Press Releases

ACLU, Muslim Leaders Demand Maricopa County Attorney Cancel Biased Presentation

PHOENIX – The ACLU of Arizona and leader of Arizona’s Muslim community today sent a letter to Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery demanding he cancel a biased, anti-Muslim presentation his office plans to host next week for law enforcement personnel from across Arizona.
Issue Areas: Religious Liberty

Arizona Prisons’ Widespread Failings Detailed in Newly Released Reports

PHOENIX – Nearly two dozen expert reports that detail widespread problems with the Arizona Department of Corrections’ healthcare system, as well as its use of solitary confinement, were made public late Monday.
Issue Areas: Prisoners' Rights

Statement on Brewer’s Executive Order Creating a New Office and Council on Faith and Community Partnerships

PHOENIX – Last month, Governor Jan Brewer signed an executive order creating a new Office of Faith and Community Partnerships and a Council on Faith and Community Partnerships.
Issue Areas: Religious Liberty

Courts denies ADOC’s Request for Motion for Summary Judgment

Late this afternoon U.S. District Judge Neil V. Wake denied the Arizona Department of Correction’s motion for summary judgment in a class-action lawsuit seeking adequate medical, mental health, and dental care for Arizona’s prisoners, and challenging the state prisons’ use of solitary confinement.
Issue Areas: Prisoners' Rights

Workers Request Immediate Halt to Arpaio’s Workplace Raids Pending Outcome of Court Case

Workers with the immigrant rights group Puente today asked a federal court to stop the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and Attorney’s Office from using two contested state felony identity theft laws that target immigrant workers pending the outcome of the group’s constitutional challenge.
Issue Areas: Immigrants' Rights

Mother of Slain Mexican Teen Sues U.S. Border Patrol Agents, Seeks Trial in Shooting Death of Her Son

TUCSON – Araceli Rodriguez, the mother of slain Mexican teen Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, filed a federal lawsuit today in Arizona to pursue justice for her son, who was killed nearly two years ago by U.S. Border Patrol agents, identified only as John Does in the lawsuit.

Arizona Must Suspend Executions

PHOENIX – It took the state of Arizona nearly two hours to execute Joseph Wood by lethal injection today. According to his attorneys, Mr. Wood was “gasping and snorting for more than an hour.” Alessandra Soler, executive director of the ACLU of Arizona, issued the following statement.
Issue Areas: Prisoners' Rights

Federal Appeals Court Rules Arizona Must End Ban on Drivers’ Licenses for DREAMers

PHOENIX – Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer was wrong to bar some young immigrants from receiving driver’s licenses, a panel of federal judges ruled today.
Issue Areas: Immigrants' Rights

ACLU Claim Reveals Tucson Police Continue Rights Violations Under SB 1070 Law

TUCSON – The American Civil Liberties Union has initiated a second legal claim against the Tucson Police Department (TPD) after finding that the implementation of the “show me your papers” provision of SB 1070 continues to result in the violation of people’s constitutional rights.