ACLU of West Virginia

We stand in solidarity with the Capital High School students who walked out today to protest ICE at the state Capitol, and we’re closely watching public officials who want them punished for exercising their free speech.

Come for these kids and we’ll make sure they see you in court.

#18 in Dominguez Izaguirre v. Mason (S.D.W. Va, 2:26-cv-00121) – CourtListener.com MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER granting 1 Verified Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus; directing Respondents to RELEASE PETITIONER IMMEDIATELY; Respondents are PROHIBITED from re-arresting and detaining...

Read the opinion here: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

A federal court in West Virginia has warned state and federal officials they will be held in contempt and without qualified immunity protections if they continue to jail immigrants without showing cause.

This is a win for the rule of law.

President Trump Wants to End Vote-By-Mail for Everyone. The WV Legislature Shouldn’t be Helping Him. - ACLU of West Virginia Voting by mail is safe, secure, and makes our democracy more accessible. And yet, President Trump and his admirers in the state Legislature are doing everything they can to chip away at this right and...

Absentee voter fraud is exceedingly rare and has never altered the outcome of an election in West Virginia.

This isn't about preventing fraud. It's about making it harder for everyone to vote.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS: What You Can Do as a Bystander During Immigration Enforcement Actions - ACLU of West Virginia It’s easy to freeze when you see immigration agents detaining someone, especially if the officers are acting quickly or aggressively. This FAQ is intended to give some guidance on what actions you can...

Happening now: ICE is causing fear and chaos in West Virginia communities. It's crucial that you know your rights if you find yourself as a bystander to enforcement activity.

Trans youth like Becky Pepper-Jackson deserve the right to participate in school sports without facing discrimination.

Tuesday, we'll be at the Supreme Court defending Becky and other trans kids' right to play.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/u...

Together We Win: Fight For the T in Team: BPJ & Hecox Rally at SCOTUS I'm attending this event - sign up now to join me!

Seats are filling up fast. Secure your free ticket (meals included) now at the link. You’ll receive pickup details after signing up: act.aclu.org/a/bpj-hecox-...

On January 13, our client Becky will have her case heard at the U.S. Supreme Court. Outside the court, we’ll be rallying for trans kids like Becky who just want to be part of a team and belong. Join us as we show up loud, united and impossible to ignore!

Officer Who Killed 12-Year-Old Tamir Rice Just Got Two More Police Jobs in West Virginia — Dragline Public outcry erupted last July when news broke that Timothy Loehmann – the man who killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in a Cleveland park in 2014 – was hired as a police officer by the City of White Sulph...

The officer who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice is again working in West Virginia after resigning from a police job in White Sulphur Springs last summer following public outcry.

ACLU-WV investigative reporter Kyle Vass has the story.

www.dragline.org/stories/offi...

Gov. Morrisey needs to bring the guard home and stand up for West Virginia • West Virginia Watch The shooting of the two West Virginians is being used as a catalyst for the latest phase of the presidential administration’s xenophobia.

“Imagine if the president, Congress and governors wanted to throw resources that would actually address poverty, homelessness, hunger and crime."

westvirginiawatch.com/2025/12/04/g...

Attorneys are right to demand accountability from Charleston Police • West Virginia Watch Citing a slew of violent acts against Black community members, a group of West Virginia attorneys has called on Charleston City Council to investigate several police officers. They are right to demand...

Past measures have not fixed the long-standing issues of violence towards Black people by Charleston Police. It’s time for a reckoning.

westvirginiawatch.com/2025/11/24/a...

A Court has dismissed our request to stop the WV National Guard deployment to D.C. but also warned that any future deployments to states where governors haven't requested the Guard may be unlawful.

Troops should not be policing our communities. We'll continue to keep a close eye on this.

ACLU-WV Equity & Justice Fellowship Far too often, talented, hardworking young people who are directly impacted by the issues we fight for are funneled away from following their passions because they must prioritize paid work over

Applications open! The fellowship is open to undergraduate and graduate students, law students, and nontraditional students or citizen activists from historically marginalized communities that are underrepresented in West Virginia advocacy and policy-making spaces.
www.acluwv.org/en/aclu-wv-e...

ADVOCACY ASSOCIATE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF WEST VIRGINIA

Ever wanted to work on the front lines of some of the most important issues of our time, from the defense of our democracy, to abortion rights, trans rights, immigrants' rights, and more? We're hiring!

www.acluwv.org/en/jobs/advo...

Tens of thousands of West Virginians lack access to clean drinking water. We continue to call on the State to prioritize the needs of people in our state, not the wants of religious institutions, in future decision-making.

After Court declares that grant to Ohio religious school was unconstitutional, no funds to be spent on religious education FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 26, 2025 ACLU-WV CONTACT: Billy Wolfe bwolfe@acluwv.org AHA CONTACT: Court Beyer cbeyer@americanhumanist.org

This is a win for church-state separation. The First Amendment isn't a suggestion; it's the law.

www.acluwv.org/en/press-rel...

The case challenging a $5 million WV Water Development Authority grant to an out-of-state religious school is coming to an end, with a Court declaring the original grant unconstitutional and the Authority agreeing that public funds will not be spent on religious education or advocacy.

The ACLU of West Virginia is aware of efforts made by a local college to intimidate protestors participating in an anti-ICE demonstration today off campus.

Volunteers will be on the ground in Bethany today and will be watching closely.

The Trump administration is removing exhibits that reference slavery from Harpers Ferry National Historic Park, according to news reports.

This government-mandated historical amnesia is the work of racist propagandists, not public servants.

NEW: A court denied a motion to dismiss our lawsuit challenging the state’s unlawful granting of vaccine exemptions.

We won’t stop saying it: The political whims of a governor don’t outweigh the law.

We applaud the Ohio County Board of Education for rejecting a proposal that would have allowed students to leave during school hours to undergo “biblical education” by an anti-LGBTQ, anti-abortion religious organization.

The constitution is clear: Our public schools are not Sunday schools.

Read more:
www.acluwv.org/en/press-rel...

Sending West Virginia troops to support President Trump’s attempt to sow fear in D.C. communities is unnecessary and inflammatory. It’s also an unlawful misuse of our state’s Guard members.

We’ll see the governor in court.

Militarization will not make the nation’s capital safer (crime is already at a 30-year low) and more police will not solve homelessness; they will only make the problem worse.

After the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain – which saw troops weaponized against U.S. citizens – legal battles shaped West Virginia’s laws to restrict governors’ abilities to deploy the Guard.

Deployments outside our borders can only be for specific, enumerated purposes — none of which exist here.

BREAKING: We won’t stand by while the governor sends vital National Guard resources out of state to participate in a political stunt by President Trump.

We just filed a lawsuit on behalf of WV Citizen Action Group to halt deployment of the Guard to Washington, D.C.

Along with Mountain State Justice, we have filed a new lawsuit to halt enforcement of the governor’s executive order on vaccine exemptions.

Our previous lawsuit was dismissed on technical grounds, but we will keep making the case that governors do not legislate by decree.

BREAKING: We’ve reached a final agreement on behalf of our client, a Marshall University student whose legal status was unlawfully revoked by the Trump administration.

Under the agreement, the administration is reversing the actions it took against our client, S.V., and will not repeat them.

Listen to trans kids, not hateful propaganda • West Virginia Watch West Virginia has banned trans kids from accessing necessary medical care and will now force teachers to out them to their families

"My hope in writing 'American Teenager' was to illustrate what should already be self-evident: Trans kids are just kids, no different than any other kid ... deserving of the same respect afforded to everyone else on this planet."

westvirginiawatch.com/2025/07/24/l...

A Court has dismissed our lawsuit challenging Gov. Morrisey's vaccine executive order on a technicality that does not address the merits of our case.

Governors cannot be allowed to legislate by decree. We will continue to pursue this issue.