Oklahoma Mothers Waging Legal Battle For Child Custody, Visitation Rights
OKLAHOMA CITY — Ten years ago, Charlene Ramey became a mother. Two years ago, an eviction notice took her son away from her. Since then, Ramey’s life has been framed against a backdrop of tears and...
View ArticleState Supreme Court Rules For Moms In Landmark Child Custody Case
OKLAHOMA CITY — Charlene Ramey will get her day in court. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled 9-0 Tuesday that Ramey had standing as a parent to petition a district court for a determination of parental...
View ArticleACLU of Oklahoma Releases Mobile App to Hold Law Enforcement Accountable
OKLAHOMA CITY – The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma late last week launched Mobile Justice OK, a free smartphone app that allows Oklahomans to automatically record and upload cell phone...
View ArticleSyrian Refugees Need Our Compassion, Constitutional Values, Not Our Xenophobia
By Ryan Kiesel A week has passed since the attacks in Paris. The loss remains difficult to comprehend and the effect on our collective conscious is still unsettling. It’s only natural that when our...
View ArticleThe Heartbreaking Case of Tondalo Hall
McLOUD – About ten years ago, Tondalo Hall was sent to prison. Hall, who was 20 at the time, received a 30-year sentence for failing to protect her children from child abuse. Her boyfriend, Robert...
View ArticleStatement from Ryan Kiesel, Executive Director ACLU of Oklahoma
The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma stands with our brothers and sisters at Planned Parenthood in the wake of last weekend’s act of domestic terrorism in Colorado. We also join them in...
View ArticleAnti-panhandling Ordinance An Attack On The Poor, ACLU Leader Says
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City’s new anti-panhandling ordinance is still an attack on the poor and impoverished, and continues to raise serious First Amendment concerns, the executive director of the...
View ArticleACLU OK ‘Disappointed’ By Council Action, Will Monitor Enforcement of Ordinance
OKLAHOMA CITY – The executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma said Tuesday he was disappointed that the Oklahoma City Council had adopted a controversial anti-panhandling...
View ArticleIs The Death Penalty Finished In Oklahoma?
Deep in the bowels of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, the execution chamber is a stark and sterile place. The area is small. One room is curtained off for media and other witnesses; another for prison...
View ArticleNewland, Fleming Still Waiting To See Children
OKLAHOMA CITY — Rebekkah Newland and Jennifer Fleming continue to wait. Halloween is over. Thanksgiving is past. And, with just 8 days until Christmas, both women are being forced to continue a...
View ArticleLegislature Should Move To Expand Medicaid, ACLU OK Executive Director Says
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Legislature should move quickly to expand Medicaid, using the extra funds for health care coverage and to address criminal justice issues, the executive director of the...
View ArticleLegislature Should Stop Trying To Undermine Supreme Court Ruling, ACLU’s...
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Legislature should stop its attempts to undermine a United States Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriages, the executive director of the American Civil...
View ArticleStatement from ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Ryan Kiesel
OKLAHOMA CITY — The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma has not endorsed any proposed amendments to Oklahoma City anti-panhandling ordinances and “remains committed to challenging the ordinance...
View ArticleFREEDOM OKLAHOMA: Unprecedented slate of 27 discriminatory bills filed in...
(NOTE: We’re sharing this release from our friends at Freedom Oklahoma.) OKLAHOMA CITY — For the second year in a row a handful of Oklahoma state legislators lead the nation in introducing legislation...
View ArticleFor my grandmother: A receipt
An essay about poverty, hunger and Oklahoma City’s anti-panhandling ordinance By M. Scott Carter On the left side of my refrigerator, just above the latest art masterpiece by my eight-year-old daughter...
View ArticleLegislation Would Cripple State’s Judicial System, ACLU Oklahoma Says
OKLAHOMA CITY – A handful of conservatives in the Oklahoma Legislature are dangerously close to destroying the independence of the state’s judicial system, officials with the American Civil Liberties...
View ArticleACLU Oklahoma, CAIR, National ACLU File Lawsuit Against Oktaha Gun Range
MUSKOGEE — The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, the national ACLU, and the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a federal lawsuit today on behalf of a Muslim...
View ArticleAsset Forfeiture Bill Important For Reform Effort, ACLU OK Says
OKLAHOMA CITY – Calling it an important reform to Oklahoma’s asset forfeiture system, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma praised members of the Oklahoma State...
View ArticleNewland, Fleming Win Court Case, Ruling Allows Them To Seek Court Hearing
OKLAHOMA CITY — Rebekkah Newland and Jennifer Fleming will have their day in court. Tuesday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that both Newland and Fleming have standing to seek child custody hearings...
View ArticleACLU Oklahoma Applauds Passage Of Drone Legislation
OKLAHOMA CITY – A measure designed to protect Oklahomans from illegal surveillance by unmanned drones cleared the Oklahoma House of Representatives Tuesday. The bill, House Bill 2337, will ensure...
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