American Civil Liberties Union Montana

Since 1920, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a bi-partisan organization, has fought tirelessly to protect the rights and liberties enshrined by our Constitution to every individual in our country. In the 100 years since its founding, the ACLU has expanded to include over 4 million members and supporters and has chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C.

In this, our second remote interview, we talk with Alex Rate, Legal Director for the Montana chapter of the ACLU. We begin our conversation with a discussion about the case brought by the Montana ACLU regarding the threat of COVID-19 to Montana’s incarcerated population. Also discussed are important cases involving indigenous voter rights, the Border Patrol detaining two women for speaking Spanish, and an LGBTQ transgender rights case. We also talk about a shocking case involving fully armed bounty hunters bursting into the bedroom of a sleeping Montana family in the wee hours of the morning to collect a $115 bond. Perhaps most alarming, we discuss the cases involving the Keystone XL Pipeline construction in Montana and the secret and weaponizing preparations state and federal agencies are taking to treat protesters as terrorists. We also talk about how the ACLU chooses which cases to pursue, and in the Trump era, there are certainly a great deal of challenges to our Constitutional rights to keep up with.

“So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we’ll be called a democracy.” - ACLU founder Roger Baldwin

To learn more and to join ACLU MT : https://www.aclumontana.org/