Rights This Way

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 speech near houses of worship. While the bill that finally passed isn’t as bad as the Governor’s initial proposal, it is still needless, dangerous, and an affront to our democracy. On this episode, we discuss this so-called buffer zone legislat...

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 themselves in an impossible bind: They can’t afford to lose the wages they need to make ends meet, but they also can’t afford to pay for the child care that allows them to go to work. On this episode, we speak with Emmy Liss, Mayor Mamdani’s hea...

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 to everyone in our state, but lead poisoning disproportionately affects Black and Brown New Yorkers. Thousands of people’s lives are impacted by lead poisoning, but our state and local governments aren’t doing nearly enough to combat it. On...

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. The Mayor needs the Governor’s help to accomplish many of the key pillars of his agenda, and the two have already signaled clear areas of agreement and key points of friction. On this episode, we discuss the promise and potential pitfalls of...

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 higher education have given in to the Trump administration’s outrageous demands and allowed the federal government to have an unprecedented say in what gets taught and what people can say on college campuses. New York City’s Columbia Univer...

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 about race or racism, feature people of color, or include LGBTQ characters. This is a nationwide movement, and New York is not immune. Several New York school districts are facing calls to ban books. On this episode, we talk to New York Times...

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 violate the Constitution and can remain in effect. The decision is a devastating loss for trans rights and risks emboldening other states to advance similar bans. The decision comes as the Trump administration and its allies in hostile sta...

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 because of his advocacy for Palestinian Rights. After more than 100 days in detention, Mahmoud is finally where he belongs: at home with his family in New York City. In this episode – which is a collaboration between Rights This Way and the ACLU’s...

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 experts to quote, and even what supposedly objective words to use in news stories, profoundly impact how we view the world we live in. In his book, Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News, our guest Alec Karakatsanis breaks do...

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 Making of Modern Sports” delves into the history of this debate that has lasted the better part of a century at least. Now the Trump administration is threatening states with funding cuts and other sanctions if they allow trans people to play sp...

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 arrested and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident and recent graduate student at Columbia University, in retaliation for his advocacy for Palestinian human rights. He was separated from his wife, an American citizen, wh...

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 the calls come from law enforcement, politicians, and right-wing tabloids to lock more people up. Rinse and repeat. This all happens despite the fact that people living with mental health challenges are 11 times more likely to be the vic...

The Trump Administration has stoked widespread fear in immigrant communities across New York and around the country. Through immigration raids, and a non-stop barrage of anti-immigrant policies, Trump’s plans to tear families apart and launch the largest mass deportations in U.S. history are well underway. There’s no sugarcoating how bad the current situation is. But we should also understand that...

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 kids in cages” and “no body is illegal.” It is hard to remember that less than a decade ago, Democrats running in their party’s presidential primary were competing over who was more pro-immigrant. Times have changed. President Trump has begu...

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 early 1900s that chronicles the suffragists’ fight to secure women’s right to vote. More than a century later, the production’s Broadway run is happening at a moment when abortion rights, and women’s rights more broadly, are under attack acr...

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.   Since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade , twenty-one states have either banned or restricted abortion care. There’s also a full-blown assault on LGBTQ rights, with hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills introduced — and many passed — in st...

This February in Long Island, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman issued an executive order banning transgender girls and women from participating in girls’ and women’s sports at county-run facilities. The NYCLU sued to block this policy, arguing that it violates New York’s Human Rights Law and Civil Rights Law, which explicitly prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. Justice prevaile...

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 required to register on the state’s sex offender registry from knowingly being within 1,000 feet of a school at any time and for any reason. It’s also been interpreted to prevent people subject to SARA restrictions from living within this 1,0...

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 Roe , numerous states have banned or severely restricted abortion care. In the face of this attack on basic reproductive rights, New York must once again be a leader in expanding care for its residents and anyone who needs it. Even though abor...

Universities should be havens for robust debate, discussion, and learning – not sites of censorship where administrators, donors, and politicians squash political discourse they don't approve of. But Columbia University recently violated New York law to single out and suspend two student groups for participating in a peaceful student demonstration and temporary art installation in support of Pales...

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 story or a quote from a New York politician about how this recent arrival of migrants is a drain on New York’s finances. But a recent report from New York City Comptroller Brad Lander complicates that narrative. He joins us to explain why migran...

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 communities of color is surging. This isn't just happening in red states, it's taking place right here in New York. That’s why the NYCLU and our partners sued the Nassau County Legislature in Long Island for its redistricting plan, which vio...

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, and the promise of refuge has made our state what it is.    Rental prices soared to record levels in New York City in 2023. Right now, a family would have to earn at least $140,000 a year just to be able to afford the city’s median...

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, and the promise of refuge has made our state what it is.    New York is also known for being a place where big things get done. That’s why it’s so disappointing when our leaders scapegoat and engage in fearmongering over the many m...

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 deployed at protests, the SRG has consistently threatened, attacked, and arrested protesters. Time and time again, when the SRG arrives on the scene, officers escalate situations and injure New Yorkers who are exercising their First Amendment right...