News & Commentary

Across Indiana, inmates are being subjected to overcrowded jail cells and inhumane living conditions. Many are forced to sleep on cell floors, exposed to extremely dirty conditions with insects and black mold. Even worse, when prisons and jails are over capacity, the needs of prisoners with medical and mental health needs are often overlooked and unmet.

The ACLU of Indiana is urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) not to roll back health care protections for transgender people.

An Indiana county has taken a retroactive step, approving a pay-to-stay policy that will likely send people who are incarcerated hurling back into the criminal justice system by loading them with debt. Pay-to-stay policies involve inmate fees charged by jails and prisons while people are incarcerated, locking people in cycles of imprisonment and debt. Not only are these pay-to-stay programs fiscally impractical, they perpetuate mass incarceration.

There is no doubt that May was deterring for pro-choice advocates across the country. In some states, such as Alabama and Louisiana, politicians pushed through laws that ban most abortions. In others, politicians are doing everything they can to shut down the health centers that many women rely on for basic reproductive health services, including abortion access. Nevertheless, Americans have come out in large numbers to protest these restrictions, and thousands of women have come forward to share their personal stories using hashtag #youknowme.

I’m proud to lead the ACLU of Indiana LGBTQ Rights Project, where we fight for transgender people in the Indiana statehouse, in the courts and in our communities. We raise up transgender leaders and support their work all over the state. So far, we’ve trained nearly 40 advocates through our Indiana Trans Justice Project, and they are hard at work educating their communities and their lawmakers.

On May 21, hundreds of Hoosiers joined the ACLU of Indiana, Planned Parenthood of Indianapolis and Kentucky, and Indiana's Chapter of the Women's March on Washington to stand up for reproductive rights. The day of action was part of a nationwide movement in opposition to the extreme abortion bans signed into law in states across the country.

In Response to Speaker Brian Bosma’s Comments About Citizens Outrage Against Attempts to Heighten Requirements for Trans and Non-Binary Hoosiers to Obtain an ID

Challenges to the right to protest have come in many forms over the last few years. And standing up for your right to protest can be increasingly challenging when demonstrations are met with unjust punishments. Indiana elected officials are looking to add to the already prevalent fear of police intimidation by tacking on additional monetary punishment based on association.