News & Commentary

May 17, 2014 marked the 60th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Delaware was included in the Brown decision. It was one of the states, mostly from the deep South, that mandated racial segregation in its public schools, i.e., de jure segregation. In the infamous decision, Plessy vs. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court had upheld de jure segregation if the separate facilities were “equal”.

Recently, we welcomed students and faculty from Bayard Middle School, as well as representatives from Widener Law School as special guests for our Annual Meeting. The topic of discussion? Bayard's exciting new youth court program, which will officially launch at the beginning of this school year.

The Sixth Amendment Center's report on access to counsel in Delaware's criminal courts illustrates widespread deficiencies in the public defender system. Learn the details and find out what ACLU-DE is doing to remedy the problem.

Read the ACLU of Delaware's response to the Sixth Amendment Center's report on access to counsel in Delaware's criminal courts.

The ACLU of Delaware is pleased to announce that the 29th annual Kandler Memorial Awards Dinner will be held on Thursday, October 16, 2014. We hope you will join us!Each year, we remember Gerry Kandler, former president of the ACLU of Delaware, and honor the work of members of the community who exemplify his tireless commitment to the defense of all Delawareans’ civil liberties.

In an effort to strengthen community involvement throughout the state, we added the Community & Project Organizer position to our staff in September. We are working to create a "seat at the table" for parents and students who are impacted by changes to the education system.

The Stay in School Project, which helps minimize "school push out" is now in its third year, and we are looking to create new workshops for adults.

Not only do marijuana possession laws disproportionately harm minority populations, they are also expensive. It’s time to refocus our resources in Delaware and end the failed War on Marijuana.

It’s been an exciting year for the ACLU. We argued an extraordinary six cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and won four, including the all-important invalidated patents on two human genes associated with increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Read more about our local and national efforts.