Mazel tov: Thoughts on my freedom to marry

Dawn Plummer and Diana Polson, two of our clients in Whitewood v. Corbett

So, I got married last weekend. It was a small wedding, performed in accordance with my observant Jewish faith and practice as well as in accordance with the law and regulations of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And everyone had a lovely time, including me and my new husband, whose name is Sanford, but who is known as Sandy.

As we ran the errands and got all the required paperwork in order in the weeks leading up to the wedding, I couldn’t help but think about other couples who would like to get married, but can’t… like those who are a part of our ACLU-PA lawsuit to rid the state of its Defense of Marriage Act. Two weeks ago, as I waited in line to apply for and then a week ago when picking up our marriage license, I thought about those women whose loves may have the same name as my love, but who happen to be female Sandy’s. They can’t sit in a stuffy hallway in the Allegheny County Marriage License Bureau, smiling because you just can’t help it, and realizing how “official” everything is about to become. They and my gay men friends- couples who have been together for 20 and 30 years, and who have warned Sandy that he better treat me right – cannot know the tingle of saying for the first time, “This is my husband” or “This is my wife”, without anyone casting a sidelong glance.

Sandy and I are not exactly a young couple and we are combining two complete households, so we had no desire or need to register for gifts. Instead we thanked friends and family for the gift of their love and support and asked that if they wished to do something to honor and celebrate our marriage, that they make a donation to one of six specified organizations (including the ACLU-PA, of course). We received an acknowledgment from one of the organizations a few days ago—it was addressed to “Ms. Feige and Ms. R_______”. Obviously the Western PA Humane Society had no trouble acknowledging the marriage of what they thought to be two women!

As Jews, we break a glass at the conclusion of the ceremony as a reminder that not all is well and peaceful and joyful in the world and that our job is to make the world better – tikkun olam. I was happy and joyful on my wedding day but was reminded that not everyone can have that same joy and I am more committed than ever to doing what I can—as an individual and as an ACLU-PA staff member – to bring about the freedom to marry for all Pennsylvanians. 

  

Barb Feige, Deputy Director, ACLU-PA

Voter Suppression is an LGBT Rights Issue – Just Ask Asher

Like many Americans, Asher Schor is excited to vote this coming November. Asher was born and raised in Pittsburgh, works at a public interest law firm, and feels more motivated than ever to participate in the electoral process. But Asher is one of thousands of transgender Americans whose driver’s license and passport do not reflect his or her true gender identity. Asher received his photo ID before his transition and the official sex listed still reads “Female.” He recently joined the ACLU of Pennsylvania’s lawsuit against a new and particularly onerous voter ID law, and I had a chance to discuss how the new law will impact him at the polls this November. This LGBT Pride Month, it’s important to examine the ways that voter suppression efforts, like newly-enacted photo ID laws, will have a disproportionately harmful impact on those who are transgender.

In recent years, state houses across the country have passed more laws making casting a ballot increasingly difficult. States have used different tactics in in their efforts to restrict access to the ballot, but many have passed voter identificationlaws. Stopping voter fraud is the posited rationale for these laws. However, voter ID laws across the country impose onerous burdens on many voters to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. There is much more evidence that qualified voters are disfranchised by these measures than there is evidence of in person impersonation fraud – the only type of fraud a voter ID might address.    

In some states, voters can only cast a ballot if they display a valid photo identification, from a very short list of acceptable IDs, at their polling place. While the requirement at first glance seems simple, a recent study by theBrennan Center for Justice demonstrated the devastating impact these laws will have on minority, voters with disabilities, elderly, young and low-income voters. As many as five million eligible voters face disfranchisement this election cycle. State houses are enacting needlessly restrictive laws that will prevent or discourage millions of Americans from exercising their most basic civil right.

In addition, transgender voters face unique challenges in complying with recent voter ID laws. According to a recent study by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, over 25,000 otherwise eligible transgender voters could be turned away at their polling places come November. The most pressing problem is the potential discrepancy between a voter’s gender identity and his or her designated sex on state-issued identification. The National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS) found over 40 percent of transgender men and women do not have an ID that accurately reflects their gender. Asher is concerned that the discrepancy between his identification documents and his gender identity could lead to confusion and a higher level of needless and potentially embarrassing scrutiny from poll workers. “I am certainly expecting to be scrutinized,” Asher says, “and possibly even accused of having a fake ID.”

Transgender men and women often face difficult hurdles when attempting to change their state-issued documentation to reflect their lived gender. As a paralegal, Asher believes he has a fairly good understanding of the law, but admits changing one’s documentation can be confusing. “It’s a huge process,” he says, “because you have to change everything all at once.” For Asher, the decision to change his documentation is primarily about timing. He says he wants to wait until his physical transition is further along before undertaking the complicated legal process of changing his documentation. 

In addition to the bureaucratic and legal hurdles, transgender individuals face discrimination and harassment at staggering levels on a regular basis. The NTDS reported 22 percent of transgender respondents had been denied equal treatment or had experienced harassment by government officials when presenting incongruent ID. “Showing identification is really uncomfortable for me,” Asher said. “There is always that fear when I pull out my ID.” As Asher’s transition continues, he will display more masculine traits, such as facial hair, that will make the process of showing his ID even more uncomfortable. “I’m worried that in order to vote without being discriminated against,” he said, “I’ll have to present at the polls in a way that doesn’t conform with my identity.” No state should force its citizens to make such a choice. 

Transgender voters are just one group facing disfranchisement this election. Thousands of transgender voters could be turned away at the polls; untold more will stay home rather than risk discrimination or harassment from polling officials. Asher is still eager to vote, in spite of the potential for harassment. “This law made me really angry that my state would erect more barriers to voting,” he said. “It gave me the kick in the pants I needed to get more involved and excited about voting this fall.” 

The stakes could not be higher in this coming election. The injustice facing millions of voters is offensive to the very spirit of democracy. The Supreme Court has described the right to vote as a civil right “of the most fundamental significance under our constitutional structure,” since the ability to cast a ballot is “preservative of other basic civil and political rights.” In other words, voting is the means by which citizens maintain and protect their other rights. With the start of LGBT Pride Month, it’s crucial to recognize that voter suppression is and will continue to be an LGBT issue.

by Patrick DePoy, ACLU Washington Legislative Office

This post originally appeared on the national ACLU blog.

Breaking the Silence

By guest blogger Erik Eagle, Brownsville Area High School student

This year as the president of the newly formed Brownsville Area High School Gay Straight Alliance (GSA)*, I have had the honor of being the student organizer for the Day of Silence. I managed to bring the Day of Silence to my school despite opposition from the administration, which tried to infringe upon our rights by forbidding us from using the school’s PA system to explain the event and wearing T-shirts with messages about the Day of Silence. If it were not for the help of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, their efforts to block us might have been successful.

Brownsville Area High School students (from left) Daniel Boger Jr., Erik Eagle , Marissa Calvaresi, Katherine Diamond and Kimberly Kennedy. Photo courtesy of John F. Brothers/HeraldStandard.com

Although the school made assurances that they would allow the Day of Silence, when I sought pre-approval for these activities from the administration, all of my requests were denied.  At the same time the school allowed another student organization to do the exact same things for another event. It was only after receiving a letter from the ACLU-PA explaining our rights that the administration allowed us to proceed.

The Day of Silence, recognized on April 20 this year, is a student-led action that began 17 years ago at the University of Virginia. On that day, students take a vow of silence to bring attention to the silence faced by LGBTQ youth who are bullied; the students' silence is meant to echo that silence. With 90% of LGBTQ students reporting being harassed and 30% of LGBTQ students being physically accosted at school, this is a cause that is intended to make schools a safer place for those students.

I personally have encountered students who have made remarks such as "Why remain silent? Shouldn't you speak out against the bullying?" or "Being silent never accomplished anything, the Day of Silence is pointless." I respect these opinions, but at the same time I feel that it is paramount to understand that the Day of Silence is not expected to make immediate change. The point of the Day of Silence is to get people's attention and to make them think about why the day of silence is necessary. By grabbing people's attention in such a strange way, it piques their interest to the point that someone who would brush off the subject of anti-LGBTQ bullying will now want to engage you in a conversation about it. I have been told by everyone who participated in our district that they saw this effect almost immediately.

*Note: The GSA itself was only recognized as a student organization and allowed to meet on school grounds after the intervention of the ACLU of PA.  

The Unique Voice of Octavia Butler (Reflections on Black History)

My first encounter with Octavia Butler was in a college science fiction course. Along with Dune, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Return of the King, and The Handmaid’s Tale, our syllabus included Wild Seed. I can’t say I was excited to read a strange book by an author I’d never heard of, but that changed once I began. Wild Seed is the first work of fantasy I encountered that diverged from the traditions of Tolkein and English fairytale, drawing inspiration instead from native African mythology.

For many fans of science fiction and fantasy, Butler (who died in 2006) represents a revelation, a first venture into something truly new and different. Speculative fiction as a genre is overwhelmingly white and European, chock full of noble savages and magical negros. Butler, who fought through dyslexia and rejection to journey from science fiction fan to award-winning author, brought the voice of the African American and the traditions of her African heritage.

Like all truly great speculative fiction, Butler’s work uses imaginary worlds to make us think and reflect on our own. Through her work, she confronts great moral questions including slavery, gender, religion, addiction, class inequality, tyranny, race, and the relationship of humans to their environment and to other species.  Depending on the work, these confrontations may be metaphorical or very direct. A central theme of Wild Seed, for instance, is the way two god-like immortals go about relating to mortal humans – one nurturing, the other tyrannical – and the consequences of their actions. Butler rarely seeks easy answers or absolutes – like many who really understand human nature, she is more interested to explore gray areas. Kindred, probably her best-known work, employs time travel as a device to confront U.S. slavery head-on, as an African American woman is transported from the 1970s to meet her ancestors in early nineteenth century Maryland.

Octavia Butler is often forgotten, which is tragic. Perhaps she is a victim of her genre, which—wild wildly popular, if TV and movies are any indication—is ignored by many critics and historians. Even more tragic, however, is that when she is mentioned, it is rarely acknowledged that she was a lesbian. Even some of her biggest fans are surprised to learn To be fair, she was never outspoken about her orientation, though she never hid it, either. Themes of gender ambiguity are rampant in her work.

Octavia Butler once described herself as “a pessimist if I’m not careful, a feminist always, a Black, a quiet egoist, a former Baptist, and an oil-and-water combination of ambition, laziness, insecurity, certainty, and drive.” Though I profile her here as a great figure in Black history, I prefer The Washington Post’s description: “One of the finest voices in fiction, period.”

Why would someone sue in FAVOR of discrimination??

Conshohocken Borough in Montgomery County is one of two dozen municipalities across Pennsylvania that have adopted local non-discrimination laws to protect LGBT people. Conshohocken's law, passed last April, protects LGBT residents from being fired, evicted, or kicked out of a business because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Sounds like a good thing, right?


Apparently, not everyone agrees. Anti-LGBT activists have sued the Borough in an attempt to invalidate the new law. On Friday, February 17, the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas will hear argument on the Borough’s motion to dismiss the complaint. 


If you can, please come watch the court argument to show your support for the Borough and LGBT equality. The argument will be at 9:00 AM on February 17 at the Montgomery County Courthouse, Court Room “A”, 2 E. Airy St., Norristown, PA 19401, before Judge Bernard A. Moore. The courthouse is an easy walk from the Norristown Transportation Center.

Please be respectful of the court proceedings and courthouse rules. Arrive well ahead of time so you can get through security, obey courthouse rules about cameras and recording, do not bring signs into the courtroom or make a lot of noise in the halls. The point is to show the judge in a respectful manner that this matters to a lot of people.

2011: The Year In Civil Liberties

It's been a very mixed year for we civil libertarians, with major victories and stunning defeats. On one hand, we're all happy to be out of Iraq - on the other, Gitmo is fast approaching its tenth year in business, and Congress has given the President nearly unchecked authority to detain or execute suspected terrorists. Don't Ask/Don't Tell died in 2011, and New York State doubled the number of LGBT Americans with full marriage rights, but Pennsylvania is once again considering a Constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. We've dramatically increased the number of Americans with access to decent health care, but Pennsylvanians may soon have to leave the state to get a safe and legal abortion. Through it all, we've been encouraged to see record numbers of Americans take to the streets to make their voices heard - and sickened to see them arrested, beaten, and pepper-sprayed for speaking out in a public forum.

See what I mean? Mixed year.

As we always are, the ACLU has been in the middle of most of these issues, as busy as ever in the courthouse and busier perhaps than ever before in Congress and state legislatures across the country. We've been so busy, in fact, that it's going to take us the rest of the year to tell you about it.

Over the next ten days, we'll review some of the highs and lows of 2011, to let you know what the ACLU has been doing for you - both in Pennsylvania and across the country - and to remind you why we need your support. In return, we hope you will consider becoming a card-carrying member (if you're not already), making a tax-deductible year-end contribution, or both - because if there's one thing we want you to know about our work, it's that we can't do it without you.

Greetings from Harrisburg: school vouchers, LGBT non-discrimination, and HIV testing

There were just two days of session this week at the state capitol in Harrisburg. Check out the latest update, including news on taxpayer-funded school vouchers, LGBT non-discrimination, and HIV testing.

First Amendment Roundup: School vouchers, religious expression in schools, and the right to protest

It's been an interesting week, to say the least, what with the Obama Justice Department announcing they will not defend DOMA, and the ACLU joining with other groups to ask that California resume marrying gay couples and Walmart stop treating female employees so badly. Here's our run-down of some lesser-known first amendment stories you may have missed.

• The biggest news, of course, is that the Supreme Court agreed with the ACLU's position and ruled 8-1 that the Constitution protects the right of the Westboro Baptist Church to public protest, even funerals. This has been a hotly contested position, naturally, but the ACLU has always defended the right of every person to free speech, even when we absolutely detest their message. 
• In a somewhat similar case, the 7th Circuit upheld a district court ruling that a teenager's "Be Happy, Not Gay" t-shirt, worn to school on the National Day of Silence in 2006, was protected by the First Amendment. Said the court, "People in our society do not have a legal right to prevent criticism of their beliefs or their way of life."
• Closer to home, the Pennsylvania Senate Education Committee approved a School Vouchers Bill that would clearly violate the Federal and Pennsylvania Constitutions by funneling tax money into private and parochial schools, despite strong objections from the ACLU and other groups.
• Students at Floyd County High School in West Virginia protested the removal of framed copies of the Ten Commandments from their school by displaying the Ten Commandments on their lockers, a terrific display of the difference between school endorsement of religion and student expression of religion that the ACLU was quick to defend.
• Senator Al Franken calls Net Neutrality "the First Amendment issue of our time" in an interview with Ars Technica, and addresses his support of a bill that would censor web sites over concerns about piracy and copyright infringement.

Guest Blogger Naeemah Johnson: Congratulate President Obama for standing up for equality in love

Naeemah Johnson is a10th grade student at Mastery Charter School in Philadelphia. She is interning at the ACLU for the spring semester.

Today President Obama ordered the Department of Justice not to defend DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act). This is truly a surprise. Some people say gay marriage should be unconstitutional, if so, love also must be unconstitutional. Who is the government to tell people what gender they should marry or should not marry? When two people love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives with one another, they get married. So why can’t two females or two males who are in love with one another in get married in every state? To me, America is supposed to be the land of the free, people should be free to marry whomever they love. Our president understands this and is ready to change things. Many in the Congress won’t be happy with this. They don’t want Obama to have the power to make this decision, but he is the President. When Bush was in office he was selective in choosing which laws to enforce and got no trouble from the Congress. President Obama should be congratulated for standing up for equality in love. This is a change my generation can believe in.

Breaking News: President Obama instructs Justice Department not to defend DOMA

According to a press release from the Department of Justice, President Obama has instructed the Department of Justice not to defend Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act. From the release by Attorney General Eric Holder:

After careful consideration, including a review of my recommendation, the President has concluded that given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny.   The President has also concluded that Section 3 of DOMA, as applied to legally married same-sex couples, fails to meet that standard and is therefore unconstitutional.   Given that conclusion, the President has instructed the Department not to defend the statute in such cases.   I fully concur with the President’s determination.

This is huge news, and impacts the ACLU's case on behalf of Edie Windsor, whose marriage and inheritance rights were not recognized by the government after her wife and partner of 44 years passed away in 2009. There's a terrific video about Edie and her wife Thea and their case, which I highly recommend. It's embedded below.

This Week at the State Capitol

This is a new feature I'm hoping to start doing on a regular basis, giving you a preview of what's going on at the state capitol. Although I'm doing this one on Monday, look for it late in the week before a session week, though I don't want to interfere with Chris's awesome Friday First Amendment Roundup.

This week promises to provide hours and hours of non-stop entertainment.

Talk Talk:
Monday, February 14, 12:30pm, Main Rotunda
Marriage Equality Press Conference
Marriage equality legislation, delivered just in time for Valentine's Day! Senator Daylin Leach has introduced Senate Bill 461 to allow lesbian and gay couples to join the institution of marriage and all of the benefits that go with it. Rep. Mark Cohen will introduce a civil unions on the House side. Polling indicates that either marriage or civil unions for same sex couples is supported by 65% of Pennsylvanians.

Tuesday, February 15, 9am, Hearing Room 1, North Office Building
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on cost-cutting measures in criminal justice
Despite the legislation passed last session, there is still plenty of work to be done. Pennsylvania still has a deep mandatory minimum sentencing scheme that needs rolled back, and programs that should help alleviate the prison population, like State Intermediate Punishment and the Recidivism Risk Reduction Initiative, have restrictions that make those programs ineffective. Meanwhile, the state is spending $800 million to build four new state prisons.

Wednesday, February 16, 9:15am, Hearing Room 1, North Office Building
Senate Education Committee hearing on Senate Bill 1
Welcome to the main event! SB 1 provides state-funded vouchers to low-income students to use at private, parochial, or other public schools. SB 1 violates three provisions of the state constitution that bar funding to sectarian schools, sectarian institutions, and schools that are not under the absolute control of the commonwealth. SB 1 also gives state funds to private and religious schools that can and do discriminate against kids for a variety of reasons, including disability, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, and an inability to speak English. Public schools, meanwhile, take everyone.

I don't have our testimony posted on our website yet but will have it up at our legislative page by Wednesday. Meanwhile, you can learn more about vouchers from our friends at the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and at the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

I often tweet when I'm at these events, so be sure to follow us @aclupa.

Rock the Vote?
Three bills on which the ACLU of PA has a position are currently on the Senate calendar. These bills could get a vote any day or might go to the Senate Appropriations Committee for fiscal considerations:

• Senate Bill 3: We oppose. Bans insurance companies from offering abortion coverage within the insurance exchanges created by the federal government's healthcare reform. A woman who spends her own money on coverage couldn't get it within the exchange if SB 3 becomes law. We expect this bill will detour to the Senate Appropriations Committee before getting a vote sometime in the future. The Patriot News and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette have both editorialized on this bill.
  
• Senate Bill 9: We oppose. Requires applicants for public aid to show government-issued ID or be denied. Supporters claim they're stopping people without papers from fraudulently getting aid but show no evidence that that's a problem. Meanwhile, academic analysis suggests as much as 11 percent of US citizens do not have government-issued ID. This bill should go to approps since multiple state agencies estimated in 2008 that SB 9 would cost the commonwealth $19 million to implement.
• Senate Bill 42: We oppose. Shrinks the time frame in which persons who have committed sex offenses have to report certain changes, e.g. change in employment, to the state from 10 days to 2 days. It also treats a violation like a felony crime, not like a parole violation. Seriously, aren't we just setting these people up for failure?

Info about SB 3 and SB 9 is available at our legislative webpage.

Rock the committee vote
Since the war on drugs has been such a roaring success (/snark), the House Judiciary Committee will vote on three bills to expand the drug laws to add new substances- Spice et al, aka "synthetic marijuana"; Salvia Divinorum; and some chemical compounds I cannot pronounce.

So PA is building four new prisons at a cost of $800 million due to a bursting inmate population that has been caused in large part to the extreme sentencing laws for drug offenses we've implemented. And now we're going to add more substances to the list of what's illegal......If you continuously bang your head against a wall, at some point don't you realize that it won't make your headache go away?

Welcome to my world.....

Philadelphia: LGBT Town Hall and Happy Hour TONIGHT, 6:30 PM

If you are in or around Philadelphia and you're a member of the LGBT community (and that includes straight supporters!) we invite you to join us tonight at 6:30 PM at the William Way Community Center, 1315 Spruce Street in Philadelphia.


Join the ACLU of Pennsylvania, Equality Pennsylvania and the Human Rights Campaign to discuss the challenges facing Pennsylvania's LGBT population now and in the future.  The Town Hall will take place from 6:30 until 8:30, when we'll move to Tabu Lounge and Sports Bar , 200 South 12th Street, where we can drown our sorrows in drink specials.  


This meeting is one of many that the ACLU, Equality PA and the HRC will be hosting around the state.  If you can't make it to Philadelphia, we hope you will join us when we gather in your region!


Photo by Flickr user terry6082 Books, available under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial License.

Friday First Amendment Roundup: Interrupting the Constitution, Shielding Against Whistleblowers, and the Soledad Cross

Big week for civil liberties this week, with new lawmakers (and new House majorities) both in Harrisburg and in Washington.  PA State Representative Darryl Metcalfe is starting hard out of the gate, with an anti-baby bill and an anti-gay Constitutional amendment in his eager little hands.  As we always remind you, though, challenges to civil liberties come in all shapes and sizes.  Here's a quick review of what you may have missed this week.

• First and most exciting: in case you missed it, it's legal again to swear in Pennsylvania.  Don't say we never did anything for you.
• The House of Representatives opened their new session with its first-ever reading of the U.S. Constitution, which opened the opportunity for a birther to give us the first-ever heckling of the House as they read the Constitution.
• Not to be outdone, protesters several times interrupted the press conference by Darryl Metcalfe and his colleagues announcing their multi-state anti-baby bill.  Note the woman 46 seconds into the video urging the protesters to "respect [the speaker's] freedom of speech and sit down." 
• The ACLU welcomed the new congress with polite urging to uphold and protect the rights and values enshrined in the Constitution.
• It's hard to say whether House members had a chance to read their nice letter from the ACLU before proposing the "Shield Bill," which would make it a crime to knowingly and willfully disseminate any information "concerning the human intelligence activities of the United States."  Aimed at whistle-blowers and organizations like WikiLeaks, there are also very serious questions about its potential limitations on journalists.  As an aside, the last time Congress passed a "Shield Bill," it was intended to shield journalists against retaliatory prosecution.  
• A Federal judge in Rhode Island ruled against the Rhode Island ACLU's argument that the city of Narragansett's "Orange Sticker Law," aimed at curtailing loud college parties by quite literally labeling houses police consider a problem, is unconstitutional.
• The Ninth Circuit, meanwhile, ruled that the "Soledad Cross" is an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion, and sent the case back to a federal court to determine whether the cross may be modified to pass muster, or must be removed altogether.

Justice Scalia: Constitution doesn't protect women or gays from discrimination.

I'm just glad there are eight other opinions as important as his.

4 days, 2 cities, 585 miles, and 16 cups of coffee

I was on the road most of last week for meetings in Pittsburgh and a conference in Washington. (I spent Monday at the state capitol, which some would say is like traveling to another planet.)

On Tuesday, our Pittsburgh chapter held its monthly board meeting, and we had a chance to discuss the 2009-10 state legislative session and look ahead to what we're facing in the 2011-12 session. While in Pittsburgh, I also had the chance to meet with allies and friends who are working on LGBT rights and juvenile life without parole (JLWOP).

In Washington, the ACLU's National Prison Project held a two-day conference to discuss long-term solitary confinement. And by long-term, they mean people who are in solitary for years, even decades. My DC trip also included a meeting with a national ally on JLWOP.

All of these issues present challenges. None of them are easy, and they all take planning and years of steady work. There are no shortcuts,and the ACLU has been very effective at surrounding itself with smart, strategic thinkers who understand this.

The ACLU is fiercely non-partisan. As I always tell people, both Republicans and Democrats annoy us. We have been tough on President Obama, just as we were tough on President Bush.

No one should be under any illusion that simply electing certain candidates is enough to protect and enhance civil liberties. All of our elected officials from both major parties must be held to account on where they stand, and to get where we want to go with issues like LGBT rights, criminal justice reform, and others, we have to put in the work necessary to convince a critical mass of policymakers that standing up for civil liberties is the right place to be.

That was the lesson of my 585 mile trip over the Allegheny Mountains (twice), inside the beltway, and through the farmlands of Pennsylvania and Maryland. So let's get to work. Oh, and please support the ACLU.

Andy Hoover, Legislative Director

Why James Carville was wrong about Pennsylvania

Every time I hear the quote it makes my skin crawl: Pennsylvania is Philadelphia in the east, Pittsburgh in the west, and Alabama in the middle. Political consultant James Carville said some version of this quip while working on Bob Casey, Sr.'s gubernatorial campaign in 1986. Today I hear it from advocates, including my own colleagues, on a nearly constant basis. It's usually said by people from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and is meant as a slam on those of us from the rest of the state.

There are all kinds of threads to pull apart with this quote, starting with the idea that being "Alabama" is a slam. (Carville claims that he only meant that in central and northern PA, people are conservative and churchgoers.)

The meaning that has been projected onto this line, that Pennsylvanians not from Philly or Pittsburgh are bumpkins who take positions on issues based on visceral reactions and fears, is wrong. And it's time for civil rights advocates and civil libertarians to retire the quote.

Carville was not talking about civil liberties, but let's consider the quote from a civil liberties perspective and why it doesn't work.

Philly ain't that great. The city of Philadelphia is responsible for many civil liberties problems. Example A just occurred a few weeks ago when a 17-year-old boy was hit with a Taser by a Philadelphia police officer after the boy ran onto the field at a Phillies game. The kid did something dumb, but he was not a physical threat to anyone. Philadelphia PD is notorious for using excessive force, and this was just another example.

The city has also cost the taxpayers of this commonwealth millions, maybe hundreds of millions, of dollars because the former, long-time district attorney, Lynne Abraham, insisted on pursuing the death penalty in nearly every homicide case she presided over during her 18-year reign as DA. As a result, a majority of people on death row are from Philadelphia.

The people of Philadelphia elected and re-elected Abraham four times.

Philadelphia is also now participating in the federal government's Secure Communities program. You know, we have to "secure our communities" from those robbing, raping, thieving illegal aliens. The city police department's arrest database is linked to ICE. It sounds good in theory, but there is a horrendous track record of racial profiling and harassment when local law enforcement and ICE work together.

Civil liberties belong to all of us. Our national executive director, Anthony Romero, once said that civil liberties don't belong to only the liberal wing of the Democratic Party or the conservative wing of the Republican Party. We have numerous examples of state legislators from areas of the state outside of Philly and Pittsburgh standing up for our rights. Four of the eight senators who voted to table the constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage in March were from areas other than the southeast and southwest. Our greatest champions in opposition to the commonwealth implementing Real ID have been from the "Alabama" area of the state. The list goes on.

The quote disempowers people. When my fellow advocates throw this quip around, the message to those of us in the middle of the state is, Give up. Before becoming legislative director, I was ACLU-PA's community organizer for central PA. It was clear that supporters of the ACLU's mission in this area of the state felt frustrated and had no faith in their fellow citizens. By quoting Carville, we advocates add to that disempowerment.

Carville was wrong about Pennsylvania. We are a striped state where no political ideology dominates. As civil libertarians, we must be willing to talk about our issues wherever the people are, and talk with them in their language, and not simply huddle in the big cities.

(I also recommend this piece from Politico, which quotes numerous PA political observers on the inaccuracy of the line.)

Andy in Harrisburg

The kids are alright. But the adults are screwed up

The 2009-10 legislative session at the PA state capitol is my first full session as ACLU-PA's legislative director. I've been learning a lot and really enjoying the work.

One thing that I've learned is that state legislators really despise our kids. Ok, that's an exaggeration, as I am wont to do in my blogging. I'm sure legislators don't actually despise Pennsylvania's kids.

But based on some of the initiatives that are being pushed at the state capitol, one couldn't help but think that our elected officials have completely forgotten what is was like to be a kid and are not consciously aware of the damage that some of their ideas would do to the commonwealth's children. Consider:

Police in schools. Last year, the Senate passed Senate Bill 56, a bill that mandates public school administrators to call local police when certain offenses occur in school. The original bill was spectacularly draconian, even requiring school administrators to call the police for disorderly conduct and tobacco possession. To the credit of the primary sponsor, Senator Jeffrey Piccola of Dauphin County, some of the most egregious provisions were amended out of the bill.

But the bill is still a raw deal for Pennsylvania's children, especially younger children and kids with disabilities. There are no provisions to give administrators discretion for students' with intellectual disabilities or for younger students. A kindergarten student is held to the same standard as a senior in high school.

Do you think a kindergarten student couldn't be hauled off in handcuffs by the police? SB 56 could make it a more frequent occurrence.

We are hearing rumblings that a massive bill on the public school code will be part of this year's budget and that Senator Piccola is insisting that SB 56 be included in that bill.

Sexting. We all agree that it is a really bad idea for young people to send nude or sexually provocative digital photos of themselves to their partners and friends. A photo like that might never go away.

The answer to this issue, according to Pennsylvania's district attorneys and some legislators, is to arrest the kids, including the kid who willing takes a picture of him- or herself and sends it to a willing participant, e.g. a boyfriend or girlfriend. And here's the best part: Some DAs claim that they are helping these kids. By arresting them.

Sexting is dumb behavior. It's also borne out of growing young people's desires to explore their sexuality, a natural part of being human. And the legislature and DAs in PA think they should be arrested for it.

House Bill 2189 would make all forms of sexting a misdemeanor. The bill passed out of the House Judiciary Committee last week after a failed attempt by Rep. Kate Harper of Montgomery County to further downgrade this "crime" to a summary offense.

Meanwhile, over the last two weeks, legislative chambers in Florida and Illinois have also passed bills on sexting. Bills that made it a summary. Do kids have a friend in Pennsylvania?

Gay foster kids. It's hard to believe that anyone could think it's ok to discriminate against gay foster kids. LGBT foster kids often face abuse, as was well articulated in an op-ed this week by Cei Bell that was published in the Philadelphia Daily News.

In 2007, Rep. Phyllis Mundy of Wilkes Barre introduced a bill that she called a Foster Kids' Bill of Rights. The bill included a non-discrimination provision that included protection for foster kids based on race, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, age or gender. When the bill got to the floor of the House, it was amended to water down the non-discrimination provision and essentially make it a suggestion but without the power of law. Why did this happen? Because the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference didn't want the protection for gay foster kids. I kid you not.

What kind of behavior, exactly, does the Catholic Conference want to be able to do to gay foster kids?

So Rep. Mundy has re-introduced the bill as House Bill 2338. The new bill includes the non-discrimination provision but without "sexual orientation." Rep. Mundy went kicking and screaming to the strategy of taking out SO as a protected class, and she gave us the green light to criticize the bill for that omission. Sue Kerr of Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents did just that:

They can't pass a bill that protects children from being abused in foster care based on their sexual orientation? I know we are battling mightily to add sexual orientation to non-discrimination laws, hate crimes laws, etc. But this is pretty despicable.

So let's recap: Kids who act out in school, as kids sometimes do, are prone to being hauled down to the police station. Kids who explore their sexuality, as kids sometimes do, are prone to being hauled down to the police station. And gay foster kids can't get protections passed by the state legislature.

The over-criminalization and abuse of our children has got to stop.

Andy in Harrisburg