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ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging Voter Disenfranchisement In Mississippi (09/12/2008)
JACKSON, MS – The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Mississippi filed a lawsuit in federal court today challenging the state's denial of voting rights to citizens with felony convictions. Although the Mississippi Constitution permits people who have been convicted of a crime to vote for president and vice president, election administrators are denying that right in practice. In today's filings, the ACLU asked the court to allow these citizens to register to vote in time to cast ballots for president and vice president this November.

ACLU Investigating Largest Immigration Raid In The Country (08/27/2008)
LAUREL, MS - In the wake of the largest workplace immigration raid in the country that involved the arrest of at least 600 workers and reports that raise grave concerns about the actions of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Mississippi officials, the American Civil Liberties Union began an investigation of ICE's conduct and called on the Bush administration to ensure that constitutional rights are scrupulously respected going forward. Staff from the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project arrived in Mississippi today to assess the situation firsthand.

U.S.: End Beating of Children in Public Schools (08/20/2008)
DALLAS – More than 200,000 U.S. public school students were punished by beatings during the 2006-2007 school year, Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union said in a joint report released today. In the 13 states that corporally punished more than 1,000 students per year, African-American girls were twice as likely to be beaten as their white counterparts.

ACLU of Mississippi Shares U.N. Concerns About Human Rights Violations (08/02/2006)
JACKSON, MS — Saying it is gravely concerned about human rights violations by the United States, a United Nations human rights body today issued recommendations for improving conditions at home and abroad. The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi welcomed the recommendations, noting that several of the violations have occurred in Mississippi, and urged the U.S. government to take immediate and vigorous steps to implement the recommendations on the state and federal level.

ACLU Applauds Defeat of Abortion Ban in Mississippi (03/28/2006)
JACKSON, MS -- The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the defeat of a dangerous and extreme abortion ban late last night in the Mississippi legislature.

ACLU Fights to Keep Three Students from New Orleans in Mississippi Public School (01/23/2006)
JACKSON, MS -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi today announced that it will represent three displaced students from New Orleans at a hearing before members of the Jackson Public Schools disciplinary committee. The ACLU charged that school officials are discriminating against the students by subjecting them to harsher disciplinary action than students who live in Jackson.

ACLU Sues Major Medical Provider Over Deficient Care in Mississippi Prison (06/22/2005)
WASHINGTON, DC -- Citing the extreme health risks faced by nearly 1000 men confined in a Mississippi prison, the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm Holland & Knight LLP today filed a lawsuit against one of the country's largest for-profit medical providers for prisoners.

Lives of HIV Positive Prisoners in Mississippi Saved By Lawsuit, Says the ACLU (04/01/2005)
JACKSON, MS- The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the dramatic improvements in medical treatment and living conditions for hundreds of HIV positive Mississippi prisoners as a result of litigation that concluded yesterday.

Appeals Court Affirms that Mississippi Death Row Conditions are Unconstitutional (06/30/2004)
NEW ORLEANS-In the most comprehensive decision regarding death row conditions in the last ten years, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has affirmed a lower court's opinion that Mississippi's death row is unconstitutional and requires improvements, the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm Holland & Knight announced today.

At Hearing on Health Conditions for HIV+ Prisoners, ACLU Says Officials Failed to Prevent Staph Infection Outbreak (06/28/2004)
OXFORD, MS- At a federal court hearing today on health conditions for Mississippi prisoners with HIV, the American Civil Liberties Union presented evidence that prison officials failed to prevent a drug-resistant staphylococcus outbreak within the men's unit for HIV-positive prisoners.

Court Order Ends Discrimination Against HIV+ Prisoners in Mississippi, ACLU Welcomes Hard Fought Reform (06/17/2004)
JACKSON, MS-The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded a federal court order that finally ends all sanctioned discrimination against prisoners with HIV/AIDS who are banned from participation in community work programs because of their illness.

ACLU Tells Appeals Court That Inhumane Conditions on Mississippi's Death Row Must End (11/05/2003)
NEW ORLEANS - The American Civil Liberties Union today urged a federal appeals court to end the deplorable conditions on Mississippi's death row and reinstate remedies ordered by a federal district court judge that protect prisoners from serious physical and mental illness.

Court Finds "No Excuse" for Deplorable Conditions on Mississippi's Death Row, Orders Immediate Remedies (05/21/2003)
JACKSON, MS - Ruling in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, a federal magistrate judge today said that conditions on Mississippi's death row inflict cruel and unusual punishment on the prisoners confined there and ordered the state to end its brutal practices.

Citing Expert Reports on Inhumane Prison Conditions, ACLU Asks Court to Speed Review of MS Prison Case (09/06/2002)
JACKSON, MS--The American Civil Liberties Union today asked a federal court to speed review of a lawsuit over prison conditions at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, citing reports by court-appointed experts detailing inhumane conditions that have directly contributed to psychiatric problems in the prison population.

Mississippi Prisons End Segregation Based on HIV; ACLU Hails 'Breakthrough,' Vows to Continue Fighting (04/30/2001)
JACKSON, MS - In a critical breakthrough for equal treatment of prisoners with HIV, Mississippi's top prison official today announced that educational and vocational programs will soon be available to all eligible prisoners, regardless of HIV status. 

Mississippi Governor to Sign 'In God We Trust' Bill (03/21/2001)
JACKSON, MS -- Governor Ronnie Musgrove says he will ignore a threat of legal action and sign into law a bill that mandates that public schools display the slogan "In God We Trust" and allows a moment of silence in classrooms, the Associated Press reported.

Strengthened by Federal Appeals Court Ruling, ACLU Presses Ahead Fighting for HIV-Positive Prisoners (11/22/2000)
JACKSON, MS - On the heels of a federal appeals court decision that Mississippi prisoners with HIV and AIDS have been inadequately represented, the American Civil Liberties Union today vowed to press ahead to ensure standard medical care, safe and humane prison conditions and equal treatment regardless of HIV status.

Unconstitutional Gay Adoption Ban Dies in Mississippi, Local Advocates Attribute Victory to Deluge of Support (03/16/2000)
JACKSON, MS -- In a victory for children in Mississippi and beyond, an unprecedented anti-adoption bill died in the Mississippi State House this afternoon. There is no way the bill can be revived this year.

Mississippians to 'Phone Home for Families,' Encouraging Legislature to Kill Bill that Would Hurt Children (03/09/2000)
JACKSON, MS--Taking a stand for children throughout Mississippi, a coalition of fair-minded groups today launched a "Phone Home for Families" campaign to defeat a proposed statewide bill that would ban lesbians and gay men from adopting and prevent such adoptions in other states from being recognized in Mississippi.

Mississippi Advances Unconstitutional Gay Adoption Ban That Also Bars Recognition of Gay Adoptions in Other States (03/07/2000)
JACKSON, MS - Going further than any state that has considered banning lesbian and gay adoption, the Mississippi House Judiciary Committee today passed a bill that would severely curtail the number of children who can move from foster care into permanent, suitable adoptive homes.

MS Court Dismisses Man's $144 Million Retaliation Lawsuit in Child Custody Battle with Lesbian Ex-Wife (11/23/1999)
TUPELO, MS -- A local man's $144 million lawsuit against his lesbian ex-wife, her lawyers and the state judge who presided over his child custody and visitation battle has been dismissed as "frivolous and misguided," the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

Jewish Student Allowed to Wear Star of David Pendant as Mississippi School Board Reverses Policy (08/24/1999)
GULFPORT, MS -- Facing an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit and outcry from both Jewish and Christian leaders, a Mississippi school board last night rescinded a policy that barred a Jewish student from wearing his Star of David pendant because school officials considered it a gang symbol.

ACLU Asks Court to Halt Mississippi School's "Gang Symbol" Ban on Star of David Necklace (08/23/1999)
GULFPORT, MS -- Seeking to halt a "blatant constitutional violation,"the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi is asking a federal district court to allow 11th grader Ryan Green to wear his Star of David necklace, which school officials say is a "gang symbol but which most people recognize as a symbol of Jewish faith.

Student's Star of David Necklace is Not a 'Gang Symbol, 'ACLU of MS Tells School Officials (08/16/1999)
GULFPORT, MS -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi is intervening on behalf of a Jewish high school student who was told that he could not openly wear his Star of David necklace because it was considered it a gang symbol.

Court Restores Rights for Lesbian Mother (05/05/1999)
TUPELO, MS -- In a reassuring affirmation of the rights of lesbian and gay parents, a chancery court in Mississippi has struck down a discriminatory restriction on a lesbian mother's right to visit her children, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

Mississippi Supreme Court Made a Tragic Mistake in Denying Custody to Gay Father, Experts Say (02/17/1999)
OXFORD, MS--The Mississippi Supreme Court made a tragic mistake last week when it denied a gay father custody of his minor son, condemning the child to a home wracked with domestic violence and excessive drinking.

Mississippi Supreme Court Denies Child Custody to Gay Father in Favor of Violent Stepdad (02/08/1999)
JACKSON, MS--Denying an appeal by the American Civil Liberties Union, Mississippi's highest court has refused to allow a 15-year-old boy to live with his gay father, even though the child's mother is now married to man with a history of violence and substance abuse who has repeatedly beaten her in front of the boy.