The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is a

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

organization in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Founded in November 1951 as the New York affiliate of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

, it is a

not-for-profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

, nonpartisan organization with nearly 50,000 members across

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

.About the NYCLU, NYCLU, retrieved on March 11, 2012, at http://www.nyclu.org/node/1022#executiv The NYCLU has eight offices in New York State: Central New York (the Syracuse area), the Capital Region (the Albany area), Lower Hudson Valley, Suffolk County, Nassau County, New York City, Genesee Valley and the Western Region.NYCLU's 2011 Annual Report, pg. 28, retrieved on March 11, 2012, at http://www.nyclu.org/files/NYCLUAR_2011_web.pdf The New York City office is its headquarters and represents all regions that do not have their local chapter or regional office.

Mission statement

The NYCLU's stated mission is "to defend and promote the fundamental principles and values embodied in the

Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...

, the U.S Constitution and the

New York State Constitution The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constituti ...

, including

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

, and the

right to privacy The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions that intends to restrain governmental and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals. Over 185 national constitutions mention the right to privacy. Since the globa ...

, equality and

due process of law Due process of law is application by the state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to a case so all legal rights that are owed to a person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pers ...

for all New Yorkers".

Recent work

Stop-and-Frisk

The NYCLU helped stop the NYPD's practice of keeping a computer database of personal information of civilians who were stopped and/or frisked by police officers. On June 23, 2010, the State Senate passed a bill sponsored by Assemblyman

Hakeem Jeffries Hakeem Sekou Jeffries ( ; born August 4, 1970) is an American politician and attorney who has served as Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, House minority leader and House Democratic Caucus#Leaders of the House Democrati ...

(D-57th AD) and Sen.

Eric Adams Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and former police officer who has served as the 110th mayor of New York City since 2022. Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York City P ...

(D-20th SD), which called for the NYPD to shut down this database. On June 29, 2010, the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

passed the bill and Governor Paterson signed the bill into law on July 16, 2010.

School-to-prison pipeline

In January 2010, the NYCLU,

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. ...

, and Dorsey & Whitney LLP filed a federal class action lawsuit challenging the NYPD's practice of arresting and using force against children in New York City schools.

Public defense

The NYCLU filed the class action lawsuit ''Hurrell-Harring et al. v. State of New York'' in 2007. They challenged New York State's failure in its duty to provide effective counsel to New Yorkers who were accused of crimes and could not afford to pay private lawyers. This case targets the public defense systems in Onondaga, Ontario, Schuyler, Suffolk and Washington counties for failing to provide adequate public defense services. The case was filed on behalf of defendants from these five counties. On August 1, 2008, a State Supreme Court judge denied the state's motion to dismiss the case. In July 2009, the Third Department of the Appellate Division, in a split decision, reversed the lower court's denial of the state's motion to dismiss. In May 2010, the State Court of Appeals, New York's highest court, overturned the Third Department in a 4-to-3 ruling, allowing the case to proceed.

Reproductive Health Act

The NYCLU supported the Reproductive Health Act, which guaranteed a woman's ability to have an abortion if her health is at risk and that state law will regulate abortion as a medical procedure. The Reproductive Health Act was introduced in the New York State Assembly by Assembly member Deborah Glick, D-66th A.D, in June 2010. It was introduced to the State Senate by Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-35th S.D., during the 2009 legislative session.

Kings County Hospital

In May 2007, the NYCLU (attorney

Chris Hansen Christopher Edward Hansen (born September 13, 1959) is an American television presenter, journalist, and YouTube personality. During his tenure as a correspondent for ''Dateline NBC'', he hosted the program's segment ''To Catch a Predator'' (20 ...

), Mental Hygiene Legal Services, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP filed a lawsuit against Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn. The case described the hospital's psychiatric emergency room and inpatient unit as "a chamber of filth, decay, indifference and danger". It sought to end abusive treatment in the hospital's psychiatric facilities. NYCLU released security camera footage of a woman dying on the hospital's waiting room floor after hospital staff ignored her for hours. Under a settlement, the hospital agreed to significant reforms and monitoring for five years by the NYCLU, the Department of Justice, Mental Hygiene Legal Services and Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

''Tabbaa v. Chertoff''

Many of the Americans attending the Reviving the Islamic Spirit Conference in Toronto in 2004 ended up frisked, interrogated, fingerprinted and photographed and profiles added to databases by US Custom and Border Protection agents at the U.S.‑Canada border. This incident occurred due to a federal policy targeting people who attended Islamic conferences outside of the United States. In 2005, NYCLU, ACLU, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of five detained Muslim Americans. Accusing the US CBP of violating both the First and Fourth Amendments of the constitution. In 2005 the District Court ruled that the law did not violate the plaintiffs' constitutional rights. The

Second Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York, and Vermont, and it has appellate jurisdic ...

affirmed the lower court's decision upon appeal.

References

External links

New York Civil Liberties Union
Official website * {{Authority control American Civil Liberties Union New York (state) law Non-profit organizations based in New York City Civil rights organizations in the United States 1951 establishments in New York (state) 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations