Campaigns & Initiatives

The U.S. Supreme Court is increasingly not an option to protect, let alone expand, civil liberties and civil rights. Last year’s Supreme Court term was the most conservative in a century, as President Trump’s three nominees exercised their newfound power to rule against liberty and shrink our constitutional rights. But state supreme courts offer promise in the face of a hostile federal judiciary. That’s why we’re taking the fight to the states – we want to show up with as many resources and tools as we have available. The ACLU is launching a dedicated effort, called the State Supreme Court Initiative, to fight for the expansion of rights through state supreme courts, both through litigation and advocacy work. The State Supreme Court Initiative will build on the organization’s existing work in state supreme courts and will expand the organization’s litigating capacity. With lawyers in every state in the country, the ACLU is uniquely situated to do this important work and to develop cross-state expertise on state constitutional litigation.

In January 2016, the Dakota Access Pipeline was unanimously approved for construction, with the aim of creating a direct route to transport crude oil from the North Dakota Bakken region through South Dakota and Iowa into Illinois. The controversial pipeline could destroy ancestral burial grounds and poison the water supply for a sovereign nation — as well as millions of Americans downstream who rely on the Missouri River. All eyes were on Standing Rock late last year as unwarranted armored vehicles rolled in. Law enforcement used automatic rifles, sound cannons, and concussion grenades against water protectors. An estimated 300 protesters were injured in November when police in riot gear used water cannons for hours in subfreezing weather to disperse them. Personnel and equipment pouring in from over 75 law enforcement agencies from around the country and National Guard troops created a battlefield-like atmosphere at Standing Rock. Escalated police militarization was used to intimidate and silence water protectors’ free speech and their right to protest a pipeline which passes near sovereign territory. Thousands from across the globe have joined in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to stop the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. The protest has brought together 200 or so tribes that have not united for more than 150 years. President Trump took executive action on January 24th 2017 encouraging the Army Corps of Engineers to override environmental review and speed up construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation. Any day now, law enforcement may try to disperse water protectors with unnecessary and dangerous use of force. With resilience, water protectors have already endured militarized crackdowns, police abuse, and daily intimidation – simply for defending their water rights.

Launched in March 2024, the ACLU Voter Education Fund is a federal political action committee to inform and educate voters about what's at stake during the 2024 election cycle and beyond.

The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is having life-altering and life-threatening consequences for women and other people who can become pregnant. The decision revoked the federal constitutional right to abortion, and with it our agency over our health, our lives, and our futures. In some states, the government may now prosecute people involved in abortion care. This unprecedented moment in the fight for reproductive rights demands a nationwide system to ensure that health care providers, individuals that provide funding and practical support, and patients know that they will have access to a zealous defense should they be prosecuted. No one should have to navigate the injustice of this system alone.

Since our nation’s founding, discriminatory policies and laws have created an unequal system in which Black communities have had their civil rights and liberties denied and have been systematically locked out of opportunities in education, housing, employment and more. Through our Systemic Equality agenda, the ACLU will use nationwide litigation, advocacy, and public education to advance laws and policies rooted in racial equity and end discriminatory policies, laws, and practices that have an outsized impact on Black communities. The ACLU will also continue to evolve our own culture, systems, and processes to drive progress toward our internal racial justice commitments, including by committing sustained recruitment and hiring efforts to recruit more diverse talent pools, developing initiatives to promote and retain Black leadership, engaging Black-owned and Black-led businesses, and more. When we have full and equal access to education, jobs, housing, voting rights, and more, better futures are possible.