Defend Children's Rights! The legal justice scales statue is on the left side with a blue and yellow gradient. A Black parent with their Black child are in the bottom right corner, also with a blue and yellow gradient. The child has their head down.

The ACLU of Maryland works to protect the constitutional rights of children. We advocate to ensure they are not subjected to discipline or punishment that is biased, unfair or inappropriate for their age. We defend their freedom of expression and association. We protect their freedom to learn about and grapple with controversial ideas. And we work to guarantee that every child receives an excellent education.

Protect Children’s Due Process Rights (2024)

Every day in Maryland, children entangled in the legal justice system are questioned without a parent, guardian, or attorney present. As a result, they face criminal charges, prosecution, and incarceration without the basic due process rights that adults are entitled to. This is particularly dire for Black, Indigenous, and Children of Color, who are over-policed.

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Maryland General Assembly Report (2022)

The ACLU of Maryland, along with the Maryland Youth Justice Coalition, successfully passed the Child Interrogation Protection Act (SB 53/ HB 269) during the 2022 Maryland General Assembly.

Read the report

VIDEOS

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What is the Child Interrogation Protection Act?

Yanet Amanuel, public policy director at the ACLU of Maryland, discusses top-lines regarding the Child Interrogation Protection Act in Maryland.

TRANSCRIPT AVAILABLE HERE

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Young Activists Are Building a Sweet Future This October

Kids and their families aren’t just taking to the streets for candy this Halloween. Many across the state have come together to launch Youth Justice Action Month. We started this month with a press conference on October 2nd emphasizing why children need access to a lawyer when they are interrogated by police.

Read the launch blog

Teen Leaders, Local Advocates Launch National Youth Justice Action Month in Baltimore

Young leaders and advocates are coming together to launch Youth Justice Action Month, a time to redouble our commitment to securing safe communities that our children can thrive in. We must continue to work for the rights of Maryland’s children, protect the reforms we’ve already won like the Child Interrogation Protection Act and the Juvenile Justice Reform Act, and pursue more effective, data-driven solutions that make all of us safer.

Read the press release

Children Won’t Just Get Candy While Trick Or Treatin’, They’ll Get New Legal Protections This Month Too

After years of advocacy, the Child Interrogation Protection Act (CIPA) and the Juvenile Justice Reform Law both passed in the General Assembly in 2022.

Read the Blog

Opinion: Interrogation of Children Should Be Part of Police Reform Discussion

Typically, a child can let you know what kind of pizza to order for dinner and what flavor of soda to go with it. But if that child is put in a cold dark room with three law enforcement officers to be questioned about a robbery or murder that they have no knowledge of, there must be an adult in the room to protect the child’s best interest before they answer questions in a way that could change their life forever.

Read THE Opinion Piece

Bradford v. Maryland State Board of Education

Parents of Baltimore City school children seek to hold the State Board of Education accountable for its severe underfunding of Baltimore City Public Schools and its failure to provide a constitutionally adequate education for their children.

Learn more about Bradford

Checklist of What Your Child Needs to Succeed Academically

As children around Maryland return to schools after winter break, it is our duty to ensure they have everything they need to succeed academically. The State of Maryland’s constitution guarantees that right, after all!

Get the Checklist

Thinking Freely: LGBTQ+ Students Have the Right to Be Themselves in Maryland Public Schools

This June, the Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people for the first time in the organization’s 40-year history. And unfortunately, students are not immune to the dangerous anti-queer assaults, legislatively, or physically.

Listen to the Podcast

Know Your Rights: LGBTQ+ Students' Rights

LGBTQ+ Students' Rights at School in Maryland. Know Your Rights about gender, dress codes, self-expression, and more.

Know your rights

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