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
Mar 2017
Weaver v. Massachusetts
Whether, when defense counsel in a criminal trial, through constitutionally deficient performance, fails to object to “structural error,” the prejudice required to show ineffective assistance of counsel is presumed and thus shown as a matter of law.
Status: Ongoing
View case
U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
Weaver v. Massachusetts
Whether, when defense counsel in a criminal trial, through constitutionally deficient performance, fails to object to “structural error,” the prejudice required to show ineffective assistance of counsel is presumed and thus shown as a matter of law.
Mar 2017
Status: Ongoing
View case
U.S. Supreme Court
Mar 2017
County of Los Angeles v. Angel Mendez
Whether the Ninth Circuit’s “provocation rule” that police officers may be held liable for using force when they provoked a threatening reaction with a Fourth Amendment violation is consistent with the Supreme Court’s use of force analysis in Graham v. Connor and subsequent cases?
Status: Ongoing
View case
U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
County of Los Angeles v. Angel Mendez
Whether the Ninth Circuit’s “provocation rule” that police officers may be held liable for using force when they provoked a threatening reaction with a Fourth Amendment violation is consistent with the Supreme Court’s use of force analysis in Graham v. Connor and subsequent cases?
Mar 2017
Status: Ongoing
View case
Massachusetts
Jan 2017
Bridgeman et. al v. District Attorney for Suffolk County et. al
Update: On January 18, 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Court directed district attorneys to dismiss thousands of drug offense cases that were tainted by the misconduct of chemist Annie Dookhan. Prosecutors must produce a list of all drug convictions they plan to dismiss, and also produce a list of cases that they wish to re-prosecute, both within 90 days. They will be permitted to re-prosecute cases only if they certify they can do so on the basis of untainted evidence. The people hurt by Annie Dookhan’s actions deserve justice from the prosecutors who have the power to right thousands of grave wrongs by dismissing these cases.
View case
Massachusetts
Criminal Law Reform
Smart Justice
Bridgeman et. al v. District Attorney for Suffolk County et. al
Update: On January 18, 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Court directed district attorneys to dismiss thousands of drug offense cases that were tainted by the misconduct of chemist Annie Dookhan. Prosecutors must produce a list of all drug convictions they plan to dismiss, and also produce a list of cases that they wish to re-prosecute, both within 90 days. They will be permitted to re-prosecute cases only if they certify they can do so on the basis of untainted evidence. The people hurt by Annie Dookhan’s actions deserve justice from the prosecutors who have the power to right thousands of grave wrongs by dismissing these cases.
Jan 2017
View case
Arizona
Dec 2016
White Mountain Health Center v. Maricopa County
Update: In December 2016, the Arizona Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s 2012 ruling that federal marijuana prohibition does not void Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Act and that the County and State should therefore allow the White Mountain dispensary to continue operating and providing medicine to qualifying patients in Arizona with debilitating medical conditions.
View case
Arizona
Criminal Law Reform
White Mountain Health Center v. Maricopa County
Update: In December 2016, the Arizona Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s 2012 ruling that federal marijuana prohibition does not void Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Act and that the County and State should therefore allow the White Mountain dispensary to continue operating and providing medicine to qualifying patients in Arizona with debilitating medical conditions.
Dec 2016
View case
Puerto Rico
Jul 2016
Marrero-Méndez v. Pesquera
In 2013, the ACLU and ACLU of Puerto Rico filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Officer Alvin Marrero-Méndez, a 13-year veteran of the Puerto Rico Police Department.
Status: Ongoing
View case
Puerto Rico
Criminal Law Reform
Religious Liberty
Marrero-Méndez v. Pesquera
In 2013, the ACLU and ACLU of Puerto Rico filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Officer Alvin Marrero-Méndez, a 13-year veteran of the Puerto Rico Police Department.
Jul 2016
Status: Ongoing
View case