On Tuesday, August 10, join us for the next conversation in our racial justice series entitled, "Intersectionality: The Impact of Racist Policy toward Black Women and Girls," with Melba Pearson, Director of Policy and Programs for Florida International University’s Center for the Administration of Justice.

Melba Pearson is an attorney specializing in civil rights and criminal law, with an emphasis on policy. She is the Director of Policy and Programs for Florida International University’s Center for the Administration of Justice, as well as Senior Fellow/Faculty in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Her work centers on the expansion of the use of Prosecutorial Performance Indicators for more transparency, equity and racial justice in the criminal justice system.

Before joining FIU, Ms. Pearson spent three years as Deputy Director of the ACLU of Florida where she worked to change police practices, expand voting rights, and reform the criminal justice system. Previously, Ms. Pearson was an Assistant State Attorney in Miami-Dade County for 16 years, culminating as Assistant Chief in the Career Criminal/Robbery Unit supervising junior attorneys while prosecuting homicides. In 2020, she received close to 155,000 votes as a candidate for Miami Dade State Attorney.

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Tuesday, August 10, 2021 - 6:30pm to
7:30pm

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The U.S. Supreme Court delivered some victories and a few setbacks to our civil liberties during another landmark term for the Court. Want to know what the major decisions mean for your rights here in Florida?

Join our Broward County Chapter on Monday, August 9th in Pompano Beach for a recap on SCOTUS's term.

We hope you can join us for this important presentation. Food and refreshments will be provided. RSVP today to let us know if you can make it.

You can attend this event via Zoom or in-person at Skolnick Center, 800 SW 36th Avenue Pompano Beach FL. 33069.

Event Date

Monday, August 9, 2021 - 6:45pm to
7:45pm

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Jacquelyne Germain, Communications Intern, ACLU

On July 12, Texas House Democrats headed to Washington D.C. in a last resort attempt to deny Republicans the quorum they needed to pass restrictive voting measures during a special legislative session. The Democratic exodus not only stalled the GOP-led election bills, it also delayed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s longer agenda for this special session, including legislation to ban transgender youth in sports, further limit access to reproductive healthcare, and dictate how U.S. race history is taught in schools.

The Texas Democrats who fled said they aren’t returning until the special session expires on August 6, but Gov. Abbott said he will continue calling special sessions into next year. Legislative standoffs of this nature are very rare, but the Democrats went to Washington to block the full range of issues that were at stake in the special session.

Restrictive voting bills were the impetus for the Democrats’ stall tactic. Texas already has numerous voter suppression tactics in place when it comes to voter ID, registration, and vote-by-mail laws. The new voting bills seek to expand criminal penalties in the election code — penalties that disproportionately impact people of color. According to analysis from the ACLU of Texas, 72 percent of the prosecutions pursued by Texas’ election integrity unit were against people of color. Texas’ Republican leadership has transparently focused their voter suppression efforts on suppressing votes that tend to be more Democratic, thus targeting mor e voters of color.

Beyond election bills, attempts to censor discussions of race in the classroom are also at the forefront of Texas’ special session. Texas is just one of the many states involved in the national critical race theory debate in which various states are proposing and passing bills that seek to rob young people of an inclusive education while blatantly suppressing speech about race and gender.

In this week’s episode of At Liberty, Sarah Labowitz, policy and advocacy director at the ACLU of Texas, discusses the legislative standoff and the various civil rights and civil liberties at the center of this special legislative session.

Listen to Episode 167 of ACLU's "At Liberty" Podcast Below:

The Texas Legislature's Culture War

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Friday, July 30, 2021 - 3:15pm

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Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, holds a sign that says, "Don't mess with Texas," as he and other Democratic caucus members join a rally on the steps of the Texas Capitol to support voting rights

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On this week's episode of At Liberty, we get an on-the-ground look at Texas House Democrats' choice to flee the state in the name of voting rights.

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