News & Commentary

This is what we did: We held a vigil outside Sen

On May 1st, one of our partner organizations, MIRA, organized more than 250 people to rally outside Senator Roy Blunt’s office in Clayton, Missouri, calling on the Senator to support a bill that would grant citizenship to all 11 million aspiring citizens. At the rally, a group of leaders were able to meet with a policy advisor for Senator Blunt. During the meeting, immigrants were able to share their stories and asked the policy advisor to encourage the Senator to support the bill.

There are more than 1,100 places in federal law where a protection or responsibility is based on marital status. The ruling striking down DOMA will not be effective until 25 days from the decision, but even when effective, federal agencies—large bureaucracies—may need and take some time to change forms, implement procedures, train personnel, and efficiently incorporate same-sex couples into the spousal-based system. Until same-sex couples can marry in every state in the nation, there will be uncertainty about the extent to which same-sex spouses will receive federal marital-based protections nationwide. For federal programs that assess marital status based on the law of a state that does not respect marriages of same-sex couples, those state laws will likely pose obstacles for legally married couples and surviving spouses in accessing federal protections and responsibilities. The fact sheet series was produced together by: American Civil Liberties Union, Center for American Progress, Family Equality

The ACLU of Missouri updated an LGBT Handbook with valuable information and resources for Missouri. This version was last updated in June of 2015. 

The Legal Rights for Transgender Missourians was created by the Metro Trans Umbrella Group and the ACLU of Missouri to serve as a resource for those seeking to change their legal recognition. It is recommended that you hire an attorney to change your name and gender marker on legal documents. However, representation is not required. 

The ACLU of Missouri released its report “Caught in the Web of Mass Surveillance” Oct. 23, 2014. It is the product of an extensive investigation into the existing web of surveillance cameras in St. Louis, where a number of entities maintain a hodgepodge of surveillance cameras governed by a variety of internal policies or, in many cases, no policies at all.

In June 2013, the ACLU released its report, "The War on Marijuana in Black and White: Billions of Dollars Wasted on Racially Biased Arrests." This is the first-ever report to examine nationwide state and county marijuana arrest data by race. According to the report, Missouri blacks were arrested for marijuana possession at 2.6 times the rate of whites in 2010, despite comparable marijuana usage rates.

"Today’s Supreme Court ruling in the ACLU’s Edie Windsor case strikes down discriminatory provisions of the ‘so-called’ Defense of Marriage Act," says Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the ACLU-EM. "This landmark decision recognizes that it is discriminatory for our federal government to treat legally married gay couples any differently than it treats legally married heterosexual couples. This is a day of celebration for America and a historic leap forward for all married same-sex couples and their families.

ST. LOUIS – According to a new report by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), blacks were arrested for marijuana possession at 2.6 times the rate of whites in Missouri during 2010, despite comparable marijuana usage rates. The report, “Marijuana in Black and White: Billions of Dollars Wasted on Racially Biased Arrests,” released June 4, 2013, is the first ever to examine state and county marijuana arrest rates nationally by race. The findings show that while there were pronounced racial disparities in marijuana arrests 10 years ago, they have grown significantly worse1, and that is the case in Missouri.In Missouri, the counties with the largest racial disparity in marijuana possession arrests were St. Louis City, Pettis, Lafayette