VICTORY: A Court has blocked West Virginia’s cruel and archaic abortion ban by issuing a preliminary injunction. Our work isn't done yet, however. We will need you to stand with us in the coming fight at the legislature.
It's come to our attention that students at Huntington High School plan to walk out this week to protest their school’s unlawful decision to allow a Christian revival during school hours. ACLU-WV stands with these students, and we will monitor the situation closely.
VICTORY: After two years of legal limbo, transgender West Virginians can again amend names and gender markers on their birth certificates. We have just finalized a settlement with the state after new policies were adopted making the process safer and more accessible.
BREAKING: the House and Senate have failed to agree on a bill and will appoint conference committees. This means abortion REMAINS LEGAL in WV, at least for now. But stay prepared to mobilize. This still isn’t over.
BREAKING: we won’t stand by while our state is dragged back to the 19th Century. We’re suing to make sure West Virginia’s cruel and archaic law criminalizing abortion can’t be enforced now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned.
We don’t teach astrology in astronomy class.
We don’t teach alchemy in chemistry class.
We won’t be teaching creationism in biology class either.
SB 280, allowing intelligent design in public schools, is unconstitutional. We'll see the state in court if it passes.
After weeks of discussions behind closed doors, the West Virginia Legislature has voted to ban abortion. It's impossible to overstate what a dark day this is for liberty and for the state.
The bill heads to Gov Justice's desk. Make sure he knows you want a veto: 304-558-2000.
Unfortunately, Governor Justice has signed HB 3293, the trans athlete ban. Nothing he does changes the fact that trans girls are girls and trans boys are boys. We'll see the first school district that enforces this harmful law in court.
BREAKING: A federal district judge just blocked the government from enforcing a cruel, unconstitutional law that would have prevented our client, Becky, from participating in school sports this year.
This is a big win for Becky and for West Virginia kids!
Breaking: a judge has granted our request for a temporary restraining order against SB 334, a constitutionally flawed bill that bans many lifesaving harm reduction programs in West Virginia. We will see the state in court in July.
VICTORY: The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted a temporary injunction against WV’s cruel and discriminatory trans athlete ban while our appeal is heard.
Our client Becky will get to try out for spring track and field along with her cisgender classmates in a few days.
UPDATE: WV Senate President Craig Blair cleared the galleries as attendees expressed outrage over Sen. Robert Karnes insisting child sex abuse survivors view their abusers like a boyfriend. People aren’t going anywhere.
A big congratulations to ACLU-WV board member, homeless advocate, and all-around wonderful person
@RosemaryKetchum
, who became the first-ever trans person elected to office in WV yesterday. Wheeling City Council is fortunate to have her as a new member.
HB 3293, the trans athlete ban, just passed the House Judiciary Committee. Its next stop is the full House of Delegates. If this bill becomes law, we will sue and we will win.
Breaking: HB 4011, a bill designed to intimidate teachers from discussing race or gender in the classroom, has died in committee.
Thank you to everyone who helped stop classroom censorship this session!
Introducing Kyle Vass, ACLU-WV's first investigative reporter. Kyle will be taking a deeper look at West Virginia's system of mass incarceration, policing, and more. Read our interview with him here:
BREAKING: Members of the public were threatened with arrest last month for recording Senate debate on abortion legislation. We said we'd sue if officials didn’t change course. We just made good on our word.
President Blair and WV Capitol Police, we’ll see you in court.
BREAKING: On day 1 of the session, the WV Senate is suspending the Constitution and passing major bills regarding emergency powers, reorganizing DHHR, and more. No public input. No committee review.
This robs the public of the thoughtful, transparent process we are owed.
We stand in solidarity with Monongalia County students who are planning to walk out today to protest the Superintendent's recent decision to remove Pride flags from classrooms.
For everyone walking out today, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS⬇️🧵
BREAKING: The Senate has passed HB 3293, the trans athlete ban. It will soon be up to
@WVGovernor
to veto this unlawful legislation. Sign the petition now to tell him to stop this hateful bill.
As early as tonight, Congress plans to sneak an expansion of mass surveillance into law. Only your call, right now, can stop them. The
@ACLU
and I are here to help, doing a live Q&A on
@reddit
in a half hour ( @ 2PM EST). Ask us anything! (SuddenlySnowden)
BREAKING: State lawmakers poured fuel on the nation’s worst HIV outbreak when they passed a bill eliminating most harm reduction programs in WV. That bill is also rife with constitutional defects. We’re suing to have SB 334 stopped and declared unconstitutional.
🚨BREAKING:
@WVeducation
is attempting to limit employees ability to talk about the teachers' strike on social media. Our response? A letter warning them that the right to free speech extends to everyone - including public employees.
#wvpol
#wvlegis
#55Strong
#1A
#ACLUWV
Breaking: Transgender WVians have a right to ID documents that accurately describe their gender, and that do not out them as being trans. We’re suing to have the state’s policy on gender marker changes on birth certificates declared unconstitutional.
Today,
@WVGovenor
called a special session with one hour notice. When they gaveled in, both houses of
@wvlegislature
voted a combined 27 times to suspend constitutional rules and rush bills through in a single day without discussion.
This is not what democracy looks like.
BREAKING: A federal court has rejected efforts to deny our client Becky her day in court to challenge the discriminatory H.B. 3293, the trans athlete ban.
We've said all along this law is not only harmful, but also unconstitutional. We look forward to proving our case in court.
Breaking: Charleston City Council has voted 14-9 to restrict licensed mental health providers from the horrific practice of conversion therapy. Thank you to every council member who voted yes on Bill 7919.
Fentanyl can’t be absorbed through the skin. You cannot overdose on fentanyl simply by being near it.
While there are ZERO confirmed cases of government agents being harmed through “fentanyl exposure,” there are cases of people being arrested on these ridiculous allegations.
BREAKING: We’ve filed a temporary restraining order against the City of Wheeling as they’re sending bulldozers to destroy unsheltered people’s encampments in 25 degree weather.
We will continue to oppose panhandling ordinances. Why? Because the First Amendment gives each of us the right to speak freely. Whether you’re asking someone for a quarter or telling them to vote for Donald Trump, free speech is free speech.
This afternoon, over a hundred people filled the Capitol to let lawmakers know that hateful, anti-trans legislation like HB 2007 has no place here in the Mountain State.
We will never stop fighting for the rights of trans West Virginians.
BREAKING: We're suing Wheeling to stop the city’s ordinance that criminalizes being homeless in public.
We gave the city 4 days to pause and reconsider the unconstitutional "camping ban" and the city declined.
Wheeling, we'll see you in court.
BREAKING: The public has the right to know what’s causing West Virginia’s jails to be among the deadliest in the nation. That’s why we just filed suit against Cabell County officials for trying to keep emergency calls concerning Western Regional jail secret.
The Governor assured the press abortion wouldn't be part of last week's special session. Five minutes before House Health met on Monday, lawmakers were handed a bill that sought to ban nearly all abortions in the state.
West Virginians mobilized.
🎥: The Breiters Photo & Video
BREAKING: The governor has snubbed the vast majority of West Virginians and sided with extremists in signing the forced-birth bill into law.
This law is anything but pro-life. It places lifesaving healthcare out of reach for tens of thousands.
Our work continues.
VICTORY: In a 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court has rejected an effort by AG Morrisey's office to block our client Becky from continuing to participate in school sports with her peers. Becky will remain on the team while her case is heard in the 4th Circuit.
VIDEO: "Show me how you treat poor people and I'll show you what kind of community it is."
The Reverend Jim Lewis, who helped found Manna Meal in the 1970s, shares his thoughts on the political pressure to close Charleston's only daily feeding program.
Thin-skinned, technically-not-a-felon coal baron Don Blankenship sued dozens of media orgs for defamation, seeking $12 billion in damages.
#ACLUWV
is representing
@Wonkette
to ensure that the rich and powerful can’t silence the
#freepress
.
#FreeWonkette
Since last night, more than 1,000 of you have signed our petition calling on
@WVGovernor
to VETO HB 3293, the unlawful trans student athlete ban. Keep the signatures coming.
Doddridge County High students were told an assembly this week would be about suicide prevention, but students received a sermon from a self-described “Christian evangelist” instead.
School officials are on notice: Public schools are not churches.
We don’t have to wonder what happens when politics dictate public health policy. One doctor from Indiana lived it. Dr.
@wil_cooke
and WV’s own Dr.
@sydneemcelroy
tell the story of Scott County, Indiana and urge
@WVGovernor
to veto SB 334.
Help us turn
@Sen_JoeManchin
into a “yes” vote on the Equality Act. See our official statement below on why it’s time for LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections in WV.
Call Sen. Manchin and tell him to support the Equality Act. 👇
☎️ 304-342-5855
☎️ 202-224-3954
Government officials can't block constituents on social media just for criticizing them. Federal courts have recognized these accounts are public forums and restricting access to them can violate the First Amendment.
We're suing to make sure state courts recognize the same.
BREAKING: We told officials we'd see them in court if they passed HB 3293, the trans student athlete ban. Moments ago, we made good on our promise by joining ACLU National, Lambda Legal and the Cooley law firm in a suit representing Becky Pepper-Jackson and mom, Heather Jackson.
Hey
@BetteMidler
, rather than hating on WV — how about supporting groups fighting for change in one of the most difficult political environments in the US? Groups like ours,
@womenshealthwv
,
@FairnessWV
,
@NaacpWest
…
We’re sure Jim Justice would ❤️ that.
BREAKING: A Parkersburg City Council resolution to censure the local library for carrying the book Gender Queer has failed to even make it to a vote.
Politicians are wise not to try and tell us what we can and cannot read.
A directive ordering Mon County schools to remove Pride and Black Lives Matter flags from classrooms is demonstrably unlawful and should be reversed immediately.
We have sent a letter to school officials telling them to reverse the policy.
BREAKING: WV Senate wants to hide a shameful vote to ban abortion, so they're unlawfully prohibiting video or photography from the gallery today. We just sent a demand letter to Senate President Blair: allow people to record, or we’ll see you in court.
We’re still celebrating all the bad bills that died in the Legislature last night:
❌ Women’s fake bill of rights
❌ All bills further restricting abortion and gender-affirming care
❌ More guns in schools
❌ Jailing librarians
❌ Harsh school discipline involving police
URGENT: WV’s Senate has yet again suspended rules to rush controversial legislation. HB 3042 (allowing people to use religion to challenge nondiscrimination protections) passed in a single day. It now heads to the Governor.
Shame on the WV Senate for speed-running democracy.
Workers at Cabell Huntington Hospital, represented by SEIU District 1199, are scheduled to go on strike at noon. We support union members’ rights to withhold labor to improve their collective lot.
These essential workers have sacrificed so much. It’s time their voices are heard.
We’re excited to see so much First Amendment chest-thumping over the recent firing of a public broadcasting reporter.
We hope lawmakers, including Senate President Blair, bring this same energy to the session next month when their colleagues try to ban children’s books.
BREAKING: the governor has added abortion to legislative interims. We're calling a public hearing. In the meantime we need EVERYONE calling legislators to demand the crime of abortion be removed from state code. Stay tuned and be ready to pack the Capitol.
Alluding to WV's crime of abortion, the governor said yesterday: “The laws are archaic. They’re ancient. We’ve got to do something. We’ve got to clean it up. We’re either going to get our brains beat out in court or we’ve got to clean it up.”
See you in court, AG Morrisey.
Today's interims: a state senator said spouses should be exempt from sexual assault charges. Outside, a group circulated a list of books it wants to ban. Politicians are poised to continue attacking civil liberties in 2023.
We'll be right here, standing in their way.
Breaking: We have been informed the Randolph County Superintendent is withdrawing her recommendation to expel our client. He was facing an expulsion hearing for using social media to warn his LGBTQ+ classmates about violent threats he’d heard about them.
VICTORY: The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected the West Virginia AG’s latest attempt to block our client Becky from continuing to participate in school sports with her peers. Becky will get to remain on the team while the Court hears her case.
The City of Wheeling has 96 hours to pause its camping ban or we’re filing suit.
If unchecked, the city plans to bulldoze tents next week when the weather forecast calls for a low of 7 degrees.
Pause the ban or we’ll see you in court.
Breaking: With no debate, the House Education Committee has rammed through a bill designed to intimidate teachers out of discussing diversity & equity. HB 4011, which would also would bar teachers from saying things like "slavery was an evil institution," goes to Judiciary next.
HAPPENING NOW: We're hand-delivering your letters in opposition to anti-trans bill 2007 to every member of the WV Senate. Each senator's packet contains 117 pages from kids, parents, grandparents, nurses, teachers and more.
We will be heard.