Rights This Way: Recent Episodes
NYCLU
Rights This Way is a podcast from the New York Civil Liberties Union (the ACLU of New York State) focused on the civil rights and liberties issues that impact New Yorkers most. Through interviews and lively conversations with experts inside and outside the NYCLU, we discuss the legal and policy implications of some of the most important issues facing our state.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This February in Long Island, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman issued an executive order banning transgender girls and women from participating in girls’ and women’s sports at county-run facilities. The NYCLU sued to block this policy, arguing that it violates New York’s Human Rights Law and Civil Rights Law, which explicitly prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. Justice prevailed and, in May, the Nassau County Supreme Court ruled in the NYCLU and Roller Rebels’ favor, striking down the executive order.
Then, shortly after we recorded this podcast, the Nassau County Legislature introduced legislation designed to resurrect Blakeman’s ban. The bill is slated to be voted on later in June. The NYCLU’s Nassau field office is mobilizing with other advocates to stop the bill in its tracks including organizing rallies and getting people to testify against the bill. But if it passes, the NYCLU will file another lawsuit to strike it down.
Blakeman claims Nassau’s trans ban will protect cisgender women and girls. But on this episode, we’ll explore why the order is actually a harmful, transphobic policy designed to shut trans people out of public spaces. We’ll hear from two NYCLU lawyers who brought the case, and from the president of the Long Island Roller Rebels, a team in the Nassau County Recreational Women’s Flat Track Roller Derby League. The Roller Rebels are the plaintiffs in our case. Their league, which welcomes trans women, was barred from using Nassau County’s facilities under the executive order.
Guests
Gabriella Larios: Staff Attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union
Bobby Hodgson: NYCLU Assistant Legal Director
Curly Fry: President of the Long Island Roller Rebels
Please download, rate, review and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.
Our campaign page for the Roller Rebels’ case: https://www.nyclu.org/resources/campaigns-actions/campaigns/stand-trans-athletes-nassau-county
Meet the Roller Rebels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRdu_h7Ww8Q&t=2s
Read about our case: https://www.nyclu.org/court-cases/roller-rebels-v-blakeman
Tell lawmakers to vote against the anti trans bill in the Nassau County Legislature: https://action.aclu.org/send-message/stop-anti-trans-hate-nassau
Attend a rally against the anti trans bill on Monday, June 24: https://www.nyclu.org/event/rally-to-stop-anti-trans-hate-in-nassau-county
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The NYCLU recently filed a lawsuit challenging the misleadingly-named Sexual Assault Reform Act, or SARA. SARA is a New York law that prevents certain people required to register on the state’s sex offender registry from knowingly being within 1,000 feet of a school at any time and for any reason. It’s also been interpreted to prevent people subject to SARA restrictions from living within this 1,000-foot radius.
SARA is billed as a way to protect New Yorkers from people who could harm children. But research shows these types of geographical restrictions don’t increase public safety. And authorities have applied SARA to people who have never harmed children, and even people who have never committed a sexual offense.
In dense urban areas like New York City, where you’re almost always within 1,000 feet of a school, SARA restrictions force thousands of New Yorkers into homelessness and to the fringes of society, effectively banishing them.
We speak with Daniel Lambright, the NYCLU’s Special Counsel for Criminal Justice Litigation, M.G., one of the plaintiffs in our lawsuit, and Dr. Emily Horowitz, a sociologist who has spent nearly two decades researching and writing about sexual offense policies.
Please download, rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.
Our press release announcing the case: https://www.nyclu.org/press-release/nyclu-challenges-law-banishing-people-convicted-of-sex-offenses
NYCLU's exclusive SARA story: https://nysfocus.com/2024/05/28/nyclu-sex-offender-registry-housing-homeless
Case materials: https://www.nyclu.org/court-cases/m-g-v-towns
NYCLU blog "Why We Must Rethink the Way We Treat People Convicted of Sex Offenses": https://www.nyclu.org/commentary/why-we-must-rethink-way-we-treat-people-convicted-sex-offenses
Research on the ineffectiveness of residency restrictions: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0011128712441694
About Dr. Emily Horowitz: https://www.sfc.edu/academics/faculty-directory/emily-horowitz
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Fifty years ago, New York first opened its doors to people from across the U.S. who needed abortion care. Now, following the Supreme Court's decision to gut Roe, numerous states have banned or severely restricted abortion care. In the face of this attack on basic reproductive rights, New York must once again be a leader in expanding care for its residents and anyone who needs it.
Even though abortion is legal in New York, people still face steep barriers trying to access abortion across the state. We talk about how to close those gaps and how to strengthen New York’s position as a leader when it comes to abortion rights with Allie Bohm, senior policy counsel for the NYCLU and Chelsea Williams-Diggs, Executive Director of the New York Abortion Access Fund.
Since we recorded this episode, the state legislature passed a version of one of the bills we discussed, the Reproductive Freedom and Equity Program. This is a historic step to make abortion rights a reality for everyone in our state. The program creates a sustainable state funding mechanism for abortion providers and abortion funds, bringing us closer to a world where New Yorkers can freely make decisions about their futures and bodies. But the version of the bill passed by the legislature does not include funding for things like hotel stays or other travel costs for patients seeking an abortion. And it also doesn’t include money for capital improvements for abortion providers. So, there’s still more work to do.
Please rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.
Join the campaign to pass the New York Equal Rights Amendment: https://nyequalrights.org/
Find out more and get involved with the New York Abortion Access Fund: https://www.nyaaf.org/
Tell legislators to support the bills mentioned in this podcast: https://nyclu.org/act
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Universities should be havens for robust debate, discussion, and learning – not sites of censorship where administrators, donors, and politicians squash political discourse they don't approve of. But Columbia University recently violated New York law to single out and suspend two student groups for participating in a peaceful student demonstration and temporary art installation in support of Palestinian rights.
That's why the NYCLU and Palestine Legal sued Columbia.
These student groups – Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace – were peacefully speaking out on a critical global conflict, only to have Columbia ignore its own longstanding, existing rules and abruptly suspend the organizations. The protest was sponsored by a coalition of over 20 groups, yet none of the other groups involved faced disciplinary action.
That's retaliatory, it's targeted, and it flies in the face of the free speech principles that institutes of higher learning should be defending. We talk about this case with two NYCLU lawyers who brought the lawsuit. We also hear from two students who are plaintiffs in the case, Maryam Alwan, an organizer with Columbia’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine and Cameron Jones, an organizer with Columbia’s chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace.
Since we recorded this episode several New York colleges and universities – including Columbia – have started pro-Palestine protest encampments. In some cases, students have also occupied campus buildings. The NYCLU continues to monitor these developments and has spoken out about the police crackdowns against them. This episode, however, is specifically focused on our lawsuit challenging Columbia’s decision last year to unlawfully suspend Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine.
Please rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.
The NYCLU’s case against Columbia: https://www.nyclu.org/court-cases/columbia-students-justice-palestine-jewish-voice-peace-v-columbia-university
NYCLU’s commentary on the police crackdown on pro-Palestinian student protesters https://www.nyclu.org/commentary/pro-palestinian-campus-protests-shouldnt-be-snuffed-out-by-police
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
About 180,000 migrants have come to New York City since April of 2022, and about 65,000 are currently in the city's care. Nearly every day there is a news story or a quote from a New York politician about how this recent arrival of migrants is a drain on New York’s finances. But a recent report from New York City Comptroller Brad Lander complicates that narrative. He joins us to explain why migrants are an economic boon to our city, and what he thinks we should do to get them the resources they need to thrive.
This is a companion episode to one we did last season about recent migrants to New York and on U.S. foreign policy with NYCLU executive Director Donna Lieberman and Daniel Denvir who hosts the Dig podcast.
Please rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.
Facts Not Fear Report from the NYC Comptroller’s office:
https://comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/facts-not-fear-how-welcoming-immigrants-benefits-new-york-city/
Companion Rights This Way episode on new migrants:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-ny-can-cut-through-the-finger-pointing-and/id1643734167?i=1000637020890
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The 2024 elections will be some of the most critical in our lifetimes and, as election season approaches, a wave of efforts to diminish the political power of communities of color is surging. This isn't just happening in red states, it's taking place right here in New York.
That’s why the NYCLU and our partners sued the Nassau County Legislature in Long Island for its redistricting plan, which violates the landmark New York Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting strength and political influence of Black, Latinx, and Asian residents. Though residents of color make up over one-third of Nassau County's eligible voters, the current map – which the Legislature drew behind closed doors – only creates four districts out of 19 where Black, Latinx, and Asian residents are a majority of eligible voters.
We delve into this lawsuit with two NYCLU lawyers who brought it. And we’ll also take a closer look at how the New York Voting Rights Act will help us fight against this attack on democracy.
Guests: Perry Grossman is the Director of the NYCLU’s Voting Rights Project. Terry Ding is an NYCLU staff attorney.
Please rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.
More on our Nassau voting rights case:
https://www.nyclu.org/en/press-releases/civil-rights-advocates-sue-nassau-county-racial-vote-dilution#:~:text=NASSAU%20COUNTY%2C%20NY%20%E2%80%93%20The%20New,violates%20the%20landmark%20John%20R.
More on the New York Voting Rights Act:
https://www.nyclu.org/en/publications/john-r-lewis-voting-rights-act-new-york
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
New York has a proud legacy of offering refuge to newcomers hoping to make life better for themselves and their families. That hope is something we all share, and the promise of refuge has made our state what it is.
Rental prices soared to record levels in New York City in 2023. Right now, a family would have to earn at least $140,000 a year just to be able to afford the city’s median rent of $3,500. And this story goes well beyond New York City. Across the state, New Yorkers are struggling to keep a roof over their heads. 20 percent of New York State residents spend more than half of their income on rent, and in some ways, they’re the lucky ones. Tens of thousands of New Yorkers are unhoused, with no clear path to obtaining permanent homes.
Despite this dire situation, state leaders have not done nearly enough to tackle the problem.
Nearly everyone agrees that New York is facing a severe housing crisis. But the question is what we should do about it. To help answer that question, we’re joined by three housing experts who will help us dig into this urgent and seemingly intractable issue. Julian Morales is the NYCLU’s Senior Housing Strategist. Cea Weaver is a Campaign Coordinator for the Housing Justice for All coalition, and John Washington is an organizer and political educator with the People’s Action Network.
Please rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.
Tune in our previous Season 1 episode on housing: https://www.nyclu.org/en/publications/ep-8-how-fix-ny-housing-crisis
NYCLU blog on good cause eviction: https://www.nyclu.org/en/news/one-way-fight-against-unfair-landlords
Link to our settlement in our case to help more Black and Brown New Yorkers facing foreclosure stay in their homes: https://www.nyclu.org/en/press-releases/new-settlement-enhances-legal-protections-homeowners-facing-foreclosure-across-nys
About our guests and their organizations:
Cea Weaver, Housing Justice For All: https://housingjusticeforall.org/
John Washington, People's Action Network: https://peoplesaction.org/
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
New York has a proud legacy of offering refuge to newcomers hoping to make life better for themselves and their families. That hope is something we all share, and the promise of refuge has made our state what it is.
New York is also known for being a place where big things get done. That’s why it’s so disappointing when our leaders scapegoat and engage in fearmongering over the many migrants arriving in New York over the last year-plus, mostly in New York City.
This political finger-pointing and the doomsday predictions uttered by politicians have helped lead to many New Yorkers seeing new migrants in a negative light.
How can we change that narrative and how can we show that new migrants actually offer a tremendous opportunity for our state? And what are some of the less-discussed factors leading migrants to come to New York?
First, we talk about some of the reasons, tied to US foreign policy, that have led thousands of migrants to leave their homes and take the treacherous journey to the United States with author Daniel Denvir, host of the popular podcast, The Dig. Then we discuss what’s been happening in New York and what needs to take place here with NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman.
Thank you so much for tuning in Season 2 of Rights This Way. We will be back soon, so please subscribe and follow us @NYCLU to know when the new season drops!
Resources:
Take Action to support migrants: https://action.aclu.org/send-message/support-newly-arrived-migrants
Daniel’s podcast: https://www.patreon.com/thedig
The report mentioned in the episode about where new migrants are coming from: https://greatcities.uic.edu/2023/10/20/the-current-migrant-crisis-how-u-s-policy-toward-latin-america-has-fueled-historic-numbers-of-asylum-seekers/
Donna’s blog on migrant arrivals: https://www.nyclu.org/en/news/ny-can-meet-our-migrant-moment-you-wouldnt-know-it-political-narrative
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The NYPD's Strategic Response Group (SRG) is a notoriously violent rapid response unit. Despite promises from the department that the unit would not be deployed at protests, the SRG has consistently threatened, attacked, and arrested protesters. Time and time again, when the SRG arrives on the scene, officers escalate situations and injure New Yorkers who are exercising their First Amendment rights.
Since we recorded this episode, the NYCLU, the Legal Aid Society and New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a sweeping settlement agreement that could help transform the way the NYPD polices protests. The settlement – which must still be approved by a judge before it can go into effect – is designed to reduce the presence of police at protests and to lessen the kinds of harms that officers often cause at demonstrations.
The settlement does this through a tiered system that dictates when, how many, and which kinds of officers can be sent to protests. Importantly, under the agreement, the NYPD will only be allowed to deploy the SRG under certain conditions. We hope this will cut down on misconduct, violence, and unjustified detentions.
But, While the settlement should reduce the role the Strategic Response Group plays in protests, we know that the only way to put an end to the SRG’s abuse is to put an end to the unit itself. We will continue to fight to disband the SRG and reinvest its estimated $133 Million in funds into our communities. And until that happens, this episode is as relevant as ever.
To discuss the SRG and protesters’ rights more generally, we speak with Isabelle Leyva, senior organizer with the NYCLU, and New York City public defender Alex Clavering (@LolOverruled).
Please download, rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.
Resources:
Tell lawmakers to disband the SRG: https://action.aclu.org/send-message/disband-nypds-strategic-response-group
Join our campaign to disband the SRG: https://secure.everyaction.com/_duTyjNjiE6dhD9xewdSSQ2
Follow Alex (@LolOverruled) on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.
More on the SRG:
https://www.nyclu.org/en/news/nypd-unit-under-greater-scrutiny-it-lashing-out-response
https://www.nyclu.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/202109_nyclu_srg_2pager.pdf
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For more than seven years, 10,000 public school students — almost entirely children of color — in the East Ramapo Central School District just 40 miles north of New York City have had lead in their school water fountains. Students speak of going thirsty after gym glass, of mold collecting in the water coolers provided to replace drinking fountains, and of washing their hands next to hazard signs.
But the story is bigger. School district leaders haven’t simply failed to fix the water problem. They’ve failed every part of the school system and hollowed out the educations of tens of thousands of public school students, the vast majority of whom are Black and Brown.
We dissect the problems in East Ramapo, their causes, and how to fix them with Johanna Miller, the director of the NYCLU’s Education Policy Center and Ignacio Acevedo, the NYCLU’s Hudson Valley Organizer.
Please download, rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.
Resources:
Our latest report on East Ramapo: https://www.nyclu.org/en/campaigns/not-making-grade-new-yorks-jim-crow-school-district
Our recent op-ed: https://www.nyclu.org/en/publications/school-district-harms-its-own-kids-rocklands-east-ramapo-central-district-falling-apart
Tell state leaders to take control of East Ramapo: https://action.aclu.org/send-message/end-jim-crow-education-east-ramapo-schools
Want to volunteer with the NYCLU to work on East Ramapo issues? Email schools@nyclu.org
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It’s a scenario that many parents across New York State, particularly in low-income areas, have come to fear: A knock on the door from a Child Protective Services caseworker.
On this episode of Rights This Way, we delve into why the “child welfare system” is actually better understood as a family regulation or a family policing system. We’ll explore how a system ostensibly set up to “protect children” is actually one in which poor families of color are routinely harassed, surveilled, and punished. And we’ll look at ways we can build a system that truly supports families.
We get into all of this with one of the country’s top experts on the family regulation system, University of Pennsylvania Professor Dorothy Roberts. She has written several books on the topic including her most recent: “Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families--and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World.” We also talk about several pieces of legislation at the state and local level that could help address many of the worst problems surrounding the family regulation system with NYCLU Policy Counsel Jenna Lauter.
Please download, rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.
Resources:
Buy Prof. Dorothy Roberts’ book
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/dorothy-roberts/torn-apart/9781541675445/?lens=basic-books
More from the NYCLU on the family regulation system:
How the so called “family regulation system” hurts families
https://www.nyclu.org/en/news/how-so-called-child-welfare-system-hurts-families
Never designed to help’: how new york's ‘child welfare’ system preys on families
https://www.nyclu.org/en/publications/never-designed-help-how-new-yorks-child-welfare-system-preys-families
Even child welfare workers say their agency is racist
https://www.nyclu.org/en/news/even-child-welfare-workers-say-their-agency-racist-0
Support the bills the NYCLU backs to curtail the child welfare system
https://action.aclu.org/send-message/curtail-racist-%E2%80%98child-welfare%E2%80%99-system
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Could one of the answers to fighting anti-Asian violence come in the classroom? That’s one of the ideas behind a new bill in the New York State legislature that would require public schools to teach Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander history. After a big spike in attacks against Asian Americans in the wake of the pandemic, what students learn in the classroom could help extinguish the hate. And there would be other benefits as well.
Studies show that inclusive curriculum and culturally responsive teaching builds self-esteem, resilience, and academic engagement among students who finally get to see themselves in the lessons they learn. And it reduces bullying and harassment fueled by ignorance, helping young people grow into adults who embrace diversity.
We talk about all of this with Kenny Nguyen, Director of Youth Programs at the NYCLU’s Education Policy Center, and Kulsoom Tapal, the Education Policy Coordinator at the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families. We also hear a quick intro from recent New York City High School graduate Jonathan Lam.
Please download, rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.
Resources:
Tell legislators to pass the AANHPI history bill: https://action.aclu.org/send-message/teach-inclusive-aanhpi-history-schools
Read Kenny's blog on the bill: https://www.nyclu.org/en/news/critical-way-counter-anti-asian-hate-0
Join the coalition fighting for this legislation: https://bit.ly/JOINREACH
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In 2019, New York state lawmakers passed a raft of progressive legislation that strengthened reproductive and voting rights, made our criminal legal system fairer and much more. Since then there have been additional victories for civil rights and civil liberties, but the momentum for positive change has slowed significantly. In some instances, wins have actually been rolled back. What are the roadblocks causing this lack of progress? How can we get back to the 2019-levels of change? And what wins and losses did we see in this year’s state legislative session?
We discuss all these questions with Lee Rowland, who was until very recently the NYCLU’s policy director. Lee has just stepped down from her role at the NYCLU to take a position as the Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Censorship. We also talk to Nyla Awan and Katharine Bodde who are now the NYCLU’s two co-directors of policy.
Please download, rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.
Resources:
Previous episodes on NY’s Equal Rights Amendment:
https://www.nyclu.org/en/publications/s1-ep-1-without-roe-are-abortion-rights-danger-ny
https://www.nyclu.org/en/publications/ep-2-what-does-the-future-hold-abortion-access-ny
Previous episodes on bail:
https://www.nyclu.org/en/publications/s2-ep1-backtracking-bail-reform
https://www.nyclu.org/en/publications/ep-3-truth-about-bail-reform
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What if many of the things you think about illegal drugs and drug use are wrong? What if many of the problems associated with drugs are actually caused by the fact that they’re criminalized as part of the decades-long, failed war on drugs? For years, Dr. Carl Hart has worked to destroy myths about drugs and to change drug policies in the United States. He joins us to speak about all of this and more.
Plus, we talk about state legislation that could move us away from criminalization and towards a more sensible approach to drug policy with NYCLU assistant policy director, Michael Sisitzky.
Resources:
Check out Dr. Carl Hart’s book, “Drug Use for Grownups”: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/534657/drug-use-for-grown-ups-by-dr-carl-l-hart/
Low-level drug decriminalization bill: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/A3434
Buprenorphine decriminalization bill: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S699/amendment/A
Safer Consumption Services Act: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S399/amendment/A
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A View Inside Rikers from People Who Know it Best
New York City’s Rikers Island houses one of the most violent, dysfunctional, and hellish jails in the country. Every day, thousands of people – most of whom are legally innocent and the vast majority of whom are Black and Brown – are subjected to incredibly harsh conditions. Some never make it out alive.
We speak with two people who have covered the problems that plague Rikers for years. Graham Rayman is a journalist with the New York Daily News where he mainly focuses on criminal justice and policing. Reuven Blau is a senior reporter at The City and he’s known as the dean of Rikers reporters. They’ve co-written a book called Rikers: An Oral History. The book catalogs the perspectives of those who know the jail best: people who were formerly incarcerated there, guards, health care providers, public officials, and more.
In this episode, the authors dissect why Rikers is such a horrible place, and why nothing seems to change despite years of efforts to improve the conditions inside. And we hear some of the stories featured in the book.
Please download, rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.
Resources:
Rikers: An Oral History: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/625018/rikers-by-graham-rayman-and-reuven-blau/
As discussed on the show, bail reform is one of the key ways to keep people out of Rikers. Listen to our two previous episodes on bail:
The Truth About Bail Reform: https://www.nyclu.org/en/publications/ep-3-truth-about-bail-reform
Why Can’t We Stop Backtracking on Bail Reform: https://www.nyclu.org/en/publications/s2-ep1-backtracking-bail-reform
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The title of this episode is the major question at the heart of a new book, “The Riders Come Out at Night: Brutality, Corruption, and Cover-Up in Oakland.” The book focuses on the Oakland Police Department, in Oakland, California. But the story it tells – of corruption, brutality, and stymied efforts at reform – is one that can be told about many police departments across New York, including the NYPD.
We get into this rich and deeply frustrating history with the authors of the book, Ali Winston and Darwin BondGraham. We also hear more about police reform generally, and within the NYPD specifically from NYCLU Legal Director Christopher Dunn.
Resources:
Check out more about the book here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Riders-Come-Out-at-Night/Ali-Winston/9781982168599
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In April, New York state lawmakers rolled back reforms to the state’s bail laws. If that sounds familiar, it’s because bail reform has now been rolled back three times as a continuous drumbeat of “tough on crime” rhetoric from the media and politicians has paved the way for more and more backsliding. Why does this keep happening? What role do narratives around bail and public safety play in creating an environment where these bad legislative outcomes seem inevitable? How can we stop this dynamic from repeating and what exactly did lawmakers do this time around?
We cover all of this with two guests. First, we talk to media analyst and fellow podcaster Adam Johnson, co-host of the Citation’s Needed podcast. Then we break down what exactly the bail rollbacks were this time around and why there’s still cause for optimism moving forward with NYCLU policy counsel Jared Trujillo.
Resources:
Check out the Citations Needed Podcast: https://www.patreon.com/citationsneededpodcast
Follow Adam Johnson’s Substack: https://substack.com/@thecolumn
Jared's op-ed on bail: https://www.nyclu.org/en/publications/rolling-back-bail-reform-wont-solve-nys-problems-crime-heres-why
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/en/campaigns/facts-bail-reform
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
New York’s legislative session kicked off last month and already there are political fireworks. Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democrats in the state senate clashed over the Governor’s pick to lead the state’s highest court. Judge Hector Lasalle was voted down by the Senate Judiciary Committee, making Hochul the first governor to lose her bid to appoint the state's top judge.
This battle sets the stage for what is sure to be an especially contentious legislative session. How will this early skirmish impact the legislative priorities we care about most? What are the prospects for lawmakers avoiding further roll backs to bail reform and raise the age and for ensuring greater police accountability?
We discuss all of this with Lee Rowland, Policy Director for the NYCLU, and Michael Sisitzky, NYCLU Assistant Policy Director.
Resources:
Follow the NYCLU 2023 Legislative Agenda
Listen to Rights This Way's episodes on the Equal Rights Amendment, bail reform, and policing.
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Please download, subscribe, rate, and review Rights This Way wherever you listen to it. It will help more people find this podcast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Solitary confinement that lasts more than 15 consecutive days is recognized by the United Nations and various human rights organizations as torture. Even short-term stays can lead to permanent psychological damage and suicidal ideation. Despite these well-documented harms, New York has put thousands of people in solitary confinement in jails and prisons across the state – sometimes for years – with little due process, and often for minor infractions.
In 2021, state lawmakers took a major step towards ending this brutal practice by passing the Humane Alternatives to Solitary Confinement (HALT) Act. There is also a bill with broad support in the New York City council that would go even further than HALT to end solitary in the city’s jails.
But there is evidence that the state is ignoring the requirements laid out under HALT. And the “tough-on-crime” resurgence that has gripped New York is emboldening opponents of solitary reform and ratcheting up the pressure to put more people in isolation.
We talk about this with NYCLU Policy Counsel Jared Trujillo.
More on the pushback to implementing HALT from corrections unions.
More on the negative impacts of solitary.
More on the NYC bill to ban solitary.
NY Focus articles on the state’s non-compliance with HALT.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Resources:
There are more than 90,000 unhoused people in New York State on any given night, including more than 60,000 in New York City alone. Nearly half of renters in New York City are rent burdened, meaning they spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent. Meanwhile, rents across the state have skyrocketed and the number of people who face eviction is growing.
Political leaders have not done nearly enough to address this crisis. Why not? And what needs to be done to make sure every New Yorker has access to an affordable home? We’ll break down these questions and more in just a moment.
We discuss this with Julian Morales, NYCLU Senior Housing Strategist, and Lauren Springer, tenant leader with Catholic Migration Services.
Resources:
Read more on the Right to Counsel campaign here.
Learn more about Good Cause eviction here.
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit nyclu.org.
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Please download, subscribe, rate, and review Rights This Way wherever you listen to it. It will help more people find this podcast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
During President Trump’s time in office, immigrant rights were pushed front and center as the administration seemed to delight in finding new ways to inflict pain and cruelty on people fleeing persecution. When President Biden was elected two years ago, he promised to undo the harms caused by Trump and to usher in a more humane immigration system. But in many ways, the Biden administration has doubled down on some of the worst aspects of Trump’s policies.
Meanwhile, politicians like Gov. Greg Abbot in Texas made headlines by bussing thousands of asylum seekers to Democrat-controlled cities like New York, claiming these so-called “sanctuary cities” were best placed to take in newly arrived immigrants.
But the truth is, here in New York State, where close to a quarter of the population was born outside the U.S., we don’t protect the rights of our immigrant residents as well as many people might assume. So what can we do to truly make our state a welcoming place for immigrants?
We speak with Zachary Ahmad, NYCLU Senior Policy Counsel, Drea Drea Herrera NYCLU Senior Organizer, and Ignacio Acevedo, NYCLU’s Hudson Valley Organizer.
Please download, subscribe, rate, and review Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.
Resources:
Read more on the New York for All and Dignity Not Detention Acts.
Take action to protect immigrant communities across New York.
Sign up to volunteer and join the fight with NYCLU.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
You could end up under police suspicion just for typing words into Google. And when you step outside, an array of cameras could be watching your every move, while a police drone hundreds of feet away zooms in for a closer look at what you’re up to. Meanwhile, at your child’s school, a camera outfitted with facial recognition technology is constantly scanning students’ faces as they walk through the halls.
These scenarios are all too plausible in the over-surveilled state of New York. But as frightening as this all may sound, the solution isn’t to cower in fear. There are steps lawmakers can take to secure our privacy. We get into all this with two guests: Daniel Schwarz is the NYCLU’s Senior Privacy & Technology Strategist, and Stefanie Coyle is the Deputy Director of the NYCLU’s Education Policy Center.
Resources:
Follow our campaign on the government's drone data across New York here.
Learn more about why dragnet warrants must be outlawed here.
Read more about NY's ban on facial recognition in schools here.
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit nyclu.org.
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Please download, subscribe, rate, and review Rights This Way wherever you listen to it. It will help more people find this podcast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In the wake of the police murder of George Floyd, New Yorkers took to the streets to protest police violence as part of the country’s largest civil rights movement in decades. In response, state lawmakers passed several bills meant to increase police transparency and accountability.
Two years later, the political atmosphere is very different. Politicians in both major political parties are pledging to increase funding, resources, and support for police departments. Many are counting on law enforcement to be the answer to many of our state’s biggest problems like homelessness, mental health care, school discipline, and more.
In the face of this return to so-called law-and-order politics, how do we advance the causes of police transparency, accountability and reform? And how do we eventually transform the role law enforcement plays in our society?
We get into all this with NYCLU assistant policy director Michael Sisitzky and NYCLU supervising attorney Bobby Hodgson.
Resources:
The Civilian Complaint Review Board database Bobby mentions can be found here.
The NYCLU report on some of the biggest findings from that database is here.
And make sure to tell state lawmakers to pass the policy transparency bill Michael talks about.
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit nyclu.org.
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Please download, subscribe, rate, and review Rights This Way wherever you listen to it. It will help more people find this podcast.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
New York students face many challenges to achieving academic success, but here’s one you might not be aware of: the air they breathe. A recent NYCLU analysis found that about one-third of New York’s students go to school near a major highway. The vast majority of those students are people of color. And it turns out that the pollution students breathe has a major impact on their success and livelihood.
In this episode, we discuss the problem of highway pollution near schools as well as legislation designed to help stop it with Johanna Miller, Director of the NYCLU’s Education Policy Center, and Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, director of the Education Policy Center’s Environmental Justice Project.
You can tell Gov. Hochul to sign the SIGH Act – which we discuss in this episode – here.
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit nyclu.org.
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today, we talk about the regressive criminal legal system rollbacks that were passed in April by state lawmakers. In 2019, the state passed laws that improved New York's bail, speedy trial, and discovery laws in ways that made our state fairer and helped reduce mass incarceration.
But ever since then, these laws have been the target of a relentless, fear-driven backlash that continues to this day. We discuss these reforms, how they were rolled back in April and where we go from here with NYCLU Policy Council, Jared Trujillo, and NYCLU senior organizer Isabelle Leva.
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit nyclu.org.
To tell lawmakers to hold the line on bail reform, visit nyclu.org/bail.
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This is our second episode on abortion rights and access in New York. In the first episode, we discussed a package of laws the state legislature passed in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision striking down Roe v. Wade. We also went into the effort to add an equal rights amendment to our state constitution and talked about efforts to fight hospital consolidation.
Today, we talk about the future of the fight for abortion rights and access in New York and how we can win it with NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman and NYCLU Assistant Policy Director Katharine Bodde. What was left on the table, what are the obstacles, and how can we get involved?
For more information on everything we discuss in both episodes, visit nyabortionaccess.org.
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Welcome to Rights This Way, a new podcast by the New York Civil Liberties Union focused on the civil rights and liberties issues that impact New Yorkers the most.
In today's episode, we discuss abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and nearly half of U.S. states moving to totally ban abortion.
Access to abortion and other reproductive care was already nonexistent in many parts of the country – and even in New York, some people still struggle to get the care they need. After the leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court striking down Roe, New York state legislators took action to increase funding and access to abortion.
Then, after the final opinion was released, Gov. Hochul called a special session to pass a bill calling for an equal rights amendment – which among many other things – would protect the right to abortion in the state constitution.
We talk about what got done and what is still left to do with two guests: NYCLU Policy Director Lee Rowland, and NYCLU Equal Justice Works Fellow Gabriella Larios.
For more on everything we talk about in this episode, visit nyabortionaccess.org.
For transcripts and additional information of the episode, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.