RALEIGH – A legislative report card released today by the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina (ACLU-NC) shows that during its 2015-2016 session, the North Carolina General Assembly passed or considered a wide range of bills that diminished legal rights and civil liberties for many who call North Carolina home, especially LGBTQ people, women, immigrants, victims of police abuse, and criminal defendants.

The report card grades North Carolina House representatives on their votes on six bills introduced in the 2015-2016 session and members of the state Senate on eight. All were opposed by the ACLU-NC because of their negative impact on civil liberties.

Many of those measures were signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory, including laws that

CHARLOTTE – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of North Carolina joins those calling on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) to publicly release all body and dash camera footage, as well as audio dispatch recordings, of the events surrounding the police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old man with a traumatic brain injury, who, according to the Guardian’s database The Counted, was the 194^th Black person killed by U.S. police this year. 

On Saturday, the department released portions of body and dash camera footage showing the moments immediately before and after police shot and killed Mr. Scott. But the department has not released all the video footage of the moments leading up to and following the encounter, leaving many questions still unanswered.

Susanna Birdsong, Policy Counsel for the ACLU of North Carolina, released the following statement:

This week a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott, the 164th Black man killed by U.S. police this year. Mr. Scott was not a suspect for any crime. Officers were trying to execute a warrant for a different person.

Keith Lamont Scott deserves justice, and the public and Mr. Scott’s family deserve answers. That begins with transparency.

Tell Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts and Police Chief Kerr Putney to release any and all police camera footage of the events surrounding Mr. Scott’s killing.

CHARLOTTE – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of North Carolina today called on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department to release any body or dash cam footage that captured yesterday’s police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, the 194^th Black person killed by U.S. police this year. Police say Mr. Scott was shot and killed while officers were trying to execute an arrest warrant for a different person.

A new North Carolina law, HB 972, will prevent law enforcement agencies from releasing body camera footage in the public interest without a court order, but the law does not take effect until October 1. All Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers are supposed to be equipped with body cameras while on patrol and the cameras should be in use any time an arrest is made, according to department policy.  

Karen Anderson, Executive Director of the ACLU of North Carolina, released the following statement: