News & Commentary

The ACLU of Montana is delighted to announce that it has hired SK Rossi as Director of Advocacy and Public Policy. Rossi, who started work on July 22, 2016, will be responsible for advancing the ACLU of Montana's civil liberties policy agenda before the state legislature, the executive branch, local government bodies, and administrative agencies, and will lead and collaborate on advocacy initiatives across the state, including the ACLU of Montana's new Racial Justice Project.

This week is the 5th anniversary of the date I joined the staff of ACLU of Montana to work for LGBT equality on the Fair is Fair Montana campaign.  In a moment of perfect synchronicity, this week will also be when I hand off my ACLU of Montana involvement in LGBTQ work to the incredible local staff.  But I won’t be completely gone from the work here as I move into working full time for the  Out for Freedom/ LGBT Project at ACLU’s national office.

Our system of justice is increasingly becoming a system of vengeance.  Our collective desire to execute those convicted of heinous crimes has led us to extremes that do us no credit.  Although lethal injection was touted as a “more humane” method of execution than hanging, the firing squad, or the electric chair, it has really been about sparing ourselves the spectacle of watching the gruesome murder of someone in the name of the state.  Now, even that pretext is failing.

A recent incident at Park High School in Livingston, in which students flew Confederate flags from their trucks shortly after a black student enrolled, offers an opportunity to reflect on the extent of students’ right to engage in offensive speech at school.

I just can’t stop shaking my head at the absurdity of it all.

The ACLU of Montana was proud to welcome Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the national American Civil Liberties Union to Montana. While in Montana, Mr. Romero delivered lectured in both Missoula and Bozeman.  

Having just returned from the ACLU Nationwide Staff Conference in Orlando, Florida, I am energized and looking forward to our annual meeting in March, and to National Executive Director Anthony Romero’s visit in April.  One of the things we talked a lot about at the conference was the ACLU’s shift toward becoming more “political.” While that shift has generated excitement, it has also led to some confusion:  What does it mean for the ACLU to be political?  Can we do so without risking becoming partisan?  As National Political Director Karin Johanson put it at the conference, “Being more political means being more powerful.”  It means using the tools of political engagement, in addition to the time-honored ACLU tool of litigation, to defend and promote civil liberties.  It means being active not only in courtrooms but in the legislature, at city councils, and on ballot measures.  It means amplifying our work by communicating effectively with the public.  And, most importantly, when we use of all of these tools in a coordinated fashion to advance carefully chosen strategic priorities, we can be especially powerful.