News & Commentary

2015 is a legislative session to remember. Thanks to strong independent nonpartisan leadership in our unique Nebraska legislature, the voices of tens of thousands of Nebraskans, and policy experts at the ACLU and many partners, historic progress was made on a variety of critical civil liberties issues.

Maria Marquez Hernandez just graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a degree in psychology, but she still can't give her younger sister a ride. That's because she's a Dreamer — brought to the U.S. by her parents and raised undocumented as a child.

Nebraska recently made national headlines when someone filed a lawsuit here against all "homosexuals." While this lawsuit is clearly bunk and has already been dismissed, as a Nebraskan who is fighting for equal treatment of LGBT people in my home state, I would be remiss if I didn't use this as an opportunity to share the stories of those who are fighting alongside us.

Last month, the police chief of Lincoln, Nebraska announced that the security cameras watching over the city’s downtown bar scene have not proven effective in his department’s efforts to stem criminal activity. Police Chief Jim Peschong said that the recordings hadn’t helped investigators either identify new suspects or bolster evidence against current ones. Peschong also stated that the cameras hadn’t lowered crime in their vicinity: according to Lincoln Police statistics, there were 128 assaults within 500 feet of the cameras last year, numbers that are on par with the department’s five-year average.

Last month, the police chief of Lincoln, Nebraska announced that the security cameras watching over the city’s downtown bar scene have not proven effective in his department’s efforts to stem criminal activity. Police Chief Jim Peschong said that the recordings hadn’t helped investigators either identify new suspects or bolster evidence against current ones. Peschong also stated that the cameras hadn’t lowered crime in their vicinity: according to Lincoln Police statistics, there were 128 assaults within 500 feet of the cameras last year, numbers that are on par with the department’s five-year average.

You have the right to film the police.

The ACLU of Nebraska Mobile Justice smartphone app was created to empower individuals to hold Nebraska law enforcement agencies accountable for their actions.

This blog originially appeared in the Omaha World Herald on Monday, October 6, 2014.

This blog originially appeared in the Lincoln Journal Star on September 13, 2014.

This blog originially appeared in the Omaha World Herald on Tuesday, February 11, 2014.