No one should be afraid to call 911 when facing danger in their home.
Yet, across the country, towns and cities have passed local laws – often called nuisance or crime free ordinances – that punish property owners and push for eviction of their tenants when residents seek police and emergency aid. Such laws treat crime victims as a nuisance and leave them with an impossible choice: endure threats or violence without police protection, or call 911 and risk homelessness and even greater vulnerability.
A new Pennsylvania law, however, now promises respite from this kind of catch-22, which all too often leads domestic violence victims to remain in unsafe housing for fear of being evicted.
This was precisely the dilemma faced by Lakisha Briggs, a resident of Norristown, Pennsylvania, when the police responded to her home for reported domestic violence. Though they arrested her abuser, the police then told Ms. Briggs that two more calls for help would result in her eviction under a local ordinance.
After this, Ms. Briggs was terrified to call the police despite repeated and escalating attacks by her ex-boyfriend. She even begged her neighbors not to call 911 after she was stabbed in the neck with a piece of glass. Thankfully, each time someone else called for life-saving assistance. While Ms. Briggs survived, Norristown affirmed her fears and aggressively sought her eviction.
Last year, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Ms. Briggs to challenge the ordinance. In response to arguments that it violated the Constitution and federal law, Norristown repealed the law and settled the lawsuit, paying $495,000 to Ms. Briggs and her attorneys and agreeing not to pass a similar ordinance. Other Pennsylvania cities, including Mount Oliver and Forest City, also recognized the negative impact of these ordinances and repealed them after advocacy from the ACLU and other allies. But Ms. Briggs' story remains far from unique, and the burden has fallen on domestic violence victims to come forward with stories of evictions and violence to prompt this change.
Until today, that is.
to on the perverse consequences of these ordinances, lawmakers in Pennsylvania took an important stand and unanimously to ensure that no one facing danger in their home will be penalized for calling 911. This morning, Gov. Tom Corbett signed that bill, providing protection for any resident, tenant, or landlord who faces penalty under a local ordinance because police or emergency services were called or responded to a situation where intervention was needed in response to abuse, crime, or an emergency. Callers who reasonably believe emergency response is necessary to prevent such an event are also covered. The law also authorizes residents and landlords to seek remedies in court against any municipality that violates these protections.
While this legislation is a vital step forward, municipalities across the country are increasingly enacting and enforcing nuisance ordinances. Most municipalities fail to consider the risk that these ordinances will deter people from reporting crime, further endangering crime victims and undermining public safety as a whole. Nor do they consider the devastating and disproportionate impact these laws to have on victims of domestic violence and communities of color.
The federal government, however, has taken notice. The U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), recognizing nuisance ordinances as a fair housing issue, filed a separate complaint against Norristown. After pushing for repeal of the ordinance with the ACLU, HUD entered a that requires training and ongoing monitoring of Norristown's activities.
These actions by the federal government send an important message: enforcement of similar ordinances may violate civil rights laws and could result in the loss of HUD funding. But state legislatures also must take action.
Pennsylvania has led by example and now joins Minnesota in passing legislation that affirmatively protects tenants' right to call the police. Earlier this year, the New York Assembly unanimously approved a bill that would establish the most comprehensive state protections yet. The full New York Senate did not take a vote on the bill before its term ended, but the ACLU, domestic violence advocates, and many others voiced their support and will continue to advocate for the bill in the upcoming legislative session.
While Pennsylvanians no longer have to choose between safety and housing, access to police and housing security should not depend on where you live. State and municipal lawmakers across the country should act to ensure that local laws do not undermine victim safety by punishing crime victims for violence perpetrated against them.
The ACLU wants to hear from anyone who has been affected by these ordinances, including landlords, tenants, fair housing and domestic violence advocates. If you have a story to share, please fill out oursurvey.
Learn more about the ACLU's litigation against similar ordinances and other civil liberty issues: Sign up for breaking news alerts,, and .
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Press ReleaseOct 2024
LGBTQ Rights
+2 Issues
At Supreme Court, Tennessee Seeks to Expand Reach of Dobbs to Ban Health Care for Transgender YouthAt Supreme Court, Tennessee Seeks to Expand Reach of Dobbs to Ban Health Care for Transgender Youth
WASHINGTON – In their brief defending the state’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has asked the Supreme Court to expand its ruling overturning Roe v. Wade and allow the state to target transgender people’s autonomy over their own bodies, too. In U.S. v. Skrmetti, three Tennessee transgender youth and their families are challenging a state law that prohibits medical providers from prescribing medical treatments to transgender youth, such as puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapies, that are allowed for minors who are not transgender. Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, the families argue that the ban violates their Equal Protection rights under the 14th Amendment. In the brief filed today, Tennessee relies on the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Whole Women’s Health in an attempt to justify its ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender people. The brief cites to Dobbs at least 10 times in sweeping arguments to justify government sex discrimination. “We’ve seen just how far extreme politicians will push to deny us our reproductive freedom, from banning abortion to threatening IVF to even threatening to put doctors in jail for providing emergency care, with deadly consequences for women’s lives,” said Jennifer Dalven, director of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project. “The same politicians who are trying to control women have now set their sights on transgender people and their families and are trying to control their bodies and lives. Allowing politicians to continue down this road could hold severe implications for the freedom of all people to decide what is right for their own body.” Tennessee claims that their ban on gender-affirming care does not discriminate on the basis of sex even though it bans minors of one sex from accessing health care it allows to members of another sex. A transgender girl is barred from taking doctor-prescribed estrogen because Tennessee considers it “inconsistent” with her birth-assigned sex of male but a cisgender girl with a birth-assigned sex of female is permitted to take estrogen for any purpose including to affirm her female gender identity. “Since this Project’s founding by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we have adamantly challenged efforts to limit who we can be based on our gender or ability to bear children,” said Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project. “Tennessee’s attempt to limit who young people can become based on their sex shares a through-line with our nation’s history of subjugating women in the name of biology. The fight for each of us to live fully and authentically must include trans people. There is no ‘transgender’ exception to the U.S. Constitution.” In April 2023, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP sued the state of Tennessee to block S.B. 1, which prohibits medical providers from prescribing medical treatments to transgender youth, such as puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapies, that it exempts for minors who are not transgender. Following a decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, S.B. 1 took effect in July 2023. Since 2021, 24 states have banned hormone therapies for transgender youth. “Laws like Tennessee’s are not benign regulations of medical care; they are discriminatory efforts to exclude transgender people from the protections of the Constitution,” said Chase Strangio, co-director of the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. “These bans represent a dangerous and discriminatory affront to the well-being of transgender youth across the country and their constitutional right to equal protection under the law.” -
Press ReleaseSep 2024
Women's Rights
Civil Rights Groups Tell Federal Appeals Court that Protections for Pregnant Workers Cover Abortion CareCivil Rights Groups Tell Federal Appeals Court that Protections for Pregnant Workers Cover Abortion Care
WASHINGTON, D.C. - On Friday, a broad coalition of labor, workers’ rights, and gender justice organizations — led by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Arkansas, and the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) — filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in support of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) regulations implementing the landmark Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), including the regulations’ explicit protection for workers who have abortions. The PWFA, which took effect last year, was the culmination of a decade-long campaign to secure access to reasonable accommodations for workers with temporary limitations caused by “pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions.” The EEOC’s regulations provide comprehensive guidance to workers, employers, and the courts about the statute’s range of protections, including job-protected time off for medical treatment and recovery. The amicus brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit supports the EEOC in a challenge by 17 red states that are trying to block the PWFA regulations’ coverage of accommodations for abortion-related care. In June, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas dismissed the states’ challenge, and the states appealed to the Eighth Circuit. Their appeal includes a request that the Eighth Circuit issue a preliminary injunction of the regulations’ abortion provisions. The ACLU-NWLC brief details the federal law’s longstanding ban on discrimination against workers who obtain abortions – protection the PWFA intended to continue. The brief also documents the accounts of workers whose health and jobs were put at risk when their employers denied them accommodations, including time off, for abortion care. Such accounts illustrate the urgent need for clarity with respect to the PWFA’s coverage of abortion-related accommodations, and the devastating medical and financial consequences if such accommodations are denied. “Abortion has long been recognized as part of the full spectrum of workers’ pregnancy-related needs that are protected by the law, ” said Gillian Thomas, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s Women's Rights Project. “The states’ challenge has created uncertainty, and seeks to deprive workers of essential, job-protected time off for abortion care, posing significant health risks and leading to forced pregnancies. The EEOC regulations are vital to ensure pregnant workers don't have to choose between their health and their jobs.” “Extremist politicians are demonstrating repeatedly their willingness to risk women’s health to advance their anti-abortion agenda,” said Gaylynn Burroughs, vice president for Education and Workplace Justice at the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). “Let’s be clear: abortion care is pregnancy-related care, and stripping essential protections for abortion from the PWFA would endanger the health and economic security of pregnant workers.” “The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and its regulations provide a lifeline for workers who need accommodations during the most critical periods of their lives. Attempting to strip away these protections, particularly for abortion-related needs, is an affront to the rights and well-being of pregnant workers,” said John Williams, legal director of the ACLU of Arkansas. “All people in all aspects of pregnancy, including abortion, should be treated with the care and consideration they deserve. We stand firmly with the EEOC in defending these essential protections.” A copy of the brief can be found here. -
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Press ReleaseJul 2024
Women's Rights
LGBTQ Rights
ACLU Condemns House Measure Against Department of Education Title IX RuleACLU Condemns House Measure Against Department of Education Title IX Rule
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass H.J. Res. 165, a Congressional Review Act resolution disapproving of the U.S. Department of Education’s final Title IX rule providing guidance to schools on protecting students from sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, anti-LGBTQ discrimination, and other forms of sex discrimination. Mike Zamore, ACLU National Policy and Government Affairs Director, had the following response: “Today’s vote to completely repeal the Title IX rule takes a sledgehammer to the government’s ability to ensure that all students have the opportunity to learn free from sex discrimination and harassment. Stripping critical civil rights protections from LGBTQ students and students who are pregnant and parenting - as this resolution would do - is something that all members of Congress should strongly oppose. This is also not how Congress should act to protect the rights of students who face disciplinary action under Title IX because passing this resolution would prevent future rulemaking to ensure fair processes in school disciplinary proceedings.” The ACLU’s letter urging a “No” vote on H.J. Res. 165 can be found here: /documents/aclu-urges-no-vote-on-h-j-res-165 The ACLU’s statement on the final Title IX rule can be found here: /press-releases/155090