Smart Justice
Singleton v. Cannizzaro
Smart Justice
The ACLU Trone Center for Justice and Equality, ACLU of Louisiana, and Civil Rights Corps, filed suit against District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro, his office in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, and several Assistant District Attorneys for systematically breaking the laws of Louisiana and of the U.S. Constitution.
Stay informed about our latest work in the courts
By completing this form, I agree to receive occasional emails per the terms of the ACLU's privacy policy.
Featured

Smart Justice
Dockery v. Hall
The ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the Law Offices of Elizabeth Alexander, and the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP, filed a petition for class certification and expert reports for a federal lawsuit on behalf of prisoners at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility (EMCF). The lawsuit, which was filed in May 2013, describes the for-profit prison as hyper-violent, grotesquely filthy and dangerous. EMCF is operated "in a perpetual state of crisis" where prisoners are at "grave risk of death and loss of limbs." The facility, located in Meridian, Mississippi, is supposed to provide intensive treatment to the state's prisoners with serious psychiatric disabilities, many of whom are locked down in long-term solitary confinement.
Visit case page
All Cases
May 25, 2022

May 25, 2022
Mock et al v. Glynn County et al
Smart Justice
Status: Filed
In Georgia’s criminal legal system, wealth is synonymous with freedom. Hundreds of defendants, including Margery Mock and Eric Ogden, are routinely jailed pretrial due to their inability to afford the predetermined bail bond required for their release. In Glynn County, where we’ve sued, persons accused of misdemeanors who cannot afford to hire a private attorney are left in the dark due to a systemic failure to provide public defense representation. This arbitrary and wealth-based pretrial detention system is not only unconstitutional, but cruel given the devastating ramifications it has on individuals who cannot buy their freedom – ramifications of which include a disregard of one’s presumption of innocence, economic and emotional hardship on families, and potential loss of one’s job. This federal class action lawsuit seeks to disrupt these unlawful detention and counsel schemes and calls on Glynn County to consider fair, efficient alternative conditions of release that don’t depend on how much money a person has, and to remedy its deficient provision of public defense services. We represent named Plaintiffs Margery Mock and Eric Ogden in this suit. Both Ms. Mock and Mr. Ogden were arrested on accusations of misdemeanor criminal trespass. Ms. Mock is 28 years old and at the time of her arrest was without stable housing and staying in a storage unit with all of her belongings. Upon her arrest, her bail was automatically set at $1,256, which she could not afford to pay. The ACLU, the ACLU of Georgia, and local civil and criminal right champion James Yancey, Jr. join in this suit to demand that Glynn County no longer deprive poor arrestees of their right to due process, equal protection, the aid of counsel, and pretrial liberty. Incarcerating people based solely on their inability to buy their freedom is not justice – and we will not stand for it.
Visit case page
May 23, 2022

May 23, 2022
Brown v. Lexington County, et al
Smart Justice
Status: Filed
In the latest front in the nationwide fight against criminalization of poverty and, specifically, debtors' prisons, on June 1, 2017, the ACLU's Racial Justice Program, the ACLU of South Carolina, and Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC filed a federal lawsuit challenging the illegal arrest and incarceration of indigent people in Lexington County, South Carolina, for failure to pay fines and fess, without determining willfulness or providing assistance to counsel. Those targeted by this long-standing practice can avoid jail only if they pay the entire amount of outstanding court fines and fees up front and in full. Indigent people who are unable to pay are incarcerated for weeks to months without ever seeing a judge, having a court hearing, or receiving help from a lawyer. The result is one of the most draconian debtors’ prisons uncovered by the ACLU since 2010.
Visit case page
Sep 14, 2021


Sep 14, 2021
Nashville Community Bail Fund v. Gentry
Smart Justice
Status: Filed
In Nashville, local officials keep money posted as bail to pay fines and fees. This happens even when the person whose bond was posted shows up to their required court dates. Under a local court rule and policies from the criminal clerk, pretrial release is conditioned on future payment, which leverages pretrial freedom to make money for the government.
Visit case page
Feb 27, 2020

Feb 27, 2020
Hightower v. City of Grand Rapids
Smart Justice
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and the ACLU's Criminal Law Reform Project filed a federal lawsuit in May of 2013, on behalf of Plaintiffs Gilbert Weber and Tyrone Hightower, challenging the Grand Rapids Police Department's longstanding practice of arresting innocent people for criminal trespass on commercial property without warning and without the business owner's knowledge. Even where those arrested are patronizing the business in question, police justify these illegal arrests by pointing to form letters signed by business owners months or years prior to the arrest agreeing to prosecute "trespassers."
Visit case page