A federal judge has ruled that allegations of constitutional violations in a lawsuit filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union and the law firm of Shearman & Sterling LLP challenging deplorable and inhumane conditions in Suffolk County’s two jails were sufficiently serious to state claims for violations of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. The judge also ruled that, because the alleged constitutional violations affect all current and future detainees of the Suffolk County’s jails, the case should move forward as a certified class action.

The New York Civil Liberties Union today condemned the Suffolk County Legislature's rushed approval of a major overhaul to the county’s sex offender management plan that will not enhance public safety and raises serious concerns about basic constitutional rights. The following statement is attributable to Amol Sinha, director of the NYCLU's Suffolk County Chapter:

The American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a federal complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission today against UPS for unfairly forcing a pregnant package driver to take unpaid leave, refusing to accommodate her with light-duty work and forcing her to lose her company health insurance just before the birth of her child.

The New York Civil Liberties Union today filed a federal lawsuit challenging New York prison officials' system-wide policies and practices governing solitary confinement that are responsible for the arbitrary and unjustified use of extreme isolation on thousands of individuals incarcerated in New York’s prisons every year.

The New York Civil Liberties Union today condemned the Suffolk County Board of Election’s unlawful policy of rejecting valid voter registration applications submitted through the New York DMV’s online system.

The New York Civil Liberties Union and Common Cause/NY today announced joint measures to protect New Yorkers’ voting rights in polling districts in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Poughkeepsie, Albany and Long Island. The NYCLU and Common Cause/NY have learned that True the Vote, a Houston-based organization with a history of using voter intimidation tactics in minority and low-income voting precincts, is recruiting and training poll watchers to challenge voters on Election Day at polling places in where U.S. Congressional races are tight.

The New York Civil Liberties Union today released an investigative report documenting in unprecedented detail how the use of solitary confinement in New York State prisons is arbitrary and unjustified; harms prisoners and prison staff; and decreases prison and community safety.

The New York Civil Liberties Union today launched Let Me Vote – an all-inclusive guide on the right to vote in New York State. The toolkit provides everything New Yorkers need to register to vote and cast their ballots on Election Day. “The right to vote is a fundamental pillar of our democracy,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said. “At a time when this sacred right is under assault in states across the nation, our new voting rights guide will help empower all New Yorkers to protect their right to vote.”

The New York Civil Liberties Union this week asked law enforcement officials in the Lower Hudson Valley, Suffolk County, Nassau County and Western New York, as well as the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, to turn over records about how they use automatic license plate readers (ALPR) to track and record New Yorkers’ movements. The request was filed as part of a nationally coordinated public records request with 34 other American Civil Liberties Union state affiliates.

In response to reports that an apparent link between a DNA sample taken at an Occupy Wall Street action and the 2004 unsolved murder of a Julliard student may be the result of a crime lab error, the New York Civil Liberties Union today issued the following statement, which is attributable to NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman: