ACLU of Texas

NEW INVESTIGATION: The Texas Juvenile Justice Department is violating the rights and endangering the well-being of children in its care.

Children deserve freedom and protection, not abuse. The state must act now.

DOJ finds youth abused at Texas juvenile facilities After an extensive investigation of conditions for children in five juvenile detention facilities operated by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD), the US Department of Justice finds that there is reasonable cause to believe that TJJD is violating the constitutional rights of the children in...

“Texas colleges must push back against Abbott’s unconstitutional mandates and protect the rights of all students to speak their minds.”

As a new school year approaches, let’s protect the constitutional right of Texans to make our voices heard.

Abbott's order will curb campus free speech in Texas, not antisemitism Texas colleges must push back against unconstitutional mandates and protect students' free speech rights

Voting is a cornerstone of our democracy. Yet, Texas is one of the hardest states in the nation to vote.

Interested in getting involved in supporting our democracy?

Get more info about upcoming Election Protection poll monitor trainings. ⬇️

Support our democracy by becoming a poll monitor By becoming a poll monitor, you’ll have the opportunity to work toward eradicating voter suppression and empowering historically disenfranchised Texans to fully participate in our democracy.

Five years after the El Paso massacre our hearts still ache. There remains more to be done for the victims and their families of this white supremacist attack.

The lasting effects of this heinous crime scarred our communities. Our government must do more to undo this harm.

The structure of this court is unconstitutional.

We just filed a brief on behalf of Disability Rights Texas supporting a lawsuit to stop the Court from going into effect September 1.

We are urging the Texas Supreme Court to side with Texans. Access our full brief: https://bit.ly/3Yvw3gm

More than ever, Texans are facing attacks on our basic First Amendment rights.

The Houston City Council's prioritization of this ordinance is disappointing.

Houstonians need protections against grid failures, school curriculum censorship, polling center closures, and jail expansion — NOT restrictions on our free speech.

Let's be clear: Elected officials should protect our constitutional right to free speech, whether or not they agree with the content of our speech. https://www.axios.com/local/houston/2024/07/30/ted-cruz-john-whitmire-residential-protests

GOOD NEWS: A judge ruled that our client Lizelle Gonzalez can seek out the justice she deserves after being unlawfully jailed for having a medication abortion in South Texas.

No one should be above the law, including prosecutors.

Texas woman's lawsuit after being jailed on murder charge over abortion can proceed, judge rules A federal judge has ruled that a Texas woman who was jailed and charged with murder over self-managing an abortion in 2022 can move forward with her lawsuit. U.S.

Giving children the opportunity to check out The Bluest Eye is not a punishable offense.

Restricting students’ education puts them at a disadvantage to pursue the lives and careers they want. Instead of trying to shield students from reality, we should prepare them for their futures.

Students: Learn more about what you can do to push back against book bans and censorship at aclutx.org/students.

Access the full article with the link in our bio.

A Texas law enforcement officer spent years trying to jail three school librarians. Their alleged crime?

Letting children read.

Criminalizing books and going after librarians doesn't protect children — it robs them of vital learning opportunities.

Inside the two-year fight to bring charges against school librarians in Granbury, Texas An 824-page investigative file offers a visceral picture of an officer’s attempt to prosecute librarians amid a nationwide movement to criminalize books.

Texans are facing challenges at every level of government.

To maintain power, state leaders continue to push failed policies, create political stunts, and attempt to divide our communities by blaming the most vulnerable among us — including children, immigrants, and LGBTQIA+ Texans.

We won't stop working for a Texas that works for all of us.

No matter the color of our skin, the languages we speak, or where we were born, every person in Texas deserves to feel safe and be treated with dignity.

Sign up for updates, opportunities to get involved, and more at aclutx.org/updates.

Texas State University will implement a new free speech policy that appears to target pro-Palestinian student protestors.

The First Amendment guarantees Texas students the right to protest. University officials can't crackdown on protests just because they don't like what students are saying.

'It's impossible' | Some Texas State students worry about ability to protest after university changes free speech policy The university changed its free speech policy in June to comply with an executive order from the governor.

“It’s so hard to know that she’s gone right now because this wasn’t supposed to happen to her."

At least 23 Texans have died from the heat during Beryl electricity outages.

Their lives mattered. They should matter to the people who let this happen.

Heat-related Texas deaths climb after Beryl left millions without power for days or longer The number of heat-related deaths in Texas is rising among residents who lost power during Hurricane Beryl. The toll of storm fatalities is up to at least 23.

We’re asking dozens of school districts across the state to revise their discriminatory school dress code policies in order to comply with the CROWN Act.

All students, no matter how they dress or wear their hair, deserve to feel welcome at school — without the threat of discrimination or exclusion.

Read our press release below. ⬇️
https://www.aclutx.org/en/press-releases/aclu-texas-finds-more-50-school-districts-remain-violation-crown-act

Our clients are devastated to be separated from their families and put in a cell for simply exercising their First Amendment rights.

In August 2020, Amara, Torrey, and Justin peacefully protested a Confederate monument. The orderly protest lasted about 11 minutes.

But days later, they were surprised to receive arrest warrants — and ever since have been defending their innocence.

Last month, we asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn their convictions.

We are still waiting for the Supreme Court to decide whether to review the constitutionality of their convictions. We remain optimistic that the U.S. Supreme Court will review this crucial case.

PRO Gainesville

We’re celebrating the advocacy from disabled advocates that have helped create a more inclusive world for us all.

ALL disabled people deserve to feel valued and included in our state and across the county.

Disability rights are civil rights and true disability justice requires work and effort from us all.

Texas officials want to force a singular, state-funded religious view onto public school students.

These policies make a mockery of our country’s foundational principle of separation of church and state.

Texas’ Christian-influenced curriculum spurs worries about bullying, church-state separation Some secular groups and members of other faiths say the curriculum could give schools too much control over how children are taught religion.

While millions of Texans are still dealing with the devastation caused by Beryl, Gov. Abbott has instead chosen to focus his energy on spewing vitriol toward migrants.

His commitment to continuously neglecting the true issues Texans are facing is astounding.

Cruelty toward migrants will never be a policy solution.

Texas’ reproductive care and women’s health systems rank worse than nearly every other state in the country — and continue to disproportionately fail Black and Brown Texans.

Anti-abortion laws put Texans' lives at risk.

Texas ranks almost dead last in the nation for women’s health care, research shows Texas ranked last for health care coverage, access and affordability for women in the U.S., as well as access to abortion.

OUTRAGEOUS: UT Austin spent $75,000 on crisis communications following the violent arrests of pro-Palestinian protestors.

It would have been a lot cheaper — and constitutional — not to attack students’ free speech in the first place.

Records: UT hires crisis comms for 'reputational matters' after pro-Palestinian protests President Hartzell signed an agreement May 4 with a global firm for “strategic communications work,” including on reputation and crises, for $75,000.

“This is our ecosystem. This is what brings us life.”

Texas officials have been using border communities as pawns in a political game — endangering residents and migrants, damaging the environment, and wasting taxpayer money and natural resources.

Eagle Pass residents have mixed feelings about sharing their city with the National Guard Texas has sent thousands of soldiers to the border as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s multibillion-dollar initiative Operation Lone Star. No border town has felt their presence more than Eagle Pass.

"The whole city is hurting and suffering."

On 713 Day, Houstonians should be joyfully celebrating our city — instead many of us are wondering when we’ll regain electricity during this sweltering heat wave.

Our city deserves better.

Houston area residents struggle without power and water as excruciating heat continues | CNN Half a million Houston-area homes and businesses may not have their power restored until next week amid sweltering summer heat, even as many in the region struggle to access fresh food, air conditioning and safe drinking water.

A new investigation reveals taxpayer-funded Crisis Pregnancy Centers — which masquerade as health care centers but actually push anti-abortion propaganda — have few safeguards and are riddled with waste.

Pregnant Texans deserve better.

How a Texas Program Funnels Millions to Anti-Abortion Groups With Little Accountability Two years after Roe v. Wade was overturned, Texas leads the nation in funding for crisis pregnancy centers. The system is meant to help growing families, but it’s riddled with waste and lacks oversight, a ProPublica and CBS News investigation found.

Texas leaders have failed to protect us and left millions alone in the dark and in a deadly heat wave. Enough is enough.

They spend so much time attacking trans Texans, university students, and immigrants — but where are they when we actually need them?

Dangerous heat threatens millions of Texans without power for days in largest outage in utility’s history | CNN Life-threatening heat is gripping southeast Texas, where more than 1.5 million homes and businesses remain without power and air conditioning for a third day after Beryl caused major power outages, including the largest in one major energy provider’s history.

We’re still working to uphold Texans’ rights, but posting less. We hope you’ve been able to recover and take the time you need too. Be back soon.

SHAMEFUL: has stopped providing gender-affirming health care to trans students after conservative pushback.

White Christian nationalists are trying to erase trans people from all facets of life. We will not be erased.

Texas A&M University will stop providing gender transition care, officials said Texas A&M University to end gender transition care for transgender students at College Station campus

An Austin resident had a miscarriage. Then — because of Texas anti-abortion laws — she couldn’t get medication to treat it.

"I felt like a criminal, like I was trying to go get opioids or something. I was like, 'I'm literally bleeding.'"

Texas abortion laws are preventing women from accessing crucial miscarriage care Texans experiencing miscarriages and other conditions continue to face hurdles in accessing mifepristone and misoprostol.

People who are incarcerated are forced to work from the moment they enter the prison gates.

Working conditions can include strenuous labor for hours in extreme heat for no pay — and no labor protections.

Texans who are incarcerated deserve dignity.

Prison labor in Texas is modern-day slavery Working without pay in Texas prisons is a loophole in the 13th Amendment that the state takes full advantage of

Trans youth and their families deserve to live authentically and freely — without attacks from politicians.

This year, our right to protest has been challenged time and time again, including police violently arresting students advocating for human rights and officials trying to lock up three Texans from a small town marching for racial justice.

Today is — and it’s clear we’re still a long way from liberty and justice for all.

Around the country and across the state, people of every race, class, and background are taking action to dismantle the deep-seated racism and inequality that permeate our institutions.

And we aren't stopping — because we deserve a state and a country that work for all of us, no exceptions.