News & Commentary

LINCOLN, Neb. – Yesterday Nebraska joined six other states in filing a lawsuit against the federal government to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The following is a statement from ACLU of Nebraska Executive Director Danielle Conrad:

Lincoln, NE- Today ACLU of Nebraska issued the following statement in regards to news reports that Attorney General Doug Peterson has filed paperwork to initiate executions in Nebraska. The statement may be attributed to Danielle Conrad, Executive Director ACLU of Nebraska:

A few months ago, I visited a family planning clinic in Lincoln and got to know some of my neighbors who use the Title X program. I met a single mom with three kids who works at an assisted living home and who does not have health insurance. She has been going to the clinic for three years and doesn’t know any other doctors she could go to if her clinic loses Title X funding. Title X was established in 1970 and is our nation's signature family planning program which provides grants to healthcare providers who provide well-woman exams, lifesaving cancer screening, STD testing and treatment, and contraception. The federal grants pass through the state budget and go directly to healthcare providers. Title X money cannot be used for abortion-related services or for abortion.

March 13, 2018

For years, the state of Nebraska has had a troubled history of cutting corners in its zealous pursuit of lethal-injection drugs to keep its death penalty program alive. In November, the state announced that it would use an experimental drug cocktail not previously used in the United States to carry out its next execution. What the state didn’t reveal, however, is that it was violating federal law when acquiring the ingredients for the lethal cocktail.

Many 16-year-olds spend their birthdays with their family and friends. I spent my 16th birthday this past March trapped in solitary confinement.

The last year was a relentless attack on civil rights and civil liberties emanating from the highest echelons of political power and emboldening state and local leaders to act in ways previously unimaginable.
Nevertheless, we persisted, we resisted, and we achieved important progress.

No one should be in jail simply because of the size of their bank account. Yet in Nebraska and around the country, thousands of individuals are simply too poor to pay fines and fees issued by the courts. Practices that were outlawed in the 19th century are still leading to poor people being trapped in a maze that only has one conclusion: mass incarceration.

For a poor Nebraskan in a county jail, one month of calls with your family might cost more than driving to the jail for a visit.