In October 2021, the ACLU joined the legal team representing Sherry Chen, an award-winning Chinese American scientist who was wrongfully investigated, prosecuted, and terminated from her job as a hydrologist with the National Weather Service. The government accused Ms. Chen of unlawfully downloading sensitive government data and falsely portrayed her as a spy for China. On the eve of trial, the Justice Department dropped all charges against her. In 2019, Ms. Chen filed a federal lawsuit against the United States, seeking accountability for the government’s misconduct. In December 2022, Ms. Chen reached a historic settlement of her federal lawsuit and a separate case before the Merit Systems Protection Board, an agency that hears claims from federal employees. The settlement, one of the largest paid to an individual plaintiff in Commerce Department history, includes compensation valued at approximately $1.8 million.

ACLU v. Department of Homeland Security- Freedom of Information Act Case Regarding New Domestic Violent Extremism Initiatives.

Whether the district court may order two CIA contractors who devised and implemented the post-9/11 torture program to testify (as they have done twice before) about nonprivileged information; or if, instead, the Government may prohibit disclosure of even nonprivileged information by invoking the state secrets doctrine.

In March 2022, the ACLU, ACLU of Minnesota, and ACLU of Southern California filed a lawsuit on behalf of three Muslim Americans who have been subjected to intrusive questioning from border officers about their religious beliefs, practices, and associations in violation of their constitutional rights.

Whether the “deliberative process” privilege protects draft documents that the USF&WS and the National Marine Fisheries Service created as part of a formal consultation process under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.