Criminal Law Reform
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Arizona
Oct 2023
Criminal Law Reform
Racial Justice
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
Criminal Law Reform
McElrath v. Georgia
Does the Double Jeopardy Clause bar an appellate court from reviewing and setting aside a jury’s verdicts of acquittal on the ground that the verdict is inconsistent with the jury’s verdict on other charges?
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2023
Criminal Law Reform
Pulsifer v. United States
This case involves the interpretation of a federal law that allows defendants to avoid mandatory minimum sentences for certain nonviolent drug crimes, allowing judges to impose sentences tailored to their individual circumstances.
Texas
Jul 2021
Criminal Law Reform
Prisoners' Rights
Sanchez et al v. Dallas County Sheriff et al
Decarceration has always been an emergency, a life and death proposition, but COVID-19 makes this effort intensely urgent. The ACLU has been working with our partners to litigate for the rights of those who are incarcerated and cannot protect themselves because of the policies of the institutions in which they are jailed.
All Cases
153 Criminal Law Reform Cases
U.S. Supreme Court
Jan 2018
Criminal Law Reform
City of Hays, Kansas v. Vogt
Is the Fifth Amendment violated when a defendant’s compelled statements are used against him at a probable cause hearing but not at a criminal trial?
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jan 2018
Criminal Law Reform
City of Hays, Kansas v. Vogt
Is the Fifth Amendment violated when a defendant’s compelled statements are used against him at a probable cause hearing but not at a criminal trial?
U.S. Supreme Court
Nov 2017
Criminal Law Reform
Byrd v. United States
Does the Fourth Amendment apply to the search of a rental car operated by an individual who has the renter’s permission to drive the car but is not himself listed as an authorized driver on the rental agreement?
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U.S. Supreme Court
Nov 2017
Criminal Law Reform
Byrd v. United States
Does the Fourth Amendment apply to the search of a rental car operated by an individual who has the renter’s permission to drive the car but is not himself listed as an authorized driver on the rental agreement?
Florida
Sep 2017
Criminal Law Reform
Rodriguez v. Hague
Lazaro Rodriguez, a 58-year-old Latino man living in North Miami with his wife and son, was arrested by Miami-Dade police the day before his 55th birthday and charged with two misdemeanor counts of resisting an officer without violence and a felony of threatening a public servant.
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Florida
Sep 2017
Criminal Law Reform
Rodriguez v. Hague
Lazaro Rodriguez, a 58-year-old Latino man living in North Miami with his wife and son, was arrested by Miami-Dade police the day before his 55th birthday and charged with two misdemeanor counts of resisting an officer without violence and a felony of threatening a public servant.
U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2017
Criminal Law Reform
District of Columbia v. Wesby
Whether police officers who lack probable cause to arrest because they have insufficient evidence to support each necessary element of the offense – here, a culpable state of mind – can nonetheless be protected by qualified immunity.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2017
Criminal Law Reform
District of Columbia v. Wesby
Whether police officers who lack probable cause to arrest because they have insufficient evidence to support each necessary element of the offense – here, a culpable state of mind – can nonetheless be protected by qualified immunity.
Arizona
Aug 2017
Criminal Law Reform
Cox v. Voyles, et. al.
The ACLU, the ACLU of Arizona, and the law firm Perkins Coie filed the case in 2015 against the Sheriff, the County Attorney, and other Pinal County, Arizona officials, for their enforcement of Arizona’s civil asset forfeiture laws.
The defendants filed three motions to dismiss, but a federal court ruled on August 18, 2017, that the claims at the heart of the case can move forward. The judge found that the lawsuit establishes a plausible claim that the state’s asset forfeiture laws violate due process rights “because Defendants have a financial incentive to zealously enforce the forfeiture laws.”
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Arizona
Aug 2017
Criminal Law Reform
Cox v. Voyles, et. al.
The ACLU, the ACLU of Arizona, and the law firm Perkins Coie filed the case in 2015 against the Sheriff, the County Attorney, and other Pinal County, Arizona officials, for their enforcement of Arizona’s civil asset forfeiture laws.
The defendants filed three motions to dismiss, but a federal court ruled on August 18, 2017, that the claims at the heart of the case can move forward. The judge found that the lawsuit establishes a plausible claim that the state’s asset forfeiture laws violate due process rights “because Defendants have a financial incentive to zealously enforce the forfeiture laws.”