News & Commentary

In light of widespread reports of planned student walkouts as protests at public schools across the country, including in Virginia, it is important for school officials and students alike to keep in mind these important legal considerations:

Lawmakers, opinion leaders, and some in the media have characterized several proposals making their way through the Virginia legislature this year as welcome “criminal justice reform.” They are anything but.

Today, the ACLU of Virginia sent a letter to Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran to address some major concerns that we have regarding the so-called bipartisan compromise to raise the felony larceny threshold from $200 (the lowest in the nation) to $500 while putting those convicted on probabtion until they pay all of their restitutions. 

By David Smith Guest Writer

When politicians use social media to conduct public business, the First Amendment demands that critics not be silenced.

We will continue to work against each other on issues on which we don’t and can’t agree and will seek to bring others to those causes. We know others will do the same.

Today, 44 U.S. senators sent Attorney General Jeff Sessions a letter expressing strong opposition to his reversal of the Department of Justice's position that made clear that discrimination against transgender people was a violation of federal laws prohibiting sex discrimination, such as Title VII.

The ACLU of Virginia supports unequivocally the freedom of professors, students and administrators to teach, learn, discuss and debate or to express ideas, opinions or feelings in classroom, public or private discourse.

The decision to represent Jason Kessler, organizer of the Unite the Right rally, wasn’t an affirmation of his views — which we abhor — any more than our advocacy for freedom of religion signals support for the use of religion as a justification for discrimination.