Home : Rights of the Poor

Lawyer Selected to Monitor Washington County’s Troubled Public Defender System (02/02/2006)
SEATTLE -- Seattle attorney Jeffery Robinson has been selected to monitor Grant County’s compliance with terms of a settlement agreement to improve the County’s public defender system. The settlement came in a lawsuit that the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and Columbia Legal Services brought against the county for failing to provide indigent felony defendants with effective assistance of counsel. It was announced today that Robinson will monitor compliance over the six-year term of the agreement.

ACLU of Florida Challenges Brevard County's Denial of Federal Energy Conservation Funding to Former Felons (01/26/2006)
MIAMI - Brevard County violated federal law by preventing a low-income resident from participating in an energy conservation program solely because he had a prior felony conviction, charged the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida in a lawsuit filed today in U.S. District Court in Orlando.

ACLU Fights to Keep Three Students from New Orleans in Mississippi Public School (01/23/2006)
JACKSON, MS -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi today announced that it will represent three displaced students from New Orleans at a hearing before members of the Jackson Public Schools disciplinary committee. The ACLU charged that school officials are discriminating against the students by subjecting them to harsher disciplinary action than students who live in Jackson.

Michigan Judge Thumbs His Nose at U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Poor People's Right to an Attorney (01/11/2006)
DETROIT - In a move reserved for extraordinary cases, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan today filed a class action lawsuit in the Michigan Court of Appeals to force a state judge to comply with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling granting poor people the right to attorneys on appeal.

ACLU Urges New Orleans City Council to Review Conditions at Prison (12/08/2005)
In response to reports that hundreds of prisoners have returned to Orleans Parish Prison, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana today urged the City Council to conduct a full and thorough review of the conditions within the facility. In letters to each council member, the ACLU expressed concern that Sheriff Marlin N. Gusman re-opened the prison despite the lack of adequate evacuation plans or medical staff and equipment.

Sheriff Illegally Withholding Records on Orleans Parish Prison, ACLU Lawsuit Charges (11/10/2005)
BATON ROUGE, LA--The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana today filed a lawsuit charging that Orleans Parish Prison officials are violating state law by refusing to turn over public records that would shine light on why prisoners were abandoned when Hurricane Katrina struck.

Following ACLU of Washington Lawsuit, Grant County Agrees to Overhaul Public Defense System (11/07/2005)
SEATTLE -- Settling a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and Columbia Legal Services, Grant County officials have agreed to overhaul the county’s system for providing legal defense to people charged with felonies who cannot afford an attorney.

Compelling ACLU Report Exposes Deeply Compromised Lead Testing of Vulnerable Children in New Jersey (10/25/2005)
IRVINGTON, NJ - Thousands of New Jersey children are at risk of lead poisoning, according to a report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Association for Children of New Jersey and a coalition of advocates, and blame for the tragic state of affairs rests solidly with the lack of leadership exhibited by the state government. Yet a groundbreaking pilot study shows that there are things that can be done to increase testing and treatment.

ACLU Calls on New Orleans City Council to Hold Hearing on Plans to Re-Open Prison (10/21/2005)
NEW ORLEANS -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana today sent letters to New Orleans City Council members urging them to immediately schedule a hearing on plans to re-open the Orleans Parish Prison (OPP), which the ACLU says plunged into chaos after Hurricane Katrina hit.

Washington Judge Finds Grant County's Public Defense System Deficient (10/20/2005)
ELLENSBURG, WA -- A superior court judge has ruled that indigent defendants have a well-grounded fear that they will not receive effective legal counsel from Grant County's public defense system. In his ruling, Kittitas County Superior Court Judge Michael E. Cooper found that Grant County's system overworked its lawyers, failed to provide effective supervision, and allowed the Grant County Prosecutor's Office to interfere with funding for expert witnesses and investigators.

Men Tell Court They Were Left to Drown in New Orleans Prison (10/06/2005)
NEW ORLEANS -- In legal papers filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union, two men detained on minor charges recount disturbing details of being abandoned without food or water in over-crowded, flooded cells for days at the Orleans Parish Prison during Hurricane Katrina. The ACLU submitted declarations from the men, who have since been released from prison, along with an emergency request to allow attorneys to inspect the prison before officials remove evidence.

ACLU Seeks Information on the Fate of 6,500 New Orleans Prisoners (09/28/2005)
NEW ORLEANS - Citing eyewitness reports of locked prisoners being abandoned to drown in their cells in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the American Civil Liberties Union today demanded access to the relocated prisoners it represents under a longstanding class-action lawsuit over prison conditions.

U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Michigan Law (06/23/2005)
DETROIT -- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that the Michigan law denying legal representation to poor people in a criminal appeal is unconstitutional. The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan filed the one of a kind case after the law was passed in 1999.

Statewide Public Defender Becoming a Reality (06/08/2005)
The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the Montana legislature for enacting a precedent-setting bill that creates the state's first ever state-wide public defender office.