News & Commentary

I’m motivated by fighting from and for the margins because that is where we confront what we don’t want to see about ourselves. We must remember not only listen to but to elevate the voices of the people who have been backed into these corners. This is when we are able to really turn the corner.

Bobby Bostic will not be eligible for parole until he’s 112 years old, a cruel and unusual punishment for a conviction for robberies committed at 16.

Gender discrimination is based on outdated stereotypes, just like discriminationbased on how men and women "should" dress or act. Sex-based stereotyping is unlawful and has no place at work or at school.

Mayor dismisses lawsuit against disapproving Walnut Grove resident

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Seventy-five criminal justice leaders — including former U.S. Solicitors General Kenneth Starr and Donald Verrilli, former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates, and former FBI Director William Webster — are urging the Supreme Court to overturn a 241-year prison sentence that a Missouri court imposed on Bobby Bostic for two armed robberies he committed as a 16-year-old.

We believe that young people hold the future of our democracy in their hands. In recent weeks, students who survived a mass shooting at their school in Parkland, Florida, have inspired high school students across the nation and here in Missouri with their leadership and courage.

At our "Voices of Liberty" Lobby Day on March 7, you met with 110 legislators (more than half of the Missouri Legislature!) to defend the rights of all Missourians. 

At 16, Bobby Bostic was sentenced to 241 years in prison for crimes he committed during a pair of robberies in St. Louis.He will be 112 years old when he is eligible for parole in 2091.

James D. Esseks is Director of the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender & HIV Project. We talked to him before he visited St. Louis to address the 2018 Midwest LGBTQ Rights Conference as a panelist and keynote speaker.