Michele Convie
It’s been 20 years since Michele Convie’s drug conviction. Since then, she’s become a mother, grandmother, and proud homeowner. Although she’s involved in public policy advocacy as a volunteer with the Women’s Re-entry Network in Tucson, she’s completely shut out of the political process because of a felon voting ban that disenfranchises more than 176,000 formerly incarcerated individuals, like her, who live and work in communities throughout Arizona. In May, the ACLU of Arizona and the National ACLU Voting Rights Project filed lawsuit seeking to restore the voting rights of former felons like Michele who have served their prison terms but are denied the right to vote because they owe money to the state or because they committed certain types of crimes. She is one of five ACLU plaintiffs challenging the unjust laws prohibiting former felons from exercising their right to vote.

Robert Daniels
After spending nearly one year in a jail ward despite never having committed any crime, tuberculosis (TB) patient Robert Daniels was finally transferred on July 19th to the National Jewish Hospital in Denver, the leading US center for TB treatment. The transfer came just seven weeks after the ACLU of Arizona filed a federal lawsuit against Maricopa County public health officials for failing to place him in humane quarantine facilities. In our lawsuit, we charged that treating a severely ill patient like a criminal is inhumane and unconstitutional. In addition, we argued that the county failed to implement procedures on how to humanely quarantine sick patients in an effort to cut costs. Daniels is now recuperating in Russia with his wife and son.

Sylvia Haydee Uribe-Reyna
In total disregard for family values and the U.S. Constitution, the federal government deported Sylvia Haydee Uribe-Reyna, a Glendale mother of three U.S.-born children who has resided in the U.S. for 22 continuous years. In a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Arizona and ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, we argued that she is eligible to stay in the U.S because of her long residency and because she is married to a legal permanent resident. A federal district court agreed with the ACLU and halted her deportation, but without notifying Uribe or her ACLU lawyers, ICE officials deported her in the middle of the night, telling her that she “could call [her] attorney from Mexico.” This tragic case demonstrates how the federal government’s expedited removal proceedings result in terrible mistakes and deprive individuals of rights granted by our immigration laws and our Constitution.

Dan Frazier
Just one month after the Arizona Legislature passed a law criminalizing the sale of anti-war t-shirts, police officers paid a visit to Dan Frazier’s home in Flagstaff, notifying him that they were preparing a report for the Flagstaff City Attorney’s Office that could result in criminal charges under the statute. The ACLU stepped into action and filed a lawsuit before an arrest, arguing the law was an unconstitutional attempt to take away Frazier’s First Amendment rights.  The 41-year-old activist has been selling anti-war t-shirts with the phrase: "Bush Lied … They Died” for nearly two years, donating proceeds from the t-shirt sales to an organization that benefits families of fallen soldiers. A judge recently halted the enforcement of the law, saying t-shirts were political in nature and deserving of constitutional protections.

The Cain Family
Virgel Cain opposes school vouchers and his 18-year-old adopted daughter, Nisha Cain, is the reason why.  She recently graduated from Cactus Shadows High School, which helped her overcome attention-deficit hyperactivity and bipolar disorders. And, like most parents with children enrolled in public schools in Arizona, he fears vouchers will drain resources from quality public school programs for students with disabilities like his daughter's. The ACLU of Arizona joined Cain, and other parents and educators in challenging two voucher bills that force taxpayers to pay up to $5 million to subsidize religious instruction. The case is now before the Arizona Court of Appeals.