ACLU supporter –

The COVID-19 crisis has given rise to a set of new and unforeseen threats to the civil rights and civil liberties of all Wisconsinites – even a threat to our lives, especially for people of color, and members of other oppressed communities.

The pandemic has laid bare the devastating impact of our country's pervasive racial injustice, among many other issues. America's refusal to deal with its history of racism makes the disparate effect that COVID-19 is having on Black and brown communities neither surprising nor accidental. It is the result of structural bias in housing, education, employment, healthcare, policing, and other sectors. We have been working from day one of this crisis to address these challenges, and we have more to share.

Over the last few weeks, we raised the alarm over the urgent need to save the lives of people in our jails and prisons through decarceration, while also calling on state leaders to ensure that our elections protect public health as well as the right to vote.

Unfortunately, the government hasn't done enough – so now we're taking action.

A prison sentence should not be a death sentence, so we filed a lawsuit today in the Wisconsin Supreme Court seeking the release of vulnerable people from jails and prisons. Lives are at stake. The state's inaction is putting thousands of Wisconsinites in tremendous danger, so we're going to court.

Tuesday's election was hard. It was hard for all of us who care about democracy, and it was especially hard for disenfranchised communities and individual people who couldn't vote or who had to endanger their lives just to vote. I wrote about our reaction, what we did to fight for free and fair elections beforehand, and what we plan to do to make sure this nightmare never happens again.

With you on our side, no matter what lies ahead, we'll be here – as we always have been – committed to building a stronger, more just state for all of us.

Sincerely,

Chris Ott
Executive Director, ACLU of Wisconsin