American Civil Liberties Union

Defend the rights of all people nationwide

Abortion care, trans people's right to live freely, people's right to vote - our freedoms are at stake and we need you with us. Donate today and fuel our fight back in courts, statehouses, and nationwide.

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Keep up with the latest

A photo of Maribel Hernandez Rivera and her husband.

For Them, The Fight for Asylum is Personal

Three advocates discuss how the ACLU shows up for asylum rights, and why they persist in this difficult work.

A graphic pertaining to the the drug mifepristone

Tell The Courts: Protect Medication Abortion Now

A federal district court is trying to block FDA approval of mifepristone, a safe and effective abortion medication used by millions.

Take Action Now

An individual at a podium in front of a crowd, with a sign that says "Keep TikTok."

Why Banning TikTok Is a Really Bad Idea

Three TikTok creators discuss the dangerous implications of banning the app and how it has become a nexus of education and entertainment.

Listen Now

A photo collage that displays a graduation cap and tribal regalia. Indigenous students are fighting against schools that prohibit wearing these items at graduation.

Indigenous Students' Right to Wear Tribal Regalia

Tribal regalia symbolizes resistance, resilience, and cultural reclamation — and Indigenous students should have the right to wear them.

Learn More

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

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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

Demonstrators stand outside the US Supreme Court to hear decisions over Indian Child Welfare Act.

Racial Justice

Protecting the Indian Child Welfare Act at the State Level

The Supreme Court issued a landmark victory for tribal sovereignty in Brackeen v. Haaland.

LGBTQ Rights

Showing Up for Trans Students in Virginia

With parents, trans youth, allies, and partners, the ACLU of Virginia pushed back against a discriminatory school board policy.

Activists set against gene patenting gather in front of the US Supreme Court prior to the Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics hearing.

Privacy & Technology

AMP v. Myriad: The Fight to Take Back Our Genes

Ten years after the Supreme Court invalidated the patents on two human genes in AMP v. Myriad, we revisit the landmark case amid renewed calls for gene patenting.

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

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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.

Protect Native Families

Actions Needed Now

Protect Trans Youth - Bills and Protestors

Protect Trans Care Now

Tell the Courts: Protect Medication Abortion Now

Actions Needed Now

Protect Native Families

Protect Trans Care Now

Tell the Courts: Protect Medication Abortion Now

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Get Involved

People Power is the ACLU's platform for grassroots action. We work with volunteers and supporters in every corner of the country to defend civil liberties and civil rights. Join us.

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Resources

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