News & Commentary

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.

Jefferson City, Mo. –  The National Women’s Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and several advocacy groups filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of two state of Missouri employees claiming the right to be protected against sex discrimination.

Expectant mother Tara Rhodes was shackled. Her wrists were bound. Her ankles were cuffed together. She even had chains across her abdomen. During a time when most mothers are under a doctor's care, Rhodes was bleeding, leaking fluids and shackled during a five-hour, 243-mile trip from Mississippi County to Vandalia, Missouri.

We would never think it's okay for an employer or teacher to casually look through an employee or student's diary, mail, or photos. Right now, the 21st century equivalent could happen if an employer, teacher or potential landlord asks for your password to your personal social media accounts.

"Over the years, we’ve seen a pattern emerge with the Missouri Department of Corrections: When they choose to keep public information a secret, it’s often because they have something to hide. Today, we understand why they have fought so hard to keep Missourians from knowing where they get their execution drugs.

It took more than 3 1/2 years and several appeals for the Social Security Administration to recognize the marriage of Ed Gentzler and William Parker.The acknowledgment came only after Gentzler lost the man he had loved the most in his life.Gentzler applied for widower’s insurance benefits after his husband, Bill, succumbed to cancer. The Social Security Administration did not accept their marriage and refused Gentzler’s request.Parker died in 2014, nearly five years after the two married in Iowa.“This weighed heavily on my heart for a long time, especially when the benefit denials would come on the anniversary of Bill’s death,” Gentzler said.