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. …

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…

by Vanessa Stine and Erika Guadalupe Núñez Fighting against new and repurposed immigration detention centers in Pennsylvania is beginning to feel like a horrible game of whack-a-mole. From Berks County to York County, civil rights and immigration advocates have been working tirelessly to end immigration detention across the commonwealth. In…

by Mary Catherine Roper If you are regularly stopped by the Philadelphia police, you are probably a Black man. If you are not regularly stopped by police, you should watch this video of a stop by Philadelphia police. Go on, watch it. I’ll wait. In the video, two Philly police…

by Mary Catherine Roper The United States Supreme Court decision in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia has raised a lot of questions about what the court’s ruling means for LGBQ&T families and individuals in Philadelphia, and across the country. …

by Terrell Thomas Last month, state Representative Ed Gainey edged out Mayor Bill Peduto in the Democratic mayoral primary. Rep. …

by Reggie Shuford Christian Hall walked to work, but he was studying to take his driver’s test and saving to buy a car. The future seemed bright. But on December 30, 2020, the 19-year-old was in distress and needed help. According to his family, Christian was depressed about a recent…

As we observe March as Women’s History Month, we are reminded of the importance of women in leadership, women’s rights, and the necessary work needed to keep moving the needle in the right direction toward women’s liberation and equality. Women have held our families, communities, and our movements together. This…