American Civil Liberties Union

Our constitution is meant to safeguard against government abuses of power. But all too often, the rights of those involved in the criminal justice system are compromised or ignored. The ACLU works to reform the criminal justice system and make the promise of fair treatment a reality for all people. >> More about the ACLU's Criminal Justice work.


ACLU Legacy Challenge

Freedom Files - Season 2
Ideological Exclusion

ACLU NewsfeedsACLU News Feed
ACLU Blog
ACLU Podcasts

Criminal Justice : Legislative Documents

Coalition Letter to the Office of Management and Budget Requiring Accuracy for the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) System (04/08/2003)

Letter to Conferees on S. 151, Child Abduction Prevention Act (04/08/2003)

Letter to the Senate Urging Opposition to S.J. Res. 1, the "Victims' Rights Amendment" (04/04/2003)

ACLU Fact Sheet on the Proposed Victims' Rights Amendment (04/03/2003)

Letter to the House Opposing H. R. 1104, the Child Abduction Prevention Act (03/26/2003)

Sign-on Letter to the House Urging Opposition to the Feeney Amendment to Child Abduction Bill, H.R. 1104 (03/26/2003)

Letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee on the PROTECT Act (S. 151) and the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act (S. 153) (01/30/2003)

How the USA PATRIOT Act redefines "Domestic Terrorism" (12/06/2002)

Attorney General John Ashcroft's Assault on Civil Liberties (Updated September 2003) (10/30/2002)

Interested Persons Memo: Analysis of Changes to Attorney General Guidelines (06/06/2002)
On May 30, 2002, Attorney General Ashcroft released new Guidelines on General Crimes, Racketeering Enterprise and Terrorism Enterprise Investigations. Sweeping away protections that have been in place since the 1970s, the new Guidelines allow the government to spy on domestic groups even when there is no suspicion of wrongdoing.

Interested Persons Memo: Brief Analysis of Proposed Changes to Attorney General Guidelines (05/30/2002)

Interested Persons Memo on Crack/Powder Cocaine Sentencing Policy (05/21/2002)

Letter to the House Urging Opposition to H.R. 3129, "The Customs Border Security Act of 2001" (05/21/2002)

Sign-on Letter to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime Chair Lamar Smith, Urging Opposition to H.R. 4689, the "Fairness in Sentencing Act of 2002" (05/14/2002)

Click to show/hide issues list
Your Local ACLUcongressional scorecardmultimediaforumspublicationssupport usstorecontact