ACLU of Missouri

04/07/2026

The lower court’s order departs from over one hundred years of legal precedent dating back to the early 1900’s. Time and time again, courts found and upheld that “the mere lodging of a timely, legal, and sufficient referendum petition with the Secretary of State is all that” must be done to “halt” the “law affected”—“regardless of any affirmative act on the part of the Secretary of State or the Attorney General.”

Previous Secretaries of State and Attorneys General have agreed with the established precedent that referred legislation is suspended upon receipt of the referendum petition. In 2017, then-Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft announced that Missouri’s so-called right-to-work law was suspended after his office received more than 300,000 signatures, even though the office still needed to verify and issue a certificate.

04/02/2026

03/31/2026

Birthright citizenship is a constitutional guarantee. We’ll be at the Supreme Court fighting to defend that right on behalf of tens of thousands of children who call the U.S. home.

03/31/2026

✊🏿✊🏽✊🏻

Cecillia Wang was born in Oregon after her parents left Taiwan. That path has animated her work over two decades at the ACLU and will inform her case at the Supreme Court.

03/30/2026

In an order that ignores a century of precedent, a judge issued a ruling to deny our request to suspend HB1's map from going into place until after the people's referendum is complete. We will appeal.

03/27/2026

No ICE in our communities. No troops in our streets. No attacks on our free speech and democracy.

No kings.

Protect yourself and our communities - Know your rights.

03/20/2026

We have shown politicians in Jefferson City the people's extraordinary power when we come together. With the general assembly in session, it is crucial that we stay organized and make sure our voices are heard both on bills that advance our rights and those which would harm our communities.
Join our community on Tuesday, March 31st from 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm for the People's Briefing with the ACLU of Missouri.
RSVP here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/uDQRhJ7dSjeemsjgp5zfKA?link_id=3&can_id=&source=email-join-us-march-31st-peoples-briefing-with-the-aclu-of-missouri&email_referrer=email_3153218&email_subject=join-us-march-31st-peoples-briefing-with-the-aclu-of-missouri&& #/registration

03/16/2026

Storytelling and testimonials give us the opportunity to speak and influence lawmakers and their decisions, which is critical for those who would be harmed by proposed bills.
Join the Legislative Response Team for insight on bills we’re working on and talking points for legislation we support or oppose.
Sign up here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=6EIyuH8Rokae0dPRMe3YsoG9BT3cDVBPoj0V185FtClUMUVLWkNYNTVFNDdaWkxUVFJPRzlNWVQ0Ri4u&route=shorturl

03/12/2026

The Missouri Department of Mental Health and the state have failed to respond reasonably and adequately in the face of the worsening waitlist problem.

In 2013, the waitlist to enter a facility for restorative treatment was ten names long. As of January 2026, the waitlist reached an all-time high: 528 people had been found incompetent to stand trial and were on a waitlist for restoration services, while another 200 individuals were waiting to be evaluated in the first instance.

“These extended wait times are a direct result of DMH’s failure to follow the law. Worse, the situation is rapidly deteriorating. In just three years, the average wait time has doubled from an already unacceptable and illegal duration. In some instances, people are unconstitutionally held in a detention center while waiting to receive treatment for a longer period of time than the maximum sentence available for the crimes alleged. The court must intervene and order DMH to remedy this crisis.” The MacArthur Justice Center ArchCity Defenders, Inc.

03/10/2026

Call to action to protect reproductive rights: Use the link in the comments to call your state senator and demand that they vote NO on the unconstitutional SB 999.

03/10/2026

This bill would make significant changes to both our state’s sentencing structure and certain processes for youth in custody, leading to more people in prison for longer.

Use the link below to oppose this harmful bill.

ACTION ALERT 📢
SB 888 passed the Missouri Senate late last week, & could cost taxpayers $25M more every year & nearly $1B for a new prison. Our lawmakers are proposing cuts to healthcare, higher ed, and childcare - Missouri CAN'T afford this. Urge your Representative to vote NO now ⬇️
EmpowerMissouri.org/no-new-prison