We’re Resolved ( To Protect Freedom) Because Freedom Can't Protect Itself! (316 hits)
ACLU New Jersey
Care about government transparency and religious freedom? You might care about vouchers more than you think.
It may be the start of a new year, but when so many of our battles today mirror the ones of yesteryear, it’s sometimes hard to tell the difference. To mark the New Year, we’ve come up with a few resolutions we hope government officials adopt, so that 2011 is not a rerun of 2010.
1.Restore public trust in law enforcement. We discovered that police departments across the state often misdirect members of the public trying to file complaints against officers, eroding their trust in law enforcement (as we have seen in Newark). We’re currently developing tools to help police departments train officers how to handle internal affairs complaints properly. Working with residents to root out corrupt officers protects our rights as well as our neighborhoods.
2.Keep government open. As the media landscape continues to shift, the number of traditional government watchdogs – reporters – has decreased. The ACLU-NJ has filled in part of that void with the Open Governance Project. We’ve stayed busy prying public records out of the dark, keeping public meetings open and making sure government is transparent. We hope in these tough economic times, our officials will turn over documents that belong in public view rather than wage costly legal battles at the expense of taxpayers.
3.Respect all people’s religious beliefs. When officials try to entangle government with religion – any religion – we fight back, as we did successfully in December in Point Pleasant Beach. In 2011, we urge officials to recognize how alienating it can be to their neighbors and fellow citizens when the government endorses one religion over another.
At the ACLU-NJ, we’re resolved every day to defend and preserve individual rights and liberties. We hope there will be less of a need to repeat these resolutions again in 2012, but either way, the ACLU will be here to defend your rights. Let your government officials know what resolutions you expect them to keep, and be sure to help the ACLU-NJ keep ours.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -Join the ACLU and Americans United this Thursday, January 6 at 6 p.m. for "School Vouchers: Win or Woe?" – a conversation + civics lesson about how vouchers could shortchange New Jersey’s students and citizens. The event is free and open to the public, and don’t worry...it’s not graded.
Camden Conference Center Theater at the Camden County College 601 Cooper Street (free parking)
Added bonus: ACLU-NJ President (and seasoned First Amendment lawyer) Frank Corrado will be speaking on the panel.
