At Liberty

This week's guest is W. Kamau Bell: standup comedian, prolific podcaster, and host of his own show on CNN, "United Shades of America." He's known for …

Anuradha Bhagwati has long been at the forefront of the fight for gender equality within the military. She is a former Marine Corps captain, a three-time ACLU client, and founder of the Service Women's Action Network, a …

Last month, protests erupted when the Justice Department announced it would not bring civil rights charges against the NYPD officer who put Eric …

Heidi Schreck is the playwright and star of Broadway’s “What the Constitution Means to Me.” The play, which was nominated for two Tonys and was a …

It’s been a dizzying few days in U.S. immigration policy. Earlier this week, the Trump administration issued rules to ban most refugees arriving …

Surveillance technology is slowly encroaching on every part of our lives. With regulation at the federal level slow to materialize, local governments …

Hundreds of thousands of Washington, D.C. residents currently lack full political representation. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents …

It was another dramatic year for the Supreme Court. A new justice was sworn in against the backdrop of scandal. A beloved justice got sick and recovered. And, of course, major precedent-setting decisions were handed …

In one of the most highly anticipated decisions of its term, the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration cannot add a citizenship question …

This week marks the one-year anniversary of arguably the most important privacy ruling of the digital age. In Carpenter v. the United States, the …

As discussions about racism in America gain traction, so too does the question of reparations. Broadly defined as some form of repayment for the harms inflicted on enslaved peoples and their descendants, reparations …

On this week’s episode, Georgetown Professor Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor, joins At Liberty to discuss his book, "Chokehold: Policing …

In the last few months, six states have passed laws that essentially ban abortion, and several other states have similar bills pending. Restrictions on access to abortion have been building for decades since the …

Olivia Wilde and Katie Silberman, the director and the writer of the new movie “Booksmart,” joined At Liberty to talk about storytelling, casting without bias, and why "The Big Lebowski" was an inspiration. Wilde is …

May 17 marks the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court case that declared state laws enforcing racial segregation …

Wyatt Cenac is an actor, writer, producer and comedian ("The Daily Show," “Medicine for Melancholy”). He joins At Liberty to discuss balancing comedy …

Mitra Ebadolahi, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Border Litigation Project, joins At Liberty to debunk misconceptions about the border and discuss the …

A few weeks ago, the ACLU and other civil rights organizations announced a landmark settlement with Facebook to prevent advertisers from using ad-targeting filters based on race, gender, and age on job, housing, and …

On Tuesday, April 23, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear the case Department of Commerce v. New York, which asks whether a question about citizenship can be added to the 2020 Census questionnaire. The case …

At Liberty sits down with Meg Singer, the Indigenous Justice program manager at the ACLU of Montana, and Lillian Alvernaz, the ACLU’s first Indigenous Justice Legal Fellow, to discuss Indigenous justice and organizing …

Sergio de la Pava is a critically acclaimed novelist (A Naked Singularity, Personae, Lost Empress) and a full-time public defender who has …

Nicole Ozer, the Technology and Civil Liberties director for the ACLU of California, has been at the forefront of debates around privacy and …

Reginald Dwayne Betts is a published poet, memoirist, and legal scholar who's currently pursuing a Ph.D. in law at Yale. His legal work, like his …

This week, At Liberty comes to you from Austin, TX, where we recorded in front of a live audience with Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave, and The Nightwatchman. We sat down to discuss “Atlas …

Rocky Myers is one of 175 people on death row in Alabama. The devastating flaws in his case from the moment of arrest to his sentencing displays the injustice of a brutal criminal system. His attorney Kacey Keeton and …

As Black History Month comes to an end, Professor Carol Anderson (Emory University) joins At Liberty to discuss ongoing voter suppression efforts in …

Alan Rusbridger is the former editor of The Guardian and author of "Breaking News: The Remaking of Journalism and Why It Matters Now." He joins At Liberty to discuss the state of journalism in the social media age: what …

This Valentine's Day, we're joined by Melissa Murray, NYU Law professor and expert on the legal regulation of sex and sexuality. Professor Murray and …

As part of the "Night of Philosophy and Ideas," renowned philosopher and NYT Ethicist columnist Kwame Anthony Appiah joined host Emerson Sykes — and …

In his new Oscar-nominated film "Vice," Adam McKay(Saturday Night Live, "The Big Short") tells the story of Dick Cheney's journey from college …

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has become a cultural icon, inspiring internet memes, popular biographies, documentaries, and a new feature …

A raft of new state and federal laws are seeking to stop people from participating in political boycotts aimed at the state of Israel. ACLU attorney …

The Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade in 1973, establishing access to abortion care as a fundamental right. But state legislatures have been chipping away at that right ever since, passing thousands of restrictions on …

For our final episode of 2018, we're making a slight departure from our typical format. As we wind down the year and prepare to spend more time indoors, we've asked ACLU staff to give you their movie recommendations to …

As homelessness steadily rises in America, so too does the willingness of state and local governments to use criminal laws against their homeless residents. Earlier this year, a federal appeals court found that laws …

Almost 250 years after the adoption of the Declaration of the Independence, debates about founding principles like equality, rights, and representation are as fraught as ever. Jill Lepore, a Harvard history professor …

The state of transgender equality is in rapid flux in state legislatures, in federal law, in the courts and at the ballot box. Progress is consistently met with backlash. In the past midterm election, Massachusetts …

In recent weeks, hundreds of Amazon employees have spoken out to oppose the company marketing its facial recognition software for use by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They join a chorus of voices — both in the …

Florida seems perpetually to be at the center of the national conversation and news cycle. The current recount to determine the results of Florida's …

The midterm elections made a lot of news, but one result particularly stands out: Florida's vote on Amendment 4. In a historic change, Floridians …

With the midterm elections only a few days away, voting rights advocates have been working furiously to ensure that the result will be the product of …

One year ago this month, the first bombshell allegations against Harvey Weinstein appeared in The New York Times and The New Yorker. Shortly thereafter, #MeToo went viral on social media. But the origins of this …

The 2018 midterm elections will determine the fate of governorships nationwide, the party that controls Congress, and the outcome of hugely …

Harvard University is facing a lawsuit alleging that its undergraduate admissions practices unlawfully discriminate against Asian American …

The nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has turned into a full-blown national drama, amid credible sexual misconduct allegations …

More than 2,000 firefighters battling the blaze in California this summer came from inside the state’s prison system. They were part of a national workforce of incarcerated people, paid pennies per hour and sometimes …

America’s response to the 9/11 attacks have dominated our foreign policy, military priorities, and human rights record for 17 years now. Perhaps no …

More than a month ago, a federal court ordered the Trump administration to reunite immigrant children and parents it had separated at the U.S. border. Yet hundreds of children remain on their own in government custody, …

The Supreme Court is meant to protect the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. Historically, however, it has repeatedly failed to live up to that promise. Can one justice change the course of the Supreme …

Many of the children who are presently gearing up for a new school year are also preparing to face police on a daily basis. The numbers of cops in …

President Trump often demonizes entire immigrant groups, referring to Mexican people as “rapists” and undocumented immigrants as “animals.” Yet statistics show that immigrants, both undocumented and otherwise, are …

The United States sends more people to prison or jail than any other nation in the world. Donald Trump pledged to be tough on crime, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions has pushed to reinvigorate the war on drugs. …

On August 12, 2017, a group of white supremacists gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia. The day was a disaster, with violence in the streets and …

It seems like artificial intelligence is everywhere these days — in our homes, in our cars, in our offices, and of course online. Government decisions, too, are being outsourced to computer code. In one Pennsylvania …

In recent months, Black Americans have had the cops called on them for things like waiting in Starbucks, entering their own dorm rooms, moving into their own apartments, and barbecuing in a public park. Why are these …

The 14th Amendment, ratified exactly 150 years ago, promises equal protection to everyone. But it’s also used to strip the right to vote from millions of Americans who have been convicted of felonies. How did this …

On the eve of the five-year anniversary of the creation of Black Lives Matter, Patrisse Cullors discusses the life that led her to co-found one of …

An eventful Supreme Court session just came to a close. This year, the court handed down major decisions on partisan gerrymandering, warrantless …

Lee Gelernt has been fighting Trump’s family separation policy since early this year, months before it became the subject of national outrage. …

After 12 years at the center of a heated national debate about abortion rights and women’s healthcare, Cecile Richards recently stepped down as the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She joins At …

COMING SOON: At Liberty, from the ACLU, with host Lee Rowland. Every week, At Liberty will take on the hottest civil rights and civil liberties debates of the day. Subscribe now.