Thrs, April 8
Beyond the Division: Balancing Religious Liberty and Equality for Gay and Transgender People 6:00 - 8:00 PM Panel discussion at Weber State University Details here >>
Sat, May 1
2010 Bill of Rights Celebration
6:00 - 9:00 PM The ACLU of Utah's annual fundraising dinner, with speaker STEVE SHAPIRO
ACLU NATIONAL LEGAL DIRECTOR Details here >>
The ACLU of Utah works to ensure that criminal
suspects, defendants, offenders, as well as incarcerated individuals are
afforded their constitutional rights, including due process of the law
and the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Additional
information about our work can be found on our prison
and jail and police practices pages.
U.S. Attorney General Announces New Indigent Defense Program Posted 2/26/10 - The ACLU of Utah applauds Attorney General Eric Holder's recently announced "Access to Justice" initiative, a new program that will seek to help low-income people receive adequate legal representation. Despite the Sixth Amendment's guarantee that every criminal defendant have access to a competent lawyer, many states--including Utah--do not keep that promise. A recent nationwide survey ranked Utah's indigent criminal defense services worst in the nation. Utah is also one of only two states in the country that provide no statewide funding whatsoever to pay for indigent criminal defense, shifting the entire funding responsibility to individual counties throughout the state. The ACLU of Utah hopes that its own efforts to investigate and rectify inadequacies in the indigent criminal defense system here in Utah, coupled with the national program just announced by Attorney General Holder, will finally result in a much-needed overhaul to Utah's current system, whether through the courts, the legislature, or a combination of both.
Investigation of Utah's Indigent Criminal Defense System Reveals Significant Violations in Box Elder County Justice Court Posted 2/24/10 - Over the past several months, staff from the ACLU and law students from the University of Utah have spent substantial time observing court proceedings throughout the State of Utah as part of their larger investigation into Utah's constitutionally inadequate indigent criminal defense system. Observations of Judge Kevin Christensen in Box Elder County revealed such serious and systemic issues, involving not only violations of the defendants' constitutional rights but also potential violations of the Judicial Code of Conduct, that the ACLU felt it necessary to express its concerns directly to Chief Justice Durham.
Indigent Defense in Utah: Constitutionally Adequate? Posted 1/4/10 -Utah ranks behind almost all other states in its provision of indigent defense. The state provides no funding for indigent defense; instead, Utah shifts the burden to each county creating a patchwork of models across the state. An article by ACLU Staff Attorney, Marina Lowe, published in The Utah State Bar Journal examines this problem.
Indigent Defense in Utah Ranked Almost Last in Nation Posted 12/8/09 -"Utah ranks first in the nation when it comes to literacy, volunteerism, Jell-O Consumption and birth rates. Unfortunately, Utah's ranking dips dramatically when it comes to providing for indigent defense." An article by ACLU Staff Attorney, Marina Lowe, published in The Defender, the journal of the Utah Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
ACT NOW! Stop Sentencing Discrimination Posted 8/21/09 -Current federal sentencing law punishes crack cocaine offenders more severely than any other drug offenders for possession. This disparity has resulted in a disproportionate number of African Americans sentenced under this mandatory minimum law. Numerous judges, medical professionals and civil rights advocates have all called on Congress to end the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences, and legislation has now been introduced to do just that. Contact Senator Orrin Hatch and your Representative and urge them to support legislation to end the disparity.
Don't Miss It: "American Violet" with Graham Boyd of the ACLU's Drug Law Reform Project on November 2!
Posted 10/19/09 - Join us for the third film in our four-part Civil Liberties Film Series, in partnership with the Salt Lake City Film Center. For our post-film discussion, we will be joined by Graham Boyd, the founding director of the ACLU's Drug Law Reform Project - and the real-life ACLU attorney who litigated the Hearne, Texas, drug-sweep case upon which the film "American Violet" is based!
Civil Liberties Film Series Kicks Off with William Kunstler Documentary Sept. 8 Posted 9/1/09 - The ACLU of Utah has teamed up with the Salt Lake City Film Center to present a four-part series of films about some of the most pressing civil liberties issues of our times. Over the course four months, the general public is invited - free of charge - to view these critically-aclaimed and award-winning films, each of which will be complimented by an opportunity to discuss in greater detail the complex constitutional issues raised in the films. First up is "William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe" on Tuesday, Sept. 8!
Join the ACLU of Utah in Honoring the Life and Work of Attorney Martin Garbus Posted 1/2/09 - Martin Garbus and his daughter, award-winning filmmaker Liz Garbus, will be in Utah to promote "Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech" at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Seize the opportunity to meet one of America's most famous First Amendment attorneys, whose insights and experiences inform this exciting new documentary about one of our most fundamental civil liberties.
Posted 12/8/09 -
