59 Years Strong: Threading the Brief Yet Powerful History of Black Americans' Voting Rights

Can you believe it hasn’t even been 60 years? It is a brief yet impactful history that continues to unfold, from historic triumphs to present challenges. Let's celebrate progress and rally for a future of equal voting rights for all.

Next year marks 60 years since the Voting Rights Act of 1965 granted Black Americans the right to vote.

Sustaining a Participatory Democracy

Participatory democracy is essential in a vibrant society, where every voice holds significance and power is shared. At the ACLU of NC, our commitment to sustaining participatory democracy remains unyielding.

Sustaining a Participatory Democracy

Banned Books and the Rise of Censorship

The threat of censorship and the suppression of knowledge is alive and well today and continues a long legacy of attempting to silence minoritized people.

Gender Queer memoir cover art

The Sinister and Racist Practice Infecting Death Penalty Juries

“Death qualification” is yet another way prosecutors stack the odds against Black defendants and in favor of capital punishment.

Am antique jury’s box.

ACLU Demands an End to Racist Jury Selection Tactic in Death Penalty Trial

The ACLU's challenge relies in part on a new study of capital cases in Wake County, North Carolina, finding Black jurors are disproportionately disqualified from serving on capital juries.

Wake County Courthouse

My Life Was Derailed By a Traffic Ticket

A minor infraction cost me my driver’s license, my job, thousands of dollars, and over a decade entangled with a system that punishes poverty.

Traffic violation on a windshield.

Asheville Passed Reparations. The Rest of North Carolina Should Do the Same.

Asheville City Council passed a resolution acknowledging slavery, racism, and committing to invest in the community. 

AVL

What Does the 2020 RNC Mean for Civil Liberties in Charlotte?

When Charlotte hosts the Republican National Convention (RNC) next August, North Carolina’s largest city will become the epicenter of not just a major political gathering, but monumental questions concerning civil liberties, free speech, policing, and public safety.

By Mike Meno

CMPD 2012 DNC

Will North Carolina's Supreme Court Allow Racism to Remain a Persistent Factor in its Death Penalty?

In 2009, North Carolina passed the Racial Justice Act (RJA), which allowed defendants to strike the death penalty from their cases if they could show that racial discrimination was a factor in their prosecution.

Image of an empty jury box in a courtroom