First the Bad News

In the last few days, civil liberties have really taken a hit. HB 1366, School Violence Prevention Act, a.k.a. the "bullying bill," has not been taken up by either chamber despite the fact that it has been on the Calendar in both chambers repeatedly since Tuesday. Today, the Senate re-referred the bill to committee, sounding the final death knoll on the bill. The Senate also never heard HB 1291, The Racial Justice Act. Both of these bills enjoyed bipartisan support in the House, which passed them both.

On Tuesday, both the House and Senate voted in favor of HB 274, Street Gang Suppression Act. This bill increases penalties based on street gang activity. While most agree that gang activity is a problem, similar laws in other states have done little to address this issue, sometimes even solidifying gang activity by making minor offenders into hardened criminals through long prison terms. Further, these laws are usually used to target young African American and Latino men. At the end of June, the N.C. legislature passed SB 1358, Street Gang Prevention Act. This bill instructed community groups providing for at-risk youth to develop gang activity intervention and prevention programs and provided money to be granted to community providers. Those who work with youth agree that community support services are much more likely to impact youth participation in gangs than harsh punitive laws like the one passed on Tuesday.

And Now, The Good News

Today, the House passed HB 2136, Oppose Real ID Act of 2005 69-45. The bill had bi-partisan sponsors and support on the floor. This bill prohibits all state agencies from complying with the federal Real ID Act of 2005 and it will now move to the Senate. The ACLU has opposed the Real ID Act since it was passed as an amendment to another bill that enjoyed no debate in Congress. The Real ID Act sets out requirements that each State's license must meet. It also requires that each state collect and store a huge amount of personal information about each applicant, with the potential to create a national database with information on every person with a drivers' license in the country. Eleven states have already passed similar legislation. The ACLU believes this raises serious privacy concerns and will create a bureaucratic nightmare. For more information on Real ID, check out www.realnightmare.org.

Call YOUR Senator today and ask him or her to support HB 1291 N.C. Racial Justice Act!

The ACLU-NC has been working for two years on this bill, in conjunction with the NC Coalition for a Moratorium. With your help, we have gotten a favorable vote in the House and now we need the Senate to act! With the session expected to end on July 18th, we are in the home stretch.

Please take 5 minutes to phone you Senator today. Ask him or her to support HB 1291. With your continued efforts, we can help ensure that race is not a factor in death sentences anymore. To find out who your Senator is, go to http://www.ncleg.net/.

No one should be sentenced to death because of his or her race.

The Constitution demands that the criminal justice system, including the capital punishment system, be color blind. HB 1291 would help to ensure that it is. Please call your Senator and tell him or her as much!

** HB 1291 is a bill that would allow those sentenced to death in North Carolina to challenge the *sentence* of death, not the conviction, if he or she can show that race played a role in the prosecutor’s decision to seek the death penalty or in the jury’s decision to sentence death. Most importantly, the defendant would be able to present statistical evidence that race played a role, which is not currently allowed.

Tell the Senate to Take Action Today!

The Senate Democrats will meet this afternoon (Tuesday, July 8) to discuss which bills will be taken up before the session ends in the coming days, and we need your help to make sure HB 1366, the School Violence Prevention Act, is one of those bills.

Please take action now and contact your Senator. Even if you've taken action on this bill before, even more than once, your Senator needs to hear from you again. To find out who your Senator is and to find his or her contact info, go to www.ncleg.net.

This Fourth of July, as we’re celebrating independence and freedom, many senators are getting ready to come back to Washington and sell out some of our most fundamental freedoms.

That’s because on Tuesday, July 8th the Senate will consider an unconstitutional FISA bill that lets lawbreaking phone companies off the hook.

You’ve been with us throughout this fight. Your passion and your energy have inspired me and all of us at the ACLU to keep fighting when things seemed hopeless and to never give up.

With the hard work and support of over 20 organizations HB 1366, School Violence Prevention Act, finally moved forward in the North Carolina General Assembly today!