ACLU supporter –

As we individually take measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, we must also look at the larger changes that still need to be made to protect the most vulnerable.

Public health experts are sounding the alarm of the threat that this pandemic poses to those in prisons, jails, and detention centers. There is a heightened risk of infection for people who are imprisoned or detained, as well as the staff. And as deportations and mass incarceration disproportionately target Black and brown communities, these communities will be impacted the most.

That's why the ACLU is demanding that President Trump and all state governors heed the recommendations of public health professionals: Release communities who are most vulnerable to COVID-19 – particularly the elderly and sick – and reduce overcrowding in our criminal legal system.

You can support this urgent advocacy effort with a generous donation that will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to the $100,000 limit, and go twice as far in the fight to protect all of our rights.

We're already seeing an impact:

Colorado's governor issued an executive order – drawing on the ACLU's model order – that encourages all localities to reduce arrests and incarceration in jails. In New Jersey, the Supreme Court ordered people with low-level offenses be released from county jails – up to 1,000 people. We're starting to see our plaintiffs in immigrant detention released as a result of our lawsuits against ICE.

And the relief package that Congress passed includes two provisions we fought for, and hope to make permanent: More people in federal prisons will be eligible to serve their sentences at home, and video conferencing and phone calls with family will be free.

We are making progress, but there's still so much more to be done. It's on all of us to call for immediate actions that will protect the people most vulnerable to this pandemic. Downsizing the footprint of the criminal legal system must be a part of the COVID-19 public health response.

ACLU Supporter, these may be unprecedented times, but we can't forget that our collective action holds enormous power.

If you can, please act now to protect the civil liberties of the most vulnerable among us by making a matching gift today.

Sincerely,

Udi Ofer
ACLU Deputy National Political Director

P.S. We want to be mindful of our supporters who have been personally impacted by the pandemic. If you would like to be removed from this specific campaign, please enter your email address here.