ACLU Supporter –

While we know there is so much in the news cycle to remain focused on right now, we wanted to take a brief moment to wrap this week with a few key updates from our attorneys working to preserve people's rights within the United States.

Across our country, the fundamental freedoms we all hold dear continue to be at risk by politicians more concerned about power than democracy. Reproductive freedom, free speech, LGBTQ equality, voting rights, immigrants rights – it's all on the line. That's why the ACLU is resolute in our work.

Here are just three of many latest updates from this critical mission that your role within our ACLU community fuels every day:

• Today (October 27) → The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is hearing arguments on behalf of Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 13-year-old transgender girl from West Virginia, against a state law banning transgender girls from playing on girls' student athletics teams. We've said all along that this law is cruel and stigmatizing, and we are looking forward to our legal team demonstrating in court that it is also unconstitutional. Trans kids belong everywhere that cisgender kids belong. Becky belongs on the team playing with her friends. Period.
• Last week → We recently reached a historic settlement for thousands of brutalized children and parents who were torn from each other under the Trump administration's practice of family separation. In addition to providing benefits to separated families, a critical component of the settlement is that the government finally agreed not to reenact this separation policy. The settlement alone can't repair all the harm done to these children but it is an essential beginning after years of relentless work by our lawyers and coalition partners on behalf of migrant families seeking a better life.
• Earlier this month → Oral arguments concluded in our case at the U.S. Supreme Court that will determine the fate of South Carolina's congressional map. A lawyer from LDF, our co-counsel in the case, argued the state's map blatantly discriminated against Black voters on the basis of race. While we await SCOTUS' ultimate decision, we will remain fervent in our work to ensure that redistricting takes place in a fair way that respects all voters and their communities, full stop.

We know the road ahead feels tough, but the ACLU has a proven track record of overcoming steep obstacles like these. No matter what, we can and will continue to make progress on everything from free speech to trans justice to immigrant rights to voting rights.

YOU, ACLU Supporter, are a key part of this progress and we cannot thank you enough for sticking with us now and always.

For all our rights,

The ACLU Team