News & Commentary

There is so much at stake this November. Our civil liberties are on the line in races up and down the ballot. The ACLU of Arizona is invested in one local race in particular, the race for Maricopa County Attorney.

When prosecuted for simple marijuana possession in Maricopa County, Hispanic people are sentenced to significantly longer jail and prisons sentences than their white and Black counterparts.

There is so much at stake this November. Our civil liberties are on the line in races up and down the ballot.

Hundreds of thousands of lives have been upended due to simple marijuana possession.

In 2018, we did a simple but radical thing: asked a prosecutor to tell us how their office runs.

At a time when Arizonans are calling for more transparency from the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry, Director David Shinn silently changed ADCRR’s media policy making it far more difficult for incarcerated people to talk to reporters.

The majority of people incarcerated in Arizona prisons were prosecuted by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and historically the county attorney has great sway over which criminal justice bills become law and which bills get stonewalled.

For the first time since 1996, Pima County will elect a new county attorney. The county attorney holds the most powerful position in the criminal legal system, deciding who goes to prison and for how long.

In August, Pima County voters will choose a new county attorney: one of the most powerful elected positions in Arizona’s criminal legal system. It will be the first time Pima County has a new county attorney in more than two decades.