Criminal Law Reform
Featured
Arizona
Oct 2023
Fund for Empowerment v. Phoenix, City of
Fund for Empowerment is a challenge to the City of Phoenix’s practice of conducting sweeps of encampments without notice, issuing citations to unsheltered people for camping and sleeping on public property when they have no place else to go, and confiscating and destroying their property without notice or process.
Status: Ongoing
View case
U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2023
McElrath v. Georgia
Does the Double Jeopardy Clause bar an appellate court from reviewing and setting aside a jury’s verdicts of acquittal on the ground that the verdict is inconsistent with the jury’s verdict on other charges?
Status: Ongoing
View case
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2023
Pulsifer v. United States
This case involves the interpretation of a federal law that allows defendants to avoid mandatory minimum sentences for certain nonviolent drug crimes, allowing judges to impose sentences tailored to their individual circumstances.
Status: Ongoing
View case
Texas
Jul 2021
Sanchez et al v. Dallas County Sheriff et al
Decarceration has always been an emergency, a life and death proposition, but COVID-19 makes this effort intensely urgent. The ACLU has been working with our partners to litigate for the rights of those who are incarcerated and cannot protect themselves because of the policies of the institutions in which they are jailed.
Status: Ongoing
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
130 Criminal Law Reform Cases
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2019
Mitchell v. Wisconsin
Whether under the Fourth Amendment police can order a blood draw from an unconscious motorist without a warrant where state law purports to impute “consent” to a blood draw to everyone who drives an automobile in the state.
Status: Ongoing
View case
U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
Mitchell v. Wisconsin
Whether under the Fourth Amendment police can order a blood draw from an unconscious motorist without a warrant where state law purports to impute “consent” to a blood draw to everyone who drives an automobile in the state.
Jun 2019
Status: Ongoing
View case
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2019
McDonough v. Smith
When must a person file a Section 1983 civil rights case based on fabrication of evidence in a criminal proceeding?
Status: Ongoing
View case
U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
Smart Justice
McDonough v. Smith
When must a person file a Section 1983 civil rights case based on fabrication of evidence in a criminal proceeding?
Jun 2019
Status: Ongoing
View case
Florida
Mar 2019
Doe, et al. v. Miami-Dade County, et al.
The ACLU and the ACLU of Florida filed suit against Miami-Dade County and the Florida Department of Corrections, seeking a permanent injunction against an unconstitutional housing ordinance that is extraordinarily difficult for former sex offenders to follow without becoming homeless.
View case
Florida
Criminal Law Reform
Smart Justice
Doe, et al. v. Miami-Dade County, et al.
The ACLU and the ACLU of Florida filed suit against Miami-Dade County and the Florida Department of Corrections, seeking a permanent injunction against an unconstitutional housing ordinance that is extraordinarily difficult for former sex offenders to follow without becoming homeless.
Mar 2019
View case
U.S. Supreme Court
Feb 2019
Nieves v. Bartlett, 17-1174
Whether a plaintiff who claims that a police officer retaliated against his First Amendment-protected expression by arresting him for a misdemeanor is barred from suing if the police had probable cause for his arrest.
View case
U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
Free Speech
Nieves v. Bartlett, 17-1174
Whether a plaintiff who claims that a police officer retaliated against his First Amendment-protected expression by arresting him for a misdemeanor is barred from suing if the police had probable cause for his arrest.
Feb 2019
View case
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2018
Gundy v. United States
Whether it violates the separation of powers for Congress to delegate to the Attorney General, the nation’s chief prosecutor, the unfettered authority both to decide whether a criminal law should apply and to prosecute violators of that law.
Status: Ongoing
View case
U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
Gundy v. United States
Whether it violates the separation of powers for Congress to delegate to the Attorney General, the nation’s chief prosecutor, the unfettered authority both to decide whether a criminal law should apply and to prosecute violators of that law.
Jun 2018
Status: Ongoing
View case