Racial Justice
Allen v. Milligan
Whether Alabama’s congressional districts violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because they discriminate against Black voters. We succeeded in winning a new map for 2024 elections which, for the first time, has two congressional district that provide Black voters a fair opportunity to elect candidates of their choosing despite multiple attempts by Alabama to stop us at the Supreme Court. Despite this win, Alabama is still defending its discriminatory map, and a trial was held in February 2025 to determine the map for the rest of the decade.
In May 2025, a federal court ruled that Alabama's 2023 congressional map both violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and was enacted by the Alabama Legislature with racially discriminatory intent.
Status: Ongoing
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Arizona
Oct 2023
Racial Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Fund for Empowerment v. Phoenix, City of
Fund for Empowerment is a challenge to the City of Phoenix’s practice of conducting sweeps of encampments without notice, issuing citations to unsheltered people for camping and sleeping on public property when they have no place else to go, and confiscating and destroying their property without notice or process.
U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2023
Racial Justice
Women's Rights
United States v. Rahimi
Whether 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), which prohibits the possession of firearms by persons subject to domestic-violence restraining orders, violates the Second Amendment on its face.
U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2023
Racial Justice
Muldrow v. City of St. Louis
Do employees claiming that they have been denied a transfer because of their race have to demonstrate in addition that the transfer caused a significant material disadvantage?
Court Case
Jun 2020
Racial Justice
Defy Ventures, Inc. v. Small Business Administration
Suing the Trump administration to lift its unlawful exclusion of businesses owned by people with criminal records from being eligible for Paycheck Protection Act funds
California
Mar 2019
Racial Justice
MediaJustice, et al. v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, et al.
On March 21, 2019, the American Civil Liberties Union and MediaJustice, formerly known as "Center for Media Justice," filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking records about FBI targeting of Black activists. The lawsuit enforces the ACLU and MediaJustice’s right to information about a 2017 FBI Intelligence Assessment that asserts, without evidence, that a group of so-called “Black Identity Extremists” poses a threat of domestic terrorism. The Intelligence Assessment was widely disseminated to law enforcement agencies nationwide, raising public concern about government surveillance of Black people and Black-led organizations based on anti-Black stereotypes and First Amendment protected activities.
Court Case
Aug 2015
Racial Justice
Disability Rights
S.R. v. Kenton County Sheriff's Office
A deputy sheriff shackled two elementary school children who have disabilities, causing them pain and trauma, according to a federal lawsuit filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Children's Law Center, and Dinsmore & Shohl.
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129 Racial Justice Cases
Court Case
Jun 2015
Racial Justice
Capital Punishment
North Carolina v. Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters, and Quintel Augustine
A judge in North Carolina in 2012 has once again confirmed that race plays an integral role in our capital punishment system. Judge Gregory Weeks found intentional discrimination by Cumberland County prosecutors against African-American potential jurors in the cases of three capital defendants, Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters, and Quintel Augustine. He sentenced all three defendants to life without parole under North Carolina's historic Racial Justice Act. The decision is currently on appeal.
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Court Case
Jun 2015
Racial Justice
Capital Punishment
North Carolina v. Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters, and Quintel Augustine
A judge in North Carolina in 2012 has once again confirmed that race plays an integral role in our capital punishment system. Judge Gregory Weeks found intentional discrimination by Cumberland County prosecutors against African-American potential jurors in the cases of three capital defendants, Tilmon Golphin, Christina Walters, and Quintel Augustine. He sentenced all three defendants to life without parole under North Carolina's historic Racial Justice Act. The decision is currently on appeal.
Court Case
Apr 2015
Racial Justice
Hebshi v. United States
The ACLU announced a settlement on April 21, 2015, in its lawsuit filed on behalf of Shoshana Hebshi, a mother of two who was pulled off an airplane at gunpoint, arrested, strip-searched, and detained. The case was brought against Frontier Airlines and several government defendants.
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Court Case
Apr 2015
Racial Justice
Hebshi v. United States
The ACLU announced a settlement on April 21, 2015, in its lawsuit filed on behalf of Shoshana Hebshi, a mother of two who was pulled off an airplane at gunpoint, arrested, strip-searched, and detained. The case was brought against Frontier Airlines and several government defendants.
South Dakota
Mar 2015
Racial Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Oglala Sioux Tribe v. Van Hunnik
Three Indian parents, the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe filed a class-action lawsuit to challenge the continued removal of Indian children in Pennington County, South Dakota from their homes based on insufficient evidence and without proper hearings, in violation of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 and the constitutional right to due process.
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South Dakota
Mar 2015
Racial Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Oglala Sioux Tribe v. Van Hunnik
Three Indian parents, the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe filed a class-action lawsuit to challenge the continued removal of Indian children in Pennington County, South Dakota from their homes based on insufficient evidence and without proper hearings, in violation of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 and the constitutional right to due process.
U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2014
Racial Justice
Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center
Whether private individuals may raise a claim that a state law is inconsistent with federal law by suing directly under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2014
Racial Justice
Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center
Whether private individuals may raise a claim that a state law is inconsistent with federal law by suing directly under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.
Court Case
Dec 2014
Racial Justice
Disability Rights
ACLU Challenges Delaware's Segregated Charter Schools
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Community Legal Aid Society have filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights charging that Delaware’s charter school law and policies have a discriminatory impact on students of color and students with disabilities, and have significantly contributed to the resegregation of Delaware’s public schools.
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Court Case
Dec 2014
Racial Justice
Disability Rights
ACLU Challenges Delaware's Segregated Charter Schools
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Community Legal Aid Society have filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights charging that Delaware’s charter school law and policies have a discriminatory impact on students of color and students with disabilities, and have significantly contributed to the resegregation of Delaware’s public schools.