In September 2023, the ACLU, the ACLU of Colorado, The Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, the law firm Mintz Levin, and other partners filed an amicus brief with the Colorado Supreme Court arguing that mandatory life-without-parole (LWOP) sentences for strict liability felony murder are “cruel and unusual” in violation of the Colorado and U.S. Constitutions. The brief focuses on how these mandatory LWOP sentences drive racial injustice.

The ACLU, along with the Northern and Southern California affiliates and four other organizations, filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit supporting affirmance of a preliminary injunction that prevented the City of Sacramento from clearing homeless encampments during periods of extreme heat.

In Samia v. United States, the Supreme Court addressed whether the introduction of a co-defendant's redacted out-of-court confession, which indirectly incriminates the defendant without formally naming him, constitutes a violation of the Confrontation Clause by depriving the defendant of the opportunity to confront his accuser.

This case challenges a presumption of pretrial detention that applies to nearly all people charged with federal drug offenses.