News & Commentary

 Holding immigrants for profit is not new, and it fuels mass incarceration. National news outlets are reporting that migrant children are being held at for-profit detention centers for up to $750 per day.1 It may be surprising to know our own Nebraska counties are holding immigrants for profit including at the Dakota County jail. During my recent conversation with the Dakota County Sheriff while touring his jail, I learned profit was one of the reasons he decided to renew the controversial 287(g) agreement with the Department of Homeland Security in June of 2019.When the Sheriff’s decision to enter this misguided agre

Join us for our Annual Meeting & Activist Training Saturday, June 22 from 9 a.m. to noon, to develop your skills as an activist and celebrate our annual award recipients. Location: Center for People in Need, 3901 N. 27th in Lincoln.

Solitary confinement is almost taboo to talk about. No one wants to think about what happens in the secluded areas of our prison system. But various studies have confirmed what some of us already knew: keeping people in solitary is an urgent mental health and public safety issue.

Our findings make it clear that Nebraska schools employing school police must implement training and program requirements in LB390 to protect both students' civil rights and parents' rights. We thank Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks for introducing and prioritizing this critical legislation.

What many fail to understand is that being gay is part of who I am; being gay is not all that I am. I do not want special treatment, but I do want to be treated fairly. I want to compete without the deck being stacked against me, and I do not want to leave my home state to have that opportunity.

A parent should be able to put their faith in an officer who is there to keep their children safe, but based on our experience, I am concerned about having police in school. In our case, they did more harm than good.

The First Step Act, recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump, included some small but important steps to address the unique needs of America’s incarcerated women.

It’s been over a year since the filing of our historic federal class action challenging dangerous overcrowding and unconstitutional conditions of confinement in Nebraska’s crisis-riddled prison system.

The last year was another relentless attack on civil rights and civil liberties. Nevertheless, we persisted, we resisted, and we achieved important progress.
These victories belong to you and to all Nebraskans. Thank you for standing with us as we dare to create a more perfect union.