News and events from the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky http://aclu-ky.org 2010-03-20T02:58:11+01:00 http://aclu-ky.org http://aclu-ky.org/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png text/html 2010-03-16T06:05:21+01:00 http://aclu-ky.org http://aclu-ky.org/content/view/345/56/ This letter to the Editor appeared in the March 15th edition of the Courier-Journal. After reading Representative Floyd’s defense of the amendments put forth by him, Representatives Moore and Fischer it is necessary to clarify and correct many of the points he made. Representative Floyd is playing politics with women’s health. Don’t be fooled by his legislative wheeling and dealing. What’s really important here is that Representative Floyd is trying to push through legislation that will interfere in women’s personal private medical decisions. And if we get lost in the legislative smoke and mirrors, he might just succeed. Here’s the real impact of these amendments: text/html 2010-02-18T07:54:11+01:00 http://aclu-ky.org http://aclu-ky.org/content/view/343/133/ This Op-Ed was originally published in the February 15th edition of the Courier-Journal. In January of 1966, with Governor Edward T. Breathitt’s signing of a law Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called “the strongest and most comprehensive civil rights bill passed by a Southern state,” the Commonwealth of Kentucky became the first state in the South to adopt a Civil Rights Act with enforceable repercussions for acts of discrimination. Two years later, Kentucky was again first in the South, this time in the passage of a statewide fair housing law, which cemented our commonwealth’s legacy as the nation’s Southern civil rights leader. At its core, the purpose of the Civil Rights Act is to ensure equality for everyone. It ensures all Kentuckians have the same opportunities to earn a living, be safe in their communities, serve their country, and care for the ones they love. When there has been a history of a particular groups’ lack of access to these fundamentals of the American dream, the just and appropriate response has been to add that particular group to existing antidiscrimination laws. Today our state has the opportunity to once again stand as the pioneer of fairness and equality among its Southern peers, and we challenge each and every Kentuckian to add their voice to the call for comprehensive civil rights legislation in the commonwealth. On January 5, Louisville Representative Mary Lou Marzian and three other Kentucky legislators (Reps. Flood, Jenkins and Palumbo) filed House Bill 117—a statewide Fairness law—that seeks to amend our state’s Civil Rights Act to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected classifications, prohibiting discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Kentuckians in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Even today, any person suspected of being gay or transgender outside Lexington, Louisville, or Covington may be legally fired from their job, denied housing, or withheld access to any public accommodation—such as a bus ride or service in a restaurant. text/html 2010-01-20T08:47:47+01:00 http://aclu-ky.org http://aclu-ky.org/content/view/339/104/ On November 25 the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the Commonwealth’s execution protocols were not legal. As a result, the Department of Corrections is rewriting the process by which we execute people and is currently accepting comments on the proposed process. The ACLU works to reform the capital punishment process. In general, our Capital Punishment Project focuses on improving the fairness of capital trials and appeals, improving the quality of legal representation, and reducing the number of defendants who face the death penalty. Capital punishment is the ultimate denial of civil liberties, and Kentucky’s proposed protocols only compound that denial by violating many of the most fundamental constitutional rights guaranteed to every American. The Department of Corrections is required to review and respond to all submitted comments, so please consider writing a letter or attending the hearing. All written comments must be submitted my mail by February 1st to Amy V. Barker and if you can testify in person at the one-day hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. EST January 29 you must submit written notification of your intent to do so to Ms. Barker by mail or fax by January 22. text/html 2010-01-19T15:45:42+01:00 http://aclu-ky.org http://aclu-ky.org/content/view/338/133/ The Tides Foundation’s State Equality Fund, a philanthropic partnership that includes the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, the Gill Foundation, and anonymous donors, has awarded the Kentucky Statewide Fairness Coalition $30,000 to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality. The Fund is programmatically staffed on behalf of the donors by the Gill Foundation’s Movement Building Center. The Fairness Coalition is an alliance of the various organizations and individuals working for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights in Kentucky. Our primary goal is to win a statewide ordinance that extends protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity within the Kentucky Civil Rights statute. We recognize that to accomplish this long-term goal we will need to build a statewide base of support with incremental victories on the local level. By joining forces, we enhance the capacity of the individual organizations with a sharing of resources, strategies, and goals, increased communication, and a strengthened and expanded base of allies of LGBT equality. Founding members of the Fairness Coalition include the ACLU of Kentucky, Fairness Campaign, Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, Kentucky Fairness Alliance, and Lexington Fairness. text/html 2010-01-11T10:38:48+01:00 http://aclu-ky.org http://aclu-ky.org/content/view/332/105/ The 2010 General Assembly got under way on January 5th and, by all accounts, we’re in for a very tough session. Each year ACLU of Kentucky staff and members travel to Frankfort to lobby the legislature on important civil liberties issues. This work is made possible through the money raised from ACLU membership dues. So if you’re not yet a member (https://secure.aclu.org/site/Donation2?df_id=2841 2841.donation=form1 s_src=UAW0000KY000 set.custom.Share_Checkbox=true), or you need to renew (https://secure.aclu.org/site/Donation2?df_id=2841 2841.donation=form1 s_src=UAW0000KY000 set.custom.Share_Checkbox=true), this is the perfect time of year to do so. While it’s early in the session, and many bills have not yet been filed, we do have several priority issues that we are proactively working on. We continue to seek the restoration of voting rights for former felons and statewide protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. We want to see comprehensive sexual education taught in our schools and the death penalty abolished from our judicial system. And we will advocate for more inclusive hospital visitation rights and a couple’s right to choose if, when, and how to become parents. The Reproductive Freedom Project is advocating for comprehensive sexual education legislation, which will provide Kentucky’s students with medically accurate and age appropriate healthcare information, so they can make healthy decisions. We are encouraged this year by the Federal government’s recent move away from funding abstinence-only programs and towards teen pregnancy prevention programs. Additionally, Federal incentives and state legislation passed in 2009 for education reform favor innovative programs – a real opportunity for comprehensive sexual education to make headway in 2010. Years of work to abolish the death penalty in Kentucky have led us to a virtual tipping point. This past fall the ACLU of Kentucky brought the Journey of Hope tour to seven college campuses across the state, addressing alternatives to capital punishment from the perspectives of murder victim family members and exonerated death row inmates. Just this month the American Law Institute, which created the intellectual framework for the death penalty adopted as part of the Model Penal Code, disavowed the structure they’d created as irretrievably broken; a moral and practical failure. Additionally, in the last year Ohio switched to a single chemical for lethal injections and New Mexico repealed its death penalty entirely. In light of the current climate, we feel that legislation introduced to ban capital punishment for individuals with severe mental illness has a good chance of passing the Kentucky General Assembly. We continue to push for statewide Fairness protections and legislation has already been filed to amend Kentucky’s Civil Rights chapter to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in housing, employment, and public accommodations. We are also promoting second-parent adoption legislation which would provide additional security for children by redefining stepparent to include any non-relative adult person who the court finds shares parental responsibility for the child. Similarly, legislation has been proposed that would allow patients over the age of 18 the ability to designate an individual not legally related as an immediate family member. In effect, this legislation would guarantee hospital visitation rights so that individuals can take care of their loved ones in a time of need. And the campaign to restore the right to vote to former felons who have paid their debt to society is gaining steam. Kentucky is one of only two states left in the country that continues to disenfranchise people in this way and it’s time for a change. This legislation has gained additional supporters every year and after Sen. Damon Thayer refused to give the bill a hearing last year because he “hadn’t heard from his constituents” that the issue was important to them, the ACLU of Kentucky and our allies spent a lot of time in Thayer’s district over the past nine months. There were several editorials and letters to the editor that appeared in the local paper and hundreds of Sen. Thayer’s constituents contacted him because of these efforts. Legislation will undoubtedly be put forth that threatens civil liberties as well, and we will be steadfast in our efforts to defeat such efforts at every turn. If you would like to lobby with us in Frankfort between now and April, please contact the ACLU of Kentucky office at info@aclu-ky.org (mailto:info@aclu-ky.org). And please consider joining (https://secure.aclu.org/site/Donation2?df_id=2841 2841.donation=form1 s_src=UAW0000KY000 set.custom.Share_Checkbox=true) or renewing (https://secure.aclu.org/site/Donation2?df_id=2841 2841.donation=form1 s_src=UAW0000KY000 set.custom.Share_Checkbox=true) your membership, or making an additional donation (https://secure.aclu.org/site/Donation2?df_id=2840 2840.donation=form1 s_src=CKYW set.custom.Share_Checkbox=true) during the General Assembly to support our endeavors to shape public policy for all Kentuckians. You can track these issues and more during the 2010 General Assembly through ourLegislature Update page (content/view/331/137/)! Stay informed by following the ACLU. text/html 2009-12-10T13:22:22+01:00 http://aclu-ky.org http://aclu-ky.org/content/view/330/103/ By Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, Reproductive Freedom Project This morning, the Kentucky Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case of Cochran v. Commonwealth, a case that could have enormous consequences for healthy moms and babies in that state. Ms. Cochran's road to Kentucky's Supreme Court has been a long one. Almost four years ago, Ms. Cochran gave birth to a baby girl. Her daughter allegedly tested positive for cocaine, and for that alone, Ms. Cochran was charged with felony child abuse. However, before her case could go to trial, the court dismissed the prosecution. The court was right: Ms. Cochran never should have been charged. In 1993, in Commonwealth v. Welch (the ACLU represented Ms. Welch in that case), the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that Kentucky's criminal laws could not be used to punish women who become and choose to remain pregnant despite a substance abuse problem. You might think that the court's dismissal of her case would have been the end of Ms. Cochran's ordeal; unfortunately it was not. The state appealed, arguing that in later cases the Kentucky Supreme Court had actually reversed itself, even though it could point to no explicit language where the court had done so. Surprisingly, the appeals court agreed (though not one of the three judges on that court agreed for the same reason). With the law now totally in flux, the state Supreme Court accepted the case to settle the issue — again — of whether becoming and remaining pregnant is ever a crime in the state of Kentucky. The ACLU filed a friend-of-the-court brief (http://www.aclu.org/reproductive-freedom/cochran-v-commonwealth-kentucky-aclu-amicus-brief) in support of Ms. Cochran, not only because we believe Welch is still good law, but, more fundamentally, because using criminal laws to punish pregnant women who are struggling with addiction makes for bad law and even worse public policy. If a pregnant woman can be charged with a crime for potentially harming her fetus, then literally everything she does or does not do — including choosing to continue her pregnancy to term despite an underlying health condition — could land her in jail. What if a pregnant woman has a glass of wine with dinner now and then, or lives with a smoker; what if she drives over the speed limit, fails to get regular pre-natal care, or works in a coal mine, as many women in Kentucky do? Allowing the government to exercise such unlimited control over women's bodies, and every aspect of their lives, would essentially reduce pregnant women to second-class citizens, denying them the basic constitutional rights enjoyed by the rest of us. Moreover, from a public health perspective, these prosecutions are simply counterproductive. Fifty-nine organizations and experts, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Kentucky Psychiatric Medical Association, joined friend-of-the-court briefs in this case, explaining that punitive approaches to improving fetal health just don't work. Seems obvious, right? By forcing doctors to turn in their own patients, these prosecutions only drive women away from the health care and treatment they need. If the state of Kentucky was truly interested in supporting healthy moms and babies, these groups point out, it would not be violating its own laws to throw the pregnant women who need health care the most in jail. We are hopeful that the Kentucky Supreme Court will agree and uphold nearly two decades of sound law and policy in the state of Kentucky. Indeed, the court's decision will have ramifications beyond Ms. Cochran's case. At least two other women have been charged with similar crimes since Ms. Cochran's arrest. Our efforts should be focused on ensuring that pregnant women with underlying health conditions can get the care they need. Hopefully, this case will set us squarely on that path. text/html 2009-12-03T11:24:20+01:00 http://aclu-ky.org http://aclu-ky.org/content/view/328/103/ Well I had quite a day yesterday. I left my house at 4:30 for the first of two flight that would lead to Washington DC for the Stop Stupak rally and my meeting with Congressman Chandler’s staff. When I arrived at the Dirksen Senate Building it was teeming with activists from across the country. We all came with the single purpose of not allowing Congress to continue to use women’s bodies as their personal political playground. The rally and day was incredibly powerful. To give you an idea of the energy and activism that went on consider, more than 1,000 supporters traveled to DC to lobby their members of Congress. They had to set up an overflow room for more than 200 people that couldn’t fit inside the Dirksen Auditorium for the rally. Over 100 lobby visits were scheduled. 30 states were represented. 17 campuses from 11 states were represented. Buses came from as far away as Maine and Wisconsin. 45 clergy from 13 states attended and 14 members of Congress came and spoke at the rally. Needless to say it was an amazing experience. Unfortunately, my meeting with Chandler’s staff was not as energizing. I wanted to know (and continue to want to know) how a supposedly pro-choice member of Congress could vote for the Stupak amendment? It is Chandler’s understanding that Stupak merely keeps the status quo of the Hyde amendment. We know that isn’t the case. Stupak goes far beyond the status quo. For more information about that meeting click here (http://www.aclu.org/blog/reproductive-freedom/tough-meeting-abortion-coverage-ban) . I spent the rest of they day talking to activists from across the country. Thankfully many of them had more success (http://www.aclu.org/blog/reproductive-freedom/end-stupak-lobby-day-exhausted-optimistic) than I had. After that, I caught two very delayed flights I came home to an inbox full of encouragement and support. Needless to say it was quite a day, but our fight isn’t over. Please send a letter to your Congressmember and tell them to Stop Stupak (https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage id=1815 page=UserAction JServSessionIdr004=v9ezi3m8w1.app23a) . Lastly, make sure Congressman Chandler knows Kentucky wants to Stop Stupak. Call his Lexington office (859) 219-1366 and tell them simply, “You cannot be pro-choice and support the Stupak-Pitts amendment”. And. “Stupak is not the status quo”! text/html 2009-12-03T06:42:12+01:00 http://aclu-ky.org http://aclu-ky.org/content/view/327/ As you know, on Saturday, November 7, 2009, during debate in the House of Representatives on the health care reform bill, lawmakers voted to adopt the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, which would impose unprecedented restrictions on women’s access to abortion care. Congressman Ben Chandler voted for the Amendment and we need him to reverse his decision. The ACLU joined dozens of other groups in organizing a Capitol Hill Lobby Day yesterday, December 2, 2009. ACLU of Kentucky RFP Director Derek Selznick hand-delivered a letter signed by over 75 KY advocates for reproductive freedom to Congressman Chandler. Read about Derek's experience on the hill on the ACLU blog (http://www.aclu.org/blog/reproductive-freedom/tough-meeting-abortion-coverage-ban). If you haven’t done so already – take a second to sign onto the National petition to stop the Stupak-Pitts (https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage id=1815 page=UserAction) amendment from becoming law. Another way to take action would be to join the ACLU of Kentucky RFP on Friday for an in-district meeting at Chandler’s Lexington office. Contact Derek@aclu-ky.org to sign up. And read what the local blogs (http://barefootandprogressive.blogspot.com/2009/12/aclu-of-ky-targeting-anti-choice-ben.html) are already saying about it ... text/html 2009-11-17T15:42:54+01:00 http://aclu-ky.org http://aclu-ky.org/content/view/326/103/ Over 600 Kentuckians from across the Commonwealth came out to hear the stories of three individuals directly affected by the death penalty during the Journey of Hope tour in early November. Terri Steinberg, Shujaa Graham and Bill Pelke toured 7 Kentucky colleges in three days to gain support for abolishing the death penalty in Kentucky. Katie McCracken, Georgetown’s Campus Ministry Intern, expressed her appreciation of hearing the different perspectives of the speakers, “When trying to change minds you need to come at it from multiple directions,” and the various points of view allowed listeners to do just that. Cherie Dawson-Edwards, an ACLU board member and one of the organizers of the KY State Journey of Hope stated that following the event “Students and faculty came up to me throughout the day with stories of how the speakers moved them.” WKU student Sheri Pearson said, “What stood out most for me were my children’s reactions.” Sheri’s ten-year old son Grant Denbaugh told her that he had never really thought about why he was against the death penalty until he met Mr. Graham, who was exonerated from death row after being framed for the 1973 murder of a prison guard in Stockton, CA. Journey of Hope attendees were overwhelmingly moved to act. Over 350 individuals filled out postcards to legislators asking them to support abolition of the death penalty. WKU student Greg Capillo urged fellow students to also call their legislators. Other attendees signed up to attend the annual conference of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, coming to Louisville in January. The success of the Journey of Hope tour is another indication that Kentuckians are ready for abolition as indicated by extensive recent media coverage in the Courier-Journal, Bowling Green Daily News, and the State Journal, among others. Kentucky is on the tipping point of abolishing the death penalty - following in the steps of New Jersey and New Mexico, both of which did away with capital punishment within the last two years. Kentuckians can end the barbaric and ineffective practice of executions, but we need your help! Please consider attending the NCADP conference from January 14-17 at the Seelbach Hilton in downtown Louisville where you will have an opportunity to hear experienced speakers cover ways to diversify the movement and lead discussions on innovative responses to crime, violence and criminal justice. Register for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty’s annual conference (http://www.ncadp.org/events.cfm?event=1003) Early registration rates end November 23! If you can’t make the entire conference, please consider attending the awards dinner where we will be recognizing longtime ACLU Board Member and abolitionist Carl Wedekind. text/html 2009-10-27T08:42:16+01:00 http://aclu-ky.org http://aclu-ky.org/content/view/325/103/ This Letter to the Editor Appeared in the 10-27-09 Edition of the Courier-Journal. Abortion: less necessary,less dangerous I would like to respond to some of the letters criticizing the editorial The Courier-Journal wrote in response to the Guttmacher Institute's study of global abortion trends. First of all, regardless of where we land on the political spectrum, each of us has strong feelings about abortion. One thing we can all agree on is that when 70,000 women die and 8 million women suffer medical complications from unsafe abortions, something is wrong. The C-J agreed that the Guttmacher Institute's three recommendations are common sense solutions to this problem. The first recommendation is that we expand access to family planning and contraceptive services. This recommendation is key. When family planning and contraceptive services are easily accessible, when men and women's knowledge of those services increases and when those services are utilized, the rate of abortions declines. There is a direct link between increased knowledge and use of contraceptives and fewer abortions. The second recommendation is to expand access to legal abortions, to ensure that they are safe. Historically, we know that once a woman makes the decision to have an abortion, she will have one, whether it is legal or not. We should support her by making sure that she has access to sanitary facilities and trained medical staff. That is what all of us would want for our daughters, mothers and wives. Legal and safe abortion services do not increase the number of abortions performed each year. Legal and safe abortions across the world decrease the number of deaths and complications for the women in our lives. The third recommendation is to improve post-abortion care to reduce deaths and medical complications. This is something we should all agree with. After a woman has an abortion, she should have access to comprehensive post-procedure care. This is especially needed if the abortion was not performed in a medically appropriate setting. All three of these recommendations make sense and focus on what we should do, which is make abortion less necessary, not more dangerous and difficult. Now that is something we all should agree on. DEREK SELZNICK Director Reproductive Freedom Project American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky Louisville 40202