In response to last night’s police harassment of Occupy Rochester’s encampment in Washington Square Park, the New York Civil Liberties Union today demanded that the City of Rochester stop sending police officers into the park to harass peaceful protesters.

The New York Civil Liberties Union today applauded the Rochester Board of Education’s decision to make condoms available to city high school students. “This new policy will help keep our teens healthy and safe,” said KaeLyn Rich, director of the NYCLU’s Genesee Valley Chapter. “It is an important step in providing Rochester's young people the tools they need to protect their sexual and reproductive health.”

The New York Civil Liberties Union today applauded Rochester City Court Judge Teresa Johnson’s decision to dismiss charges against 28 Occupy Rochester demonstrators who were arrested while peacefully protesting in Washington Square Park.

The New York Civil Liberties Union today urged Monroe County prosecutors to dismiss charges against Occupy Rochester protesters who were arrested while demonstrating in Washington Square Park.

New York Supreme Court Justice Eugene Devine today upheld New York’s law ending prison-based gerrymandering in the Little v. LATFOR lawsuit. His decision squarely rejects the plaintiffs’ claim that the New York law violated various provisions of the New York State Constitution. The New York Civil Liberties Union was among seven civil rights organizations representing 15 voters from around New York State who joined the suit as intervenor-defendants.

The New York Civil Liberties Union today brokered an agreement between the City of Rochester and the Occupy Rochester movement that will allow demonstrators to camp in Washington Square Park. “This is a victory for the right to protest,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “We applaud the city and demonstrators for coming to the table and working out an agreement that respects the First Amendment and allows the general public to continue to enjoy Washington Square Park. With this new policy, they have set an example for cities throughout the state and nation.”

The U.S. Border Patrol is using aggressive policing tactics far from the border in upstate New York to increase arrest rates with little regard to New Yorkers’ constitutional rights and freedoms, according to a report released today by the NYU Immigrant Rights Clinic, the New York Civil Liberties Union and Families for Freedom.

City ordinances being used to restrict Occupy Rochester demonstrations in Washington Square Park are unconstitutional, infringe on protestors’ right to protest and should not be enforced, the New York Civil Liberties Union argued today in a letter to Rochester Mayor Thomas Richards.

The New York Civil Liberties Union today urged Rochester Mayor Thomas Richards to protect the right to protest by accommodating Occupy Rochester demonstrations in the city’s parks and public spaces. “As the home of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass, Rochester should be a welcoming place for peaceful protest,” said KaeLyn Rich, director of the NYCLU’s Genesee Valley Chapter. “Cracking down on the Occupy Rochester protest violates the spirit of the First Amendment and is an affront to our city’s great civil rights legacy.”

Police officers throughout New York State are consistently misusing and overusing Tasers, according to a report released today by the New York Civil Liberties Union. The report, Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York, analyzes 851 Taser incident reports from eight police departments across the state as well as 10 departments’ policies and guidelines for using the weapons, which deliver up to 50,000 volts of electricity and have caused the deaths of more than a dozen New Yorkers in recent years.