At Liberty
334 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★★ - 535 ratingsAt Liberty is a weekly podcast from the ACLU that explores the biggest civil rights and civil liberties issues of the day. A production of ACLU, Inc.
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Episodes
Fighting for Justice After Execution
January 23, 2020 08:00 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MBIn 2017, Arkansas announced a plan to execute eight people in 10 days because the state’s lethal injection drugs were about to expire. The first person executed was Ledell Lee. He was convicted of the 1993 murder of Debra Reese and sentenced to death. But his trials and appeals were plagued by problems from the start. DNA and fingerprints found at the scene of the crime were never tested before his execution, and new analysis from the nation’s top forensic experts provides strong reason to be...
Ayelet Waldman on the ACLU’s 100 Year Fight
January 16, 2020 08:45 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MBThis weekend, we celebrate the ACLU’s 100th birthday. To commemorate the centennial, novelist and essayist Ayelet Waldman and her husband Michael Chabon edited an anthology of essays from today’s most prominent writers reflecting on landmark ACLU cases. The book is called Fight of The Century, and it features authors like Jesmyn Ward, Dave Eggers and Salman Rushdie, among many others. Waldman joins us to discuss the power of storytelling in both literature and litigation, and what compelled h...
Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Stamp on the ACLU
January 09, 2020 11:57 - 29 minutes - 26.7 MBThis week, we are bringing back a very special episode from 2019 featuring our former director of the Women’s Rights Project, Lenora Lapidus. Lenora passed away just a few months after the interview, having fought a long battle with cancer. She started as an intern in 1988, later served as legal director of the ACLU of New Jersey, and for nearly two decades led the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project, which was founded by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. During this memorable conversation, Lenora reflects on h...
How To Stop Your City from Spying on You
January 02, 2020 08:45 - 27 minutes - 25.1 MBSurveillance technology is slowly encroaching on every part of our lives. With regulation at the federal level slow to materialize, local governments are taking action. Since this episode first ran in July, more American cities in California, Massachusetts, and Maine passed local laws to ban the use of facial recognition technology by police and other government agencies. Is local advocacy our best bet for keeping the surveillance state at bay? Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for L...
What We Do At The ACLU, Told By Our Kids
December 23, 2019 08:45 - 11 minutes - 10.3 MBFor a special year-end holiday episode, we decided to ask some ACLU staff to have a conversation with their kids about the work they do. On this episode, you’ll hear kids learn about gerrymandering, how we inform legislation, the Keystone XL Pipeline and what kinds of snacks we keep nearby. Thanks for all of your support in 2019! We have some great conversations to share in the new year.
A Case for Religious Liberty
December 19, 2019 08:00 - 23 minutes - 21.5 MBAt the ACLU, we receive lots of holiday mail, and not all of it brings tidings of comfort and joy. In this episode, we share a few letters that accuse the ACLU of being "anti-Christian" or "anti-religion.” To respond and dispel the falsehood, At Liberty spoke with Dan Mach, the director of the ACLU’s Program on Religious Freedom and Belief. Mach tells us about the uphill battle of protecting religious liberty, and how the separation of church and state serves people of all faith backgrounds.
Pregnancy Discrimination a Mile High
December 12, 2019 08:00 - 24 minutes - 22.3 MBThis week, the ACLU's Women's Rights Project filed a pair of federal lawsuits against Frontier Airlines for discriminating against pregnant and breastfeeding employees. We talked to flight attendant Melissa Hodgkins and pilot Shannon Kiedrowski about their experiences working for Frontier, and senior staff attorney Galen Sherwin, about the lawsuit.
Why Incarceration Doesn't Reduce Violence
December 05, 2019 15:19 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBMass incarceration in the U.S. is an indisputable fact, but most reforms focus on nonviolent offenses. As uncomfortable as it may be, we can't dismantle mass incarceration without changing the way we think about, talk about, and respond to violence. At Liberty spoke with Danielle Sered, who is doing just that with her organization Common Justice, and her book, Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair.
Sergio de la Pava on Literature and Law
November 27, 2019 16:53 - 46 minutes - 42.5 MBSergio de la Pava is a critically acclaimed novelist (A Naked Singularity, Personae, Lost Empress) and a full-time public defender who has represented thousands of criminal defendants over the last two decades. Earlier this year, he joined At Liberty live at the Brooklyn Public Library to discuss his literary and legal work and his approach to life.
Fighting for Civil Liberties, and Tofurky, in Arkansas
November 21, 2019 16:00 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBThis year, the ACLU of Arkansas celebrates 50 years of protecting civil liberties. From challenging voter ID laws, to protecting the right to boycott, to defending the First Amendment rights of Tofurky, the ACLU of Arkansas has a fascinating docket and history of defending the rights of Arkansans. Holly Dickson, the organization’s legal director and a lifelong Arkansan, joins At Liberty to discuss her work.
Why the FBI Ignores White Supremacist Violence
November 14, 2019 08:00 - 35 minutes - 32.8 MBThe FBI is supposed to keep us safe, protect our rights, and defend the rule of law. Yet for more than a century, the FBI has aggressively targeted dissidents, gone after minorities, and overstepped its authority in ways that have defined American policing. Mike German, a former FBI agent, discusses his new book and how a post-9/11 FBI has exacerbated divisions in American society even as it has ignored the rise of white supremacist violence.
Monitoring Facebook for Ad Discrimination
November 07, 2019 15:22 - 37 minutes - 34.1 MBFacebook has come under a lot of scrutiny lately, for everything from its policy on political ads to its logo. But one development that's gotten less attention is its new portal for advertisers. Now, advertisers for housing, employment, and credit no longer have the option to target their ads at certain demographic groups in a discriminatory way. That's because of a landmark settlement that recently went into effect. Earlier this year, we talked with ACLU attorneys Galen Sherwin and Esha Bhan...
Marriage as a Tool of White Supremacy
October 31, 2019 07:00 - 36 minutes - 33.6 MBThe Supreme Court struck down bans on interracial marriage in Loving v. Virginia, the landmark ACLU case decided in 1967. But the government‘s regulation of marriage and sex didn’t start with anti-miscegenation laws or end with Loving. Melissa Murray — an expert in family law, constitutional law, and reproductive rights and justice at the New York University School of Law — discusses why the institution looms so large in America's past and present. This episode was recorded live at the Brookl...
A Humanitarian Crisis of Our Own Making
October 24, 2019 07:00 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MBAs a result of a Trump administration policy forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while the U.S. considers their cases, tens of thousands of people are stranded in squalid and dangerous conditions on the other side of the southern border. Scores of people who are fleeing persecution have been kidnapped, extorted, and sexually abused at the hands of cartels and criminal gangs. Shelters are overwhelmed, and many asylum seekers are homeless. Ashoka Mukpo, a journalist working at the ACLU, re...
Abortion Rights: A Tale of Two States
October 17, 2019 11:02 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBWhile abortion restrictions have left six states with only a single clinic standing, other states are finding ways to expand access. We speak with Heather Gatnarek, a staff attorney at the ACLU of Kentucky, who is helping fend off sustained attacks on what remains of reproductive care in that state. And we hear from Zach Heiden, legal director of the ACLU of Maine, where abortion was just made more affordable and accessible.
The Most Racist Supreme Court Decisions You've Probably Never Heard Of
October 10, 2019 07:00 - 27 minutes - 25.1 MBPuerto Rico's U.S. citizens don't enjoy the full protections of the Constitution, thanks to a set of century-old Supreme Court decisions called the "Insular Cases." In a case dealing with the island's financial oversight board, the ACLU has asked the court to overrule those decisions, which relied on openly racist assumptions to legalize the island's second-class status. Adriel Cepeda Derieux, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, explains why it's time for the court to reno...
The Historic Trans Rights Case Before the Supreme Court
October 03, 2019 07:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBOn October 8, the Supreme Court will hear a set of cases deciding whether LGBTQ employees are protected under federal sex discrimination laws. In one of those cases, the ACLU is representing Aimee Stephens, a trans woman who was fired after she came out to her employer. Chase Strangio, one of Aimee's lawyers and deputy director of the ACLU's LGBT and HIV Project, discusses the stakes of the case.
Edward Snowden's Permanent Record
September 30, 2019 23:45 - 53 minutes - 73 MBIn his new memoir, "Permanent Record," Edward Snowden tells the story of his evolution: A child of civil servants, he fell hard and fast for the internet of the 90s, ascended the intelligence community, and became one of the most famous whistleblowers in U.S. history. He joins ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero for a live taping of At Liberty at the Brooklyn Public Library.
What to Expect From the Coming Supreme Court Term
September 26, 2019 07:00 - 30 minutes - 27.9 MBAnother Supreme Court session is upon us, with the court set to reconvene in October following its summer recess. On the docket for the new session are cases that have important implications for LGBTQ rights, criminal justice, immigration, and more. David Cole, the legal director of the ACLU and an experienced Supreme Court litigator, joins At Liberty to preview the coming term.
Gavin Grimm, From Teen Activist to Trans Icon
September 19, 2019 07:00 - 25 minutes - 23.3 MBIn 2014, Gavin Grimm was a high school sophomore in Gloucester County, Virginia. He had recently come out as transgender to school administrators who were initially supportive. However, following protests from members of the community, the school board reversed course and banned him from using the boy's restroom. That kicked off a high-profile legal battle over the rights of transgender students that continues to this day. Now 20 years old, Gavin is a college student, an ACLU client, and a le...
How the War on Terror Corrupted America
September 11, 2019 10:56 - 27 minutes - 25.1 MBEighteen years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, a trial date was recently set for the men accused of plotting those attacks. But what has taken so long? And is a fair trial even possible? On this anniversary of 9/11, we're replaying an interview from last year with Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project. Hina talked to At Liberty about how America's response to 9/11 has corrupted our institutions and the role that torture has played in the process.
The Anti-Immigration Fervor That Swept America in the Early 20th Century
September 05, 2019 07:00 - 24 minutes - 22.7 MBStarting with the Muslim ban, the Trump presidency has consistently unleashed a barrage of new policies designed to keep immigrants out of the country. But while these restrictions might seem unprecedented, anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies have deep roots in our country. Today’s guest is Daniel Okrent, the award-winning writer of The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians and Other European Immigrants Out of America. He discusses the politi...
A Former Prosecutor's 'Radical Thoughts' on the System Set Up to Control Black Men
August 29, 2019 07:00 - 38 minutes - 34.7 MBThis week, we’re replaying an interview from earlier this year with Paul Butler, a scholar, former prosecutor and the author of "Chokehold: Policing Black Men." When we first spoke with Paul, his book had been banned in Arizona prisons. Arizona has since lifted its ban, and incarcerated people in Arizona can now read "Chokehold" and benefit from its insightful analysis of our mass incarceration crisis.
Nikole Hannah-Jones on The 1619 Project’s Reframing of American History
August 22, 2019 07:00 - 29 minutes - 40.8 MBFour hundred years ago this month, more than 20 enslaved Africans arrived in what was then the British colony of Virginia. To mark the anniversary of the beginning of slavery in America, The New York Times launched a major initiative called The 1619 Project. Through a special issue of the New York Times Magazine, along with a slew of other resources, the project centers slavery in our national narrative, tracking how the legacy of that brutal institution continues to manifest in every aspect ...
Comedian W. Kamau Bell on Making Sense of America
August 15, 2019 07:00 - 29 minutes - 26.7 MBThis week's guest is W. Kamau Bell: standup comedian, prolific podcaster, and host of his own show on CNN, "United Shades of America." He's known for his incisive socio-political commentary and activism, including on behalf of the ACLU, where he serves as an artist ambassador for racial justice. He joins At Liberty to discuss race, his show, Anthony Bourdain, parenting, and more.
How One Woman Took on Misogyny and Sexual Violence in the Military
August 08, 2019 07:00 - 32 minutes - 30.1 MBAnuradha Bhagwati has long been at the forefront of the fight for gender equality within the military. She is a former Marine Corps captain, a three-time ACLU client, and founder of the Service Women's Action Network, a lead plaintiff in a groundbreaking lawsuit challenging the military's ban on women serving in combat. Her recent book, “Unbecoming: A Memoir of Disobedience," details her experience as an Indian-American, bisexual woman in the Marines confronting a culture permeated by racism,...
Obstacles and Opportunities in the Fight for Police Accountability
August 01, 2019 12:58 - 29 minutes - 26.8 MBLast month, protests erupted when the Justice Department announced it would not bring civil rights charges against the NYPD officer who put Eric Garner in a fatal chokehold in 2014. Mr. Garner's death was one among countless examples of deadly police violence toward Black and brown people. Yet despite a growing outcry, most officers implicated in civilian deaths have escaped punishment. Carl Takei, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU who litigates police practices, joins At Liberty to discuss...
The Constitution Gets the Broadway Treatment
July 25, 2019 07:00 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBHeidi Schreck is the playwright and star of Broadway’s “What the Constitution Means to Me.” The play, which was nominated for two Tonys and was a Pulitzer finalist, was inspired by Schreck’s experience as a teenager competing in debates about the Constitution at American Legion halls across the country. As an adult, she revisits her personal connection to the document to see how it holds up in new light.
Have We Reached Peak Xenophobia Yet?
July 18, 2019 15:06 - 21 minutes - 19.9 MBIt’s been a dizzying few days in U.S. immigration policy. Earlier this week, the Trump administration issued rules to ban most refugees arriving through the southern border. Despite legal setbacks, the administration continues to try to build a border wall. At the same time, the president has launched sustained attacks on four American congresswomen of color. Cecillia Wang, deputy legal director at the ACLU, talks to At Liberty about all of these developments and the ACLU's legal efforts to p...
How to Stop Your City From Spying on You
July 11, 2019 07:00 - 27 minutes - 24.8 MBSurveillance technology is slowly encroaching on every part of our lives. With regulation at the federal level slow to materialize, local governments are taking action. Two American cities — San Francisco, Calif. and Somerville, Mass. — recently passed local laws to ban the use of facial recognition technology by police and other government agencies. Is local advocacy our best bet for keeping the surveillance state at bay? Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for Liberty Program at the ...
The Case for D.C. Statehood
July 04, 2019 07:00 - 17 minutes - 16.1 MBHundreds of thousands of Washington, D.C. residents currently lack full political representation. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents them in the House of Representatives, is currently leading an initiative to make the District of Columbia the 51st state.
Making Sense of the Last Supreme Court Term
July 01, 2019 20:49 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MBIt was another dramatic year for the Supreme Court. A new justice was sworn in against the backdrop of scandal. A beloved justice got sick and recovered. And, of course, major precedent-setting decisions were handed down. David Cole, the ACLU’s legal director and a seasoned Supreme Court litigator, makes sense of the highs and lows of the past term and talks through what’s to come when the court reconvenes this fall.
What the Supreme Court's Census Decision Means
June 27, 2019 20:00 - 11 minutes - 10.6 MBIn one of the most highly anticipated decisions of its term, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration cannot add a citizenship question to the U.S. census – at least not for now. Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, who argued the case, explains the decision.
The Next Frontier in Data Privacy
June 20, 2019 07:00 - 27 minutes - 25.3 MBThis week marks the one-year anniversary of arguably the most important privacy ruling of the digital age. In Carpenter v. the United States, the Supreme Court ruled that police violated the Fourth Amendment when they secured months’ worth of a robbery suspect's location information from his cell phone company without a warrant. Nathan Freed Wessler, the ACLU attorney who argued and won the case, discusses Carpenter’s legacy and where the battle for digital privacy is headed next.
Why It's Time to Talk About Reparations
June 13, 2019 07:00 - 39 minutes - 35.7 MBAs discussions about racism in America gain traction, so too does the question of reparations. Broadly defined as some form of repayment for the harms inflicted on enslaved peoples and their descendants, reparations have earned increased visibility thanks to advocacy by the National African-American Reparations Commission and other groups. The issue has become a 2020 presidential campaign issue and the House of Representatives will hold a hearing next week on H.R. 40, a bill to set up a commi...
Paul Butler on Policing Black Men and Transforming the System
June 06, 2019 07:00 - 37 minutes - 34.2 MBOn this week’s episode, Georgetown Professor Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor, joins At Liberty to discuss his book, "Chokehold: Policing Black Men"; how the criminal legal system has Black men in its grip; and why it's so hard to change the system from within.
The Latest Assault on Abortion Rights
May 30, 2019 07:00 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MBIn the last few months, six states have passed laws that essentially ban abortion, and several other states have similar bills pending. Restrictions on access to abortion have been building for decades since the Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that abortion is a constitutional right. But these direct assaults on abortion represent a turning point. Brigitte Amiri, the deputy director of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project, has litigated several major abortion rights cases. She joins At Libert...
At Liberty Live! Feat. Olivia Wilde and Katie Silberman on “Booksmart”
May 23, 2019 07:00 - 38 minutes - 35 MBOlivia Wilde and Katie Silberman, the director and the writer of the new movie “Booksmart,” joined At Liberty to talk about storytelling, casting without bias, and why "The Big Lebowski" was an inspiration. Wilde is known for her roles on TV shows such as “The O.C.” and “House” and in many films, including the Oscar-winning film “Her.” She is a longtime activist and a board member of the ACLU of Southern California. Katie Silberman has written for TV shows and movies, including “Set It Up” an...
School Segregation 65 Years After Brown v. Board
May 16, 2019 07:00 - 34 minutes - 31.1 MBMay 17 marks the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court case that declared state laws enforcing racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Yet more than six decades later, segregation in some public school systems is worse than ever. Dr. Ansley Erickson, associate professor of history and education at Columbia University's Teacher College, joins At Liberty to discuss Brown’s legacy and why desegregation has been so hard to achieve.
Wyatt Cenac on America’s Problem Areas
May 09, 2019 07:00 - 30 minutes - 27.9 MBWyatt Cenac is an actor, writer, producer and comedian ("The Daily Show," “Medicine for Melancholy”). He joins At Liberty to discuss balancing comedy and social commentary and his new show “Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas,” now in its second season on HBO.
Abuse and Accountability at the Border
May 02, 2019 07:00 - 31 minutes - 28.9 MBMitra Ebadolahi, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Border Litigation Project, joins At Liberty to debunk misconceptions about the border and discuss the fight to hold CBP accountable. For more information visit: www.holdcbpaccountable.org.
Discrimination in the Digital Age
April 25, 2019 07:00 - 35 minutes - 81.4 MBA few weeks ago, the ACLU and other civil rights organizations announced a landmark settlement with Facebook to prevent advertisers from using ad-targeting filters based on race, gender, and age on job, housing, and credit ads. But Facebook ads are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the use of algorithms to reinforce and automatize bias. ACLU attorneys Galen Sherwin and Esha Bhandari join At Liberty to discuss the impact of these technologies on people’s lives and fighting discrimin...
The Question of Who Gets to Count in the Census Goes to the Supreme Court
April 18, 2019 07:00 - 24 minutes - 55.6 MBOn Tuesday, April 23, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear the case Department of Commerce v. New York, which asks whether a question about citizenship can be added to the 2020 Census questionnaire. The case will be argued by Dale Ho, the director of the ACLU Voting Rights Project. He joins At Liberty to discuss the case and how he's preparing for oral argument in our country’s highest court.
Indigenous Justice in Montana
April 11, 2019 13:04 - 29 minutes - 67.6 MBAt Liberty sits down with Meg Singer, the Indigenous Justice program manager at the ACLU of Montana, and Lillian Alvernaz, the ACLU’s first Indigenous Justice Legal Fellow, to discuss Indigenous justice and organizing for social change in Indigenous communities. To learn more about Meg and Lillian and the ACLU of Montana’s Indigenous justice work visit www.aclumontana.org.
At Liberty Live! Sergio de la Pava on Literature and Law
April 04, 2019 07:00 - 46 minutes - 42.1 MBSergio de la Pava is a critically acclaimed novelist (A Naked Singularity, Personae, Lost Empress) and a full-time public defender who has represented thousands of criminal defendants over the last two decades. He joined At Liberty live at the Brooklyn Public Library to discuss his literary and legal work and his approach to life.
The Threat of Facial Recognition
March 28, 2019 07:00 - 22 minutes - 20.3 MBNicole Ozer, the Technology and Civil Liberties director for the ACLU of California, has been at the forefront of debates around privacy and technology for more than 15 years. She joins At Liberty to break down the current state of facial recognition technology and why it raises civil rights and civil liberties concerns.
A Poet Gives a 360 Degree View of the Criminal Justice System
March 21, 2019 07:00 - 36 minutes - 33.4 MBReginald Dwayne Betts is a published poet, memoirist, and legal scholar who's currently pursuing a Ph.D. in law at Yale. His legal work, like his poetry, is informed by the years he spent in prison as a teen. This week he sits down with At Liberty to discuss his journey to the legal profession, his perspective on the criminal justice system, and his art.
At Liberty Live from SXSW! Feat. Tom Morello
March 14, 2019 07:00 - 29 minutes - 27 MBThis week, At Liberty comes to you from Austin, TX, where we recorded in front of a live audience with Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave, and The Nightwatchman. We sat down to discuss “Atlas Underground,” Morello’s new album of “social justice ghost stories,” as well as his decades of activism on issues like criminal justice reform, income inequality, unions, free speech, and mental health. Morello also announced his new role as an ambassador for the ACLU’s Campaign for Smar...
The Rocky Myers Case
March 07, 2019 08:00 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MBRocky Myers is one of 175 people on death row in Alabama. The devastating flaws in his case from the moment of arrest to his sentencing displays the injustice of a brutal criminal system. His attorney Kacey Keeton and investigator Sara Romano join At Liberty to discuss the death penalty, Rocky’s case, and his appeal for clemency. Learn more and sign the petition for clemency at www.aclu.org/rocky.
The Racist Reality of Voter Suppression
February 28, 2019 08:00 - 35 minutes - 32.3 MBAs Black History Month comes to an end, Professor Carol Anderson (Emory University) joins At Liberty to discuss ongoing voter suppression efforts in the United States, and as a bonus, she tells the story of how the NAACP helped lead the global struggle against colonialism in the 1940s and 1950s.