ACLU of South Dakota

ACLU of South Dakota Job Opportunity — Advocacy Director

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Career Opportunity
ADVOCACY DIRECTOR [SD-05]
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation
ACLU of South Dakota, Sioux Falls, SD

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation (ACLU), founded in 1920, is a nationwide, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, with more than 500,000 members and is dedicated to the principles of liberty and equality embodied in the U.S. Constitution. The ACLU of South Dakota in Sioux Falls, SD is seeking applications for the full-time position of Advocacy Director.

OVERVIEW

The ACLU of South Dakota is a national chapter of the ACLU and conducts state based advocacy through public education, litigation and lobbying. The ACLU of South Dakota is the newest national chapter of the ACLU and it is quickly growing with the recent addition of a National Office in North Dakota. The ACLU of South Dakota and the National Office of North Dakota handle issues regarding reproductive freedom, voting rights, the rights of lesbian, bisexual and transgender as well as many other civil liberties issues.

The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota, National Chapter seeks an experienced leader to serve as its Advocacy Director. This position will play a leadership role in enhancing the overall capacity and effectiveness of the organization’s policy and field work and for membership mobilization and action on ACLU issue campaigns shaping the future of the ACLU of South Dakota and the National Office of North Dakota.

The Advocacy Director will be part of the ACLU of South Dakotas’ leadership team and will report to the Executive Director and work in collaboration with the Communications Director in organizing and leading advocacy around ACLU issues in South and North Dakota.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Plan and implement effective multi-disciplinary public policy campaigns for civil liberties, involving a combination of legislative, public education and organizing strategies.
  • Mobilize supporters statewide on civil liberties priorities.
  • Recruit and develop local leadership in targeted cities.
  • Design and implement volunteer engagement strategy.
  • Supervise and implement public education events and outreach throughout the state.
  • Monitor legislative and ballot initiatives at the local state and federal levels and to actively lobby on matters that pertain to civil liberties at all levels.
  • Organize and build successful grass roots lobbying initiatives in South Dakota.
  • Build coalitions with other groups and entities regarding legislation that affect civil liberties and maintain relationships with allies on priority issues.
  • Work closely with the Communications Director to create materials that advance advocacy goals and assist with public education.

QUALIFICATIONS Continue reading →

ACLU FOIA Suit against IHS re: Reproductive Health Care

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the complaint: ACLU v IHS Complaint.

Here is the commentary from the ACLU lawyers (article here) (h/t Indianz):

By Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, Staff Attorney, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project & Robert Doody, Executive Director, ACLU of South Dakota

“They treat us just like guinea pigs when it comes to Indian Health Services.” That’s how one woman on the Cheyenne River Sioux reservation described the birth of her second child. She is not alone. Today, the ACLU and the ACLU of South Dakota filed a Freedom of Information of Act (FOIA) lawsuit against Indian Health Services (IHS), seeking information about the provision of reproductive health care services to the women of the Cheyenne River Sioux.

For nearly a decade, the women of the Cheyenne River Sioux — most of whom depend on IHS for their health care — have had to travel at least 90 miles to Pierre, South Dakota, over poorly maintained roads, to be able to give birth at the nearest hospital with an IHS contract (the next closest hospital is 180 miles away). But even worse is the treatment they describe once they get there.

Many women report that they are being told to forgo natural labor and delivery, and instead accept medication to induce labor, either on or before their due dates, at a time selected exclusively by their doctor. They are given little or no counseling — indeed, many women say that the first time their doctor spoke to them about induction of labor was on the day they were induced. One young woman told us that shortly after learning she was to be induced, she asked her doctor to wait just one day so that her mother could be with her during the birth of her first child. Her doctor refused.

Continue reading →