.

Please read on for some important updates and to see how you can participate in your community, or consider a donation to help make our work possible.

Together,
Kelly
National Democratic Training Committee

We’ve been saying this over and over, folks. There are no off years, and there is always work to be done! Here are a few updates on the progress we’ve made so far:

We’ve trained over 100,000 Democrats!!!!!

That’s something to celebrate, and we couldn’t be prouder.

In 3 and a half years, we’ve seen a dramatic 525% increase in learners, with 9,149 new learners this year. Access to our online academy continuously expands and there is truly no limit on what NDTC learners can do across the country.

We’re empowering EVERYONE to make a difference!

It’s official: 2023 will have the highest percentage of women and people of color candidates/trainees in NDTC history! We expect that number to grow as we lower the barrier to entry by providing our training for free, giving everyone the tools to make a difference in their communities.

And we bring RESULTS!

NDTC has secured victories for Democrats up and down the ballot with 160 primary wins in key states like New York, Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Oregon. NDTC continues to offer resources and support to those candidates as they head forward to the general election this November, and we are thrilled and excited to celebrate victories this fall!

Looking ahead to 2024:

Success in 2024 and beyond starts right now by training candidates, campaign staff, and local leaders on the ground. In the past six months, NDTC has held in-person trainings with partners in Kansas, Indiana, Virginia, Mississippi, Illinois, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. We’re putting in work right now to build next year’s blue wave!

We are tremendously excited to share the following events that are a part of our exciting Build Blue Week taking place in the first week of October.

The events will feature a diverse and representative lineup of elected officials, top campaign experts, and leaders of Democratic organizations to provide the tools, training, and first-hand experience needed to help you successfully run for office and further Democratic values in your community. More information on events can be found below, we hope you can join us!

Down Ballot Up Ticket: How Democrats Win in 2024
October 2, 2023, 1:00pm – 2:00pm (ET)

Monday’s event will cover how to build power at the local level. Having fantastic Democratic candidates running for the local school board, town council or other elected position will not only make a difference at the local level itself, but also improves voter turnout for the races at the top of the ticket.

Cultivating Local Donors for Long Term Change
October 3, 2023, 1:00pm – 2:00pm (ET)

On Tuesday we will be covering best practices regarding donor engagement. Learning how to engage local donors not only sets you up for success this election season, but also helps create the infrastructure to drive the blue wave for decades to come.

Coalition Building for Community Change
October 4, 2023, 1:00pm – 2:00pm (ET)

Our training on Wednesday covers the importance of working with the amazing organizations that already exist in your community. Our panel of proven coalition builders will explain the process of engaging, energizing and organizing the networks in your community that are already motivated to seek progressive change.

Messages That Connect: Local Issues and National Narratives
October 5, 2023, 1:00pm – 2:00pm (ET)

Our final event on Thursday covers the importance of messaging not only national issues, but local issues specific to your community as well. This training will prepare you for how best to message to voters on the issues that impact them in their day-to-day lives.

ACLU Supporter –

We are fighting across the country for everyone’s civil liberties, including the safety and rights of our young people.

We defend trans youth’s right to exist, protect students’ right to learn in the classroom without censorship, and fight for any young person in this country who finds their freedoms on the line.

One such ACLU case that may not have been front and center in the news cycle lately was our fight to remove Louisiana children from the nation’s largest maximum security prison. As someone who is key to our work, we wanted to make sure you knew the latest:

• Since October 2022, 70 to 80 kids – almost all Black boys – have been cycled through and incarcerated in the former death row building of the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola. These children were all in the state’s juvenile justice system – the purpose is rehabilitation, not punishment.
• It is important to note that Angola started out as a slave plantation. It then became a prison camp exploiting Black laborers, and finally the nation’s largest maximum-security adult prison. Simply put, Angola is a monument to slavery and white supremacy.
• Within Angola’s walls, these children were subjected to abusive conditions including solitary confinement for days at a time.
• Two weeks ago, the state of Louisiana finally moved children out of Angola. After more than a year of national and local advocacy, public outrage, and an ongoing federal lawsuit – this is a victory for the children and their families.
• While we are relieved the children are out of Angola, we are outraged they had to suffer these abuses at all. Angola’s shameful legacy will not be forgotten. Children do not belong in prison, and no child should ever be sent back to Angola. Read our full press statement on this case.

ACLU Supporter, we know so many critical fights are happening right now – in Congress and across the states – but these kids were subjected to unimaginable harm and their story must be told.

We will continue to keep you informed of critical litigation work for young people and for ALL people in this nation – and thank you once again for being with us in this essential fight.

Onward,

The ACLU Team

American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004, USA

ACLU Supporter –

It’s been a busy summer for the ACLU. From reacting to Supreme Court decisions to addressing ongoing attacks on the trans community, our lawyers have been working around the clock to continue leading the fight for all of our civil liberties.

Read on to learn more about our most recent critical work:

1. In Alabama, we’re suing to protect access to abortion.
   
   On July 31, we filed a lawsuit to prevent prosecutors from targeting providers seeking to support those in Alabama who need to access abortion care outside of their state in states where it is legal. We’re representing health care providers who have been forced to stop providing critical information, counseling, and practical support to individuals who simply want to exercise their constitutional right to cross state lines and obtain legal medical care following threats made by the Alabama Attorney General.
2. In Idaho, we filed a similar lawsuit to protect abortion providers.
   
   The same day we filed in Alabama, we secured a win in a similar lawsuit in Idaho. A federal district judge barred the Idaho Attorney General from enforcing a legal opinion that claimed the state’s abortion ban allowed for prosecuting doctors who refer patients out of state for abortion care. This ruling sends a clear message to Idaho politicians and anti-abortion extremists across the country: Prosecuting doctors for helping their patients access out-of-state abortion care is a brazen constitutional overreach that will not be tolerated.
3. Meanwhile, in Tennessee, we’re suing to overturn a trans health care ban.
   
   On behalf of parents and their transgender daughter, we’re suing the state of Tennessee over its trans health care ban. The law would ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth, threatening their well-being and the rights of their parents. This cruelly blocks access to care that’s recommended by every major medical association, which would have a profoundly negative impact on the over 3,000 trans youth in the state. We’ll be heading to court September 1.
4. Finally, in Chicago, we’re challenging discriminatory lending policies that disproportionately harm Black women.
   
   In two historic filings, housing advocates are challenging policies of two large landlords in Cook County, Illinois, that automatically reject applicants who have any prior connection to an eviction case, alleging the policies discriminate against Black renters, especially Black women, in violation of the 1968 Fair Housing Act. “These blanket bans prolong the trauma of eviction and especially destabilize Black women and families by trapping them in poverty,” explains Sandra Park, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project.

From defending systemic equity in housing to protecting the right to make decisions about our own bodies, the ACLU is uniquely prepared to defend all of our civil liberties. We’ve got the experience – over 100 years of it. And we’ve got the team for it – lawyers, organizers, and activists on the ground in all fifty states, D.C. and Puerto Rico.

With supporters like you by our side, we know we have the power to build a more perfect union. Thank you for being with us, and we’ll continue to keep you updated with more soon.

The ACLU Team

P.S. Supporters like you fund this critical work and so much more. Can we count on you to donate now to keep up the fight?

American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004, USA

ACLU Supporter –

This morning, we’re in state court in Texas challenging an unconstitutional health care ban targeting transgender youth, called S.B. 14.

For the last 18 months, thousands of families across Texas have been threatened by Governor Greg Abbott with the removal of their transgender children from their custody. Under the threat of S.B. 14, these same families have been forced to move out of state – one of our clients even separated her family to move her trans teen out of state and retain access to their health care.

If the court doesn’t intervene, the ban will take effect on September 1. That’s why we’ll be arguing in court for the next two days on behalf of hundreds of families and health professionals impacted by S.B. 14.

This challenge was filed by the ACLU, alongside the ACLU of Texas, Lambda Legal, Transgender Law Center, and the law firms Scott Douglass & McConnico LLP and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP.

We’ll keep you as updated as possible on these critical hearings as they unfold – and know we are so grateful to have you with us in the fight for trans justice in Texas and across the country.

Thank you,

The ACLU Team

American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004, USA

THE RACIAL WEALTH GAP, EXPLAINED

ACLU Supporter – homeownership feels out of reach for more people across this country than ever before.

Now add to that the systemic inequities against people of color that continue to make up – and escalate – the racial wealth gap in this country and that’s where the real stark difference comes into view.

And it’s not just homeownership where these discriminatory barriers to access play out either, ACLU Supporter. Employment, income, education – in nearly every facet of life the racial wealth gap is present and persistent in America.

But how and why is this still the case in 2023?

At the ACLU, we’re fighting against these economic injustices and for systemic equality in the courts and nationwide – and we’ve got you covered when it comes to these questions. Dive in today.

– The ACLU Team

American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004, USA

This week, we have a victory and a new lawsuit to report out in our fight for reproductive freedom and abortion access. Here’s a quick rundown of what to know:

• On Monday, we filed in federal court to prevent Alabama from prosecuting those who assist people seeking legal abortion care outside of Alabama, in states where abortion is legal. The health care providers we are representing in this case have been forced to stop providing critical information, counseling, as well as practical support to Alabamians who simply want to exercise their constitutional right to cross state lines and obtain legal medical care.
• That same night, we secured a win in a similar lawsuit in Idaho when a federal district judge barred the Idaho Attorney General from prosecuting doctors who refer patients out of state for abortion care. This ruling sends a clear message to Idaho politicians and those across the country looking to draw inspiration from the state’s Attorney General that this brazen, unconstitutional overreach will not be tolerated.

ACLU Supporter, in both cases we want to be clear: Health care providers have a right to counsel their patients on all of their medical care options, including abortion in states where it is legal – and we have a right to travel across state lines to access legal abortion care. Period.

We will continue fighting back against these extreme measures and all attempts to restrict abortion access nationwide – blocking them in the courts wherever we can.

Thank you for making this work possible, especially during these particularly challenging times for reproductive freedom. We could not do it without you.

Onward,

Meagan Burrows
Pronouns: She, her, hers
Staff Attorney, Reproductive Freedom Project, ACLU

P.S. If you would like to take action immediately with us, send a message to Congress and urge them to support legislation that safeguards abortion and all reproductive health care nationwide. Thank you.

American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004, USA