In May 2012, the New York Civil Liberties Union released a detailed analysis of the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk activity during 2011. Based on the NYPD database that the Department now makes public following earlier NYCLU litigation, the 2011 report examined stops, frisks, summonses, arrests, the use of force and gun recoveries, all on a citywide and precinct basis. The 2011 report also delved into the wide racial disparities in the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk regime.

In communities across New York City, NYPD tactics disproportionately impact young black and Latino men. Stop-and-frisk, the overuse of low-level arrests and summonses, surveillance of Muslim communities and police intervention in school discipline are discriminatory tactics that harm communities and do not work to keep New Yorkers safe.

On March 27, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Windsor v. United States regarding the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) -- a federal statute that defines marriage for all federal purposes as a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.

At the New York Civil Liberties Union, change is constant. Each day we work to change laws, change minds and change hearts. And although the results of this work are often slow, they are far from invisible. But this year has been different. This year, change was not merely an idea, but something tangible that we felt, heard and saw. Real couples granted the right to marry. Real communities marching for fair and just policing. Real students receiving comprehensive sex education.

This card explains your rights when you are in contact with immigration enforcement officers in New York State.

This report, Boxed In: The True Cost of Extreme Isolation in New York’s Prisons, is the product of an intensive, year-long investigation that involved communication with more than 100 people who have spent significant amounts of time – in one case, more than 20 years – in extreme isolation. The authors interviewed prisoners’ family members and corrections staff, and analyzed thousands of pages of Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) records obtained through the state’s open records laws.

Many public school districts across New York State provide sex-ed instruction that is inaccurate, incomplete and biased, according to Birds, Bees and Bias: How Absent Sex Ed Standards Fail New York’s Students. This report examines sex-ed materials used during the 2009-2010 and 2010-11 school years from across New York State. Among the NYCLU’s key findings:

The February 1999 shooting death of Amadou Diallo by police officers in the NYPD’s Street Crimes Unit triggered a broad public controversy about racial profiling and stop-and-frisk that continues to this day. Not only did the shooting prompt widespread protests, but it led the New York State Attorney General’s Office to conduct a detailed study of NYPD stop-and-frisk activity and led the New York City Council to enact legislation requiring the Police Department to provide quarterly reports about stop-and-frisk activity.

For some New Yorkers, the most simple and fundamental parts of their identity – their clothing, their speech, even their names – expose them to hostility and exclusion. People who do not conform to gender-based stereotypes, or whose gender presentation or identity differs from the one usually associated with their anatomical sex, often experience persistent discrimination and harassment. They face challenges earning a living, finding housing, and enjoying the simple pleasures and necessities of life.

For some New Yorkers, the simplest and most fundamental parts of their identity – their clothing, their speech, even their names – expose them to hostility and exclusion. People who do not conform to genderbased stereotypes, or whose gender presentation or identity differs from the one usually associated with their anatomical sex, often experience persistent discrimination and harassment. They face challenges earning a living, finding housing and enjoying the simple pleasures and