American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Virginia

Background

The ACLU of Virginia was founded in 1967. ² Since its inception, the ACLU Foundation of Virginia has been active in over 500 court cases. ¹  Both the ACLU of Virginia and the affiliated Foundation claim more than 205,000 current members and supporters in Virginia. ³

Issues and Litigation

The Foundation has advocated for a number of left-of-center criminal justice policies, such as ending solitary confinement in prisons, eliminating cash bail, and legalizing marijuana. ³  The ACLU Foundation of Virginia published a number of “toolkits” for left-of-center activists to use in pursuing changes to police practices, increasing ballot accessibility, challenging immigration enforcement, and fundraising. ⁴

Marijuana

The ACLU of Virginia joined with other left-leaning organizations in passing a new law legalizing marijuana under state law beginning July 1, 2021. ⁵ The law de-criminalizes possession and home cultivation, establishes a new government entity to regulate marijuana sales, establishes a loan authority for cannabis businesses, and automatically expunges some marijuana arrests from criminal records. ⁵

Nonetheless, the ACLU of Virginia claims that the law does not do enough to prevent people under age 21 from being arrested if they use marijuana illegally. The Foundation has also complained that the law does not allow the open, outdoor use of marijuana in public. ⁶

Policing

In 2020, the ACLU of Virginia sent a letter to Governor Ralph Northam (D) seeking to reduce funding for policing across Virginia. ⁷ The ACLU of Virginia advocates raising the threshold for police to even investigate or prosecute a felony larceny charge from the current $200 amount to either $500 or $1000 in allegedly stolen property. ⁸ ACLU of Virginia also calls for police departments to not depend on fines or forfeitures as part of the local police budget. ⁸

Immigration

ACLU of Virginia advocates ending state and local detention of suspected illegal immigrants on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without a judicial warrant. ⁹ ACLU of Virginia also wants commonwealth and local officials to not inquire into anyone’s legal status in the United States, except when it relates to a law enforcement purpose that is unrelated to immigration enforcement. ⁹ The ACLU of Virginia has also called for the repeal of a 2008 law which requires jails and correctional facilities to check the citizenship of every person admitted after committing a felony. ^{10 9}

Litigation

In 2020, the ACLU of Virginia filed an amicus brief in the case of Updegrove v. Herring. ¹¹ The brief argued against the plaintiffs, a photographer and photography studio seeking to deny services to a same-sex couple. The ACLU of Virginia’s amicus brief asked the court to deny the photographer’s request to dismiss the case. ¹²

In 2020, the ACLU of Virginia also filed an amicus brief in a case in which college students unlawfully gathered in front of a city hall building overnight to host a “teach in” on police brutality. When police began to break of up the gathering as an unlawful assembly, several students were arrested for refusing to leave, and the ACLU authored a brief on behalf of the students arrested. ¹³

Over the years, the ACLU of Virginia has field amicus briefs on behalf of individuals seeking to overturn the requirement for absentee ballot voters to have a witness sign the ballot, on behalf of prisoners seeking release during the COVID-19 pandemic, and on behalf of D.C. area sniper Lee Boyd Malvo when he sought a new trial. ^{14 15 16}

Finances

In 2019, the ACLU Foundation reported $2,008,707 in revenue and $1,222,483 in expenses. ¹⁷ Disbursements included $543,791 in legal expenses and $317,194 in communications expenses. ¹⁸ The previous year, the Foundation raised $1,638,321 in revenue and reported $1,020,751 in expenses. ¹⁹

Leadership

Mary Bauer was named the executive director of the ACLU of Virginia on May 5, 2021. ²⁰  Bauer previously worked as legal director for Muslim Advocates. ²¹ Previously, Bauer was legal director at the controversial Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and at the ACLU of Virginia. Bauer was also general counsel for the Centro de los Derechos del Migrante. ²¹ She has a long history with the Legal Aid Justice Center in Virginia. ²² Bauer also sits on the boards of the Charlottesville Human Rights Commission and Charlottesville Immigrant Freedom Fund. ²⁰

Claire Gastanaga was the former executive director of the ACLU of Virginia. ²³ Gastanaga previously worked as chief of staff and counsel to the Speaker of the Virginia House, legislative counsel to the Democratic Leader, legislative counsel to the House Democratic Caucus, counsel to the House Courts of Justice Committee and the House Committee on Finance, and redistricting counsel to the Joint Democratic Caucus and the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus. ²⁴