The ACLU of North is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that works to defend and strengthen the individual rights and liberties guaranteed in the United States and North Dakota Constitutions through lobbying, selective litigation, and public education. In the 2019 North Dakota Legislative Session we will be working on a broad range of issues including free speech, criminal justice, reproductive freedom, immigrants rights, and LGBTQ rights.
A bill signed into law by President Bill Clinton about 20 years ago created an interstate agreement for emergency management. That agreement helped bring law enforcement agents from 10 states to the site of protests by the Standing Rock Sioux against the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota.
Police used tear gas, rubber bullets, concussion grenades, mace, and water cannons against 400 peaceful protesters in North Dakota as they attempted to move two burned trucks off Backwater Bridge just north of the Oceti Sakowin "Water Protector" Camp, which had blocked the main route to the city of Bismarck and delayed emergency services.
An update about ACLU work in Standing Rock and what you can do to help the water protectors.
ACLU and Leadership Conference call for an end to law enforcement response to peaceful protesters with weapons of war.
In the United States, people have the right to protest, and the press has the right to write about it. But over the past month, multiple journalists, documentary filmmakers, and activists have been arrested in three different states for engaging in and reporting on protests against fossil fuel infrastructure projects.
The use of highway roadblocks and checkpoints, and militarized equipment by law enforcement in response to DAPL protests and the numerous reports of unwarranted stops by police sent to our office from individuals prompted the records requests.