American Civil Liberties Union

Our Rights Can't Wait:
$1 Million by 12/31

We're at an urgent tipping point as we head into the new year: abortion access, voting rights, and trans justice are all on the line. Defend them all: Donate to help us reach our $1 million goal.

Donate Now

Keep up with the latest

An ACLU graphic featuring Sophia Lin Lakin, Jonathan Topaz, and Molly McGrath with the phrase ACLU Pop Quiz Voting Rights Addition.

We Quizzed ACLU Experts on Voting Rights

Three ACLU attorneys answer rapid-fire questions on some of the most important moments, terms, and laws pertaining to voting rights.

Watch Now

A graphic of a diverse array of job applicants.

Know Your Rights: Digital Discrimination in Hiring

Automated tools in hiring can perpetuate harmful biases — here’s what you need to know to protect your digital rights.

Learn More

U.N. Human Rights Report Calls out U.S.

The searing report highlights the immense gap between U.S. laws and policies and international human rights norms.

A graphic of a woman holding a megaphone with rulers on her righthand side.

Quiz: What Rights Do Students Have at School?

How much do you know about students’ rights on campus? Test yourself to find out.

Find Out

The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union — beyond one person, party, or side. Our mission is to realize this promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees.

Issues

Learn about what's happening across the most pressing civil liberties issues of our time, and what you can do.

Spotlight

A graphic of a child standing on a parent's shoulders.

Systemic Equality

Since our nation’s founding, discriminatory policies and laws have created an unequal system in which Black communities have had their civil rights and liberties denied and have been systemically locked out of opportunities in education, housing, employment, and more.

Through our Systemic Equality agenda, we will use nationwide litigation, advocacy, and public education to advance laws and policies rooted in racial equity and end discriminatory policies, laws, and practices that have an outsized impact on Black communities.

Help us in our fight to ensure all people have equal access to housing, voting rights, education, and more by learning more, pledging your support, or donating. When we have full and equal access to education, jobs, housing, voting rights and more, better futures are possible.

News and Commentary

News & Commentary

Racial Justice

Preserving the History of Civil Rights in New Orleans

Leona Tate shares how she makes change in her community through education, dialogue, and working with the ACLU of Louisiana.

A lock and key on top of a computer keyboard.

Free Speech

Some Steps to Defend Against Online Doxxing and Harassment

Digital attacks are on the rise — but you can help defend your community.

Voting Rights

Three Redistricting Cases to Watch

Manipulating district maps undermines our democracy. Here’s how we’re challenging unfair maps in three states.

In the Courts

For more than one hundred years, ACLU lawyers have been at the center of one history-making court case after another, participating in more Supreme Court cases than any other private organization. With attorneys nationwide, we handle thousands of cases each year on behalf of clients whose rights have been violated.

Fighting for Trans Rights

Four families of transgender youth and two doctors have challenged an Arkansas law that would prohibit healthcare professionals from providing or even referring transgender young people for medically necessary health care.

Fighting for Trans Rights

Collage photo of the four plantiffs involved in the Arkansas Case

all court cases

Fighting Trump

During the Trump administration, we filed over 246 lawsuits.

Fighting Back Against Voter Suppression in Georgia
Following record turnout in recent elections, Georgia legislators passed a voter suppression law designed to make it harder for voters, especially voters of color, to cast a ballot. We’re suing.

Defending Student Free Speech
Brandi Levy was just blowing off steam off campus when she posted an expletive message on Snapchat critical of her school and cheer team. She was suspended from her cheer team, but alongside the ACLU she sued to defend student free speech. We took the case all the way to the Supreme Court – and won.

Protecting Abortion Access in Florida
On behalf of several abortion providers, we are fighting against Florida’s senseless and harmful law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy and threatens to imprison doctors who provide care beyond that point.

our history

1920

In its first year, the ACLU challenged the Palmer Raids, protecting immigrants and trade union members.

1942

The ACLU stood almost alone in denouncing the federal government’s internment of more than 110,000 Japanese Americans in concentration camps.

1967

The ACLU represented an interracial couple in the landmark Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia. The court ruled that state bans on interracial marriage were unconstitutional.

1978

The ACLU took a controversial stand for free speech by defending a Nazi group that wanted to march through the Chicago suburb of Skokie—where many Holocaust survivors lived.

2015

The ACLU won a landmark Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, affirming the constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry.

2018

In a victory for privacy, the Supreme Court ruled in an ACLU case, Carpenter v. United States, that people’s sensitive cell phone location data is protected by the Fourth Amendment, requiring the government get a warrant to access it.

today

We have over 1,700 staffers in every state, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico fighting for people's constitutional rights.

Careers

Full-time positions and internships

Media Inquiries

Press releases and interviews

Shop

Apparel, books, and more

Financial Reports

Annual reports on governance

FOIA Collections

Public records and information

On the Ground

From signing petitions to organizing on the ground, millions of ACLU activists are helping defend our rights.

welcome to Florida sign with 'welcome' crossed out

Tell Congress: Say 'No' to Discriminatory Land Laws

Actions Needed Now

Two hands reaching to each other through barbed wire

Justice for People Seeking Asylum: Stop Life-threatening Tactics Now

Defend Reproductive Freedom Now