MEET THE MATCH:
ACLUM Board Member, Kim Marrkand, and her wife, Kathleen Henry, have generously offered to match every tax-deductible donation made to the ACLU Foundation of MA before December 31, 2024 up to $50,000.
“We reject choosing the passive path of disengagement; and, instead, with furious hope, we pledge to support freedom and equality.” — Kim Marrkand and Kathleen Henry
VOTING RIGHTS
This year, the ACLU of Massachusetts worked overtime to ensure a free and fair election. As part of our Massachusetts 2024 Election Action plan, we trained hundreds of poll monitors, dispatched advocates to every corner of the Commonwealth, and staffed the Election Protection Hotline to help tackle any reported problems. Now, we’re focused on expanding access to the ballot and neutralizing all traces of voter suppression in the Bay State. Anti-democratic forces are emboldened, but we won’t give an inch.
FREE EXPRESSION
As a new wave of censorship and suppression sweeps the nation, the ACLU of Massachusetts is pushing back to preserve and strengthen freedom of expression and dissent. In just the past year, we have thwarted book bans, challenged discriminatory speech policies, and reinforced our team of Protest Watch legal observers. Now, we are fully prepared to oppose Trump’s plans to violently quash dissent, shutter a free press, and prosecute his political opponents.
REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM + DIGITAL PRIVACY
The ACLU of Massachusetts has helped to ensure that our Commonwealth has the strongest shield law in the country for abortion patients and providers. But that’s not all — as anti-abortion politicians pursue increasingly cruel and unusual methods of criminalization and punishment, we are staying one step ahead with bold new privacy legislation to protect our digital footprints from prying eyes, bounty hunters, and hostile state governments. Our message to lawmakers is clear: protecting bodily autonomy requires us to defend digital privacy.
IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS
During the first Trump administration, the ACLU of Massachusetts filed some of the first and most impactful lawsuits against horrific immigration policies like the Muslim Ban and efforts to separate young children from their families. We helped to reunite families and create a fairer, more orderly, and more humane immigration system in New England. In the face of renewed threats to double down on family separation and detention, ACLU advocates are ready to defend basic due process and human rights for our immigrant neighbors.
CRIMINAL LAW REFORM
This year, the ACLU of Massachusetts won a landmark ruling to ensure police accountability in Springfield, and we litigated two federal jury trials involving wrongful death allegations on behalf of people who died in police custody. One of those cases is yet to be argued, while another will be appealed to the First Circuit. We have always fought, and will always fight, at the leading edge of criminal law reform in Massachusetts to ensure that our communities can be both safe and free.
LGBTQ RIGHTS
Queer people are facing a terrifying new wave of demonization and harassment, and Massachusetts is not immune. This year, the ACLU of Massachusetts won a settlement against local officials in North Brookfield who tried to block a Pride event and drag show. We’re challenging book bans, defending LGBTQ-rights protestors in court, and pushing for new laws to protect queer families and people seeking gender-affirming care. To those who seek to target LGBTQ people in Massachusetts: you’ll have to get through us.
2024 – 2025 LEGACY CAMPAIGN: SECURING FREEDOM'S FUTURE
ACLU of Massachusetts Board Member and retired Legislative Director Norma Shapiro and Harvard Business School Professor Emeritus Ben Shapiro recognize that the ACLU’s work is critical now — and for the future.
One of the best and easiest ways to strengthen ACLU’s permanence and stability is by leaving a generous legacy gift.
Norma and Ben Shapiro invite you to join our Legacy Campaign. To learn more, contact Chief Development Officer Bianca Sigh Ward at bsighward@aclum.org or (617) 848-8853.