Human Rights
Weir v. U.S.
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Weir v. U.S.
Human Rights
Status: Ongoing
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit in June 2019 against the United States and the head of the U.S. Coast Guard on behalf of four Jamaican fishermen, who were forcibly removed from their fishing boat and detained for over a month at sea on four U.S. Coast Guard ships in patently inhumane conditions.
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All Cases
24 Human Rights Cases
Washington, D.C.
Feb 2024
ACLU v. DOD – FOIA Case Seeking Biden Administration’s Presidential Policy Memorandum
In October 2022, the Biden administration confirmed the existence of the White House’s latest set of policy rules governing the United States’ use of lethal force outside of recognized battlefields abroad. These new rules are known as the “Presidential Policy Memorandum (PPM).” The administration made the partially-redacted PPM public in response to the latest in a series of ACLU lawsuits to force transparency about the U.S. government’s secretive, unlawful, and controversial use of lethal force abroad, including through the use of drones.
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Washington, D.C.
Human Rights
National Security
ACLU v. DOD – FOIA Case Seeking Biden Administration’s Presidential Policy Memorandum
In October 2022, the Biden administration confirmed the existence of the White House’s latest set of policy rules governing the United States’ use of lethal force outside of recognized battlefields abroad. These new rules are known as the “Presidential Policy Memorandum (PPM).” The administration made the partially-redacted PPM public in response to the latest in a series of ACLU lawsuits to force transparency about the U.S. government’s secretive, unlawful, and controversial use of lethal force abroad, including through the use of drones.
Feb 2024
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Utah Supreme Court
Nov 2023
Barrani v. Salt Lake City
Hundreds if not thousands of Salt Lake City, Utah, residents have nowhere safe to stay and must live and sleep in public. This case—brought by a small group of residents and businesses—involves the question whether this citywide homelessness crisis constitutes a nuisance under Utah state law. It also presents the question whether Salt Lake City can be ordered to clear encampments, forcibly relocate people who are unhoused, and enforce vague and overbroad laws criminalizing homelessness where doing so will likely, if not certainly, violate unhoused people’s state and federal constitutional rights. The ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative and Trone Center for Justice and Equality, along with the ACLU of Utah and the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association, represent amici curiae in the trial court who oppose the plaintiffs’ nuisance claims and their request for relief.
Status: Closed (Dismissed)
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Utah Supreme Court
Human Rights
Civil Liberties
Barrani v. Salt Lake City
Hundreds if not thousands of Salt Lake City, Utah, residents have nowhere safe to stay and must live and sleep in public. This case—brought by a small group of residents and businesses—involves the question whether this citywide homelessness crisis constitutes a nuisance under Utah state law. It also presents the question whether Salt Lake City can be ordered to clear encampments, forcibly relocate people who are unhoused, and enforce vague and overbroad laws criminalizing homelessness where doing so will likely, if not certainly, violate unhoused people’s state and federal constitutional rights. The ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative and Trone Center for Justice and Equality, along with the ACLU of Utah and the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association, represent amici curiae in the trial court who oppose the plaintiffs’ nuisance claims and their request for relief.
Nov 2023
Status: Closed (Dismissed)
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Northern California
Apr 2023
Ashker v. Governor of California
Ashker is a multi-year legal and advocacy struggle led by directly-impacted people to reform California’s use of solitary confinement and end its systemic reliance on fabricated confidential information to discipline people in prison.
Status: Ongoing
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Northern California
Human Rights
Prisoners' Rights
Ashker v. Governor of California
Ashker is a multi-year legal and advocacy struggle led by directly-impacted people to reform California’s use of solitary confinement and end its systemic reliance on fabricated confidential information to discipline people in prison.
Apr 2023
Status: Ongoing
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U.S. Supreme Court
Mar 2022
Egbert v. Boule
Whether a damages remedy should be available when a federal agent violated the plaintiff’s First and Fourth Amendment rights by entering private property without a warrant, throwing the plaintiff to the ground without justification, and then retaliated against him for exercising his right to seek redress from the government.
Status: Ongoing
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U.S. Supreme Court
Human Rights
Egbert v. Boule
Whether a damages remedy should be available when a federal agent violated the plaintiff’s First and Fourth Amendment rights by entering private property without a warrant, throwing the plaintiff to the ground without justification, and then retaliated against him for exercising his right to seek redress from the government.
Mar 2022
Status: Ongoing
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Jul 2019
IACHR Petition for Domestic Workers Trafficked by Diplomats
The ACLU, along with co-counsel the University of Chicago International Human Rights Clinic and organizations including Andolan, Adhikaar, CASA of Maryland, Damayan, and the National Domestic Workers Alliance, has been fighting to hold the U.S. accountable for the A-3 & G-5 visa programs that have enabled the trafficking of domestic workers by diplomats and other foreign officials. Currently pending before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is a petition on behalf of six former domestic workers and three advocacy organizations alleging that the U.S. violated its human rights obligations by failing to take meaningful steps to prevent, investigate, and remedy the exploitation of migrant domestic workers by employers covered by diplomatic immunity.
Status: Ongoing
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Human Rights
Women's Rights
IACHR Petition for Domestic Workers Trafficked by Diplomats
The ACLU, along with co-counsel the University of Chicago International Human Rights Clinic and organizations including Andolan, Adhikaar, CASA of Maryland, Damayan, and the National Domestic Workers Alliance, has been fighting to hold the U.S. accountable for the A-3 & G-5 visa programs that have enabled the trafficking of domestic workers by diplomats and other foreign officials. Currently pending before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is a petition on behalf of six former domestic workers and three advocacy organizations alleging that the U.S. violated its human rights obligations by failing to take meaningful steps to prevent, investigate, and remedy the exploitation of migrant domestic workers by employers covered by diplomatic immunity.
Jul 2019
Status: Ongoing
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