Rights This Way is a podcast from the New York Civil Liberties Union (the ACLU of New York State) focused on the civil rights and liberties issues that impact New Yorkers most. Through interviews and lively conversations with experts inside and outside the NYCLU, we discuss the legal and policy implications of some of the most important issues facing our state.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
Over more than a decade, the NYPD has collected the genetic material of 34,000 people – generally without their consent – in its rogue, illegal DNA database. The people ensnared in this database are often innocent, never charged with or convicted of a crime. And as technology advances, there’s no telling what law enforcement will be able to know about people whose DNA is swept up in these kinds of databases. How does the NYPD get away with this? What are the dangers of DNA databases, and what can we do to rein them in?
On this episode, we speak with Professor Erin Murphy, who has literally written the book on the dangers of forensic DNA testing. And we also speak with an NYCLU lawyer who breaks down what the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies are doing with our DNA in New York and what we can do about it.
Please download, rate, review, and subscribe to Rights This Way, it will help more people find this podcast.
In this episode, you'll hear:
00:00 Intro
2:05 What is forensic DNA testing?
5:28 The dangers of DNA databases
8:16 The NYPD's rogue DNA database
12:13 What DNA database supporters say
17:15 How the NYPD defends its database
20:20 What police can learn from your DNA
27:56 Wouldn't this make us safer?
33:07 Is "abandoned" DNA fair game?
35:25 Forensic genetic genealogy in New York
39:45 What New York can learn from Maryland
41:33 Why this affects everyone
44:47 How to take action
Resources:
More on Erin Murphy and her book: https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.overview&personid=31567 (https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.overview&personid=31567)
More on the NYPD’s rogue database: https://www.nyclu.org/commentary/how-the-nypds-rogue-dna-database-ensnares-innocent-new-yorkers (https://www.nyclu.org/commentary/how-the-nypds-rogue-dna-database-ensnares-innocent-new-yorkers)
The NYCLU’s amicus brief challenging the NYPD’s database: https://www.nyclu.org/uploads/2026/08/2026-07-30-Amicus-dckt-52_0.pdf (https://www.nyclu.org/uploads/2026/08/2026-07-30-Amicus-dckt-52_0.pdf)
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit www.nyclu.org/ (https://www.nyclu.org/)
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit www.nyclu.org/podcasts (https://open.acast.com/networks/62e28f3d6d8af6001229f800/shows/62e28f3d6d8af6001229f7fe/episodes/www.nyclu.org/podcasts)
Follow NYCLU on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/nyclu/), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/new-york-civil-liberties-union/), and Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/nyclu.org).
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
22 Oct 2026
How Do We Put the Brakes on Flock and License Plate Readers?
There is burgeoning and justified nationwide outrage over automatic license plate readers, or ALPRs. These ubiquitous and invasive devices are singlehandedly destroying any notion we may have of personal privacy. ALPRs capture the movements of millions of innocent New Yorkers every day. They build detailed location records, revealing where we go to work, whom we meet, which health care providers we visit, which places of worship we frequent, and which protests we attend.
On this episode, we talk to two experts about how license plate readers work, what makes them so dangerous, and about state and nationwide efforts to put much needed guardrails around their use.
Please download, rate, review and subscribe to rights this way. It will help more people find this podcast.
In this episode, you'll hear:
00:00 Intro
02:05 What are ALPRs and how do they work?
04:20 Why ALPRs are dangerous
06:20 How Flock scaled up surveillance
08:10 A nationwide backlash grows
10:45 Why left and right both oppose ALPRs
14:00 Who's still defending ALPRs?
16:45 Do ALPRs make us safer?
20:50 NYCLU's lawsuits in Westchester and Scarsdale
23:25 Bans and guardrails nationwide
26:00 New York's ALPR bill and the Troy win
28:20 How to get involved
Resources:
Get license plate readers out of New York: https://action.aclu.org/send-message/demand-alpr-guardrails-new-york (https://action.aclu.org/send-message/demand-alpr-guardrails-new-york)
ALPR campaign page: https://www.nyclu.org/resources/campaigns-actions/campaigns/get-alprs-out-of-new-york (https://www.nyclu.org/resources/campaigns-actions/campaigns/get-alprs-out-of-new-york)
ALPR blog: https://www.nyclu.org/commentary/how-license-plate-readers-track-your-every-move (https://www.nyclu.org/commentary/how-license-plate-readers-track-your-every-move)
Westchester lawsuit: https://www.nyclu.org/commentary/westchester-police-are-tracking-millions-of-drivers (https://www.nyclu.org/commentary/westchester-police-are-tracking-millions-of-drivers)
ACLU’s ALPR toolkit: https://www.aclu.org/get-the-flock-out-toolkit (https://www.aclu.org/get-the-flock-out-toolkit)
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit www.nyclu.org/ (https://www.nyclu.org/)
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit www.nyclu.org/podcasts (https://open.acast.com/networks/62e28f3d6d8af6001229f800/shows/62e28f3d6d8af6001229f7fe/episodes/www.nyclu.org/podcasts)
Follow NYCLU on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/nyclu/), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/new-york-civil-liberties-union/), and Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/nyclu.org).
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
1 Oct 2026
Kicking This Anti-Protest NYPD Unit to the Curb with Walter Masterson
With Donald Trump waging war on free speech and ICE officers killing people in broad daylight, our right to protest is more important than ever. But too often when New Yorkers take to the streets to speak out, they are met with NYPD violence. Often, the officers leading the anti-protest charge are part of the NYPD's notoriously brutal Strategic Response Group, or "the SRG."
The SRG's training specifically names anti-Trump demonstrators, the Black Lives Matter movement, and Occupy Wall Street as examples of "violent" protesters. The unit's members have demonstrated a clear pattern of targeting people of color, using excessive force, and generating higher rates of misconduct complaints compared to other officers.
On this episode, we discuss the SRG with comedian and political satirist Walter Masterson. And we also get into the history of the unit and legislation designed to curtail the SRG’s violence with NYCLU expert and organizer Isabelle Leyva.
Please download, rate, review and subscribe to Rights This Way. It will help more people find this podcast.
In this episode, you'll hear:
00:00 Intro
02:18 What is the NYPD's Strategic Response Group?
04:14 SRG training that targets racial justice and left-wing protesters
05:13 How Walter got involved in the campaign against the SRG
07:10 Walter's run-ins with the SRG at protests
09:22 What Isabelle has seen the SRG do on the streets
12:33 Walter's satirical testimony at City Council
16:15 How lawmakers react to the testimony
19:42 What the CURB Act would do
21:58 Where the CURB Act stands and what's blocking it
23:56 How listeners can help pass the CURB Act
Resources:
Follow Walter on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@waltermasterson?lang=en (https://www.tiktok.com/@waltermasterson?lang=en)
Sign up for our anti-SRG campaign: nyclu.org/srg-signup (http://nyclu.org/srg-signup)
Tell Council Members to support the CURB Act: https://action.aclu.org/send-message/curb-nypd-abuse-protesters (https://action.aclu.org/send-message/curb-nypd-abuse-protesters)
Learn more about the SRG: https://www.nyclu.org/commentary/new-yorkers-right-to-protest-is-under-attack-heres-how-a-new-bill-can-protect-it (https://www.nyclu.org/commentary/new-yorkers-right-to-protest-is-under-attack-heres-how-a-new-bill-can-protect-it)
More on the buffer zone legislation that Walter mentions: https://www.nyclu.org/podcast/inside-the-struggle-against-anti-protest-buffer-zone-laws (https://www.nyclu.org/podcast/inside-the-struggle-against-anti-protest-buffer-zone-laws)
For more on everything we discuss in this episode, visit www.nyclu.org/ (https://www.nyclu.org/)
For transcripts and additional information on the episodes, visit www.nyclu.org/podcasts (https://open.acast.com/networks/62e28f3d6d8af6001229f800/shows/62e28f3d6d8af6001229f7fe/episodes/www.nyclu.org/podcasts)
Follow NYCLU on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/nyclu/), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/new-york-civil-liberties-union/), and Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/nyclu.org).
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
1,011,842
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
17 ratings
Spotify
4.9 / 5
10 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 51 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
17
Social presence
97
YouTube
86
Engagement
77
Contact Rights This Way
Guest appearances
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