Legislative advocacy is a critical part of ACLU-TN’s interdisciplinary approach to protecting and promoting civil liberties and civil rights. ACLU-TN lobbyists are at the Tennessee General Assembly and in Congress lobbying on a range of issues, pursuing initiatives to advance civil liberties and challenging attempts to erode our freedoms.
Each year, ACLU-TN lobbyists review over 2,000 bills introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly for civil liberties implications, identifying those bills that we are going to lobby and developing strategies accordingly.
We educate legislators about ACLU positions, draft legislation on priority issues, lobby on bills affecting civil liberties, testify or arrange for testimony on bills, and build coalitions to pursue pro-active legislative initiatives or battle anti-civil liberties legislation. In addition, Tennessee legislators and their staff often ask us for analysis on pending bills.
Last April, thousands of Tennesseans protested to demand commonsense gun safety laws after a school shooting left six people dead, including three children. Meanwhile, in the name...
HB 749/SB 889 seeks to end the harmful practice of assessing fees and fines to youth in the justice system who can’t afford them.
Tell lawmakers not to allow the use of handcuffs, zip ties, and other mechanical restraints on students with disabilities.
Urge legislators not to expand the number of kids in adult court.