Shows / Rights This Way
Rights This Way
Rights This Way is a podcast from the New York Civil Liberties Union (the ACLU of New York State) focused on the civil rights and liberties issues that impact New Yorkers most. Through interviews and lively conversations with experts inside and outside the NYCLU, we discuss the legal and policy implications of some of the most important issues facing our state.
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Episodes
Rights This WayHow Police Hoard Our DNA in Rogue Databases
Over more than a decade, the NYPD has collected the genetic material of 34,000 people – generally without their consent – in its rogue, illegal DNA database…
Rights This WayHow Do We Put the Brakes on Flock and License Plate Readers?
There is burgeoning and justified nationwide outrage over automatic license plate readers, or ALPRs. These ubiquitous and invasive devices are singlehandedly…
Rights This WayKicking This Anti-Protest NYPD Unit to the Curb with Walter Masterson
With Donald Trump waging war on free speech and ICE officers killing people in broad daylight, our right to protest is more important than ever. But too often…
Rights This WayWhy Prison Visits Make Families Stronger and Communities Safer
The impact of a person’s incarceration reaches far beyond the confines of their cell. Children lose parents. Families lose a breadwinner and struggle to meet…
Rights This WayHow AI is Invading NYC Schools
AI is everywhere, including in our schools. But what does the rapid deployment of AI mean for the 900,000 students in New York City’s public schools? What are…
Rights This WayKeeping ICE Out of the World Cup with Paola Mendoza
The World Cup is supposed to be a time when billions of people across the planet join together to celebrate their love for the global game of soccer. It’s a…
Rights This WayInside the Struggle Against Anti-Protest ‘Buffer Zone’ Laws
After months of backroom dealing, Gov. Hochul touted what she called her “buffer zone legislation” which threatens to chill protest and other forms of free…
Rights This WayHow to Make Universal Child Care a Reality with Mamdani’s Child Care Czar
Today’s soaring cost of living and staggering wealth inequality cast a spotlight on the longstanding need for universal child care. Too many families find…
Rights This WayWhat’s Causing New York’s Lead Crisis? With Shannon Burkett
Lead is in the walls and water of an untold number of places New Yorkers live, go to school, work, and visit. Its life-altering impacts pose a potential danger…
Rights This WayMamdani, Hochul and the Future of New York with Christina Greer
Perhaps no dynamic defines politics in New York State and New York City in 2026 more than the relationship between Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani…
Rights This WayHow We Win the Battle for the Soul of the University with Professor Katherine Franke
President Trump is waging war on free speech and academic freedom. And too often, colleges and universities have waved the white flag. Over and over, places of…
Rights This WayInside the Right-Wing Plot to Ban Books with NYT Bestseller Kalynn Bayron
A legion of far-right activists is determined to purge school libraries of books they don't like. A huge percentage of the books they want to get rid of are…
Rights This WaySCOTUS Undermined Trans Rights: How Do We Protect Them in NY
In its recent decision in the case, United States v. Skrmetti, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming medical care does not…
Rights This WayMahmoud Khalil in His Own Words
On this episode, we hear from Mahmoud Khalil. Mahmoud is a lawful permanent resident who was kidnapped by the Trump administration and held in detention…
Rights This WayWhat is Copaganda, and How do We Fight It?
We might not realize it, but we are swimming in a sea of what this episode’s guest calls Copaganda. The way media outlets decide what stories to cover, which…
Rights This WayTrans Athletes, Trump, and the Right to Play Sports
Some of us might think that the fight for trans people’s right to play sports is new. But a recent book, “The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the…
Rights This WayWhat are the Stakes of Mahmoud Khalil’s Case?
The Trump administration has made clear that if you dare to disagree with the president, you will be punished. That was the message when ICE agents illegally…
Rights This WayWe Know How to Solve the Mental Health Crisis. Will We Actually Do it?
It happens like clockwork. A person suffering from serious mental health problems is accused of a heinous and tragic crime committed against a stranger. Then…
Rights This WayHow Can NY Protect Immigrants From Trump?
The Trump Administration has stoked widespread fear in immigrant communities across New York and around the country. Through immigration raids, and a non-stop…
Rights This WayThe Case for Open Borders
It seems like ancient history, but it actually wasn’t that long ago when – during the first Trump administration – large protests featured signs that read “no…
Rights This WayWhat the Hit Broadway Musical SUFFS can Teach Us About the Fight for Abortion Rights
Watch the video version of this episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwHV7aTjToU&t=923s SUFFS is a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical set in the…
Rights This WayThe Abortion Issue Not Enough New Yorkers Are Talking About
Across the country, politicians are restricting people’s rights and freedoms, including the right to abortion and the right for all of us to be who we are…
Rights This WayThis NY Team is Fighting an Anti-Trans Sports Ban
This February in Long Island, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman issued an executive order banning transgender girls and women from participating in girls’…
Rights This WayThis Law Effectively Banishes People from New York City
The NYCLU recently filed a lawsuit challenging the misleadingly-named Sexual Assault Reform Act, or SARA. SARA is a New York law that prevents certain people…
Rights This WayAccess to Abortion is Under Threat in NY
Fifty years ago, New York first opened its doors to people from across the U.S. who needed abortion care. Now, following the Supreme Court's decision to gut…
Rights This WayInside Columbia’s Crackdown on Pro-Palestinian Free Speech
Universities should be havens for robust debate, discussion, and learning – not sites of censorship where administrators, donors, and politicians squash…
Rights This WayWhy New Migrants are Good for NYC With Comptroller Brad Lander
About 180,000 migrants have come to New York City since April of 2022, and about 65,000 are currently in the city's care. Nearly every day there is a news…
Rights This WayNew Yorkers’ Right to Vote is Under Attack
The 2024 elections will be some of the most critical in our lifetimes and, as election season approaches, a wave of efforts to diminish the political power of…
Rights This WayWill New York Finally Address the Housing Crisis?
New York has a proud legacy of offering refuge to newcomers hoping to make life better for themselves and their families. That hope is something we all share…
Rights This WayHow NY Can Cut Through the Finger Pointing and Meet the Migrant Moment
New York has a proud legacy of offering refuge to newcomers hoping to make life better for themselves and their families. That hope is something we all share…
Rights This WayInside the Special NYPD Unit That’s Brutalizing Protesters
The NYPD's Strategic Response Group (SRG) is a notoriously violent rapid response unit. Despite promises from the department that the unit would not be…
Rights This WayWhy this School District is in Crisis and How to Fix It
For more than seven years, 10,000 public school students — almost entirely children of color — in the East Ramapo Central School District just 40 miles north…
Rights This WayHow the “Child Welfare” System Destroys Black Families with Prof. Dorothy Roberts
It’s a scenario that many parents across New York State, particularly in low-income areas, have come to fear: A knock on the door from a Child Protective…
Rights This WayCould This be the Key to Fighting Anti-Asian Hate?
Could one of the answers to fighting anti-Asian violence come in the classroom? That’s one of the ideas behind a new bill in the New York State legislature…
Rights This WayWhat’s Stopping Progress in NY?
In 2019, New York state lawmakers passed a raft of progressive legislation that strengthened reproductive and voting rights, made our criminal legal system…
Rights This WayDestroying Myths About Drugs with Dr. Carl Hart
What if many of the things you think about illegal drugs and drug use are wrong? What if many of the problems associated with drugs are actually caused by the…
Rights This WayA View Inside Rikers from People Who Know it Best
A View Inside Rikers from People Who Know it Best New York City’s Rikers Island houses one of the most violent, dysfunctional, and hellish jails in the…
Rights This WayCan Policing be Fixed?
The title of this episode is the major question at the heart of a new book, “The Riders Come Out at Night: Brutality, Corruption, and Cover-Up in Oakland.” The…
Rights This WayWhy Can’t We Stop Backtracking on Bail Reform?
In April, New York state lawmakers rolled back reforms to the state’s bail laws. If that sounds familiar, it’s because bail reform has now been rolled back…
Rights This WayHow Will a Tense Legislative Session Impact Your Rights?
New York’s legislative session kicked off last month and already there are political fireworks. Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democrats in the state senate…
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How Solitary Confinement Makes Jails and Prisons More Dangerous
Solitary confinement that lasts more than 15 consecutive days is recognized by the United Nations and various human rights organizations as torture. Even…
- Rights This Way
How Can We Fix NY’s Housing Crisis?
There are more than 90,000 unhoused people in New York State on any given night, including more than 60,000 in New York City alone. Nearly half of renters in…
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How NY Fails to Protect Immigrants
During President Trump’s time in office, immigrant rights were pushed front and center as the administration seemed to delight in finding new ways to inflict…
- Rights This Way
New York is a Surveillance State
You could end up under police suspicion just for typing words into Google. And when you step outside, an array of cameras could be watching your every move…
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Police Reform Two Years After the George Floyd Protests: What's Next?
In the wake of the police murder of George Floyd, New Yorkers took to the streets to protest police violence as part of the country’s largest civil rights…
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How the Air NY Students Breathe Harms Their Education
New York students face many challenges to achieving academic success, but here’s one you might not be aware of: the air they breathe. A recent NYCLU analysis…
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The Truth About Bail Reform
Today, we talk about the regressive criminal legal system rollbacks that were passed in April by state lawmakers. In 2019, the state passed laws that improved…
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What Does the Future Hold for Abortion Access in NY?
This is our second episode on abortion rights and access in New York. In the first episode, we discussed a package of laws the state legislature passed in the…
- Rights This Way
Without Roe, are Abortion Rights in Danger in NY?
Welcome to Rights This Way, a new podcast by the New York Civil Liberties Union focused on the civil rights and liberties issues that impact New Yorkers the…