ACLU of Wyoming Chapter - Wyoming Legislative Blog

Participate in Gov’t: Learn How to be a Lobbyist

2012-01-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

Want to learn the tricks of the trade of being a lobbyist in Wyoming? Then you should attend the Equality State Policy Center's (ESPC) Citizen Lobbyist Training on February 15th starting at 8:00 am at the Plains Hotel in Cheyenne. Widely recognized as the best short-course available to understand the workings of the Wyoming Legislature, this workshop educates citizens about how the legislative process works and how they can influence public policy in Wyoming. The training fee is $50 and well worth every penny! The ESPC offers scholarships to participants who may need assistance.

Read more about the 2012 Citizen’s Lobbyist Training here.

MLK Day with the JAC

2012-01-18T12:22:00.001-07:00

Martin Luther King Jr. Day with the Joint Appropriations Committee

Our dedicated legislators often work through the holidays and the Joint Appropriations Committee spent the MLK holiday reviewing the Department of Corrections (DOC) and Department of Family Services budgets.

We attended the meeting to monitor the DOC review in order to keep a close eye on possible cuts in the budget and to hear the presentations on funding for a nursery in the Wyoming Women’s Center and the reinstatement of treatment for sex offenders.

The Joint Appropriations Committee has asked agency heads to present budgets based on a 2 percent, 5 percent or 8 percent cut. The DOC Director Robert Lampert stated that the department could continue to function on a 2 percent cut, but that a 5 percent or 8 percent cut would mean cuts in programming.

It is extremely important that this budget contain adequate funding for inmate treatment, rehabilitation, programming and medical and mental health care. Even though twenty-six percent of the inmates in DOC custody are categorized as sex offenders; due to previous budget cuts sex offender treatment programs have been discontinued. Current research shows a combination of best practices treatment and supervision lowers recidivism rates, provides positive outcomes and ensures the highest rate of public safety. The majority of offenders are victims themselves. In many cases offenders receive little or inadequate counseling or support for their victimization. Offenders often come from homes in which multigenerational abuse is the norm. We must strive for being thoroughly educated on the most effective ways to deal with offenders in order to keep our children in Wyoming truly safe.

While many law enforcement officials and prosecutors continue to repeat the arguments that sexual offenders cannot be rehabilitated and have a high recidivism rate, neither argument is true. There is considerable and growing evidence that deviant sexual behavior can be reformed by treatment. Available research indicates that quality treatment can reduce recidivism by more than one-third. (Read further information from the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives)

The Washington State Institute for Public Policy recently released several reports on sentencing and recidivism rates for sex offenders. The overall findings were that sex offenders who got voluntary, appropriate treatment have very low recidivism rates:

--Compared with the full population of felony offenders, sex offenders have the lowest recidivism rates for felony offenses (13 percent) and violent felony offenses (6.7 percent) but the highest recidivism rates for felony sex offense (2.7 percent)

--Sex offenders who victimize children have the lowest felony recidivism rates as well as the lowest sex (2.3 percent) and violent felony (5.7 percent) recidivism rates. Rapists have the highest sex (3.9 percent) and violent felony (9.5 percent) recidivism rates. Some select populations of sex offenders in the state have been found to have much higher recidivism rates.

--Sex offenders, who complete SSOSA, an outpatient treatment sentence, have the lowest recidivism rates in all categories. In contrast, sex offenders sentenced to prison have the highest rates. Those sentenced to jail or community supervision have rates similar to, but slightly below, the recidivism rates of those sentenced to prison.

(Further information can be found here)

WDOC Director Lampbert’s emphasis is on providing rehabilitation and treatment for prisoners and not just incarcerating them. This philosophy provides a long-term gain for both the taxpayer and the offender, and is clearly responsible for Wyoming’s low recidivism rates. Director Lampert stated that prison costs will continue to rise as the legislature creates more crimes and demands longer sentences for crimes that are already on the books. The Department of Correction expects the population to grow if the current trend of sentence enhancement, mandatory minimum sentencing and creation of additional crimes continues.

In the previous legislative session advocates brought forth a request for funding to establish a portion of the Wyoming Women’s Center (WWC) for a nursery. Currently, mothers and infants are separated when the infant is 24 hours old. The infant is then sent either to foster care or to a family member. This nursery would allow for mothers to care for their babies for 18 months and would:

 Foster strong attachment between mother and child
 Improve parenting skills
 Reduce recidivism

In the early years of the twentieth century it was customary for women in prison to have their children with them. It is now common in most countries outside of the U.S. A 1987 study undertaken by the U.N. found that the U.S. was one of the few countries that did not allow women to care for their infants while incarcerated. The U.K. has had mother-child centers in their facilities for over fifty years.

John Bowlby was the first researcher to discuss the attachment theory. This theory suggested that the initial bonds formed by infants with caregivers have a strong impact on their behavior and future success in life. Children forming a secure bond learn they can depend on a parent to be available and respond to their needs. Infants removed from their mothers may not ever be situated to form that secure bond. Children are often transferred either from family member to family member or foster home to foster home. Children who are unable to form a secure attachment are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, oppositional deviance disorder, conduct disorders and post traumatic stress injury. As adults these individuals are more likely to experience low self-esteem and unstable relationships.

In one of the first long-term studies completed in the U.S on prison nursery programs, Mary Byrn, PhD of Columbia University, found that nursery programs can promote the essential attachment bond between mother and child. This longitudinal study conducted from 2000 -2008 in the Taconit and Bedford Hills Correctional facilities (New York has had mother child programs since 1901) established and standardized research methods. Mothers participating in the program had lower recidivism rates and the infants were within normal development ranges for physical growth and social, language and fine motor skills. In addition, these women were more like to maintain custody of their children once they were released from prison.

In a study conducted by the Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs, parenting skills taught to several different groups of parents including recovering drug/alcohol addicts and low income African American families showed overall improvement of parenting skills in every group participating in the Strengthening Families Program. Best practices parenting programs (a part of the WWC nursery program) are generally found to be successful in most settings and improve parent/child interaction.

In the Washington Corrections Center for Women prisoners are allowed to care for their children 30 months, the general recidivism rate for the institution is 40% and for those in the child care program it is 12%.

In April of 2010 the Decatur Correctional Center celebrated the third anniversary of their mother/infant program with a 0% recidivism rate.

Close Gitmo

2012-01-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

Sadly, this month marks the 10th anniversary of the U.S. detention of prisoners in Guantanamo, making it the longest-standing war prison in U.S. history. The prisoners, some of which are teenagers, have been held without due process of law and many of them been subject to brutal interrogations. This prison has done considerable damage to our nation’s reputation as a human rights leader, and been used as a recruiting tool for terrorists. The ACLU has launched a nationwide campaign to close Guantanamo. Please read the ACLU’s official statement on ten years of Guantanamo and take a look at the Guantanamo by the Numbers info-graphic. Let's keep American safe and free.

We Have a Lot to be Thankful For...

2011-12-21T11:51:00.000-07:00

Here at the ACLU, we’ve won some great victories and are proud of what we have accomplished over this past year. We have a lot to be thankful for! Our deepest appreciation goes to those whose membership and support makes our work throughout the nation and in the great state of Wyoming possible. As the year draws to a close, we’d like to highlight a few examples of what the ACLU has accomplished both nationally and in Wyoming.

In 2011, the ACLU of Wyoming:

• Issued juvenile justice report Inequality in the Equality State: The Damaged Juvenile Justice and Detention System in Wyoming
• Advocated for juvenile justice reforms
• Monitored legislative redistricting process to ensure equitable statewide voting rights
• Continued year round legislative lobbying and education efforts; helping to defeat DOMA, anti-choice and anti-immigration legislation
• Launched the first ACLU Student Chapter at the University of Wyoming
• Mentored undergraduate and law school interns
• Hosted first ACLU volunteer reception
• Co-sponsored Director’s screening and community discussion of the award-winning LGBT film, Out in the Silence
• Conducted statewide survey to monitor use of web-filtering software in public schools
• Conducted statewide survey to ensure availability of emergency contraceptives
• Promoted safe and humane conditions in Wyoming’s prisons and jails; successfully resolving numerous prisoner complaints
• Authored articles in Wyoming State Bar magazine on elections legislation, ACLU history and juvenile justice
• Presented on prisoners’ rights litigation at annual criminal law conference and drug law reform at University of Wyoming Consumer Issues conference
• Provided legal assistance and information on civil liberties issues
• Increased social media presence through Twitter, Facebook and our ACLU of Wyoming blog

In 2011, the ACLU accomplished nationally:

• "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" finally came to an end
• The extreme Mississippi Personhood Amendment was defeated
• Congressional attempts to defund Planned Parenthood failed
• An outrageous provision that would have granted this and all future presidents a blank check to involve the U.S. in a worldwide war without end was halted
• Free speech rights of Occupy Wall Street protestors have been defended
• New York state passed a landmark marriage equality law
• Illinois banned the death penalty
• ACLU lawsuits stalled enactment of every "show me your papers" racial profiling law passed across the country
• We blocked enactment of South Dakota's draconian anti-abortion law
• The Obama administration decided to stop defending the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act against an ACLU legal challenge

These are just a few of our many achievements in the last year and the ACLU is extremely honored by the fact that our work is supported by the generous giving of others. None of the things on this list could have been possible without ACLU supporters. Thanks to their support, the ACLU's robust defense of our fundamental freedoms prevailed on many fronts. Happy holidays from the ACLU of Wyoming!

Sincerely,
American Civil Liberties Union of Wyoming

Bah Humbug: The War on Christmas

2011-12-09T13:16:00.000-07:00

In recent years, conservative pundits like Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh have creatively manufactured a “war on Christmas.” John Gibson, who “pals around” with domestic culture warrior O’Reilly, boldly declares in his book, The War on Christmas, that some are trying to ban “ normal and traditional Christmas representations such as Christmas trees, Santa Claus, treetop stars, wreaths, the singing of and listening to Christmas carols or Christmas instrumental music, attending a performance of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol…”

There is a problem with the “war on Christmas.” It doesn’t exist and never has.

The constitutional right of people to worship, preach, sing carols, and celebrate Christmas in their churches with their families and friends –whether in public or private is well protected. These culture warriors seem unable to see what is staring them in the face: Christmas is pervasive in the public and private square, and, except when the government is being used to promote religious beliefs, it is entirely constitutional.

The First Amendment guarantees, individuals, families, businesses, and religious communities the right to celebrate and to display Christmas symbols. This right is uncontested, and is exercised annually by millions across our country. The ACLU itself has brought several cases on behalf of people who want to celebrate Christmas. The difficulty comes when the government decides that it wants to get involved in promoting some religious symbols or prohibiting others. Religion does best when government stays out of its business.

In addressing this dilemma, the U.S. Supreme Court has made very clear that, while the Government “may acknowledge Christmas as a cultural phenomenon,” the Constitution mandates that the government “may not observe (Christmas) as a Christian holiday by suggesting that people praise God for the birth of Jesus.” County of Allegheny v. ACLU, 492 U.S. 573, 601 (1989). While some limited governmental celebrations of Christmas are not unconstitutional, such as displays that recognize the holiday’s secular element, or that are part of an overall seasonal holiday celebration, the burden for the government to show that its activities do not have the purpose or effect of endorsing a religious message is high.

The ACLU vigorously defends the right of all Americans to practice their faith, and works to prevent the government from promoting and funding select religious activities.

Learn more about celebrating Christmas in America.

Let's (Not) Get Naked!

2011-11-02T15:07:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, the Casper Star Tribune reported on the installation of TSA’s “new, less intrusive scanning machine” at the Casper Airport.

The new millimeter wave scanner displays generic “gingerbread” female and male images, rather than the nude images created by scanners that use backscatter X-ray technology.

Instead of a human security screener scrutinizing an image of your nude body, a computer will process that image and highlight areas of the body where any “anomalies” are found. Here is an image provided by the TSA:

This technology represents a significant improvement for privacy over the scanners that reveal naked images to human screeners. That is a very good thing. It shows that the outcry against these scanners by the public, and by the ACLU and our allies, has had an effect, and that the TSA has been forced to respond and implement a less invasive system – one that they should have deployed at the outset, rather than wasting an enormous amount of energy deploying and defending the full naked scanners. But it’s a good thing that they finally did respond.

That said, the system does not eliminate privacy concerns. For example:
• This system remains an intrusive search underneath individuals’ clothing. Privacy concerns especially remain for those who have “anomalies” that must be investigated, such as people with adult diapers, prosthetic breasts following mastectomies, colostomy appliances, catheter tubes – even just lumps on their body.
• This software would do nothing about the TSA’s intrusive and offensive pat-down policy. And if the software has the effect of increasing the scanner “alarm” rate compared to more discerning human screeners, it could actually lead to more pat-downs.
• A further question is whether the raw nude images remain in any way accessible to operators, which would mean one of the privacy threats posed by these machines – the “leakage” of images into the public domain – would remain. The machines are designed to store the images, even if they don’t show them. That is a problem that needs to be addressed, and effective oversight measures need to be in place to prevent abuse.
• It is also worth noting that the new software is being installed only in millimeter wave machines, and not in scanners that use backscatter x-ray technology, which constitute about half of the scanners in service. The TSA says it is working on similar software for the backscatter machines. Note that health questions have also been raised concerning the backscatter x-ray machines (which look like a wall that you stand against, as opposed to the millimeter wave machines which are a glass booth you step inside).

We applaud TSA for modifying their scanners to improve privacy protections and we urge them to listen sooner and more carefully to public concerns, address these remaining problems, and develop new programs and technologies that do not intrude on privacy.

Reposted by the ACLU of Wyoming Chapter with some changes. See Jay Stanley’s original ACLU Blog of Rights post here.

Getting the Numbers Straight...

2011-10-31T12:03:00.001-06:00

In 2011, the ACLU of Wyoming released a report, "Inequality in the Equality State: The Damaged Juvenile Justice and Detention System in Wyoming." Unfortunately, the response to our report by Wyoming lawmakers and prosecutors has been to try and “kill the messenger.” Some have attempted to undermine the conclusions drawn in "Inequality" by questioning the data provided within the report. In fact, during a public hearing one Wyoming lawmaker recently asked, "How much money do we have to spend to tell the ACLU that it is wrong?"

Let’s be abundantly clear: None of the data in our report was researched, collected or documented by the ACLU. All data included came from the most current data available from the Wyoming Attorney General’s office and the Department of Justice. Executive Director Linda Burt recently wrote a letter to the Casper Star Tribune and to the Joint Judiciary Committee to emphasize this point.

The dispute over the data does little more than provide evidence for the need of a statewide data collection system; one of the key proposals made by our report. Moreover, reports dating back 40 years have leveled the same type of criticism about Wyoming’s juvenile justice system as our report.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation recently released a new report entitled, "No Place for Kids: The Case for Reducing Juvenile Incarceration." Their report provides convincing evidence that incarceration of juveniles is not only ineffective, but often the source of additional dysfunction and criminality in youth. "No Place for Kids" includes the most recent data showing the Wyoming continues to have one of the highest rates of juvenile confinement in the nation.

Sadly, Governor Mead recently announced that it is doubtful that his office will propose any kind of legislation for the 2012 session on how the state should handle juvenile offenders. Read more from the Wyoming Tribune Eagle who recently wrote an article highlighting the importance of this issue.

The problem is not the numbers; it is the system itself. The juvenile justice system in Wyoming has been, and continues to be, a system that is inherently flawed and incapable of providing the most effective outcomes for both children and our community. It is tragic that legislators and public officials are using data as a smokescreen to cover up their lack of attention to this vitally important issue.

Where to Draw the Line? Redistricting Revisted

2011-10-27T11:21:00.000-06:00

On October 21st the Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee held a public hearing on the redistricting plans that have been offered over a summer of public meetings across the state. It was clear during the meeting that the long and difficult process was beginning to take its toll on committee members as tempers and patience were sometimes short. This process is complicated and one that ensures that some people will be unhappy with the outcome. Each area that has presented a plan wants their area intact and basically unchanged. Most areas believe that they are unique and different from their neighbors.

Representation Stubson (HD56) presented a plan to the committee based on the idea that Campbell County should receive another representative due to its recent growth. “Nobody gets everything they want but everyone gets something.” (Referring to his plan) Rep. Stubson said he has not consulted with other representatives in the area so there may be some disagreement with his plan. Senator Scott was concerned that Goshen County is “carved up” in this plan and asks if that could be fixed in any way. There is not a lot of ability to change given the current population numbers.

Senator Driskill (SD1) presented a regional plan for Northeastern Wyoming. Senator Driskill said that they had worked very hard to keep towns and rural areas contiguous. He did admit that the plan had some problems that would need fixing. A Sublette County Commissioner asked the committee to keep in mind the plans that most benefit the whole state.

Senator Scott made a motion to direct the Legislative Service Office (LSO) to draft legislation to accept the following plans: Laramie County – Representative Byrd; Albany County – Representative Connolly; Natrona County – County Clerks; Big Horn Basin – County Clerks; Fremont County – County Clerks; Southwestern Wyoming – Martin-Cooper; Sheridan/Johnson - County Clerks.

The two regions that are seemingly a continuing problem are Southeastern and Northwestern Wyoming. There was a great deal of discussion on the Martin-Cooper plan from the committee and the audience. The Teton County Clerk stated that HD22 in Teton County has been in dispute since the last redistricting and the Martin-Cooper plan will make current disenfranchisement of Dubois worse.

Senator Scott advised that because of federal regulations that certain standards and criteria must been met and the committee only had the choice of the “least evil” options.

Senator Case encouraged officials, LSO and county clerks to get together and examine options and come back to committee with refinements in December. The staff was directed to prepare two working proposals from Senator Scott’s motions. The proposals and maps should be on the Legislative Redistricting website within the next two weeks. The next committee meeting is scheduled for December 5 and 6th in Cheyenne.

Transparency: Wyoming Open Records/Meetings Laws Up For Debate

2011-10-17T16:37:00.000-06:00

During the 2011 Legislative session several bills were introduced to improve Wyoming’s public records and public meeting laws. After much testimony and debate none of these bills passed into law, but a working group convened during the interim to discuss and propose compromise legislation. On October 13th the Joint Judiciary Committee met in Laramie to hear testimony on the working group’s compromise bills.

There was written testimony presented along with both associations and individuals providing verbal testimony. The Wyoming Press Association (WPA) stated all matters of public welfare, safety and financial matters must be open to public scrutiny to allow complete, honest and open discussion of these matters. It is the WPA’s belief that the public is always best served when its governing agencies are transparent. Jim Angell of the WPA stated “We are vehemently opposed to the deliberative process exemption. It keeps too much information out of the hands of people….”

The concern of most speakers was the deliberative privilege and quorum exemption inserted into the public records draft bill that would allow officials to exclude many documents from public access. The Legislative Service Office (LSO) produced a memo explaining that deliberative privilege applies to the executive branch, and denies access to: (1) a specific agency decision; (2) prepared to assist an agency official to make the agency decision, which records (3) precede in temporal sequence, the decision to which it relates.

The key question in determining whether a document is covered is whether its disclosure would expose an agency’s decision making process in such a way to discourage candid discussion with the agency and thereby undermine the agency’s ability to perform its functions. The privilege is narrowly construed. The Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM) was in favor of the both the deliberative privilege and the quorum exemption which would include e-mails etc. sent to public officials, if they were not sent to the entire body.

The Wyoming County Commissioners Association (WCCA) spoke strongly against any time frame for production of documents other than “reasonable” and for including the deliberative process exemption into the statutes. (The current statute is silent on this issue which would leave interpretation to the Wyoming Supreme Court).

The Powder River Basin Resource Council discussed effects of the draft bills on environmental records and objected to any inclusion of the deliberative process or quorum exemption.

Co-Chairman Brown said that Colorado law exempts candid and personal information, and Mr. Angell (WPA) responded that public officials should not be spared embarrassment by the law.

The University of Wyoming representatives supported the LSO comments and the working group’s draft bill. Dan Neal, Director of the Equality State Policy Center (ESPC), opposed the deliberative process and quorum exemption and supported the seven day time limit for initial response to a records request.

Fred Moline from the Farm Bureau Federation suggested that volunteer board members might be discouraged from sitting on boards by this statute.

Mark Harris (WAM) asked the committee to clarify the deliberative process law in order to allow access but law must balance interests of all. WAM supports the compromise draft bill. Rep. Barbuto questioned if WAM’s support of bill was contingent on making changes and Mr. Harris replied “absolutely not.”

Mr. Bob Bonner, publisher of the Newcastle newspaper, said that serving on boards and as public officials is tough and individuals must have the courage to make decisions in public. He also stated that any correspondence meant to influence officials should be public.

While several small amendments were made to both bills the most difficult discussion was removing the deliberative process and quorum exemption provisions. The committee voted to remove both. The working group was split on the exemption but the press was strongly opposed to the exemptions inclusion.

Read more on this important topic from the Wyoming Tribune Eagle and Wyoming Public Radio.

Protester Alert: Know Your Rights

2011-10-12T14:54:00.002-06:00

In response to planned demonstrations around the country including Wyoming, as part of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, the ACLU of Wyoming is making sure all protesters know their rights. Here is some basic information about the rights of protesters, although it should not substitute for specific legal advice. In addition, the ACLU of Wyoming has also produced a Bust Card with more information about what to do if you’re stopped by police.

First, it is important to differentiate between protesting with protected free speech and using civil disobedience. With civil disobedience you are choosing to break the law, and perhaps be arrested to make a point. You need to be prepared for what happens when you are arrested.

Even though protesters are clearly protected by the Constitution, the definition of “peaceful protest” may differ from person to person. Here are some valuable tips on what to do if you are confronted by a police officer or another public official during a protest.

Your Rights as a Protester:

• What you say to the police is always important. What you say can be used against you, and it can give the police an excuse to arrest you – especially if you “bad mouth” an officer.
• You are required to provide your name, address, or date of birth to a law enforcement officer upon request.
• You can be arrested for refusing to identity yourself to an officer.
• You do not have to consent to a search of yourself or your car.
• You may photograph or videotape police officers performing their job in public, but do not interfere with police action.

Limitations on Speech:

• The government can limit speech by imposing “time, place, and manner” restrictions. This is most commonly done by requiring permits for meetings, rallies, and demonstrations.
• The First Amendment does not protect speech that incites violence, is obscene, or is threatening.
• It is a federal crime to threaten to harm the President, the Vice President, or a major candidate for either office.

Limitations on Action:

• If you endanger others through the manner in which you choose to protest, you can be arrested. A protest that blocks traffic is illegal without a permit.
• You do have the right to distribute literature, chant, and engage passersby in debate, but you do not have the right to block a building entrance or physically harass people.
• Protesting on private property is not protected by the law.
• Do not interfere with, touch or verbally antagonize the police.
• Avoid carrying any drugs or weapons. If you happen to be arrested you could face additional charges for their possession.

If You Are Arrested:

• Do not run or resist. It may result in additional charges.
• The whole process, from arrest to release on bail, should take about 24-36 hours.
• The police will ask you for basic biographical information and will take your fingerprints and photograph, unless you have been charged with a very minor crime.
• You will then be interviewed by a court agency so that bail can be assessed. You do not have to answer their questions, but providing accurate information will greatly speed up the process.
• You can hire an attorney to represent you at the arraignment and present arguments regarding bail.
• The judicial officer will set bail according to several factors (local connections, seriousness of the crime, how many other protestors have been arrested, etc.).

If you feel your rights have been violated, write down everything you can remember, including officers’ badge and patrol car numbers, which agency the officers were from, and any other details. Get contact information from any witnesses.

Wyoming residents who believe their rights have been violated are encouraged to report these concerns to the Wyoming ACLU.

Redistricting in Northeastern Wyoming

2011-09-26T10:12:00.000-06:00

The corporations committee meeting held in the state fair cafeteria in Douglas on September 19th was well-attended with a majority of the audience county clerks, local officials and a few interested voters. The meeting began, as usual, with an explanation of the redistricting process and the use of the Wyoming legislative redistricting web site.

A local county clerk testified that it is difficult

keep Glen Rock and Converse whole as a result of a huge land mass and sparse population. Lucille Taylor of Platte and Goshen County is trying to keep from losing the lone representative in those counties.

A revised county clerks plan was presented for eastern Wyoming.

Representative Hunt explained his plan for the region. Representative Hunt added that he believes local people are the most qualified to put together specifics in the counties as they know the areas and communities of interest best.

Chairman Illoway voiced his concern that some of the plans emasculate Laramie County by dividing the county. Taking a “little bit” of land or population can make a huge difference in a county.

Representative Jaggi advised Representative Hunt that his plan is not viable without specific numbers to show the committee the plan will work.

Debbi Lathrop stated that seven of the eastern Wyoming County Clerks worked together to map a revised plan for eastern Wyoming. The Goshen County Clerk was not present at the meeting. This plan was not sponsored by any legislator or the clerks association.

Tracy Hunt, Representatiave Hunt’s father and former Crook County Commissioner talked at length about the Hunt plan. He suggested that the legislators are making the process difficult to protect peoples seats and that the process is simple and if Hunt’s plan is followed every County can have a district. The Constitution says the county boundaries should be respected and that the seats should be divided among counties by population. Mr. Hunt testified that all the committee has to do is follow Hunt’s plan and they can be done today. He suggested that Laramie County must realize that it has to contribute population to the plan to be fair. Representative Byrd says the Hunt plan does not provide for equal representation for all voters. He also took exception to the statement that this is a simple task.

Representative Patton pointed out that precincts are set by county clerks and not by legislature.

Senator Hines presented an alternative proposal for consideration.

Debbi Lathrop explains that 10 years ago the clerks worked with census bureau to establish census blocks. Precinct lines are the very last lines to be drawn and will come last after legislator has done redistricting.

There is an emphasis on respecting counties boundaries and all counties continue to want to remain whole. Given the population shifts in state, that is an extremely difficult problem.

Senator Driscoll says northeastern corner is a community of interest in terms of rural interests and they don’t want to be moved into bigger counties as they don’t have the same interests. He endorses county clerk’s plan that leaves counties intact. It is extremely important that poor rural counties are left intact so they have representation. He encourages the committee to leave the north area as is.

A County Commissioner from Weston County says Newcastle has little in common with Gillette as they are a very poor county and have little in common with such a rich county. Their needs would be ignored.

The tone of the meeting was somewhat more antagonistic than past meetings but the themes continue to be that all counties want to remain whole, they don’t want to lose representation and they don’t want change.

ACLU Film Screening a Huge Success

2011-09-16T13:04:00.003-06:00

Last night, the ACLU of Wyoming along with Wyoming Equality presented a free screening of the stunning documentary, Out in the Silence. Our event was extremely well-attended and we’d like to thank everyone who showed up. After the film, a highly constructive discussion took place among participants of varying backgrounds detailing the challenges that LGBT people face in Wyoming. Some amazingly powerful thoughts and feelings were shared during our discussion. We appreciate all those who attended and want to especially thank Joe Wilson, Dean Hamer & Jeran Artery. Remember to stay tuned for future public events hosted by the Wyoming ACLU.

Free Public Film Screening Tomorrow (9/15)

2011-09-14T12:44:00.000-06:00

The Wyoming ACLU is proud to partner with Wyoming Equality to host a free community screening of the award winning film, Out in the Silence, Thursday (9/15) at 7:00 pm at the Hilton Garden Inn in Laramie.

The screening will be followed by a community dialogue with the filmmakers Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer, and Jeran Artery from Wyoming Equality aimed at engaging the audience in a conversation about fairness, equality, and inclusion for lesbian, gay, bisexual, & transgender (LGBT) people in small towns and rural communities in Wyoming and across the county.

The film was produced in association with Penn State Public Broadcasting and the Sundance Institute, and is an Official Selection of the 2010 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival.

Exploring topics ranging from religion, safe schools and economic development, to discrimination, tolerance and understanding, Out in the Silence offers a compelling model for civic engagement and dialogue and is an ideal tool for bringing people of all ages together to begin the process of building bridges rather than walls on issues that have divided communities for far too long. These issues were brought to the forefront of the debate in the most recent Wyoming legislative session.

After Wilson’s own same-sex marriage announcement ignites a firestorm of controversy in Oil City, the small western Pennsylvania hometown he left long ago, Out in the Silence follows the stories of a mother who takes a courageous stand for her gay teenage son, an evangelical pastor and his wife who befriend Wilson and begin to rethink their most deeply held beliefs, and local residents who must decide what their cherished small town values really mean.

“What better places to promote dialogue and mutual understanding,” said Wilson “than in public libraries, churches, schools, colleges and universities, community centers and local theaters, those great institutions where families, friends and neighbors in small towns and rural communities come together to talk about and develop solutions to the most challenging issues of the day.”

Wilson and Hamer hope that events attract people from across the spectrum ready and willing to engage in constructive dialogue, including students, parents and educators, clergy, health and social service providers, civil leaders, and all those concerned about the well-being of all their communities.

Juvenile Justice Delayed is Juvenile Justice Denied

2011-09-08T16:22:00.002-06:00

On August 30, the Joint Judiciary Interim Committee met in Worland to consider, among other things, Wyoming’s juvenile justice system. The Honorable Gary Hartman from Governor Mead’s office gave a presentation designed to cite long term problems with the treatment of youth in the criminal justice system in Wyoming.

Reports and recommendations dating back to the 1960’s have cited, as a main deficiency, the lack of a unified court system in which all youth are processed. Each county in Wyoming has essentially created its own system. Most children in Wyoming are prosecuted in adult courts with none of the protections and due process provided to children in traditional juvenile courts. As a result, children are jailed at one of the highest rates in the nation and youth that need treatment or counseling are offered none.

At the conclusion of his presentation, Judge Hartman offered draft statutes that would bring about much needed reforms to the juvenile system. Judge Hartman, Donna Sheen, a local children’s attorney and advocate, and Dr. Beth Evans, Chair of the State Advisory Committee, then answered a number of questions from the committee.

Prior to the committee meeting, the Wyoming ACLU provided the joint judiciary committee with its report, Inequality in the Equality State: The Damaged Juvenile Justice and Detention System in Wyoming. The report is a comprehensive report that includes the following policy recommendations for the Wyoming legislature:
To enact a juvenile code that:

1. Establishes a unified juvenile or family court system with exclusive jurisdiction for all non-traffic juvenile matters and a judiciary professionally trained in juvenile law.
2. Creates a comprehensive juvenile justice system that applies equally and fairly to all Wyoming juveniles. This system should include the procedural framework for a central juvenile case processing and obtain a consistent juvenile detention policy. This policy must be devoid of loopholes and include community based programs.
3. Creates a comprehensive juvenile justice system based on restorative justice principles that promote accountability and increased competency development for youthful offenders, without sacrificing community protection.
4. Provides systematic data collecting and analysis to guide decision making, assess program effectiveness, and provide assurances of equal treatment.
5. Is funded through a dedicated funding source to ensure its statewide accessibility and utilization.

The draft legislation presented by Judge Hartman addresses all these issues.

Wyoming judges, including the Honorable Norman Young, John Fenn and Randal Arp, made a short presentation agreeing there probably should be some changes, and that judges would do whatever legislators direct them to do.

County Prosecutors Jeannie Stone, Brian Christensen and Bryon Skoric testified there is absolutely nothing wrong with the juvenile system, and that programs were all running very well with excellent results. Prosecutors also alleged that statistics cited by the ACLU in a juvenile justice report released this spring are wrong.

Rather than focusing on the real issues about reforming our juvenile justice system, the only questions posed by legislators to the Wyoming ACLU were limited to the veracity of statistics cited in the report. Of course, as we have stated, the data in the report represents crime statistics from the attorney general’s office and federal monitoring reports – which in turn are based on numbers provided by Wyoming counties.

The State of Wyoming has no agency that collects comprehensive data on issues and programs relating to juvenile justice. There is no collection of data on county programs or on the effectiveness of the programs. There is no evidence-based assessment of programs or systems. If there is a problem with the numbers, it is one of underreporting -- several counties refuse to provide information on their treatment of juveniles.

It is very disheartening to have Wyoming’s future – our children – reduced to little more than questions about incomplete statistics. The lack of a uniform juvenile justice system is a long term problem that affects the lives and futures of our children.

In 2010, in cooperation with the National Center for Youth Law, we released a report based on our own observations of the treatment of juveniles in several court rooms in Wyoming, A Call to Stop Child Prosecutions in Wyoming Adult Courts. That report concluded:

The state of Wyoming stands at the threshold of opportunity. It can revise its juvenile code to create a model system of youth justice, or it can continue down the time-worn path it has been on for decades, meting out adult convictions and costly sentences to children who really just need a stronger guiding hand. The authors, and many others in the state working with children in trouble, urge the public to demand a better system of justice for Wyoming’s children. We hope public officials will finally exercise the political will to truly reform the way it’s always been.

As our legislators delay in effecting much-needed reforms in juvenile justice, justice to juveniles is denied.

University of Wyoming Student Chapter Launches Wednesday

2011-08-25T17:28:00.001-06:00

Students from the University of Wyoming, University of Wyoming College of Law, and Laramie County Community College met last night to form the student chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union at UW.

Meeting attendees represented a diversity of majors and colleges. Matt Pennell, a student at the UW School of Law and former ACLU intern, explained the chapter's mission, goals, and connection with the state and national ACLU organizations. Alex Brink, a former ACLU intern and key organizer of the inaugural chapter, described how the chapter will function, who is eligible to be an officer, and how the process of electing officers was to operate.

The chapter held elections of officers, with members voting on nominees for Co-Presidents and Treasurer. Elections for Historian and Secretary were suspended until the next meeting in order to allow all nominated members for the positions to attend. Elected were Matt Pennell, Co-President from the UW Law School; Meg Lanker-Simons, undergraduate Co-President; and Peter Steiner, Treasurer.

Wyoming ACLU Staff Attorney, Jennifer Horvath, was also present for the meeting and elections. Horvath detailed the ACLU's history briefly, discussed the importance of the ACLU's non-partisan status as an organization, and closed the meeting by drawing a ticket for the door prize. After elections, members conferred about potential upcoming events and planned for the next meeting.

The ACLU of Wyoming's Student Chapter is unique, being the first hybrid student chapter in the country, with full membership open to UW undergraduates, LCCC students, and UW Law School students. Interested community members are also welcome to attend, though only students can run for officer positions within the chapter.

The next meeting is currently scheduled for September 28th at 6:00 p.m. in the UW Senate Chambers on the second floor of the Wyoming Union. For more information, email the UW ACLU Student Chapter at acluwsc@gmail.com.

> By Meg Lanker-Simons

Redistricting Revisited

2011-08-16T16:40:00.000-06:00

The most recent redistricting public hearing was held in Torrington on August 15 in city council chambers. The room was packed and every seat filled. There were the usual suspects – elected officials and politicians, along with a number of interested citizens. A number of individuals spoke in support of Representative Hunt’s plan; its popularity driven by the fact that Representative Hunt used county lines as the basis for districts. Former Speaker Chamberlain gave an interesting account on the history of redistricting in Wyoming. The speaker said that 20 years ago unfairness reigned supreme and this side of the state has been treated unfairly since that time. He also stated that it was important to maintain the commonality of people’s interest.

There was a great deal of testimony in this hearing and it was the liveliest of all the hearings so far.

The next day, on August 16, the committee met at the Capitol to discuss the plans that have been submitted so far. Every plan that is sponsored by a legislator will be accepted by the committee and placed on the legislative website for review. County clerks submitted a plan which was reviewed by the committee. The clerks considered Representative Hunt’s plan and used his principles as much as possible. The group also sought to hold districts as complete and intact as possible, and to use major highways when drawing lines.

Plans from Natrona, Laramie, Albany and Campbell County were also reviewed and discussed.

Dan Neal, of the Equality State Policy Center, suggested that it would be helpful to define what a “community of interest” is, as people seem to have different opinions on what the elements might be.

The committee has added two additional public hearings in Sheridan and Douglas on September 19, and the next full committee meetings will be in Casper on October 20 and 21.

What would you put on your headstone? American Exceptionalism, Religion, the Constitution, & the ACLU

2011-08-11T09:34:00.002-06:00

American exceptionalism has been pouring into the political conversations of Americans quite a bit as of late. Along with the notion of exceptionalism, is the differing and usually deeply held viewpoints Americans have concerning the deference our founding fathers gave to religion.

First Amendment author James Madison sums up what the founding fathers understood about the role religion was to play in America. James Madison said of religion, “Experience witnesseth that ecclesiastical establishments, instead of maintaining the purity and efficacy of Religion, have had a contrary operation. [Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments (1785), in 8 Papers of James Madison 301 (W. Rachal, R. Rutland, B. Ripel, & F. Teute eds. 1973)]. Madison seemed to believe that religion would be corrupted if it was brought into the public sphere. If religion was to have an impression on the public it would not be shared through the organs of the government, rather by the hearts and efforts of those willing to spread what they believed to be the truth.

Because of this belief in a separation between any religious establishment and the government, James Madison included two specific clauses in the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof [.]”

These two clauses reflect what is often termed freedom of conscience. This includes the liberty of any individual in our democracy to hold a belief or point of view irrespective of its popularity or approval from either other private citizens or the government. This most certainly includes the freedom to privately engage in or abstain from religious belief and expression. This liberty should not, and constitutionally cannot, be afforded to some groups and not to others. As a consequence, the ACLU subscribes to the principle that if the rights of society’s most vulnerable members are denied, everybody’s rights are imperiled.

The freedom of conscience, according to the ACLU, must be protected not exclusively for the most numerously held or conventional religious beliefs, but also for any genuinely held beliefs. From a constitutional perspective this is not only a just principle but also a fairly straightforward application of a fundamental right of expression. This protection of all viewpoints, regardless of their cohesion with those of the majority, may be misconstrued as an effort to undermine the majority belief system. As a result, a number of false ideas have been propagated into the canon of myths surrounding the ACLU’s reverence for those beliefs.

Probably the most infamous and equally untrue accusation is that the ACLU has sued to remove crosses. The ACLU’s position is just the opposite. In fact, the ACLU aims to ensure that soldiers and their families can choose which gravestone and symbols best express their faith.

Currently, the federal government has a list of 41 authorized religious emblems for headstones in Arlington Cemetery. This list includes Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopal and Greek crosses, along with a number of other symbols. This authorization list may impose a limitation on the deeply private choices of soldiers and their families regarding personal gravestones. If a family wants a specific symbol, associated with their family but not on the authorized list, placed on the gravestone, they are required to go through a cumbersome process. Ultimately, their request may be denied by the government.

The ACLU believes that the decision of what symbol, if any, should be placed on a gravestone in Arlington cemetery, should be more inclusive and less cumbersome. The Department of Veterans Affairs has an unnecessarily complicated process for approval of a religious symbol on an individual gravestone in Arlington cemetery. The ACLU has openly stated that inclusion of all religious symbols would promote religious expression, in its fact sheet, Myths & Realities: Gravestones and Markers Are Not in Danger.
If the Department of Veterans Affairs adopted this policy, all American service members and veterans would enjoy a greater ability to exercise their freedom of conscience.

What the ACLU opposes is endorsement of a particular religious faith by the federal government. When the government erects a permanent religious symbol on public display, it essentially sanctions that religion to the exclusion of others. The ACLU has taken action to have those government-sponsored sectarian symbols removed when in the public space of a cemetery. Religious displays by the government, unlike religious symbols on gravestones, fail to honor all of our veterans.

A simple checking of the facts discredits the notion that the ACLU wants to remove religious symbols from personal gravestones. The ACLU is advocating for more latitude to exercise religious beliefs freely, so long as the government doesn’t establish within itself any particular religious ideology.

For more information, see The ACLU and Cemetery Crosses.

Matthew Pennell,
Legal Extern

We're Going to Need a Warrant, Officer...

2011-08-03T12:21:00.002-06:00

Today, the ACLU of Wyoming, along with 33 other state-based ACLU affiliates, filed a public records act request to uncover information about warrantless cell phone tracking.

As of December 2010, over 96 percent of the overall population of the United States carried a cell phone—an estimated 302.9 million people. But while Americans have quickly embraced cell phones and the convenience they offer, the widespread use of cell phones has given the government the unprecedented ability to track people’s movements by tracking the geographical location of their cell phones.

What’s revealed by location tracking can be intensely personal. For example, as one court recently wrote, knowing someone’s location can reveal whether a person “is a weekly church goer, a heavy drinker, a regular at the gym, an unfaithful husband, an outpatient receiving medical treatment, an associate of particular individuals or political groups — and not just one such fact about a person, but all such facts.”

Location information is so sensitive that the authorities should only be able to get it by demonstrating probable cause to a judge and getting a warrant – just as they must do to intrude on your privacy in other ways. The Fourth Amendment protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures, and there is nothing reasonable about tracking our movements without the approval of a judge.

Unfortunately, not all police departments agree that probable cause and a warrant are necessary.

That is why the ACLU filed public records act requests to uncover information about warrantless cell phone tracking. We have a right to know about how the police are using cell phones to track people. We want to know:

•Do the police show probable cause and get a warrant to track cell phones?
•How often do the police obtain cell phone location information?
•Once the police get cell phone location information from a cell phone company, do they keep it forever or do they get rid of it after a limited time?
•How much money are the police spending to get cell phone location information?

We’ll keep you posted on what we learn. In the meantime, the ACLU will be continuing to work in the courts, in Congress, in state legislatures across the country, and with companies to better safeguard sensitive location information. We hope you will join us and contact your member of Congress to urge them to support new location privacy bills introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). This public records request and our efforts in Congress are part of our broader
Demand your dotRights Campaign to make sure that as technology advances, our privacy rights are not left behind.

For more information, go to:
ACLU Cell Phone Location Tracking Public Records Request

Wyoming High Court Disses Students

2011-07-26T15:33:00.000-06:00

President Richard Nixon originally declared the $1 trillion “War on Drugs” in 1971. This June marked the 40th anniversary of the government’s preference for punishment over prevention. As a result, the United States holds 25% of the world’s incarcerated population and taxpayers spend nearly $70 billion each year to maintain U.S. prisons. Overwhelmingly the U.S. locks up drug offenders more than any other criminal population. The nation’s anti-drug sentiment sparked by the War on Drugs hit home in Wyoming this year.

On June 6, in Hageman et al. v. Goshen County School District No. 1, the Wyoming Supreme Court upheld a drug testing policy for 7th to 12th grade students involved in extracurricular activities, including everything from Marching Band to Soccer. Students will now be subject to random drug tests, during which an observer will watch as students undress and pee into a cup. This can be as degrading as it is invasive. In addition, test administrators have tested for pregnancy and disease without the consent of the person being tested.

Arguing that suspicionless drug testing invades their childrens’ privacy, concerned parents challenged this new policy in the Wyoming Supreme Court. The Goshen County School Board claims that it wants to combat the purported risk of drug use in their schools. According to the Goshen County School District’s Superintendent,

“The policy recognizes that many of the students participating in extracurricular activities are viewed as role models to other students and that it is important that they avoid drug and alcohol use in their position as role models. It is also the position of the Board that to achieve the goal of reducing risks of alcohol and drug abuse and to maximize the skills and talents participating in extracurricular activities, it is important that participants refrain from drug and alcohol use. It is the belief of our school district that this policy will assist in that endeavor.”

But what the Superintendent fails to recognize is that random drug testing does not promote public safety or reduce drug use, it humiliates innocent students. The ACLU’s David Rocah notes, “Nationally, student athletes have been found to have higher academic achievement and fewer disciplinary problems than non-athletes, due in large part to the tremendous discipline required to balance a full academic program and the time demanded by practice and competition schedules. Singling out athletes...is both ridiculous and unfair.”

Some say that if students are not using drugs they have nothing to fear. What students fear is not getting caught – it is the lack of trust from administrators and the loss of dignity they suffer when they are required to expose themselves even though they haven’t done anything wrong.

The more time students spend in extracurricular activities, the less time and interest they will have in using drugs. But if they are required to submit to a humiliating process as a prerequisite for participation in extra curricular activities, they may be less likely to participate. The affected students of Goshen County are guilty until proven innocent. It is unfair to treat them like criminals just because of a survey’s loose group statistic.

Like the War on Drugs, drug testing has been shown to be ineffective and very costly to taxpayers. No one is condoning the use of illegal drugs, but a war on drugs shouldn’t amount to a war on students’ privacy and constitutional rights.

For more information about what the experts say, go to:
What the Experts Say on Student Drug Testing

To read the Wyoming Supreme Court’s ruling, go to:
Hageman et al. v. Goshen County School District No. 1

Opinion written by Alex Brink, ACLU Intern
University of Wyoming, Political Science, Pre-Law

Let’s End the Failed 40-Year War on Drugs

2011-07-20T16:34:00.001-06:00

Last month marked the 40th anniversary since President Richard Nixon declared the “War on Drugs.” Since then, the U.S. government has spent well over $1 trillion fighting this so-called war, and has made the U.S. the world’s largest incarcerator. These failed policies of the war on drugs have imprisoned millions, destroyed American families, and has done nothing to stem drug addiction. Moreover, the war on drugs disproportionally affects minorities and the poor.

With many states enacting sweeping changes to their budgets through austerity measures, it is surprising that many states are not aggressively trying to reduce spending by scaling back their prison populations. Currently, there are 2.3 million people in America’s prison system with a cost of around $70 billion a year to taxpayers to keep them there. America spends more money each year on incarceration related expenses than it does on higher education.

So is prosecution and imprisonment actually making people safer or reducing drug use? The answer is resoundingly, no. Drug possession is the only crime for which we lock people up because they might hurt themselves, even when they have harmed no one else. In fact, nearly half of America’s prison population is locked up for non-violent offenses; primarily for drug-related convictions. Summing it up perfectly, Neill Franklin, the executive director of the Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, told CNN:

“Despite arresting over 40 million people on drug charges since the start of the war on drugs – resulting in huge costs both in terms of dollars and in human lives – drugs today are more available, more potent and cheaper than ever.”

Drug prohibition is a failed policy that is a political choice, not a scientific one. We should treat drug addiction as a health problem, not as a crime. Prohibition and law enforcement interdiction generates an underground culture that breeds continuing and escalating violence. The drug exceptions to the Constitution have stripped citizens of fundamental liberties and protections. This war on drugs has become a war on the nation’s citizens, families and communities imprisoning millions and destroying families leaving addicts with few options for rehabilitation and treatment.

The war on drugs has effectively swollen America’s prison system to an unsustainable capacity. From 1970 to 2005, the U.S. prison population rose 700%, a rate far outpacing that of general population growth and crime rates. The United States now has over one-quarter of the world's prison population, despite only having 5% of the world's total population. Overcrowding in California’s prisons has become so egregious that the U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a ruling ordering the state of California to substantially reduce its prison population. Learn more about the ACLU's effort to combat mass incarceration.

Drug reform policies must be developed that address the needless criminalization of non-violent drug users, provide effective, readily available treatment and education programs, and stop ineffective knee-jerk laws that are unproductive and waste taxpayer’s money to the tune of billions of dollars each year.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter wrote in a recent Op-Ed in the New York Times, that, “Drug policies here are more punitive and counterproductive than in other democracies, and have brought about an explosion in prison populations. The single greatest cause of prison population growth has been the war on drugs, with the number of people incarcerated for non-violent offenses increasing more than twelvefold since 1980.”

It’s time to find new solutions to the war on drugs by: addressing drug addiction through providing better treatment programs, improving public safety, reforming mandatory minimum sentencing and dramatically reducing our prison population.

Ready to end the war on drugs? Join the ACLU and over a thousand others from around the world on November 2-5 at the 2011 International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Los Angeles.

For a hilarious spin on this important topic, watch comedian Elon James White team up with the ACLU to "Just Say NO" to the war on drugs.

Redistricting: Regional meetings continue...

2011-07-19T12:02:00.000-06:00

There are two common themes in all of the redistricting meetings being held by the joint corporations committee: Every region is adamant that they don’t want any changes in their current districts and that they are unique compared to the rest of the state. Most of those testifying to the committee feel their area should have a waiver from the legal population requirements for one reason or another. The other commonality in these meetings is that the majority of those present are either current or past legislators or public officials. Unfortunately, voters seem to have little interest in this very important issue.

The Powell meeting was held at Northwest Community College and a small group (17) of legislators and public officials participated. All meetings begin with a short tutorial on redistricting presented by the attorney general’s office, which includes a guide to information available on the legislative redistricting web site.

Chairman Case opened the Powell meeting by stating that the committee has made no decisions but is now open to all suggestions and any plan that is sponsored by at least one legislator will go on the web site for review. The Big Horn Basin has lost population so the senate and house districts will have to add population in some way; in addition, the Basin has significant geographical constraints that will make redistricting in that area difficult.

Senator Scott believes locally grown plans are the best plans rather than the committee coming up with a plan. He suggested that the easiest way to add population is to take from Fremont County, as it has gained population and will have to lose some to meet numbers criteria.

Testimony from those present from Big Horn Basin:
1. Senator Coe: Big Horn Basin is a unique area and should be treated as a unit. He also asks if there is a possibility of a waiver of the numbers for Big Horn Basin. States the legislators in the area have been doing a lot of work on their plan.
2. Representative Quarberg: We have looked at different options and would like to remain whole as they are at minus population levels. The legislators have had conversations with surrounding counties and all the conversations have been cordial and after deliberation it seems that adding population from Fremont County would be the best option. (Possibly from Riverton)

There was also testimony that Meeteetsee wanted to stay in Park County as they had common interests with Park County and there would be a fight to stay within that county. Chairman Case encouraged local citizens to get together and iron out local issues of redistricting. Representative Patton concurred and said the committee was not looking for a lawsuit but for reasonable solutions.

Representative Bonner stated the entire Big Horn Basin was committed to staying whole and keeping its current representation. Representative Harvey echoed these sentiments asking the committee to please keep Big Horn community intact. The strengths of the area are that they all work together very well.

Representatives Quarberg and Grear made the presentation to the committee in Worland with a group of 14 citizens and public officials in attendance. Testimony in Worland:

1. Representative Campbell from Fremont County says they don’t have an actual plan yet but have been approached by several other counties to work on one.
2. HD33 makes Fremont County unique as it meets the criteria for a majority minority district and must be protected.
3. The attitude of Fremont County will be to be open to all suggestions as they understand that there will be many changes in order to work out districts.

Dan Neal from the Equality State Policy Center (ESPC) commented on the fact that the ‘one person, one vote’ principle is an important principal, and statements from a committee member that “greedy” people use this to make money off the government were inappropriate. This same committee member made this comment at both meetings saying that if waivers are given to regions, greedy organizations will use it as an excuse to sue and make money. Read more on the ESPC standing up for the 'one person, one vote' principle.

Julie Freese, the Fremont County Clerk, presented Freemont County’s redistricting requests. The County Clerks are working on a redistricting plan to present to the state. Ms. Freese emphasized the importance or protecting HD 33 as minority voting district.

There was testimony that there is little community of interest between Dubois and Jackson. “Jackson Hole might as well be in Greenwich Village, New York.” Dubois wants to be with Fremont County, as they have more of a community of interest with them and feel that have not gotten much attention from current representatives.

“Redistricting is like whack-a-mole. If you change one line, something else has to move too.” (Chairman Case)

Senator Bebout urged the committee to push back against the law because community of interest is more important than deviation in the numbers. Representative Campbell expressed concerns about the confusion with ballots if the county is divided up.

There were 14 in attendance at the Rawlins redistricting meeting. Senator Hicks had asked the clerk to put together a proposal to consider. The proposal is similar to the Martin/Cooper proposal already presented to the committee. The spirit is to align with the principal of community of interest. Representative Steward supports the idea that all representatives and senators run in 2012, and says there is no support for splitting Rawlins’ districts.

The next hearing will be an evening meeting held in Torrington on August 15th. There is some discussion that the committee may add additional sites for hearings.

Click here to watch ACLU’s Laughlin McDonald talk about how politicians can use 'stacking, cracking, and packing' to gerrymander voting districts.

Census Blocks, County Lines, Communities of Interest…Oh My!

2011-07-01T10:41:00.000-06:00

Rock River was at the center of a verbal tug of war as legislators from the Corporations Committee listened to redistricting suggestions in Laramie on Tuesday morning, June 28. Rock River is in Albany County, but do residents more closely identify as voters with neighbors in Laramie or in Carbon County?

Legislators must preserve a “one person, one vote” distribution as they consider how to draw lines around new voting districts across the state. They also apply traditional redistricting principles, including 1) compactness, 2) contiguity, 3) preservation of county and municipal lines, 4) maintaining communities of interest (specific groups with shared interests/identity), and 5) maintaining cores of existing districts, and incumbency protection or competitiveness. For more information on these principles and redistricting in general, read the ACLU’s report, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Redistricting But Were Afraid to Ask.

So why do voting districts in Wyoming resemble a geographic jigsaw puzzle? It really depends on what your priorities are, and legislators made some of theirs known on June 28.

Senator Nicholas pointed out that it may be unfair to voters to redraw lines in order to preserve the seats of incumbents, and that lines should be drawn in order to best reflect what the community wants. For example, he says, Albany County prides itself on sending two Democrats and two Republicans to the Wyoming House, and lines are carefully drawn to preserve that split, which seems to best represent the community.

Albany County Clerk, Jackie Gonzales, explained a proposed plan for the county that nearly preserves existing districts, stretching or constricting them a bit in one way or the other to reflect changes in population.

Representative Hunt offered a completely new plan, which places the greatest weight on drawing districts that, as closely as possible, follow county lines. Counties with small populations would be supplemented by residents near the line of a neighboring county. The beauty of his plan, he suggests, is that no district goes over a 3.4% deviation from the “one person, one vote” principle. The closer the deviation gets to 10%, the more likely it is that a court may want a darned good explanation.

Tracy Hunt, Representative Hunt’s driver for the day (and dad on all days), said his son’s plan “sets up a firewall against the chaos” he sees in plans that just modify existing districts.

Representative Byrd expressed concerns that a plan that only takes into account county lines, though, fails to recognize communities of interest. Say, for example, Rock River.

The Cheyenne meeting that evening covered many of the same themes as the Albany County meeting. The Laramie County Clerk’s office offered a proposed plan for redrawing Laramie County voting districts. The most tense moment came when Representative Dan Zwonitzer expressed his concerns over the proposed changes, saying that he greatly disagreed with the population numbers in his district. Senator Johnson reassured everyone in the room that, “Nothing is set in concrete. Please be patient and know that nothing will be decided immediately.” Rep. Illoway reemphasized this point by informing attendees that, “Public meetings are for fact-finding, and that no official votes will be taken until this fall.”

In addition to Representative Hunt’s statewide plan which embeds most districts within county lines, Senator Cooper and Senator Martin brought forth the Cooper/Martin alternative plan for western Wyoming districts.

So where do you draw the lines? Give redistricting a try on the Redistricting Plan Viewer on the legislature's redistricting webpage.

And tell your representatives what you think by attending the next community meeting coming up on July 12. For a complete schedule, check out our May 5th blog post.

REPORT: Overview of 2010 Supreme Court Term

2011-06-28T12:07:00.000-06:00

The 2010 U.S. Supreme Court Term defined itself as pro-business, conservative and sensitive to any claim that the government was using its power to censor unpopular speakers or speech. Please read the ACLU Summary of the 2010 Supreme Court Term, which focuses on major civil liberties decisions. This report was issued yesterday by Steven R. Shapiro, the National Legal Director of the ACLU.

Want to know more about the ACLU and the SCOTUS? Read more here.

Know Your Laws: Wyoming's New DUI Law

2011-06-22T14:19:00.002-06:00

Effective July 1st, 2011, Wyoming's new driving under the influence law will make some significant changes to current DUI laws. The new law requires that motorists pulled over for suspected drug or alcohol use submit to breath, blood or urine tests, when requested by the police. Prosecutors and law enforcement around the state have been working on how suspected drivers will actually be tested for alcohol or drugs. This blog post is dedicated to educating Wyoming drivers about the new DUI law, and why the new law could be a civil libertarians’ worst fear.

Although the purpose of the new law is to crack down on drunk driving – especially among repeat offenders – the Wyoming ACLU has some concerns over how the new law will be enforced, as well as the constitutionality of the remotely communicated search warrants. To be sure, drunk driving is reprehensible and is not condoned by the ACLU of Wyoming.

The new law replaces the word “request” with the word “require” when referring to the suspected drivers’ submission to a blood, breath or urine test. In other words, law enforcement officers are obligated to force blood or urine tests on unwilling motorists. Supporters of the new law are adamant that this is necessary in order to prosecute repeat DUI offenders; however, current law already makes a “refusal” admissible in evidence at trial and comes along with an automatic suspension of their driver’s license.

Coming after potentially drunk people with needles just seems like a bad idea! Rep. Bunky Loucks, R-Casper questioned this measure during the legislative session, “What are you going to do? Are you going to strap people down [to test them]? To me that’s a scary visual.”

In order to compel a suspected driver to submit to a chemical test, a police office, under the new law, can obtain a search warrant through electronic transmission. The new law states:

"A remotely communicated search warrant may be issued upon sworn or affirmed testimony of the peace officer who is not in the physical presence of a judicial officer, provided the judicial officer is satisfied that probably cause exists for the issuance of the warrant. All communication between the judicial office and the peace officer or prosecuting attorney requesting the warrant may be remotely transmitted by voice, image, text or any combination thereof, or by other means and shall be recorded...Upon approval, the judicial officer may direct a peace officer or prosecuting attorney requesting a warrant from a remote location to sign the judicial officer’s name on a warrant at a remote location."

What a minute...did I just read that correctly?! A judge can “sign” a search warrant with a text message?! That’s right! According to the new law, an SMS from a judge is all that’s needed in order to issue a warrant to force a suspected drunk driver to submit to a blood draw. Fortunately, we’re not the only ones who have questions about the constitutionality of this provision. Several Wyoming Circuit Court judges said they believed allowing officers to request a warrant by phone violated Article 1, section 4 of the Wyoming Constitution, which states that “no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by affidavits.” Wyoming courts have previously interpreted that phrase to mean that warrants can only be issued based on written affidavits.

Summary and Major Elements of the new DUI law:

• Provides that a person under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance who refuses a chemical test shall still be required to submit to a chemical test upon issuance of a search warrant.
• Creates a "remotely communicated search warrant" which may be issued upon sworn or affirmed testimony of the peace officer who is not in the physical presence of the judicial officer. For issuance of a "remotely communicated search warrant":
• The judicial officer must be satisfied that probable cause exists for issuance of the remotely communicated search warrant;
• All communication between the judicial officer and the peace officer or prosecuting attorney must be recorded
• The judicial officer may direct the peace officer or prosecuting attorney requesting the remotely communicated search warrant to sign the judicial officer's name on a warrant from a remote location.
• A remotely communicated search warrant shall only be valid to administer a chemical test to determine whether a person was driving while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance after the person refuses the test.
• Results from chemical tests to determine blood-alcohol or controlled substance levels shall only be used to determine whether the person was driving under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances.
• Repeals the administrative penalties for refusing to submit to a chemical test to determine whether a person was driving while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, except for suspension of a commercial driver's license.
• Makes conforming amendments relating to the repeal of the right to refuse a test

First Redistricting Public Meeting Held in Rock Springs

2011-06-06T14:39:00.000-06:00

The first in a serious of redistricting meetings was held in Rock Springs on May 25 in City Council Chambers. The crowd of about 40 was a mixed one including legislative staff, county clerks, politicians, elected officials and a sprinkling of citizens. The legislative staff presented a short power- point on redistricting fundamentals and also on the use of the legislative website. Testimony was heard on the lack of community of interest representation in some Rock Springs districts. Chairman Cale Case did an excellent job of moderating the program and assuring that all who wanted to be heard by the committee were given time to do so.

It becomes clear in listening to testimony how difficult redistricting is, as speakers all have specific critiques of their districts and how they are drawn. One person testifies that the boundary is drawn down the middle of the street, with their neighbors across the road being in a different district. County Clerks are concerned that precinct and district changes that will affect voting procedures in their counties.

In addition, politics come into play quickly as voting districts are redrawn. A group from Teton County offered draft changes for areas in their part of the state, and resentment of the affects of those changes were already clear.

The reality remains that as a result of the significant changes in many counties, Wyoming must redistrict in order to meet the criteria of equity of populations in each district. The ideal House district will be 9,394 (+ or – 5%) and the Senate district will be 18,788 (+ or – 5%). The decision has been made by the committee that Wyoming will continue with 30 Senate seats and 60 House seats, with 2 house seats “nested” in each Senate district.

Here are the seven redistricting principles adopted by the committee:

1. Election districts should be contiguous, compact, and reflect a community of interest:
2. Population of election districts should be substantially equal, with the range of deviation not to exceed 10%;
3. To the greatest extent possible, in establishing election districts:
a. County boundaries should be followed;
b. The majority of the population of each county should be in one district;
c. Census blocks should be followed.
4. The plan should avoid diluting voting power of minorities in violation of the Voting Rights Act;
5. The House shall have 60 seats and the Senate shall have 30 seats;
6. Consideration should be given to two (2) contiguous House districts in each Senate district; and
7. Significant geographical features should be considered in establishing districts.

To learn more about redistricting, please visit the ACLU's Redistricting Q&A page.

Corporations Committee Takes on Redistricting

2011-05-18T18:37:00.000-06:00

Under the Wyoming State Constitution, the legislature is required redraw the state legislative districts every ten years. Redistricting coincides with the federal census so that the district lines reflect the current make-up of the population in legislative district. With Wyoming’s growing population, it is important that the new districts accurately reflect the demographic changes around the state.

In the 1963 case of Gray v. Sanders, the U.S. Supreme Court announced the “one person, one vote” principle. This principle is achieved when each legislative district has a substantially equal population. Redistricting is one of the key topics on the interim agenda of the Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee. On April 12, 2011, the Corporations Committee adopted these seven principles in order to honor the one person, one vote principle:

1. Election districts should be contiguous, compact, and reflect a community of interest
2. Population of election districts should be substantially equal, with the range of deviation not to exceed 10%
3. To the greatest extent possible, in establishing election districts:
a. County boundaries should be followed
b. The majority of the population of each county should be in one district
c. Census blocks should be followed
4. Plan should avoid diluting voting power of minorities in violations of [federal] Voting Rights Act
5. The house shall have 60 seats and the senate shall have 30 seats
6. Consideration should be given to two (2) contiguous house districts in each senate districts
7. Significant geographical features should be considered in establishing districts

Please visit the Wyoming Legislature's 2011 redistricting resource page.

Redistricting is an extremely important topic because it makes a huge impact on our ability to influence government through the ballot box. The ACLU believes that voting is one of our most important civil liberties and fundamental rights, and we encourage all our readers to stay informed on redistricting efforts in your area.

How can you share your thoughts with the Joint Corporations Committee?

• Express your comments at one of the scheduled regional meetings (listed below)
• Contact your local representative or senator
• Express your comments through the “Redistricting Information” page on the Wyoming Legislature’s website

The location and times of the regional meetings are as follows:

Morning meetings are tentatively scheduled for 9:30 - Noon. Evening meetings are tentatively scheduled for 5:00-7:30.

1. Rock Springs May 25 morning
2. Pinedale May 25 evening
3. Casper June 14 morning
4. Wright June 14 evening
5. Laramie June 28 morning
6. Cheyenne June 28 evening
7. Powell July 12 morning
8. Worland July 12 evening
9. Lander July 13 morning
10. Rawlins July 13 evening
11. Torrington August 15 evening

To learn more about redistricting, please read the ACLU’s report, “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Redistricting, But Were Afraid to Ask.”

Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative comes to Wyoming

2011-05-16T14:29:00.000-06:00

The Casper Star Tribune ran an article today on the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative (JDAI). This program is designed to assist jurisdictions in reducing their reliance on secure detention (jail) for juveniles. There are 24 states that use the JDAI program and 100 individual sites. This reform program is one of the most successful and effective programs in reducing incarceration rates for juveniles and for providing alternatives to detention that allow for long lasting positive outcomes for kids.

The program is based on the following concepts:

• reduce reliance on secure confinement
• improve public safety
• reduce racial disparities and bias
• save taxpayers’ dollars
• stimulate overall juvenile justice reform

This program is based on over 15 years of successful experience and is exactly the program that Wyoming needs on a state wide basis to reduce reliance on the over-use of secure confinement for children. Unfortunately, as a result of Wyoming’s lack of uniform state-side planning and a uniform juvenile justice system some children in Wyoming will have the advantage of this evidence based program and other children will continue to be locked up.

Laramie, Sweetwater and Campbell Counties have decided to join this program and provide the best opportunities for their children. The spokesmen for the Wyoming Department of Family Services (DFS) stated that the goal of the program, which is jointly funded by The Casey foundation and DFS, is to create a statewide model for juvenile detention. The spokesmen went on the say that “it will help create a good… juvenile justice system with a lot of alternatives.”

This type of random program implementation has been going on with juvenile programs in the state for over 40 years and has resulted in the dreadful non-system that we currently have. Some counties will chose to join the initiative but most will not. Most counties will do what that have historically done and that is put kids in jail, even though its clear that putting kids in jail is the absolute worse thing you can do to them most counties will continue to use jail as their only “system”. They will do this because that is what they have always done, because they don’t want to spend the money on children that it will take to initiate reform, because they don’t have the money and there is no stable funding source or because they don’t believe in the evidence and believe that the best place for a troubled kid is in jail. They will do this because they can.

Laramie County, a county that already has a good program for kids, wants a better program. In planning for the new juvenile detention center the Chairman of the Joint Powers Board, Jeff Lamm stated: “We didn’t want to just build a center; we wanted to rebuild a system.” In the Casper Star Tribune's article, Mr. Lamm went on to state: “You want to set up a good, integrated system…. So you can treat every kid based on their needs”. Wouldn’t it be great if our legislators and public officials felt that way about every child in Wyoming? Isn’t that the way they should feel?

Update: Juvenile Justice Reform

2011-05-13T10:52:00.000-06:00

On April 21 the Joint Judiciary Interim Committee met in Worland at the Community Center Complex. One of the interim issues for the committee is juvenile justice. The Honorable Gary Hartman from Governor Mead’s office gave a power point presentation designed to site the long-term problems with the treatment of youth in the criminal justice system in Wyoming. The presentation outlined the history of reports and recommendations starting in the 1960’s and the lack of response to those recommendations. One of the main deficiencies in the system has been the lack of a unified court system in which all youth would be processed. Due to the poorly written statutory foundation, each county in Wyoming has created its own system. Most children in Wyoming are processed in adult courts with none of the protections and due process allowed children in traditional juvenile courts. Some courts allow little or no due process, judges are not trained or knowledgeable in juvenile development or issues; children are jailed at one of the highest rates in the nation and youth that need treatment or counseling are offered none. These criticisms of the Wyoming system have been heard for over 40 years, and Wyoming legislators have done little beyond minor tinkering to fix the problems.

At the conclusion of the presentation Judge Hartman presented the committee with draft statutes that would bring about the much needed changes in the juvenile system. Judge Hartman, Donna Sheen, a local children’s attorney and advocate, as well as Dr. Beth Evans, Chair of the State Advisory Committee, then answered a number of questions from the committee.

Next a group of Wyoming judges including the Honorable Norman Young, John Fenn and Randal Arp made a short presentation, allowing that there probably should be some changes and that judges would do whatever the legislators directed them to do.

County Prosecutors Jeannie Stone, Brian Christensen and Bryon Skoric then testified there was absolutely nothing wrong with the system that programs were all running very well with excellent results. The prosecutors also said the numbers used in our report were wrong.

The Wyoming ACLU provided the joint judiciary committee with copies of the newly released ACLU report, "Inequality in the Equality State: The Damaged Juvenile Justice and Detention System in Wyoming," prior to the meeting. The report is a comprehensive report that includes the following policy recommendations for the Wyoming legislature:

To enact a juvenile code that:

1. Establishes a unified juvenile or family court system with exclusive jurisdiction for all non-traffic juvenile matters and a judiciary professionally trained in juvenile law.
2. Creates a comprehensive juvenile justice system that applies equally and fairly to all Wyoming juveniles. This system should include the procedural framework for a central juvenile case processing and obtain a consistent juvenile detention policy. This policy must be devoid of loopholes and include community based programs.
3. Creates a comprehensive juvenile justice system based on restorative justice principles that promote accountability and increased competency development for youthful offenders, without sacrificing community protection.
4. Provides systematic data collecting and analysis to guide decision making, assess program effectiveness, and provide assurances of equal treatment.
5. Is funded through a dedicated funding source to ensure its statewide accessibility and utilization.

The draft code presented by Judge Hartman would have addressed all these issues. Unfortunately, the only questions I was asked were about the numbers in our report and the veracity of those numbers. Kermit Brown, Co-Chair of the Committee has also questioned the numbers in our report in the press.

It’s very frustrating to have such an overwhelming long-term problem effecting the lives and futures of our children and have the committee focus on the supposed “problems” with the numbers. The numbers used in our report are the only professionally collected verifiable statistics available on juvenile issues in the state. The State of Wyoming has no single agency that collects data on juvenile justice. There is no collection of data on county programs and the effectiveness of the programs, no assessment on programs or systems. The data in our report represents federal monitoring reports and crime statistics reports from the attorney general’s office. Those numbers are collected from the counties themselves. The only issue with the numbers that is possible is the issue of underreporting as several counties refuse to provide information on their treatment of juveniles.

In June 2010, the Wyoming Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union along with the National Center for Youth Law released a report based on observations of the treatment of juveniles in several court rooms in Wyoming, "A Call to Stop Child Prosecutions in Wyoming Adult Court." That report concluded:

“The state of Wyoming stands at the threshold of opportunity. It can revise its juvenile code to create a model system of youth justice, or it can continue down the time-worn path it has been on for decades, meting out adult convictions and costly sentences to children who really just need a stronger guiding hand. The authors, and many others in the state working with children in trouble, urge the public to demand a better system of justice for Wyoming’s children. We hope public officials will finally exercise the political will to truly reform the way it’s always been.”

Once again, this seems like an impossible dream. We remain hopeful that the Joint Judiciary Committee will provide leadership in juvenile justice reform during the interim session.

Linda Burt,
Executive Director

Redistricting: Public Meetings Schedule

2011-05-05T12:11:00.000-06:00

Every ten years, the Wyoming Legislature is required to reconfigure the state’s legislative districts in order to reflect the changes in Wyoming’s population. Redistricting is one of the key topics on the interim agenda of the Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee. If you are interesting in learning about redistricting in your area, a series of regional redistricting meetings have been scheduled. The location and times of the regional meetings are as follows:

Morning meetings are tentatively scheduled for 9:30 - Noon. Evening meetings are tentatively scheduled for 5:00-7:30.

1. Rock Springs May 25 morning
2. Pinedale May 25 evening
3. Casper June 14 morning
4. Wright June 14 evening
5. Laramie June 28 morning
6. Cheyenne June 28 evening
7. Powell July 12 morning
8. Worland July 12 evening
9. Lander July 13 morning
10. Rawlins July 13 evening
11. Torrington August 15 evening.

FORMAL MEETING NOTICES WILL BE POSTED ON THE LEGISLATIVE WEBSITE AND ISSUED AT A LATER DATE. Read more here.

To learn more about redistricting, please read the ACLU’s report, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Redistricting, But Were Afraid to Ask.”

Read more from the Casper Star Tribune.

Gov. Mead pushes for juvenile court system

2011-04-19T14:32:00.001-06:00

Governor Matt Mead’s administration is lobbying Wyoming lawmakers to support creation of a unified juvenile court system in the state. The Casper Star Tribune ran a fantastic article today, and Wyoming Public Radio has also been providing coverage of this important topic. There are no significant differences between the proposals put forth in our report released earlier this month, "Inequality in the Equality State," and Governor Mead’s recommendations on juvenile justice. We applaud the Governor’s proposal! The Joint Judiciary Committee will be discussing juvenile justice at its meeting later this week.

This is certainly terrific news, but far more remains to be done. How can you make a difference? Urge the Joint Judiciary Committee to solve the juvenile justice crisis in Wyoming.

"Inequality" Report Released Today

2011-04-08T09:54:00.001-06:00

In a report on Wyoming’s Juvenile Justice System formally released today, the ACLU of Wyoming calls for establishing a unified juvenile court system to handle all court-involved youth throughout the state, enforcing standards for youth detention statewide, and creating a data-collection process to gauge the success of Wyoming’s youth rehabilitation services.

The report, "Inequality in the Equality State: The Damaged Juvenile Justice and Detention System in Wyoming," represents more than five years of research by the ACLU.

Wyoming’s youth are the future of our state and should be given every opportunity to succeed. In Wyoming 85% of all children are adjudicated in adult courts instead of being provided the protection and rehabilitation that would be required by a juvenile court system. Only a minority of Wyoming youth are processed through a juvenile court system. Most youth are seen by judges or other officials with little training in handling youth or knowledge of juvenile law. The majorities of children are not represented by lawyers and waive their right to legal representation without fully understanding the consequences of doing so. Because there are no statewide guidelines outlining which youth should be subjected to secure detention, Wyoming has one of the highest youth incarceration rates in the nation; state officials too often rely on detention as the default solution – a choice that carries a heavy financial and social cost.

Unlike most states, Wyoming has no overarching goals, planning or administration of juvenile justice, and youth are subject to vastly different treatment based on where they live. The disparity in treatment of youth in the system is at the heart of the state’s juvenile justice crisis; a unified juvenile court with exclusive jurisdiction is the key to reform.

Efforts by state legislators to improve the juvenile justice system in recent years are a positive sign, but far more remains to be done. The Joint Judiciary Committee’s announcement of an interim study that will look into juvenile justice issues with an emphasis in jurisdiction is a step that is long overdue.

The report calls on the legislature to transform the current county-by-county approach into a unified statewide system based on the principles of restorative justice, accountability and community safety. The system should build on research-proven programs and best practices across the county and should be available to all Wyoming children.

Please take the time to read,"Inequality in the Equality State." Click here to read our press release, or read the Casper Star Tribune’s article on the report. The Washington Examiner also ran an excellent AP article. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Want to get involved? Your voice can make the difference in how the Joint Judiciary Committee handles this issue. If you’re generally concerned about Wyoming’s children, or if you have personally experiences the inequities and harsh treatment of Wyoming’s broken system, please urge your legislators to solve the juvenile justice crisis in Wyoming.

Collective Bargaining & Civil Liberties

2011-03-25T11:30:00.000-06:00

The ACLU has championed the right of workers to organize unions since its inception more than 90 years ago, beginning with efforts to counter the vehement anti-union crusades of the 1920s.
The ACLU continues to support the rights of employees, both public and private, to organize unions and bargain collectively. Collective bargaining statutes provide critical and necessary protection for workers who exercise basic civil rights, in particular, the rights of speech, association, and petition. Efforts to strip workers of these protections have no place in our democracy.

What is the right to collective bargaining?
The right to collective bargaining is the right of individual employees in a workplace to come together and to choose a representative, based on a majority vote, who will then negotiate with their employer over terms and conditions of employment. Because the individual worker typically lacks meaningful bargaining power to negotiate favorable employment terms, designating a representative to negotiate on behalf of a large group of workers can level the playing field between labor and management and give workers a meaningful seat at the bargaining table.

Why are the rights to form a union and engage in collective bargaining civil liberties?
Collective action is often necessary to protect individual rights. Unions by their nature facilitate and enhance the exercise of core civil liberties, such as the right of association, speech, and petition.

Please click here to READ MORE

Islamophobia: Myths vs. Facts

2011-03-24T14:22:00.001-06:00

Now that the 2011 Legislature is over, our blog will shift gears and focus on civil liberties issues happening both locally and nationally. Readers - stay tuned for an online report that we will publish in the next few days that summarizes all the bills we monitored and lobbied this past session.

With so much about Islam in the current news cycle, from the supposed “radicalization” to state laws banning Sharia Law from U.S. Courts, it is important that we educate ourselves with facts, and not buy into myths or shape our opinions based on rhetoric alone. While these measures generally coincide with rising xenophobia and concerns about the influence of foreign and international law in the United States, they also correspond with the growing anti-Muslim sentiment across the country.

Click here to read a Q&A on the myth of radicalization

Earlier this month, Representative Peter King (R-NY), Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, held a hearing about the so-called radicalization of Islam in America. This misguiding hearing, which smacks of a McCarthy-era witch hunt, is only the most recent manifestation of discriminatory attitudes and policies towards Muslims in America. That is why the ACLU, along with over 40 other human rights and civil rights groups, sent a letter to Rep. King and his committee urging them not to conflate 1st Amendment-protected practices with involvement in terrorism.

Download a copy of the ACLU’s written statement to the House Committee on Homeland Security

More and more we are reading about state legislatures attempting to ban Sharia Law from being upheld in U.S. Courts. This notion was seen first in Oklahoma and immediately blocked by a Federal Court as unconstitutional, and is nothing more than a scare-tactic based on the perception of the influence of foreign and religious laws on our courts, rather than facts. To be sure, the 1st Amendment already prohibits U.S. courts from adopting any kind of religious law. That includes: Kosher Law, Canon Law and yes, Sharia Law.

Unfortunately, Wyoming is not immune from these types of Islamophobic measures as we observed during this past session. Representative Gay from Wyoming House District 36 introduced HJ08, which attempted to ban both Sharia and International Laws from Wyoming’s Courts. Bills like this are nothing more than a solution looking for a problem. Moreover, the framers of the Constitution intended respect for international laws and commitments, such as U.S. treaties. In order to be the global leader on human rights, we must uphold our commitment to international laws and standards. This not only includes honoring international laws, but refusing to enshrine discrimination and intolerance in U.S. law.

Last month in Orange County, California, protestors organized outside of a charity event sponsored by a local Muslim group. The charity event was to raise money for women’s shelters, and to relieve homelessness and hunger in the U.S. Please watch this video prepared by the Council on American-Islamic-Relations (CAIR-California) to get a taste of the anti-Islamic rhetoric growing in America.

Want to get involved? Click here to find out how you can support the ACLU.

Rachel Maddow Covers HB74

2011-03-07T15:21:00.000-07:00

'The Equality State' lives up to its name

Rachel Maddow plays audio from actual small government, pro-freedom conservatives in the Wyoming legislature arguing against an anti-gay marriage bill on the grounds that it's not government's business and not in keeping with Wyoming's principle of equality.

Click here to watch

Blog of Rights: Women's Health Care

2011-03-03T17:29:00.000-07:00

To read entire blog post by Suzanne Ito of the National ACLU, click here

Government "Should Not Be Meddling" With Women's Health Care Decisions

Last week, legislation that would place onerous new restrictions on women's access to abortion in Wyoming failed in the state senate. Two Republican representatives, Lisa Shepperson and Sue Wallis, who both opposed the measure in the House, said from the chamber floor:

Shepperson: When I go to the doctor, it is the most private thing you can imagine. I want myself, I want my husband, and I want my doctor there. And I don't want any government.

Wallis: What this bill does is say that, as a woman, that I'm not smart enough to know the decision that I'm making, that somehow the state is required in this particular decision where they are required in no other medical decision.

Read More...

Maddow interviews Wallis and Shepperson

2011-03-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

The Rachel Maddow Show continues to cover small-government conservatives in the Wyoming Legislture. Click here to watch Republican Wyoming State Representatives Sue Wallis and Lisa Shepperson talk with Rachel Maddow about why their small government beliefs mean they want government and abortion laws out of the relationship between a woman and her doctor.

HB74 Defeated!!!

2011-03-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

HB74 – Validity of Marriages, a measure banning recognition of out-of-state gay marriages was voted down by the Senate yesterday afternoon by a narrow 14–16 vote. Earlier in the day, the bill barely passed the Wyoming House by a vote of 31–28. The Wyoming ACLU is extremely delighted that HB74 did not pass! Thank you to everyone involved with helping defeat this bill. A special thanks goes to all legislators that voted against this measure, we truly appreciate your vote!!!

THANK YOU...

Senator Burns
Senator Case
Senator Christensen
Senator Coe
Senator Driskill
Senator Emerich
Senator Esquibel
Senator Hastert
Senator Hines
Senator Landen
Senator Martin
Senator Nicholas
Senator Rothfuss
Senator Schiffer
Senator Scott
Senator Von Flatern

And...

Representative Barbuto
Representative Berger
Representative Blake
Representative Bonner
Representative Brown
Representative Byrd
Representative Childers
Representative Connolly
Representative Craft
Representative Esquibel
Representative Freeman
Representative Gingery
Representative Goggles
Representative Greene
Representative Illoway
Representative Kasperik
Representative McOmie
Representative Moniz
Representative Nicholas
Representative Patton
Representative Petroff
Representative Roscoe
Representative Steward
Representative Throne
Representative Vranish
Representative Wallis
Representative Dan Zwonitzer
Representative David Zwonitzer

BREAKING: Abortion bill fails in the Senate

2011-02-25T16:31:00.001-07:00

HB251 - Abortion - Ultrasound Information was voted down 14-15 in the Senate moments ago! Thanks to everyone that contacted your legislators to help preserve medical privacy.

Defeating DOMA and Moving Forward

2011-02-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

Click hereto read entire blog post by James Esseks of the National ACLU’s LGBT Project.

There's lots to celebrate about the Justice Department's statement that it will no longer defend the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA) in court. That statement makes a few things clear:

1. The Obama administration agrees with what we've been saying for years – that when the government treats gay people differently than straight people, it's got to have a very good reason for the discrimination (this is what courts call applying "heightened scrutiny").
2. The administration agrees that it doesn't have a good reason for respecting the marriages of heterosexual couples while pretending that married same-sex couples aren't actually married (which is what DOMA does, after all).
3. Since the administration doesn't have a good reason for the discrimination, it's going to stop defending DOMA, both in our case and in others. This is a video about our case challenging DOMA that we filed along with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.)

Up until now, the federal government has taken the position that discrimination against lesbians and gay men is almost always OK, that it's presumed to be constitutional. With yesterday's announcement, the government has recognized that under the proper constitutional analysis, it needs a good reason to treat gay people differently from everyone else.

The shift is quite simply amazing. Amazing to have a government that decides an important issue of constitutional law based on principle rather than politics. Amazing to see a government switch gears when faced with a case that requires it to address the legal issues head-on...read more...

ACTION ALERT: Help Us Kill HB74

2011-02-24T10:12:00.001-07:00

The Conference Committee for HB74 – Validity of Marriages was originally scheduled for 8:45 am, but has been moved to 4:15 pm TODAY. Unfortunately, no testimony will be accepted at the hearing. Of the six members of the Conference Committee, three are original sponsors of the bill (Hicks, Nutting, Kroeker). If the Conference Committee acts fast, HB74 could be back in the House and Senate as early as Friday.

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO KILL THIS BILL!!! We need to immediately get emails to the Representatives and Senators who we must hold in the “VOTE NO” camp on HB74. Below are the legislators who should be contacted right away. (To save everyone time, we won’t email the hard “yes” and hard “no” legislators – they aren’t budging on the issue.)

Legislators are busy individuals and may not have time to read lengthy emails, so please keep your message short and to-the-point. With you help, we can send a clear message that intolerance and discrimination have no place in the Equality State!

Sen. Burns - bburns@dbburns.com
Sen. Coe - hcoe@wyoming.com
Sen. Christensen - lchristensen@wyoming.com
Sen. Driskell - senatedriskill@rtconnect.net
Sen. Emerich - femerich@wyoming.com
Sen. Hastert - jhastert2@wyoming.com
Sen. Hines - jhines@wyoming.com
Sen. Johnson - wajohnsonsd6@yahoo.com
Sen. Landen - blanden@bresnan.net
Sen. Nicholas - nicholas@wyolegal.com
Sen. Ross - tross@wyoming.com
Sen. Schiffer - jschiffe@wyoming.com
Sen. Scott - charlesscott@wyoming.com

Rep. Berger - rberger@wyoming.com
Rep. Blikre - gblikre@wyoming.com
Rep. Bonner - dbonner@wyoming.com
Rep. Brown - kermitbrown@wyoming.com
Rep. Byrd - jbyrd@wyoming.com
Rep. Campbell - rcampbell34@wyoming.com
Rep. Freeman - freeman@wyoming.com
Rep. Gingery - kgingery@wyoming.com
Rep. Greear - mgreear@rtconnect.net
Rep. Harvey - harvey00@tctwest.net
Rep. Hunt - hhunt@wyoming.com
Rep. Illoway - pete_chloeilloway3@msn.com
Rep. Kasperik - nkasperik@wyoming.com
Rep. Krone - skrone@wyoming.com
Rep. Mcomie - dwmcomie@bresnan.net
Rep. Moniz - gmoniz@bresnan.net
Rep. Nicholas - bnicholas@wyoming.com
Rep. Patton - johnpatton@wyoming.com
Rep. Shepperson - lshepperson@wyoming.com
Rep. Steward - jebsteward@union-tel.com

HB74 moves to Conference Committee

2011-02-23T16:15:00.000-07:00

Last week the Senate narrowly approved HB 74 – Validity of marriage. The bill included an amendment intended to allow access to Wyoming courts by those in domestic partnerships or civil unions. Yesterday the House defeated the amended bill 50 – 7 and now the bill will go to a conference committee composed of 3 members of each house in an attempt to work out a compromise.

Despite the protestations of the bill’s supporters that they are not “targeting” gay and lesbian citizens, a howl went up from these groups in opposition to the amendment made in the Senate. It is clear from Richard Wall’s most recent op-ed in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle that the purpose of this bill and others like it is to stop all attempts at equal or fair treatment lesbian and gay citizens.

Richard Wall states that “homosexual activist” use civil unions as a stepping stone to gay marriage, and apparently that alone is a good enough reason to deny a minority group access to the legal system.

Mr. Wall’s legal arguments regarding courts declining jurisdiction on procedural or jurisdictional rules provide no rationale to deny access to courts. Jurisdictional and procedural provisions apply to all individuals equally; this statue singles out a particular group of individuals and denies them legal rights.

Supporters of this bill have insisted that the bill is necessary in order to close a “loophole” in the Wyoming law that could allow recognition of same sex unions or marriages in other states. The loophole is an accepted legal principal that provides that we recognize other states legal process as they recognize ours. This tradition allows for the smooth working of our legal system across the nation. Imagine the chaos that would ensue if we did not accept automobile registration, driver’s licenses, various certificates such as birth and death certificates, marriage and divorce decrees from other states. Yet the current bill would make it clear that the laws of other states are unacceptable in Wyoming, and the people protected by those laws are outside the protection of the law in our state. Lesbian and gay couples are being targeted with this bill and our legislature is being asked to put this discrimination into statute. This bill is clearly unconstitutional, and it is also clearly wrong.

Local News Reports on HB74

2011-02-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

CBS News Channel 5 reported on the developments of HB74 yesterday. Please click here to read article and watch brief video where Wyoming ACLU Executive Director Linda Burt makes a comment.

Reproductive Freedom at Risk...

2011-02-17T11:45:00.000-07:00

HB251 – Abortion – Ultrasound Information will be heard tomorrow by the Senate Agriculture committee. This bill violates women’s right to privacy and inserts the government into the doctor/patient relationship. Email the members of this committee and urge them to vote NO on HB251.

Senate Agriculture Committee Members:

Sen. Gerald Geis: ggeis@wyoming.com
Sen. Eli Bebout: senbebout@wyoming.com
Sen. Ogden Driskill: senatedriskill@rtconnect.net
Sen. Fred Emerich: femerich@wyoming.com
Sen. Larry Hicks: lhicks@wyoming.com

HB74 Crosses Another Legislative Hurdle...

2011-02-17T11:32:00.000-07:00

HB74 – Validity of Marriages bill passed the 2nd reading in the Senate today. This discriminatory bill would void lawful same-sex marriages and civil unions performed in other states. We STRONLY oppose this biased bill. IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT THAT SENATORS HEAR THAT INTOLERANCE AND DISCRIMINATION IS UNACCEPTABLE IN WYOMING. EMAIL YOUR SENATOR AND ASK THEM TO VOTE NO ON HB74.

Contact information for the Senate:

Sen. Ogden Driskill: senatedriskill@rtconnect.net
Sen. Jim Anderson: jamesda1@msn.com
Sen. Curt Meier: cmeier@wyoming.com
Sen. Tony Ross: tross@wyoming.com
Sen. Fred Emerich: femerich@wyoming.com
Sen. Wayne Johnson: wajohnsonsd6@yahoo.com
Sen. Leslie Nutting: lnutting@wyoming.com
Sen. Floyd Esquibel: fesquibel@wyoming.com
Sen. Chris Rothfuss: rothfuss@wyoming.com
Sen. Phil Nicholas: nicholas@wyolegal.com
Sen. Larry S. Hicks: lhicks@wyoming.com
Sen. Marty Martin: mmartin@wyoming.com
Sen. John Hastert: jhastert2@wyoming.com
Sen. Stan Cooper: scooperwy@gmail.com
Sen. Paul Barnard: pbarnard@wyoming.com
Sen. Dan Dockstader: ddockstader@wyoming.com
Sen. Leland Christensen: lchristensen@wyoming.com
Sen. Hank Coe: hcoe@wyoming.com
Sen. R. Ray Peterson: rpeterson@wyoming.com
Sen. Gerald Geis: ggeis@wyoming.com
Sen. Bruce Burns: bburns@dbburns.com
Sen. John Schiffer: jschiffe@wyoming.com
Sen. John Hines: jhines@wyoming.com
Sen. Michael Von Flatern: mvonflatern@wyoming.com
Sen. Cale Case: ccase@wyoming.com
Sen. Eli Bebout: senbebout@wyoming.com
Sen. Bill Landen: blanden@bresnan.net
Sen. Kit Jennings: kit@kitsenate.com
Sen. Drew Perkins: drewperkins08@gmail.com
Sen. Charles Scott: charlesscott@wyoming.com

Rally for Marriage Equality a Success!!!

2011-02-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

Please read the Equality State Policy Center's blog post on the rally for marriage equality yesterday in front of the Wyoming Capitol. Post includes an excellent video of the rally shot and produced by Ron Sniffin.

Please click here.

Rally for Marriage Equality at the Capitol TODAY

2011-02-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

Come support marriage equality...

When: Wednesday, February 16 at 1 pm
Where: steps of the Capitol building in Cheyenne

ALL ARE INVITED to show support for basic decency & equality

ACTION ALTERT: Ask Senators to vote NO on HB74 TODAY

2011-02-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

A discriminatory proposal to void marriages and civil contracts performed in other states unless they are between “one man and one woman” will come before the Senate TODAY. Please take the time to email your Senator and ask them to vote NO on HB74 Validity of Marriages.

Extensive testimony in the federal court in Northern California found that the only reasons to oppose same-sex marriage were religious and moral. This bill violates the equal protection clause of both the Wyoming and U.S. Constitutions. HB74 would send a clear message of intolerance within Wyoming, and would limit Wyoming same-sex couple’s access to courts. This bill would also invalidate legally binding civil unions and marriages performed in other states. Take action NOW!!! Email your Senator TODAY.

Contact information for the Senate:

Sen. Ogden Driskill: senatedriskill@rtconnect.net
Sen. Jim Anderson: jamesda1@msn.com
Sen. Curt Meier: cmeier@wyoming.com
Sen. Tony Ross: tross@wyoming.com
Sen. Fred Emerich: femerich@wyoming.com
Sen. Wayne Johnson: wajohnsonsd6@yahoo.com
Sen. Leslie Nutting: lnutting@wyoming.com
Sen. Floyd Esquibel: fesquibel@wyoming.com
Sen. Chris Rothfuss: rothfuss@wyoming.com
Sen. Phil Nicholas: nicholas@wyolegal.com
Sen. Larry S. Hicks: lhicks@wyoming.com
Sen. Marty Martin: mmartin@wyoming.com
Sen. John Hastert: jhastert2@wyoming.com
Sen. Stan Cooper: scooperwy@gmail.com
Sen. Paul Barnard: pbarnard@wyoming.com
Sen. Dan Dockstader: ddockstader@wyoming.com
Sen. Leland Christensen: lchristensen@wyoming.com
Sen. Hank Coe: hcoe@wyoming.com
Sen. R. Ray Peterson: rpeterson@wyoming.com
Sen. Gerald Geis: ggeis@wyoming.com
Sen. Bruce Burns: bburns@dbburns.com
Sen. John Schiffer: jschiffe@wyoming.com
Sen. John Hines: jhines@wyoming.com
Sen. Michael Von Flatern: mvonflatern@wyoming.com
Sen. Cale Case: ccase@wyoming.com
Sen. Eli Bebout: senbebout@wyoming.com
Sen. Bill Landen: blanden@bresnan.net
Sen. Kit Jennings: kit@kitsenate.com
Sen. Drew Perkins: drewperkins08@gmail.com
Sen. Charles Scott: charlesscott@wyoming.com

Linda Burt on the culture wars in Wyoming

2011-02-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

“If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.” Justice Robert Jackson

Last week began with a group of “family values” lobbyists praying every hour on the hour in the Capitol hallway. In addition to the prayer the group presented huge flat screen videos of the human fetus along with questionable “scientific” information. There was testimony that abortion caused cervical and uterine cancer, infertility, miscarriages, depression and suicide. Of course, none of these statements are true although testimony from experts to this fact never seem to deter individuals from continuing to insist on their misinformation.

I respect the fact that people do not believe in abortion because of personal or religious values. That is defensible and understandable. What I will never understand is insisting on false and misleading information as a rationale for beliefs.

Testimony by the bill’s sponsor Representative Brechtel was, at one point, stopped by Speaker Buchannan as inflammatory and outside the scope of the bill... While supporters claimed the bill was about providing information and protection for women, it was clear the bill was about burdening the Wyoming Statutes with a set of particular religious beliefs. The bill directed physicians to do and say certain things and required a 24 hour waiting period for women wanting an abortion. In the history of the Wyoming Legislature there has never been a medical procedure the legislature has given physicians direction in dealing with. There is no indication that physicians in Wyoming are so lacking in skill that they must be instructed by the legislature in carrying out their duties. The bill also made it clear that women were not able to make intelligent informed choices without the assistance of the State of Wyoming. For a group of individuals that claim to hate government intrusion, this bill exemplifies intrusion.

Three of our outstanding women legislators made compelling arguments against this bill and ended up being singled out by MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show two nights in a row. The segment on Wyoming was excellent but pointed out the inconsistency in small government conservatives continuing interest in interfering in women’s reproductive privacy.

Early on in the session Representative Brechtel’s original abortion bill was voted down by the House. The Representative quickly wrote and filed a similar bill; this bill has now passed the House and has been assigned to the Senate Agriculture Committee for debate. Representative Brechtel has brought legislation that interferes with women’s privacy year after year, session after session.

While this session has been filled with useless bills and resolutions regarding federal health care, constitutional instruction for elected officials, property rights, federal balanced budgets and repeal of the 17th Amendment, few have taken the countless time and energy the so called same-sex marriage bills have taken. These bills are bills that the culture war lobby supports using the same tactics of misinformation and hysteria regarding the destruction of traditional marriage and family life. One bill would ban same-sex marriage or civil unions and deny recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states; the other bill is almost identical in nature but would enshrine the discrimination in our constitution. Again, while I understand why religious groups would not perform same-sex marriages based on their religious beliefs, I do not understand why any lawmaker would support the State enshrining discrimination into our laws or our Constitution.

I have watched individuals this session, who claim to be patriots, claim to love America, and I believe that these individuals are sincere in their beliefs; I have no reason to doubt that. I believe they love America – I don’t believe that they like other Americans. They don’t like Americans of different races or colors. They don’t like gay and lesbian Americans. They don’t like poor or unemployed Americans. They don’t like or respect religions other than their own, or politics other than their own. They believe in the Bill of Rights only as it protects and supports their own beliefs.

Linda Burt
Executive Director, Wyoming Chapter
American Civil Liberties Union

Maddow on Wyo abortion bill, gives props to Throne

2011-02-10T10:06:00.001-07:00

Wyoming anti-abortion bill advances

Rachel Maddow updates the story of anti-abortion legislation in the Wyoming state legislation and the efforts of its Democratic and small-government Republican opponents.

Click here to watch

Legislative Update Feb. 9

2011-02-09T12:42:00.001-07:00

This week has been very difficult with HB 251- Representative Brechtel’s Abortion – ultrasound information passing first reading on the House floor. The changes made in the bill made no improvement on the violation of doctor-patient relationship or the burdensome 24 hour waiting period. This bill continues to be an unnecessary bill the purpose of which is to invade women’s private reproductive health decisions and insert religious belief into our statutes. Significant amendments were made and passed today however the fact remains that this bill should simply be voted down. We STRONGLY oppose this bill.

HB40 – Compensation for persons exonerated based on DNA will be heard in the Senate judiciary at 8 A.m. tomorrow morning. This bill has received good support and has had few amendments. We support this bill.

HB69 – Prescriptions for marijuana invalid – is moving forward with few amendments and will start its journey through the Senate this week. Unfortunately, it looks like this bill has support and will pass. We oppose this bill.

HB74- Validity of marriage Despites it’s numerous legal problems this bill along with SJ5 - Defense of marriage –constitutional amendment continue to pass through the process. Both of these bills are unnecessary, discriminatory, and probably unconstitutional on both a state and federal level. We STRONGLY oppose this bill.

HB121- Public Records has passed out of the house and been assigned to House Judiciary Committee. This bill would do a great deal to strengthen our current public records act. We support this bill.

Rachel Maddow gives shout out to Wyoming legislators

2011-02-09T12:35:00.000-07:00

Rachel Maddow shares audio of speeches by Republican representatives in the Wyoming state legislature urging colleagues to vote against a Republican anti-abortion bill and keep government out of the doctor's office.

Click here to watch

Abortion – Ultrasound Information

2011-02-04T16:19:00.001-07:00

HB0251 Abortion – ultrasound information – AN ACT relating to public health and safety; requiring physicians to provide patients with specified information before certain nonemergency abortion procedures; providing definitions and amending a definition; and providing for an effective date.

We oppose this bill. This bill is an unwarranted intrusion into private medical care. HB0251 would require women who are considering abortion to be given government-scripted information and then wait 24 hours before having the procedure. This bill interferes with the doctor-patient relationship and inserts the government into the examination room, and allows politics come between a woman and her physician.

Help us protect a woman’s right to choose; call your Representative and ask them to vote NO on HB0251.

Legislative Update Jan. 26

2011-01-26T12:00:00.001-07:00

New bills we are monitoring:

HB0204 – Patriotism in the classroom – AN ACT relating to public schools; requiring a flag to be displayed in each classroom as specified; requiring the pledge of allegiance to be recited as specified; providing for enforcement by a mandamus action; and providing for an effective date.

Although a salute to the flag and oath of allegiance are commonly accepted practices in school assembly exercises, exemptions should be granted to a student whose religious scruples or other principled convictions lead him or her to refuse to participate in such exercises. The Supreme Court has held that the protection of freedom of religion under the First Amendment encompasses such exemption on grounds of religious belief. There should be no distinction in this respect between student objection based on religious conviction and that based on non-religious grounds of conscience. We oppose this bill.

HJ0004 – Repeal of the 17th Amendment – A JOINT RESOLUTION requesting Congress to propose an amendment to the United States Constitution repealing the seventeenth amendment to the United States Constitution.

The 17th Amendment is what provides for the direct election of U.S. Senators. We oppose this resolution.

HJ0008 – Sharia Law – A JOINT RESOLUTION proposing to amend the Wyoming Constitution to require courts in this state to rely on federal and state laws when deciding cases and to forbid courts from considering international law or Sharia law when deciding cases.

This resolution is nothing more than a solution looking for a problem. The 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution already prohibits courts from considering any religious law when deciding cases. It is an unnecessary measure that accomplishes absolutely nothing. We oppose this resolution.

SF123 – Katie’s Law – AN ACT relating to criminal procedure; providing for collection of DNA for a person arrested for a felony; providing conforming amendments; and providing for an effective date.

Collecting and storing DNA from arrestees turns a fundamental tenet of our justice system-innocent until proven guilty - on its head. Arrestees have not yet been convicted of a crime, and may never be convicted. Collecting DNA from a person prior to being convicted will do little to make us safer. The effectiveness of a DNA database to help solve crimes is limited not by the number of profiles of known individuals in the database, but by the number of crime scene profiles. DNA evidence can not be collected from most crime scenes. DNA collection is different from fingerprinting, it is an individual’s entire genetic blueprint, and is not simply an identifier. Because DNA is inherited, information can be inferred about family members as well as the individual whose data is collected. For privacy and due process reasons, we oppose this bill.

HB118 Defeated!!!

2011-01-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

HB118 – Abortion – available information for decision was voted down in the House yesterday. We are happy to learn of this favorable outcome! Thank you to everyone who worked to defeat this bill. We urge everyone to reach out to their Representatives that voted against the bill, and say thank you for standing up for medical privacy and women’s reproductive rights. Here is the voting record:

Ayes: 23
Nays: 32
Excused: 5

Ayes: Representative(s) Brechtel, Buchanan, Burkhart, Campbell, Cannady, Edmonds, Eklund, Gay, Gingery, Greene, Harshman, Harvey, Jaggi, Kroeker, Krone, Loucks, McKim, Miller, Peasley, Petersen, Quarberg, Semlek and Teeters.

Nays: Representative(s) Barbuto, Berger, Blake, Blikre, Bonner, Botten, Brown, Byrd, Connolly, Craft, Esquibel, K., Freeman, Greear, Hunt, Kasperik, Lubnau, Madden, McOmie, Moniz, Nicholas B, Patton, Pederson, Petroff, Roscoe, Shepperson, Steward, Stubson, Throne, Vranish, Wallis, Zwonitzer, Dn. and Zwonitzer, Dv..

Excused: Representative(s) Childers, Davison, Goggles, Illoway and Lockhart.

Where are we today?

2011-01-25T13:53:00.000-07:00

HB24 –Voting rights has failed in the House and is indefinitely postponed.
HB65 – Marital counseling has failed in committee.
HB74 – Validity of marriages has passed in the House and will now go to the Senate.
HB94 – Illegal immigration has failed in committee.
HB119 – Public records and meetings – court proceedings has failed in committee.
HB120 – Public meetings has passed in committee.
HB121 – Public records has passed in committee.
HB142 – Discrimination has passed out of committee.
HB148 – Assisted suicide ban has been assigned to committee.
HB149 – Marriage -definitions has been assigned to committee and will be heard on Friday.
HB150 – Civil unions has been assigned to committee and will be heard on Friday.
HB24 – Patriotism in the classroom has been received for introduction.
SF3 – Campaign finance – organizations has passed the Senate and will go to House.
SF13 – Change of political party affiliation has not passed in committee.
SF36 – Seclusion and restraint in schools has passed out of Senate and will go to House.
SF59 – Spice drugs has been assigned to committee.
SF96 – Open primaries failed in committee.
SJ5 – Defense of Marriage - Constitutional Amendment has been laid back.

Great News on HB0094

2011-01-24T11:18:00.002-07:00

HB0094 - Illegal Immigration bill was laid back and did not pass out of the Minerals Committee this morning. This Arizona-style immigration bill was defeated and will not move to the floor of the House. The ACLU of Wyoming strongly opposed this bill and will monitor this type of legislation in the future.

Action Needed to Defeat HB118

2011-01-24T11:08:00.002-07:00

The House Labor, Health and Social Services passed House Bill 118, "Abortion-available information for decision," on a 7-2 vote. The bill has now gone to the full House and could be voted on any day!

We need e-mails and calls to Wyoming Representatives urging them to "VOTE NO ON HOUSE BILL 118." (This bill requires women who are considering abortion to be given government-scripted information and then wait 24 hours before having the procedure. We don't want this kind of government intrusion into personal medical choices.)

Please call or email your Representatives and ask them to VOTE NO ON HOUSE BILL 118, "Abortion-available information for decision."

Other ways to contact legislators are as follows:
• Call the Voter Hotline at 777-8683 and tell the operator/receptionist that you want a "NO Vote on House Bill 118". (The Hotline is usually staffed 7:30 A.M.-5:30 P.M. on days the legislature is in session.)
• Use the Online Hotline to urge a NO vote on House Bill 118. (You may also type in a short message.)

The text of the bill is available here.

The ACLU or Wyoming opposes House Bill 118 for many reasons, including the following:

• This bill is an unwarranted intrusion into medical care. It puts government into the examination room and lets politics come between a woman and her physician.

Thank you for helping us defeat this dangerous and cruel intrusion into women's private medical care.

The end of a long week and the start of another...

2011-01-24T10:24:00.002-07:00

Last week was a tough week in the Wyoming Legislature with little to be happy about. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed SJ5- Defense of marriage – constitutional amendment 3-2. The bill calls for a vote to amend the Wyoming Constitution to read “A marriage between a man and a woman shall be the only legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state”. HB 74 – Validity of Marriage also passed two hurdles in the House, this bill provides that marriages between more than two parties are void along with stating that the only valid marriages in Wyoming are between a man and a woman. Both of these proposals clearly discriminate against same sex couples and have no place in the equality state or any other state for that matter.

In addition, the House Labor Committee passed HB 118 - Abortion - available information for decision which requires a doctor to offer a woman requesting an abortion a look at an ultra sound and a lesson on fetal pain along with a 24 hour waiting period before obtaining an abortion. This bill unnecessarily delays a woman’s ability to obtain an abortion solely for the purpose of providing her biased, inaccurate information and to attempt to shame her out of her decision. Physicians not politicians should decide what is said to a patient. This bill requires doctors to provide biased information for political purposes. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist along with the American Medical Association have found the nerve connections in the fetal brain are not sufficiently formed to allow pain perception. This bill is not about facts. It is about politics.

HB65 – Marital counseling also passed out of committee. This bill would require couples to have 3 hours of premarital counseling prior to receiving a marriage license. If they do not complete counseling there would be a waiting period for marriage licenses. The bill also requires counseling prior to receiving a divorce decree.

Legislators are still filing bills HB0204 – Patriotism in classroom, HJ0008 - Sharia Law, HJ0004 - Repeal 17th Amendment ( the 17th Amendment allows for citizens to vote for U.S. Senators – if repealed the legislators would vote for senators) The time, money and effort spent on legislating to curtail or remove civil liberties in this legislature is astonishing. I hope everyone is paying close attention to the kind of bills your legislators are filing and the way they want the government to control both personal and public life. Many of these bills are bills are bills that have already been blocked as being unconstitutional.

Next week will be another busy week with HB94 - Illegal Immigration set for the Minerals Committee at 8:00 AM Monday morning. This bill is a mirror bill of the Arizona bill, parts of that bill have already been found unconstitutional and other sections are still embroiled in court battles. While it is clear that we need reasonable fair immigration reform immigration law is strictly controlled by the federal government; this bill only encourages racial profiling and discrimination.

Three important bills, filed by Laramie Representative Cathy Connolly will be coming to committee next week: HB142 – Discrimination, Judiciary Committee – Tuesday January 25 at 7 AM, HB149 – Marriage – definition and HB150 – Civil Unions will be heard Friday January 28 at 7 AM in Capitol 302. I encourage all of you to call or email committee members and voice your support for these bills.

Legislative Update Jan. 20th

2011-01-20T16:13:00.002-07:00

The House passed HB0074 - Validity of Marriages on its first reading today. Please contact your legislators and tell them to vote NO on HB0074. We oppose this bill.

Committee Meeting Alerts: HB0142 - Discrimination will be heard by Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, January 25 at 7 am. HB0149 - Marriage - Definitions & HB0150 - Civil Unions will both be heard on Friday, January 28 at 7 am in room 302. We STRONGLY support these 3 bills.

HB0074

2011-01-19T11:27:00.002-07:00

HB0074 - Validity of Marriages will move to the House floor today. We strongly oppose this bill. Contact your legislators and ask them to vote NO on HB0074!!!

If you are interested in getting up-to-the-minute updates from the Wyoming ACLU, follow us on Twitter (@ACLUWYO).

Legislative Update Jan. 18th

2011-01-18T16:21:00.001-07:00

Week two in legislature will be very busy with important bills coming into committee and on the floor every day. Please check daily for bills and take the time to call your representative and voice your opinion.

House Bill HB00074 – Validity of Marriage passed in the Education committee with a vote of 7 to 2 last night. The bill defines marriage as between a man and women, does not recognize those same-sex couples’s marriages from other states and does not recognize marriage between multiple spouses. We strongly oppose this bill and hope that you will contact your representative today and let them know that you oppose these bills that deny members of our community the rights and privileges that we should all enjoy. Representative Connolly and Representative John Freemen cast the two no votes against this bill – please let them know you appreciate their courage and convictions.
Aye votes – Reps. Bob Brechtel, Donald Burkhart, Kendell Kroeker, Same Krone, Cary “Bunky” Loucks, Michael Madden Chairman Matt Teeters.

The Corporations Committee considered SF0003 – Campaign Finance- Organization and passed it out of committee with an amendment that added more transparency into the bill. The ACLU has supported the campaign finance decision that allowed for contributions from organizations and corporations.

The Committee also passed SF0014 – Counties – election districts. This bill would allow a county to set up voting districts that would allow election of commissioners by district, at-large or a combination of the two. District voting is generally favored as it provides for accountability and for protection of voters. Hybrid and at-large systems are generally in disfavor as they lend themselves to voter discrimination and violations of the voting rights act. We are disappointed at the passage of this out of committee and feel that it is an invitation for mischief by county commissions. Like much of the legislation this session there is no good purpose for this bill.

At 7:00 AM Wednesday the Senate Judiciary Committee will discuss SJ0005 - Defense of Marriage – constitutional amendment in the Herschler Building room b63. This is an attempt to put the discrimination of gays and lesbians into a constitutional amendment for the people to vote on. This issue is currently on its way up to the Supreme Court and it is a waste of time and money for the people of Wyoming to be voting on it. The courts have clearly said you cannot vote away a fundamental right and marriage is a fundamental right under our constitution. From Perry v. Schwarzenegger (this case and numerous articles at ACLU.ORG) “ The evidence did not show any historical purpose for excluding same sex couples from marriage, as states have never required spouses to have an ability or willingness to procreate in order to marry. Rather, the exclusion exist as an artifact of a time when genders where seen as having distinct roles in society and in marriage. That time has passed. “

Friday at the noon adjournment the Labor Committee will hear HB0118 – Abortion – available information for decision (see previous blog post on this bill) This bill is an intrusion into the private lives and decision making of women and their medical providers.

We are testifying on other legislation and issues and will try to keep you up to date on as many happenings as we can.

HB0118

2011-01-18T11:30:00.000-07:00

HB0118 – Abortion – available information for decision – AN ACT relating to public health and safety; requiring physicians to provide patients with specified information before certain nonemergency abortion procedures; providing definitions and amending a definition; and providing for an effective date.

This bill would require women who are considering abortion to be given government-scripted information and then wait 24 hours before having the procedure.

We oppose this bill.

Our primary concerns:

THIS BILL IS AN UNWARRANTED INTRUSION INTO PRIVATE MEDICAL CARE

• Women should receive unbiased information about their health care options, but this bill interferes with the doctor-patient relationship. It puts government into the examination room and lets politics come between a woman and her physician.
• This bill would force doctors to provide information prepared by state legislators (non-medical personnel). Every woman needs to be able to trust her doctor to provide even-handed information, not script forced on every patient regardless of her circumstances.
• This bill distorts the principle of informed consent. Informed consent is already standard medical practice, and we support providing women with the opportunity to ask questions and receive unbiased information. As with any other medical procedure, women sign informed consent forms and have the opportunity to discuss the risks, alternatives, procedures, and follow-up care prior to the abortion procedure.

THIS BILL POSES THREATS TO WOMEN’S ACCESS TO MEDICAL SERVICES

• This bill has no exception for women who are dealing with rape, incest, several fetal anomalies, or serious health problems.
• In Wyoming abortion care is already very difficult to obtain. This bill would make the situation worse by imposing a mandatory 24 hour delay. Women traveling long distances to obtain reproductive health care could be forced to make two trips, facing additional obstacles and expense. Ninety-six percent of Wyoming counties lack an abortion provider.
• This bill does nothing to prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce the need for abortion services.

Legislative Update

2011-01-14T14:55:00.001-07:00

We will continue to add bills to our “watch” list as they are filed. Bills may be filed up to January 26. Here are the bills we are adding today:

HBO121 – PUBLIC RECORDS – AN ACT relating to public records; setting reasonable time for production of public records; clarifying reasonable fees for duplication of public records; and providing for an effective date.

The current public records law does not provide for a time limit for production – this bill would allow 3 days for production with an extension for extenuating circumstances of up to 7 days. This is a very important change to assure timely response to public records requests.

We support this bill.

HBOO95 – INVOLUNTARY COMMITMENT EXAMINERS – AN ACT relating to hospitalization of mentally ill persons; amending the definition of examiner for purposes of involuntary detention; providing that involuntary detention and involuntary hospitalization hearings not be combined under specified circumstances; and providing for an effective date.

This bill refers to the hospitalization of mentally ill people and would allow a physicians assistant to evaluate the mental status of individuals and recommend that they be held against their will for treatment. The criteria for examiners for these situations have gotten looser and looser – there is no indication that a physician’s assistant has any but a cursory knowledge of psychiatric illness.

We oppose this bill.

HBO142 – DISCRIMINATION – AN ACT relating to discrimination; prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity as specified; and providing for an effective date.

WE SUPPORT THIS BILL!!!!

SF0059 – “SPICE” DRUGS – AN ACT relating to the Wyoming Controlled Substances Act; adding specified controlled substances to schedule I of the act; authorizing additional positions; providing an appropriation; and providing for an effective date.

We generally support the legalization of drugs; criminalization has simply poured billions of dollars into an ever widening pit and has not changed the use of drugs in our country in any perceptible manner. In addition we have incarcerated millions of non-violent persons costing additional billions.

We oppose this bill.

SF0096 – OPEN PRIMARIES – AN ACT relating to elections; providing for electors to request any single party or nonpartisan ballot at the primary election; providing that voting a single party or nonpartisan ballot at the primary election does not constitute a declaration of party affiliation; and providing for an effective date.

We support this bill.

Legislative Update

2011-01-12T16:55:00.002-07:00

The 2011 Wyoming Legislature is now in full-swing. We hope everyone watched Governor Mead deliver the State of the State address to a joint session of the legislature this morning. New bills are being filed every day and we continue to watch them closely. In addition to the bills listed in our previous blog post, here are several new bills that we will be monitoring.

HB0094 – Illegal Immigration - AN ACT relating to immigration; establishing an offense for failure to carry an alien registration document; establishing offenses for unlawful hiring and unlawful employment; establishing an offense for unlawful transporting of aliens; providing for the determination and communication of immigration status; prohibiting employment of unauthorized alien’s requiring employers to participate in the e-verify program; authorizing warrantless arrest for offenses that make a person removable from the United Sates; providing penalties; providing for severability of provisions; and providing for an effective date.

This is a copy of the Arizona “papers please” bill, including sections that are being challenged as unconstitutional in federal courts. It is offensive on many levels; however, immigration laws are controlled by the U.S. Congress and not by the states. This is another example of an unnecessary mean spirited piece of legislation that is sure to be found unconstitutional.

We oppose this bill

HB0118 – Abortion – Available information for decision – AN ACT relating to public health and safety; requiring physicians to provide patients with specified information before certain nonemergency abortion procedures; providing definitions and amending a definition; and providing for an effective date.

The This bill would unnecessarily delay a woman’s ability to obtain an abortion – solely for the purpose of providing her biased, inaccurate information and to attempt to shame her out of her decision. The bill puts government into the examination room, and lets politics come between a woman and her physician.

We oppose this bill

SJ0005 – Defense of Marriage – Constitutional amendment – A JOINT RESOLUTION proposing to amend the Wyoming Constitution by creating a new section specifying that a marriage between a man and a woman shall be the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in Wyoming.

This is another attempt at continuing the discrimination and unequal treatment of the gay and lesbian community. It is unnecessary and mean spirited.

We oppose this resolution

2011 Wyoming Legislative Session Starts Next Week

2011-01-07T16:40:00.004-07:00

The General Session of the 2011 legislature starts next week on January 11. Our new Governor, Matt Mead, will present his State of the State address at a Joint Session of the Legislature on January 12 at 10:00 A.M. in the House Chamber.

The legislature has a very good web site (http://legisweb.state.wy.us) that allows you to track any bills you are interested in, find out the schedules for all session activities including committee meetings, and contact your legislator. In addition, there is helpful information on the best way to participate in the session.

The Wyoming Chapter of the ACLU follows a number of bills and provides information and testimony on those that directly affect the civil rights of Wyoming citizens. We will have daily updates on the progress of the legislature.

Below is a list of proposed legislation that we are monitoring:

HB0021 – Battery against a family member - AN ACT relating to crimes and offenses, removing time restrictions relating to second and subsequent convictions for simple battery against a family member as specified; amending penalties for subsequent convictions; and providing for an effective date.

The current penalties for this crime are fair and reasonable penalties; continually providing harsher and harsher penalties for crimes does not solve social problems and has driven the prison population to one of the largest and most expensive in the world.
We do not support this bill.

HB0023 – Sex offender registration amendments – AN ACT relating to sex offender registration and notification; amending the information sex offenders are required to provide; requiring specified juveniles to register as sex offenders; amending the information that shall be provided to the public; amending the registration requirements for specified offenses; conforming provisions; requiring offenders convicted but not yet sentenced to register as sex offenders; requiring notice by the offender who will travel out of the country as specified; eliminating language that may permit an offender who has not registered as required to avoid statutes after a specified time; clarifying conditions under which an offender may petition a court to be relieved of registration requirements; amending and creating definitions and providing for an effective date.

Sex offender registries are generally not supported by either law enforcement or treatment experts as they do not work; making juveniles register (the majority of which are victims themselves) not only gives true pedophiles a list of possible victims but ensures a more difficult and possible impossible rehabilitation for children.
We do not support this bill.

HB0024 - Voting rights – AN ACT relating to voting rights; repealing the time period required before restoration of voting rights to certain convicted felons; making conforming amendment; and providing for an effective date.

We support legislation that increases the opportunity to participate in the democratic process of voting, and contributes to the successful reintegration of ex-offenders into society.
We support this bill.

HB0040 – Compensation for persons exonerated based on DNA -
AN ACT relating to criminal procedure; authorizing compensation for persons exonerated based on DNA testing; specifying conditions, requirements and limitations on authorized compensation; conforming provisions; and providing for an effective date.

We support legislation that provides for compensation although would like to see a more fair level of compensation.
We support this bill.

HB0065 – Marital counseling - AN ACT relating to marriage; requiring premarital counseling before a couple may obtain a marriage license as specified; providing a waiting period before issuance of a marriage license for parties who fail to complete premarital counseling as specified; requiring marital counseling before a married couple may obtain a divorce decree as specified; providing a waiting period before issuance of a divorce decree for parties who fail to complete court order marital counseling as specified; and providing for an effective date.

The decision to marry or divorce is a private decision, as is the decision to seek counseling; this is not a decision that should be burdened by this type of statute.
We do not support this bill.

HB0074 – Validity of marriages – AN ACT relating to marriage; providing that marriages other than of a male and a female person are void; providing that marriages between more than two parties are void; specifying that Wyoming courts do no have jurisdiction over any domestic legal union involving parties who are not a male and a female person or where there are more than two parties to the contract; and providing for an effective date.

These bills are mean spirited anti-gay discriminatory bills that are unconstitutional.
We do not support this bill.

SF003 – Campaign finance-organizations – AN ACT relating to campaign finance; repealing restrictions on organizations making independent expenditures to advocate the election or defeat of a candidate; providing definition; conforming state law to a United States Supreme Court ruling; requiring notification in advertising; and providing for an effective date.

This bill would bring Wyoming into compliance with the opinion in Citizens United.
We support this bill.

SF0014 – Counties-election districts – AN ACT relating to county commissions; providing for redistricting by single member districts, at large representation or any combination of both; providing authority to county commissions to locate and amend county commissioner districts without election as specified; providing terms of county commissioners subject to districting and redistricting and providing for an effective date.

This bill has been filed as a result of the Fremont County Commissions loss in a voting rights case based on discriminatory voting practices. It is unnecessary and confusing and would not provide the relief that the commission is seeking.
We do not support this bill.

SF0036 – Seclusion and restraint in schools – AN ACT relating to public schools; requiring the state superintendent to adopt rules and regulations regarding seclusion and restraint in schools; requiring school district boards to adopt policies regarding the use of seclusion and restraint in schools as specified; defining terms; and providing for an effective date.

This bill is an important protection for both students and parents and requires the notification of parents when these measures are taken.
We support this bill.

The 2010 Budget Session Comes to a Close

2010-03-09T10:46:00.001-07:00

The 2010 legislature is now concluded. The legislature introduced 224 bills and passed 121 bills. The appropriations bill was passed at almost 3 billion. In 2011 the legislature will begin the 40 day session on January 11, 2011. In the next few months the interim committees will begin the interim studies and work – citizens are invited and welcome to these sessions, the session schedules can be found on the legislative web site.

WE ENCOURAGE ALL WYOMING VOTERS TO CONTACT THEIR LEGISLATORS ON ISSUES THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO THEM.

VOTER HOTLINE – 1866-996-8683 ( 777-8683 in Cheyenne)
CALL OR E-MAIL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE
BILL TEXT AND LEGISLATOR CONTACT INFORMATION ARE AVAILABLE
HERE

General Note On Firearms Legislation:

2010-02-18T12:28:00.002-07:00

THERE ARE SEVERAL INTERESTING RESOLUTIONS REGARDING FIREARMS AND STATES RIGHTS THAT MEMBERS MAY BE INTERESTED IN AND CAN READ ABOUT ON THE LEGISLATIVE WEBSITE – WE WILL BE MONITORING THESE BILLS DUE TO THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL NATURE. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CLICK HB 0028 and/or HB 0095.

Updates:

SF 0065 Termination of Parental Rights

2010-02-18T12:26:00.003-07:00

SF 0065 Termination of Parental Rights

AN ACT relating to children and families; providing for termination of parental rights for failure to provide support and maintain regular personal contact; providing for an effective date.

We are researching the protections that should be in place for termination of parental rights. This loosens the conditions required.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill has been introduced and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
3/9 - This bill did not pass.

HB 0132 Homicide During Pregnancy - 2

2010-02-18T12:24:00.002-07:00

HB 0132 Homicide During Pregnancy - 2

AN ACT relating to homicide; establishing a sentencing enhancement in homicide cases in which a pregnant woman is killed as specified; and providing for an effective date.

We will not oppose this bill as it has been rewritten as an enhanced penalty.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill passed introduction and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee
3/9 - This bill was the substitute for the double homicide bill and passed

HB 00121 Child Health Insurance Program - Prenatal Coverage

2010-02-18T12:21:00.002-07:00

HB 121 Child Health Insurance Program - Prenatal Coverage

AN ACT relating to the child health insurance program; providing for a state plan amendment to provide prenatal care to pregnant women, as specified; providing a definition; providing appropriations; and providing for an effective date.

NARAL, the ACLU and Planned Parenthood oppose this bill as it includes language that defines “child” at conception

Updates:
2/18 - This bill was not brought forward for introduction.

HB 0087 Discrimination

2010-02-18T12:19:00.001-07:00

HB 0087 Discrimination

AN ACT relating to discrimination; prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity as specified; and providing for an effective date.

We are in favor of this bill.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill did not pass introduction.

HB 0083 Crimes and Offenses - Restrictions for Adult Sex Offenders

2010-02-18T12:16:00.003-07:00

HB 0083 Crimes and Offenses - Restrictions for Adult Sex Offenders

AN ACT relating to crimes and offenses; prohibition adult sex offenders from access to school properties and events as specified; providing exceptions; providing penalties; requiring posting of notices as specified; providing definition; amending a definition; and providing for an effective date.

We oppose this legislation as being unnecessary and broad for applying standards that would literally provide no place that someone to live in some towns. This law would apply to all sex offenders that are required to register; registration now covers individuals that have never reoffended, are low risk and are not any risk to children.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill has passed introduction and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee. These bills are very difficult bills as we are often the only testimony against them and legislators are afraid to vote against them as they have a vocal constituency.
3/9 - This bill passed with a change to the residency restriction. Anyone on the registry may not live within 1,000 feet of a school.

HB 0075 Loss of Parental Rights - Homicide of Spouce

2010-02-18T12:14:00.003-07:00

HB 0075 Loss of Parental Rights - Homicide of Spouce

AN ACT relating to termination of parental rights; providing for termination of a parent’s rights upon conviction of the homicide of the other parent of the child; and providing for an effective date.

We are monitoring this bill only.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill has passed introduction and been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
3/9 - This bill passed and will go into effect on 7/1/10

HB 0074 Homocide During Pregnancy

2010-02-18T12:12:00.002-07:00

HB 0074 Homocide During Pregnancy

AN ACT relating to homicide; establishing the offense of homicide of a pregnant woman resulting in the involuntary termination of the pregnancy without a live birth; imposing a penalty; and providing for an effective date.

NARAL, the ACLU and Planned Parenthood opposed this bill as it called for a double homicide for the homicide of a pregnant woman. The sponsor chose to file another bill allowing for an enhanced penalty for homicide during pregnancy which we will be neutral on.

Updates:
3/9 - This bill did not pass but did morph into another bill that added enhanced sentences to second degree murder and two other lesser charges. There was considerable testimony on this bill and the anti-choice groups were not happy about the changes. Their testimony was that they will be coming back to legislature with the double homicide bill next year when there is a new governor that will not veto the bill. Several of the anti-choice people voted against the new bill.

HB 0064 Mandatory Minimum Sentence for Sexual Abuse of a Minor

2010-02-18T12:09:00.002-07:00

HB 0064 Mandatory Minimum Sentence for Sexual Abuse of a Minor

AN ACT relating to crimes and offenses; establishing a mandatory minimum sentence for first degree sexual assault of a minor when the actor is at least eighteen years of age and the victim is less than thirteen years of age; and providing for an effective date.

We oppose mandatory minimum sentences in general as they simply shift discretion from the judge to the prosecutor. Our justice system is based on the judge considering the facts of each case and handing down appropriate sentences in each case. Mandatory minimums often result in a disparity of sentencing outcomes that is based largely on race and the quality of defense. There is no indication that Wyoming judges are giving lenient sentences as the length of sentences has grown in the past 10 years and Wyoming has a high incarceration rate. We will provide testimony on this bill.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill has passed introduction, passed the Judiciary Committee and will now go to the Senate for introduction.
3/9 - This bill did pass amending the age of the actor to 21 and the mandatory minimum to 25 years. There was considerable testimony on this bill on both sides.

HB 0061 Legal Services Funding

2010-02-18T12:05:00.003-07:00

HB 0061 Legal Services Funding

AN ACT relating to indigent civil legal services; providing for additional fees to fund indigent civil legal services; providing for additional fees to fund indigent civil legal services; establishing and indigent civil legal services account; creating and providing for administration of an indigent legal services program; authorizing rulemaking/ authorizing the expenditure of funds for the program as specified; providing for reports; and providing for an effective date.

WE ARE MONITORING THIS BILL IN THE HOPES THAT WYOMING WILL FUND LEGAL SERVICES FOR THE POOR AS IT IS ONE OF ONLY TWO STATES THAT DOES NOT DO SO.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill has passed introduction and passed out of the Judiciary Committee and will now go to the Senate for introduction.
3/9 - This bill passed in the Senate version.

2010 Budget Session Starts 2/08/10

2010-02-04T16:08:00.006-07:00

THE 2010 WYOMING LEGISLATURE BEGINS MONDAY FEBRUARY 8, 2010.

WE ENCOURAGE ALL WYOMING VOTERS TO CONTACT THEIR LEGISLATORS ON ISSUES THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO THEM.

BILL TEXT AND LEGISLATOR CONTACT INFORMATION ARE AVAILABLE HERE

THE 2010 WYOMING ACLU LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES ARE LISTED ON THIS BLOG. PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES ON BILLS AND OTHER ACTIVITES DURING THE SESSION.

TO FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE WYOMING ACLU's POSITION ON 2010 BILLS, PLEASE CONTACT OUR OFFICE.

SF 0033 Stalking Penalites

2010-02-04T15:35:00.004-07:00

SF 0033 Stalking Penalties

AN ACT relating to crimes and offenses; adding specified violations of protection orders as actions for which an enhanced penalty for stalking may be imposed; and providing for an effective date.

WE WILL OPPOSE THIS BILL AS WE ARE GENERALLY OPPOSED TO ENHANCED PENALTIES. THIS BILL PROVIDES AN ENHANCED PENALTY FOR THE VIOLATION OF A STALKING ORDER WHICH ALREADY CONTAINS A PENALTY FOR VIOLATION.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill passed introduction and has been referred to Senate Judiciary Committee.
3/9 - This bill did not pass.

SF 0030 Sex Offender Registration

2010-02-04T15:30:00.003-07:00

SF 0030 Sex Offender Registration: Multiple Addresses

AN ACT relating to sex offender registration; clarifying that registered sex offenders are required to provide the sheriff with each address at which the offender resides; and providing for an effective date.

WE WILL MONITOR THIS BILL.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill was tabled in committee.

SF 0015 Title 25 Revisions

2010-02-04T15:28:00.003-07:00

SF 0015 Title 25 Revisions

AN ACT relating to involuntary commitments and emergency detentions; amending definitions as specified; expanding the definition of “mental illness" and “mentally ill” as specified; specifying services that can be considered treatment; clarifying liability for costs of regency detention; specifying responsibility for the transportation of a detainee, a patient and a discharged person under specified conditions; authorizing counties to establish a single point or responsibility for treatment of detainees. Conforming provisions; and providing for an effective date.

WE WILL MONITOR THIS BILL FOR DUE PROCESS PROTECTIONS.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill has passed introduction and has been referred to the Senate Labor Committee.
3/9 - This bill passed without the expanded definitions of mental illness.

SF 0014 Circuit Court Hearings of Municipal Violations by Juveniles

2010-02-04T15:23:00.004-07:00

SF 0014 Circuit Court Hearings of Municipal Violations by Juveniles

AN ACT relating to juveniles; authorizing prosecution of violations of municipal ordinances in circuit court as specified; providing for probation revocation proceedings for violations of municipal or circuit court sentences; and providing for an ineffective date.

WE OPPOSE THIS BILL. THIS BILL COMES AT THE REQUEST OF NATRONA COUNTY TO CODIFY IN STATUTES THEIR CURRENT PROCEDURES FOR THE TREATMENT OF JUVENILES. THIS, AGAIN, JUST ENTRENCHES THE CURRENT PERVERSE SITUATION WHERE EVERY COUNTY DOES WHATEVER THEY WANT TO DO WITH YOUTH WITH NO UNIFORMITY, NO OVERSIGHT AND NO DIRECTION FROM THE STATE. IF THE LEGISLATURE STARTS PUTTING EACH COUNTIES PROCESS IN STATUTE WE WILL HAVE EVEN MORE OF A MESS THAN WE HAVE NOW. THIS IS NOT THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF CONCURRENT JURISDICTION FOR JUVENILES, THE SOLUTION IS NOW AND HAS BEEN FOR THE PAST 50 YEARS FOR THE LEGISLATURE TO PROVIDE A UNIFORM, STATEWIDE JUVENILE JUSTICE COURT SYSTEM.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill has passed introduction, passed the Judiciary committee and will go to the House for introduction
3/9 - This bill did not pass

SF 0009 Juvenile Detention Facilities

2010-02-04T15:19:00.003-07:00

SF 0009 Juvenile Detention Facilities: Standards

AN ACT relating to juvenile detention; requiring sheriffs to develop and implement standards for juvenile detention facilities as specified; requiring a report; providing definitions; and providing for effective dates.

WE OPPOSE THIS BILL AS IT IS WRITTEN. IT SHOULD BE CALLED NO DETENTION STANDARDS, NO OVERSIGHT, AND NO DIRECTION. ONCE AGAIN THE SHERIFF’S HAVE COMPLETE DISCRETION TO DO WHATEVER THEY WANT WITH NO REQUIREMENT THAT THEY ADHERE TO NATIONALLY ACCEPTED STANDARDS AND CRITERIA.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill passed introduction, passed the judiciary committee and will now go to the House for introduction
3/9 - This bill passed and will go into effect on 7/1/10. The bill did contain amendments that strengthen the requirements for uniform standards

HB 0053 Women's Right to Information

2010-02-04T15:15:00.005-07:00

HB 0053 Women's Right to Information

AN ACT relating to public health and safety; requiring physicians to obtain a signed acknowledgement as specified when obtaining a pregnant woman’s consent to an abortion; providing an exception; authorizing sanctions as specified; providing definitions; and providing for an effective date.

WE STRONGLY OPPOSE THIS BILL. THIS BILLS REQUIRES WYOMING DOCTORS TO OBTAIN CONSENT FORMS DEALING WITH ULTRASOUND PROCEDURES PRIOR TO PERFORMING ABORTIONS. A WOMAN WOULD HAVE TO BE TOLD THAT AN ULTRASOUND WOULD ENABLE HER TO VIEW HER FETUS AND “HEAR THE HEARBEAT”. THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH WOULD HAVE TO PREPARE A LIST OF FACILITES AND CLINICS THAT OFFER TO PERFORM FREE ULTRASOUNDS; SUCH FACILITES ARE USUALLY ANTI-CHOICE CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTERS.

This bill is an unwarranted intrusion into medical care.
This bill distorts the principle of informed consent.
This bill poses threats to women’s access to reproductive health services.

Updates:
2/18 - NARAL, the ACLU and Planned Parenthood worked to kill this bill on introduction and the bill failed to be introduced

HB 0045 Compulsory School Attendance

2010-02-04T15:10:00.004-07:00

HB 0045 Compulsory School Attendance: 2

AN Act relating to compulsory school attendance; providing for parental consent as a means to allow children subject to mandatory attendance age to withdraw from school; and providing for an effective date.

WE OPPOSE THIS BILL. WHILE MANY WYOMING SCHOOL DISTRICTS HAVE VERY HIGH DROP OUT RATE THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM IS NOT PUTTING MORE CHILDREN INTO THE LEGAL SYSTEM BUT DEALING WITH ZERO TOLERANCE POLICIES AND INEFFECTIVE LEARING SYSTEMS THAT ARE PUSHING YOUTH OUT OF SCHOOL.

Updates:
3/9 - This bill passed in the Senate version and requires a parent’s approval in order for a child to drop out of school; this is not an onerous requirement but does little to address the real systemic problems involved in Wyoming’s high drop out rate.

HB 0035 Lobbying Restrictions

2010-02-04T15:07:00.003-07:00

HB 0035 Lobbying Restrictions

AN ACT relating to lobbying; restricting lobbying by the five statewide elected officials and state legislators for two years after leaving office; providing penalties; and providing for an effective date.

OUR OFFICE WILL MONITOR THIS BILL.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill did not pass introduction.

HB 0021 Minimum Wage

2010-02-04T15:05:00.003-07:00

HB 0021 Minimum Wage

AN ACT relating to minimum wage; increasing the minimum wage for all employees; and providing for an effective date.

THIS BILL IS A BILL THAT NEEDS TO BE PASSED IN WYOMING IN ORDER TO SUPPORT FAMILIES WITH THE BAREST OF NECESSITIES; EVEN IN ITS CURRENT FORM IT DOES NOT PROVIDE A LIVING WAGE.

Updates:
2/18 - Once again this bill did not pass introduction with testimony from opposing Representatives that there were waitresses in Wyoming that were “making $100 dollars an hour” and this bill was not necessary.

HB 0020 Criminal Street Gangs

2010-02-04T15:01:00.003-07:00

HB 0020 Criminal Street Gangs

AN ACT relating to crimes and offenses; creating the crime of intimidation in furtherance of the interests of a criminal street gang; providing definitions; and providing for an effective date.

WE OPPOSE THIS LEGISLATION AS THE “GANGS” BILLS ARE MOST OFTEN USED BY THE POLICE TO TARGET AND HARRASS MINORITY YOUTH ARE VAGUE AND OVERLY BROAD; AND ANY ACTUAL CRIMES ARE COVERED IN THE CRIMINAL CODE.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill has passed introduction and been referred to the House Judiciary Committee – the committee hearing on this bill will be Monday February 15 at 8:00 AM. We will provide testimony at this hearing.
3/9 - This bill passed and will go into effect on 7/1/10. This bill was supported by DCI and the Sheriffs and unfortunately passed. The DCI provided information that there is extensive gang activity in Wyoming – I have been unable to verify this information and all reports so far seem to be antidotal other than “intelligence” information which DCI has stated cannot be released to the public. This type of gang targeting has lost credibility with most areas that have gang problems and best practices intervention and prevention programs are now thought to be the most effective measures against gang activity.

HB 0013 Underage Drinking

2010-02-04T14:59:00.003-07:00

HB 0013 Underage Drinking

AN ACT relating to alcohol; creating and offense for persons under age twenty-one (21) years who attempt or gain admittance to liquor dispensing rooms or drive-in liquor areas as specified; expanding offenses for persons under the age of twenty-one (21) years who posses or consume alcohol; providing exceptions; providing penalties; providing for prima facie evidence; providing a definition; and providing for an effective date.

OUR OFFICE WILL BE MONITORING THE PROGRESS OF THIS BILL IN REGARDS TO THE TREATMENT OF JUVENILES.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill has passed as written and is now on General File.
3/9 - This bill passed and will go into effect on 7/1/10.

HB 0012 Juvenile Detention Facilities

2010-02-04T14:55:00.004-07:00

HB 0012 Juvenile Detention Facilities: Admissions Criteria

AN ACT relating to juvenile detention; requiring a risk assessment for alleged delinquent minors as specified; requiring sheriffs to approve juvenile detention risk assessment instruments; providing definitions; requiring a report; and providing for an effective date.

WITHOUT THE ADDITION OF SPECIFIC UNIFORM BEST PRACTICES ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS WE WILL OPPOSE THIS BILL. THIS BILL SIMPLY CONTINUES THE INEFFECTIVE “SYSTEM” OF DO WHATEVER YOU WANT WITH JUVENILES WITH NO OVERSIGHT AND NO ACCOUNTABLILITY. THIS GIVES UNFETTERED DESCRETION TO SHERIFFS AND PROVIDES NO SOLUTION TO ANY OF THE MULTITUDE OF PROBLEMS WYOMING HAS IN DEALING WITH JUVENILES.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill has passed as written and is now on General File.
3/9 - This bill passed with the inclusion of both the words uniform and best practices and will go into effect on 7/1/10. There continues to be some push back from local officials on the use of these types of assessments. One of the difficulties for many counties is that regardless of what the outcome of the assessment is there are few alternatives for placement of juveniles; the state must continue to work on providing counties with the direction and funding to establish appropriate placements for youth.

HB 007 Election Code

2010-02-04T14:50:00.004-07:00

HB 007 Election Code: Revisions

AN ACT relating to elections; providing for post election audits of tabulating equipment; providing for withdrawal of voter registration without notarization; amending terminology providing for retention of absentee ballots after acceptance; providing for verification of write-in candidates qualifications; providing timelines for initial renewal of mill levy proposition; repealing requirement to indicate date a voter became a resident of the county; and providing for an effective date.

OUR OFFICE WILL MONITOR THIS BILL ONLY.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill has passed second reading in the House.
3/9 - This bill passed and will go into effect on 7/1/10. This bill provides for easier and more efficient voting procedures.

HB 004 Criminal Procedure

2010-02-04T14:36:00.006-07:00

HB 004 Criminal Procedure: Time Limits for Competency Evaluations

AN ACT relating to criminal procedure; amending the time period for competency evaluations of nonadjudicated defendants as specified; providing procedures for competency evolutions; authorizing courts to order release of relevant records as specified; requiring reports and hearings as specified; and providing for an effective date.

THIS BILL IS A BILL WE ARE MONITORING FOR DUE PROCESS RIGHTS AND PROTECTIONS.

Updates:
2/18 - This bill has passed second reading in the House.
3/9 - This bill passed and will go into effect on 7/1/10. This bill should make the process for completing competency evaluations more efficient.

SJ0002 Defense of Marriage - Constitutional Amendment

2009-03-06T15:40:00.003-07:00

SJ0002 Defense of Marriage-Constitutional Amendment.
Sponsored by: MEIER
A joint resolution proposing to amend the Wyoming Constitution by creating a new section specifying that a marriage between a man and a woman shall be the only legal union that shall be valid or recognized in Wyoming.

OPPOSE. Failed. We will continue to oppose legislation that serves no purpose other than discrimination.

SF0136 Homicide Aggravated Circumstances

2009-03-06T15:38:00.001-07:00

SF0136 Homicide Aggravating Circumstances.
Sponsored by: DECARIA
An act relating to crimes and offenses: providing that homicide of a pregnant woman is an aggravating circumstance for the imposition of the death penalty as specified, and providing for an effective date.

WATCHING. Failed.

SF0129 Juvenile Justice Amendments

2009-03-06T15:34:00.001-07:00

SF0129 Juvenile Justice Amendments.
Sponsored by: SESSIONS
An act relating to juveniles; amending the definition of status offender as specified; amending the offense of minor in possession of alcohol; amending penalties; amending authority of courts as specified; authorizing the district attorney to determine jurisdiction in specified cases; requiring criteria and procedures for determining jurisdiction; requiring compliance with procedures contained in the Juvenile Justice Act as specified; conforming amendments; and providing for an effective date.

OPPOSE. Passed. This bill gives far too much power to district attorneys. It has been amended to include municipal prosecuting attorneys and does not solve the problem of the lack of a single unified juvenile justice system. This is just another band aid that will continue a system of “local control” where some kids go to jail and others get treatment.

SF0097 Unborn Victims of Violence Act

2009-03-06T15:31:00.001-07:00

SF0097 Unborn Victims of Violence Act.
Sponsored by: JENNINGS
An act relating to crimes and offenses; defining “human being” and “person” to include unborn children for purposes of specified crimes; and providing for effective date.

OPPOSE. Failed. We oppose all legislation that attempts to define a fetus as a person.

SF0096 Juvenile Detention Facilities

2009-03-06T15:28:00.001-07:00

SF0096 Juvenile Detention Facilities.
Sponsored by: JENNINGS
An act relating to juvenile detention facilities; providing for grants to counties to build or remodel short term detention facilities; providing for rules and regulations; providing an appropriation; and providing for an effective date.

WATCHING. Failed. Will go to interim study.

SF0094 Campaign Finance Reporting - Election Periods

2009-03-06T15:26:00.002-07:00

SF0094 Campaign Finance Reporting – Election Periods.
Sponsored by: JENNINGS
An act relating to campaign finance; limiting contributions during each election; clarifying when contributions may be accepted; and providing for an effective date.

THE ACLU OPPOSE CAMPAIGN FINANCE LIMITS. Passed.

SF0084 Aggravated Assault - Choking

2009-03-06T15:23:00.001-07:00

SF0084 Aggravated Assault - Choking.
Sponsored by: HASTERT
An act relating to crimes and offenses; adding strangulation and suffocation as new means of committing aggravated assault; providing definitions; providing an exemption; and providing for an effective date.

SUPPORT. Appointed joint concurrence committee.

SF0061 Sex Offender Registration

2009-03-06T15:15:00.002-07:00

SF0061 Sex Offender Registration.
Sponsored by: Joint Judiciary Interim Committee
An act relating to registration of sex offenders; amending sex offender registration requirements; amending a definition; clarifying with which law enforcement agency an offender is required to register; amending information an offender is required to provide; conforming registration deadlines; specifying the category of offense under which an offender will be classified if information is not available to determine the proper classification; clarifying the procedure for seeking a reduction in the registration period for an offender; and providing for an effective date.

ASKING FOR AMENDMENTS; GENERALLY OPPOSE REGISTRATION OF ALL BUT VIOLENT, REPEAT PREDATORS. Passed.

SF0026 Voter Registration Deadline

2009-03-06T15:12:00.001-07:00

SF0026 Voter Registration Deadline.
Sponsored by: Case
An act relating to elections; amending the voter registration deadline, clarifying when registration must occur in order to vote in an election; and providing for an effective date.

SUPPORT. Passed.