A collage of images that represent criminal justice, voting rights, and more issues. Our initiative works to fight for these issues on the state level.

State Supreme Court Initiative

State Supreme Court Initiative

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.


Read the Report

A photo of the stars on the American flag, used as a cover of the ACLU's New Federalism Report.

In our report, “Our New Federalism,” we featured more than 125 cases in which the ACLU and our state affiliate offices have advanced arguments across 24 states over the last 5 years.


About the Attorneys

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