Rights This Way

The 2024 elections will be some of the most critical in our lifetimes and, as election season approaches, a wave of efforts to diminish the political power of communities of color is surging. This isn't just happening in red states, it's taking place right here in New York.That’s why the NYCLU and our partners sued the Nassau County Legislature in Long Island for its redistricting plan, which violates the landmark New York Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting strength and political influence of Black, Latinx, and Asian residents. Though residents of color make up over one-third of Nassau County's eligible voters, the current map – which the Legislature drew behind closed doors – only creates four districts out of 19 where Black, Latinx, and Asian residents are a majority of eligible voters.We delve into this lawsuit with two NYCLU lawyers who brought it. And we’ll also take a closer look at how the New York Voting Rights Act will help us fight against this attack on democracy.Guests: Perry Grossman is the Director of the NYCLU’s Voting Rights Project. Terry Ding is an NYCLU staff attorney.Please rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.More on our Nassau voting rights case:https://www.nyclu.org/en/press-releases/civil-rights-advocates-sue-nassau-county-racial-vote-dilution#:~:text=NASSAU%20COUNTY%2C%20NY%20%E2%80%93%20The%20New,violates%20the%20landmark%20John%20R.More on the New York Voting Rights Act:https://www.nyclu.org/en/publications/john-r-lewis-voting-rights-act-new-york For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.

New York has a proud legacy of offering refuge to newcomers hoping to make life better for themselves and their families. That hope is something we all share, and the promise of refuge has made our state what it is.  Rental prices soared to record levels in New York City in 2023. Right now, a family would have to earn at least $140,000 a year just to be able to afford the city’s median rent of $3,500. And this story goes well beyond New York City. Across the state, New Yorkers are struggling to keep a roof over their heads. 20 percent of New York State residents spend more than half of their income on rent, and in some ways, they’re the lucky ones. Tens of thousands of New Yorkers are unhoused, with no clear path to obtaining permanent homes.Despite this dire situation, state leaders have not done nearly enough to tackle the problem.Nearly everyone agrees that New York is facing a severe housing crisis. But the question is what we should do about it. To help answer that question, we’re joined by three housing experts who will help us dig into this urgent and seemingly intractable issue. Julian Morales is the NYCLU’s Senior Housing Strategist. Cea Weaver is a Campaign Coordinator for the Housing Justice for All coalition, and John Washington is an organizer and political educator with the People’s Action Network.Please rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.Tune in our previous Season 1 episode on housing: https://www.nyclu.org/en/publications/ep-8-how-fix-ny-housing-crisisNYCLU blog on good cause eviction: https://www.nyclu.org/en/news/one-way-fight-against-unfair-landlordsLink to our settlement in our case to help more Black and Brown New Yorkers facing foreclosure stay in their homes: https://www.nyclu.org/en/press-releases/new-settlement-enhances-legal-protections-homeowners-facing-foreclosure-across-nysAbout our guests and their organizations:Cea Weaver, Housing Justice For All: https://housingjusticeforall.org/John Washington, People's Action Network: https://peoplesaction.org/ For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.

New York has a proud legacy of offering refuge to newcomers hoping to make life better for themselves and their families. That hope is something we all share, and the promise of refuge has made our state what it is.  New York is also known for being a place where big things get done. That’s why it’s so disappointing when our leaders scapegoat and engage in fearmongering over the many migrants arriving in New York over the last year-plus, mostly in New York City.  This political finger-pointing and the doomsday predictions uttered by politicians have helped lead to many New Yorkers seeing new migrants in a negative light.   How can we change that narrative and how can we show that new migrants actually offer a tremendous opportunity for our state? And what are some of the less-discussed factors leading migrants to come to New York?    First, we talk about some of the reasons, tied to US foreign policy, that have led thousands of migrants to leave their homes and take the treacherous journey to the United States with author Daniel Denvir, host of the popular podcast, The Dig. Then we discuss what’s been happening in New York and what needs to take place here with NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman.  Thank you so much for tuning in Season 2 of Rights This Way. We will be back soon, so please subscribe and follow us @NYCLU to know when the new season drops! Resources:Take Action to support migrants: https://action.aclu.org/send-message/support-newly-arrived-migrants  Daniel’s podcast: https://www.patreon.com/thedig   The report mentioned in the episode about where new migrants are coming from: https://greatcities.uic.edu/2023/10/20/the-current-migrant-crisis-how-u-s-policy-toward-latin-america-has-fueled-historic-numbers-of-asylum-seekers/    Donna’s blog on migrant arrivals: https://www.nyclu.org/en/news/ny-can-meet-our-migrant-moment-you-wouldnt-know-it-political-narrative  For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/ For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.

The NYPD's Strategic Response Group (SRG) is a notoriously violent rapid response unit. Despite promises from the department that the unit would not be deployed at protests, the SRG has consistently threatened, attacked, and arrested protesters. Time and time again, when the SRG arrives on the scene, officers escalate situations and injure New Yorkers who are exercising their First Amendment rights.Since we recorded this episode, the NYCLU, the Legal Aid Society and New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a sweeping settlement agreement that could help transform the way the NYPD polices protests. The settlement – which must still be approved by a judge before it can go into effect – is designed to reduce the presence of police at protests and to lessen the kinds of harms that officers often cause at demonstrations.The settlement does this through a tiered system that dictates when, how many, and which kinds of officers can be sent to protests. Importantly, under the agreement, the NYPD will only be allowed to deploy the SRG under certain conditions. We hope this will cut down on misconduct, violence, and unjustified detentions.But, While the settlement should reduce the role the Strategic Response Group plays in protests, we know that the only way to put an end to the SRG’s abuse is to put an end to the unit itself. We will continue to fight to disband the SRG and reinvest its estimated $133 Million in funds into our communities. And until that happens, this episode is as relevant as ever.To discuss the SRG and protesters’ rights more generally, we speak with Isabelle Leyva, senior organizer with the NYCLU, and New York City public defender Alex Clavering (@LolOverruled).Please download, rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.Resources:Tell lawmakers to disband the SRG: https://action.aclu.org/send-message/disband-nypds-strategic-response-groupJoin our campaign to disband the SRG: https://secure.everyaction.com/_duTyjNjiE6dhD9xewdSSQ2Follow Alex (@LolOverruled) on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.More on the SRG:https://www.nyclu.org/en/news/nypd-unit-under-greater-scrutiny-it-lashing-out-responsehttps://www.nyclu.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/202109_nyclu_srg_2pager.pdfFor more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/ For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.

For more than seven years, 10,000 public school students — almost entirely children of color — in the East Ramapo Central School District just 40 miles north of New York City have had lead in their school water fountains. Students speak of going thirsty after gym glass, of mold collecting in the water coolers provided to replace drinking fountains, and of washing their hands next to hazard signs.But the story is bigger. School district leaders haven’t simply failed to fix the water problem. They’ve failed every part of the school system and hollowed out the educations of tens of thousands of public school students, the vast majority of whom are Black and Brown.We dissect the problems in East Ramapo, their causes, and how to fix them with Johanna Miller, the director of the NYCLU’s Education Policy Center and Ignacio Acevedo, the NYCLU’s Hudson Valley Organizer.Please download, rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.Resources:Our latest report on East Ramapo: https://www.nyclu.org/en/campaigns/not-making-grade-new-yorks-jim-crow-school-districtOur recent op-ed: https://www.nyclu.org/en/publications/school-district-harms-its-own-kids-rocklands-east-ramapo-central-district-falling-apartTell state leaders to take control of East Ramapo: https://action.aclu.org/send-message/end-jim-crow-education-east-ramapo-schoolsWant to volunteer with the NYCLU to work on East Ramapo issues? Email schools@nyclu.orgFor more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/ For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.

It’s a scenario that many parents across New York State, particularly in low-income areas, have come to fear: A knock on the door from a Child Protective Services caseworker.On this episode of Rights This Way, we delve into why the “child welfare system” is actually better understood as a family regulation or a family policing system. We’ll explore how a system ostensibly set up to “protect children” is actually one in which poor families of color are routinely harassed, surveilled, and punished. And we’ll look at ways we can build a system that truly supports families.We get into all of this with one of the country’s top experts on the family regulation system, University of Pennsylvania Professor Dorothy Roberts. She has written several books on the topic including her most recent: “Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families--and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World.” We also talk about several pieces of legislation at the state and local level that could help address many of the worst problems surrounding the family regulation system with NYCLU Policy Counsel Jenna Lauter.Please download, rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.Resources:Buy Prof. Dorothy Roberts’ bookhttps://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/dorothy-roberts/torn-apart/9781541675445/?lens=basic-booksMore from the NYCLU on the family regulation system:How the so called “family regulation system” hurts familieshttps://www.nyclu.org/en/news/how-so-called-child-welfare-system-hurts-familiesNever designed to help’: how new york's ‘child welfare’ system preys on familieshttps://www.nyclu.org/en/publications/never-designed-help-how-new-yorks-child-welfare-system-preys-familiesEven child welfare workers say their agency is racisthttps://www.nyclu.org/en/news/even-child-welfare-workers-say-their-agency-racist-0Support the bills the NYCLU backs to curtail the child welfare systemhttps://action.aclu.org/send-message/curtail-racist-%E2%80%98child-welfare%E2%80%99-systemFor more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit https://www.nyclu.org/ For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit nyclu.org/en/rightsthisway.Follow NYCLU on Twitter and Instagram.