In this compelling episode, Attorney Yasmin Cader—Deputy Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)—joins Angela Reddock-Wright to reveal what it takes to defend democracy, the First Amendment,  and civil rights under unprecedented pressure. Cader, a Howard University and Yale Law graduate, recounts her journey from federal public defender to leading national legal battles at the ACLU. She explains how the organization’s mission—expanding civil liberties and equal protection for all—has adapted to address attacks on constitutional institutions, government overreach, and community harm in 2025. From voting rights litigation to book ban suits, Cader leads the ACLU’s critical work on racial justice, criminal legal reform, immigrant protections, and upholding the First Amendment.

Key Topics Covered: 

• Yasmin Cader’s background and pathway to ACLU leadership​
• The ACLU’s mission: expanding civil liberties, racial justice, immigrant rights, and constitutional protections​
• Litigation around book bans and censorship in military defense school and the potential impact for the nation’s public schools​
• Strategies for fighting government overreach, ICE raids, police militarization, and National Guard deployment​
• The importance of voting rights litigation and the Supreme Court case Louisiana v. Kalay​
• Recent victories defending the right to teach history and opposing laws that erase marginalized stories​

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