NYCLU Releases Civil Liberties Agenda for Mayor-Elect de Blasio’s First 100 Days

The New York Civil Liberties Union today called on Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio to take steps during his first 100 days in office to restore New York City to a place where the rights and liberties of all people are protected and promoted by adopting a series of reforms that address issues of race, policing, education, immigrants’ rights, government accountability and the First Amendment.

“New York City has become America’s capital of inequality and inequity – a sanctuary for the one percent,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “But by making discreet changes during his administration’s first 100 days in office, Mayor-Elect de Blasio can immediately help New York City become a place where more people’s basic rights and liberties are protected – even promoted and cherished.”

Restoring New York City: A Civil Liberties Agenda for the Mayor’s First 100 Days is a concise list of priorities for the Mayor-Elect’s first days in office that are time-sensitive and achievable through the actions of the executive branch alone.

Among the steps the new administration must make during its first 100 days in office to help restore New York City:

• Commit that all city policies take racial impact into consideration – including policing, education, health care, transportation and disaster relief.
• Appoint a police commissioner who commits to protect the basic rights and liberties of all New Yorkers – black, white and brown; Muslim and atheist; immigrant and citizen; rich and poor; gay and straight.
• Appoint a progressive schools chancellor who recognizes that standardized tests must not be the determining factor for a child’s future; listens to the needs and concerns of all parents, students and educators; rejects policies that push youth out of school and into the streets; supports comprehensive, medically accurate and age-appropriate sex education; and protects religious freedom by not promoting religion in the schools.
• Provide municipal ID cards to undocumented New Yorkers so they can do basic things like get a bank account or sign a lease, and close loopholes that prevent immigrants from calling the police and accessing other basic services necessary for a safe and secure city.
• Direct all city agencies to embrace transparency and ensure that public records are truly public and open meetings open.
• End the “command and control” police response to peaceful protest and ensure that New York City is a place where the right to protest is protected.

“Mayor-Elect de Blasio now has the chance to take concrete steps to close the book on New York’s tale of two cities,” Lieberman said. “The NYCLU looks forward to working with his administration and making our city a place where everyone feels safe, secure, valued and respected.”

To read the NYCLU’s full civil liberties agenda, click here. And click here to sign on to the call and ask the new mayor to adopt the civil liberties agenda.