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Article

26 Aug 2019

Author:
Center for Constitutional Rights, Greenpeace USA, Water Protector Legal Collective & 19 other groups

USA: Human rights groups condemn the American Legislative Exchange Council for actions that harm people of color & the climate

"Lawmakers Must Cut Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council," 15 August 2019

[A]s the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) met for its annual meeting in Austin, TX, amid protests inside and outside the event, a collection of civil and human rights groups joined with indigenous, racial, Palestinian, and environmental justice activists to condemn ALEC for its attacks on people of color and the climate. The groups also called on all elected officials, particularly candidates running to be elected as state lawmakers in 2020, to publicly declare they will have no affiliation with ALEC... ALEC is a 46-year-old institution that regularly convenes elected state lawmakers and corporate representatives behind closed doors to design laws that protect and promote corporate interests... ALEC-inspired legislation has long contributed to human and civil rights violations of people of color and denigrated marginalized communities... ALEC has also played an important part in the widespread attack on the voting rights of people of color and other marginalized people... As ALEC attacks the rights of people of color, it also contributes to the silencing of dissent by activists... [I]n the last two years ALEC has served as a central platform for its fossil fuel members and allies to design and push for passage of so-called “critical infrastructure laws” in many states.[10] These laws expand the definition of “critical infrastructure” to include pipelines so as to impose felony charges on Indigenous protestors and their allies for actions that were previously misdemeanor offenses... We call on all candidates running to be elected as state lawmakers in 2020 to publicly declare they will have no (further) affiliation with ALEC.