National Security
FBI v. Fikre
Whether the government can overcome the voluntary cessation exception to mootness by removing an individual from the No Fly List when the government has not repudiated its decision to place him on the List and remains free to return him to the List for the same reasons and using the same procedures he alleges were unlawful.
Status: Ongoing
View Case
Learn About National Security
Featured
Florida
Nov 2023
![Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Florida v. Raymond Rodrigues](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Florida v. Raymond Rodrigues
The University of Florida chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine filed a lawsuit on November 16, 2023, challenging the Chancellor of the State University System of Florida’s order to state universities to deactivate the student group. This order threatens the students’ constitutionally-protected right to free speech and association in violation of the First Amendment. The ACLU and its partners are seeking a preliminary injunction that would bar the Chancellor and the University of Florida from deactivating the UF SJP.
Status: Ongoing
View case
U.S. Supreme Court
Apr 2022
![FBI v. Fazaga Plaintiffs](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/Fazaga_scotus-1-Blog-600x400.jpg)
FBI v. Fazaga
In a case scheduled to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on November 8, 2021, three Muslim Americans are challenging the FBI’s secret spying on them and their communities based on their religion, in violation of the Constitution and federal law. In what will likely be a landmark case, the plaintiffs — Yassir Fazaga, Ali Uddin Malik, and Yasser Abdelrahim — insist that the FBI cannot escape accountability for violating their religious freedom by invoking “state secrets.” The plaintiffs are represented by the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law, the ACLU of Southern California, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Council for American Islamic Relations, and the law firm of Hadsell Stormer Renick & Dai.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
View case
U.S. Supreme Court
Jul 2021
![Trump Declaring National Emergency](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/web19-trumpemergency1160x768-600x397.jpg)
Sierra Club v. Trump — Challenge to Trump’s National Emergency Declaration to Construct a Border Wall
In February 2019, the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s emergency powers declaration to secure funds to build a wall along the southern border. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Sierra Club and the Southern Border Communities Coalition. The lawsuit argues that the president is usurping Congress’s appropriations power and threatening the clearly defined separation of powers inscribed in the Constitution. On January 20, 2021, President Biden halted further border wall construction. Litigation in this and subsequent related challenges has been paused or deadlines extended while the ACLU’s clients and the Biden administration determine next steps.
Status: Ongoing
View case
Indiana
Oct 2016
![Exodus Refugee Immigration, Inc. v. Mike Pence, et al](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Exodus Refugee Immigration, Inc. v. Mike Pence, et al
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Indiana, on behalf of Exodus Refugee Immigration, filed suit against Governor Mike Pence and the secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration to stop attempts to suspend resettlement of Syrian refugees, claiming the governor’s actions violate the United States Constitution and federal law.
View case
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 statement.
All Cases
145 National Security Cases
Oct 2016
![Free Slahi](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/DEM15-Slahi-600x338-V01.png)
Slahi v. Obama - Habeas Challenge to Guantánamo Detention
Mohamedou Ould Slahi (sometimes spelled "Salahi") is a Mauritanian national who was illegally detained by the U.S. for more than 14 years. On October 17, 2016, Mr. Slahi was released and transferred back to Mauritania, where he was reunited with his family. Mr. Slahi was arrested in Mauritania in November 2001 on suspicion of ties to al-Qaeda. He was then illegally rendered by the U.S. government to Jordan, where he was detained, interrogated and abused for eight months. He was subsequently rendered to U.S. custody in Bagram, Afghanistan and finally to Guantánamo, where he was held from August 2002 until his release.
View case
![Free Slahi](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/DEM15-Slahi-600x338-V01.png)
National Security
Slahi v. Obama - Habeas Challenge to Guantánamo Detention
Mohamedou Ould Slahi (sometimes spelled "Salahi") is a Mauritanian national who was illegally detained by the U.S. for more than 14 years. On October 17, 2016, Mr. Slahi was released and transferred back to Mauritania, where he was reunited with his family. Mr. Slahi was arrested in Mauritania in November 2001 on suspicion of ties to al-Qaeda. He was then illegally rendered by the U.S. government to Jordan, where he was detained, interrogated and abused for eight months. He was subsequently rendered to U.S. custody in Bagram, Afghanistan and finally to Guantánamo, where he was held from August 2002 until his release.
Oct 2016
View case
Oct 2016
![SSCI Report Image](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/blog-torturereportcover-black-500x280-Torture FOIA 2015 pic-600x336.png)
ACLU v. CIA - FOIA Case for Records Referenced in or Implicated by the Declassification of the Senate Torture Report (2015 Torture FOIA)
In November 2015, the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit demanding the Departments of Defense, Justice, and State, and the CIA release 69 records or categories of records either referenced in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s report on the CIA’s torture program or whose classification status was implicated by the report’s release. While the full 6,900-page SSCI report remains classified, the summary of the report’s findings, which was declassified and released in December 2014, describes horrific human rights abuses committed by the CIA through its post-9/11 program of rendition, detention, and torture.
View case
![SSCI Report Image](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/blog-torturereportcover-black-500x280-Torture FOIA 2015 pic-600x336.png)
National Security
ACLU v. CIA - FOIA Case for Records Referenced in or Implicated by the Declassification of the Senate Torture Report (2015 Torture FOIA)
In November 2015, the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit demanding the Departments of Defense, Justice, and State, and the CIA release 69 records or categories of records either referenced in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s report on the CIA’s torture program or whose classification status was implicated by the report’s release. While the full 6,900-page SSCI report remains classified, the summary of the report’s findings, which was declassified and released in December 2014, describes horrific human rights abuses committed by the CIA through its post-9/11 program of rendition, detention, and torture.
Oct 2016
View case
May 2016
![accountability for torture featured image](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/dem14-tortureaccountability-500x280-rel1.png)
Meshal v. Higgenbotham
The ACLU filed a lawsuit in November 2009 on behalf of Amir Meshal against four FBI agents for their direct, personal role in his unlawful detention, torture, and rendition from Kenya to Somalia and Ethiopia over a period of more than four months.
View case
![accountability for torture featured image](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/dem14-tortureaccountability-500x280-rel1.png)
National Security
Meshal v. Higgenbotham
The ACLU filed a lawsuit in November 2009 on behalf of Amir Meshal against four FBI agents for their direct, personal role in his unlawful detention, torture, and rendition from Kenya to Somalia and Ethiopia over a period of more than four months.
May 2016
View case
Feb 2016
![Community Monitoring Programs seal](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/web16-case-acluvdhs-1160x864-600x447.jpg)
ACLU v. Department of Homeland Security: FOIA Lawsuit Seeking Records on “Countering Violent Extremism ” Programs
The ACLU has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking information about federal government programs that purport to prevent “violent extremism” but that actually cast suspicion on law-abiding Americans and unfairly target American Muslims. The lawsuit was filed in February 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Status: Ongoing
View case
![Community Monitoring Programs seal](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/web16-case-acluvdhs-1160x864-600x447.jpg)
National Security
ACLU v. Department of Homeland Security: FOIA Lawsuit Seeking Records on “Countering Violent Extremism ” Programs
The ACLU has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking information about federal government programs that purport to prevent “violent extremism” but that actually cast suspicion on law-abiding Americans and unfairly target American Muslims. The lawsuit was filed in February 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Feb 2016
Status: Ongoing
View case
Oct 2015
![NSA headquarters](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/WEB16-NSA-headquarters-1160x864-600x447.jpg)
ACLU v. Clapper - Challenge to NSA Mass Call-Tracking Program
On June 11, 2013, the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the National Security Agency’s mass collection of Americans’ phone records. The complaint argues that the dragnet violates the right to privacy protected by the Fourth Amendment as well as the freedoms of speech and association protected by the First Amendment. The complaint also charges that the program exceeds the authority that Congress provided in Section 215 of the Patriot Act. In May 2015, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the call-records program violates Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Weeks later, on June 1, 2015, Section 215 briefly expired for the first time since the passage of the Patriot Act in 2001. The next day, Congress passed the USA Freedom Act, which amended Section 215 to prohibit the bulk collection of Americans’ call records.
View case
![NSA headquarters](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/WEB16-NSA-headquarters-1160x864-600x447.jpg)
National Security
ACLU v. Clapper - Challenge to NSA Mass Call-Tracking Program
On June 11, 2013, the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the National Security Agency’s mass collection of Americans’ phone records. The complaint argues that the dragnet violates the right to privacy protected by the Fourth Amendment as well as the freedoms of speech and association protected by the First Amendment. The complaint also charges that the program exceeds the authority that Congress provided in Section 215 of the Patriot Act. In May 2015, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the call-records program violates Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Weeks later, on June 1, 2015, Section 215 briefly expired for the first time since the passage of the Patriot Act in 2001. The next day, Congress passed the USA Freedom Act, which amended Section 215 to prohibit the bulk collection of Americans’ call records.
Oct 2015
View case