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Youth

All young people must have the opportunity to meaningfully participate in our society.  The ACLU Youth Policy project seeks to ensure that young people – particularly those who have been historically excluded or underserved – receive meaningful education and services in communities, instead of being pushed to a juvenile justice system that will undermine their ability to be successful as adults.  Our current focus is on reforming school discipline policies and practices, working to limit school-based referrals to the juvenile justice system, and decreasing the over-reliance on jails and prisons for young people in the juvenile and adult criminal law systems.

REPORT: Washington Schools Routinely Physically Restrain and Isolate Students

Advocates call on the Legislature to Clarify the Law and Adopt Reforms to Protect Students 

ACLU Files Amicus Brief Urging Supreme Court to Uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act  

Throughout history, federal and state governments have sought to threaten the existence of tribes

Resources

Labor, Tribal, and Medical Groups join ACLU-WA and Criminal Justice Organizations in Support of Retroactive Sentencing Reform

News Release, Published: 
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Over 30 labor, tribal, medical groups, and criminal justice organizations joined the ACLU-WA and FAMM in support of a bill that retroactively and prospectively repeals the use of prior juvenile convictions to automatically enhance future sentences in adult courts.
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REPORT: Washington Schools Routinely Physically Restrain and Isolate Students, Disproportionately Subjecting Students with Disabilities, Black, Homeless and Foster Care Students to Traumatic Practices that Violate State Law 

News Release, Published: 
Monday, February 6, 2023
Advocates call on the Legislature to Clarify the Law and Adopt Reforms to Protect Students 
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Restraint and isolation in Washington schools: What these practices are, how they are being used and what needs to change 

Published: 
Monday, February 6, 2023
One parent recounted their son saying that he couldn’t breathe, and that he thought he was going to die. Another described how her kindergartener was placed in isolation, often for “cussing,“ many times a week for months. A survivor described witnessing restraint at a non-public agency as “an everyday thing” in all classrooms. 
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Efforts to censor student expression are on the rise, nationally and in Washington  

Published: 
Thursday, September 22, 2022
Educators are grappling with ways to teach topics like race, gender, and sexuality. But rather than embracing open dialogue about these issues, state legislatures and lawmakers throughout the country are working to limit the way schools discuss them. 
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ACLU Files Amicus Brief Urging Supreme Court to Uphold the Indian Child Welfare Act  

News Release, Published: 
Thursday, August 18, 2022
The American Civil Liberties Union, along with 12 ACLU state affiliates and represented by Cooley LLP, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court today urging the court to uphold the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act.
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ACLU Comment on Supreme Court Decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District

News Release, Published: 
Monday, June 27, 2022
The Supreme Court significantly eroded the separation of church and state in public schools.
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ACLU of Washington statement on Spokane School District’s release of the independent investigation of the “cotton picking” lesson at Sacajawea Middle School

News Release, Published: 
Friday, July 30, 2021
ACLU of Washington reaction to the release of the results of an independent investigation into a complaint over a cotton picking lesson at Sacajawea Middle School in Spokane
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Spokane Family Demands Equitable Changes After Two Black Middle School Students Were Asked to Clean Cotton for Social Studies Lesson

News Release, Published: 
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
On May 3, Emzayia and Zyeshauwne said their fifth-period social studies teacher took out a box of raw cotton and told the class they were going to do a “fun” activity to see who could clean cotton the fastest.
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