by Mary Catherine Roper and Frederick Bates If you’ve been following the mayoral and city council elections in Philadelphia, you know that one of the biggest issues facing candidates is how to deal with the rise in gun violence over the past few years. The truth is, there are no…

by Ghadah Makoshi After more than a decade, Pittsburgh Public Schools and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police have reached an agreement about how city police interact with students. Under state law, every public school district in the commonwealth must have a written agreement with local law enforcement about how and…

by Naiymah Sanchez As we continue to talk about decriminalizing sex work-related offenses, we must acknowledge the stigma associated with being a sex worker and challenge such perceptions head-on. Decriminalization means that those who engage in sex work –whether a provider or a client– would no longer be subject to…

by Naiymah Sanchez It’s time to talk about sex work again. So let’s discuss the consensual sex trade and why decriminalizing sex work is a means of harm reduction and an important step in the fight against human trafficking. Ending the criminalization of those who engage in the consensual sex…

by Naiymah Sanchez We need to talk about sex work. Sex work and sex workers have been around as long as people have been engaged in commerce. Despite being one of the oldest professions on the planet, sex work remains a taboo to many people. Oftentimes, when people hear the…

by Reggie Shuford James D. Crawford, a longtime ACLU of Pennsylvania leader, fierce advocate for civil liberties, and friend to all who knew him, passed away peacefully earlier this month. I want to take some time to share what was so special about Jim. Jim was involved with the ACLU…

by Nyssa Taylor Under the Constitution, a person accused of a crime is presumed innocent, yet, when a judge sets cash bail for a person who can’t afford to pay, they condemn that person to pretrial detention. Pretrial detention causes significant harm to those incarcerated. In addition to being deprived…

by Jessica Li The ACLU of Pennsylvania has been working on challenging the misuse of cash bail for years. In 2018, we sent a letter to Philadelphia courts, raising a number of concerns based on court observations of more than 2000 bail hearings and urging them to follow the rules…

by Ghadah Makoshi The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of people around the globe, particularly for children. According to a report by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, “Disrupted sleep, school closures, social isolation, financial hardship, and racial trauma — including violence against Black communities, protests against…