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
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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
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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
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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
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All Cases
130 Criminal Law Reform Cases
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2014
Riley v. California
Whether the police may conduct a warrantless search of a cell phone seized from a suspect incident to arrest.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
Riley v. California
Whether the police may conduct a warrantless search of a cell phone seized from a suspect incident to arrest.
Jun 2014
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2014
Heien v. North Carolina
Whether a traffic stop based on a police officer’s mistaken understanding of the traffic laws violates the Fourth Amendment.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
Smart Justice
Heien v. North Carolina
Whether a traffic stop based on a police officer’s mistaken understanding of the traffic laws violates the Fourth Amendment.
Jun 2014
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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May 2014
Hill v. United States of America
In March 2014, the ACLU urged the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to rule that sentencing children to mandatory life without the possibility of parole violates the Declaration of the Rights of Man and universal human rights principles. This hearing was held in response to a February 2006 petition from the ACLU and several other organizations to the IACHR, alleging that the human rights of juveniles sentenced to life without parole were being violated.
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Criminal Law Reform
+2 Issues
Hill v. United States of America
In March 2014, the ACLU urged the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to rule that sentencing children to mandatory life without the possibility of parole violates the Declaration of the Rights of Man and universal human rights principles. This hearing was held in response to a February 2006 petition from the ACLU and several other organizations to the IACHR, alleging that the human rights of juveniles sentenced to life without parole were being violated.
May 2014
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Missouri
Sep 2013
Barrett v. Claycomb
A federal district court has ruled that a public college in Missouri must end its unconstitutional program of requiring all of its students—irrespective of their course of study—to submit to suspicionless drug-testing.
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Missouri
Criminal Law Reform
Smart Justice
Barrett v. Claycomb
A federal district court has ruled that a public college in Missouri must end its unconstitutional program of requiring all of its students—irrespective of their course of study—to submit to suspicionless drug-testing.
Sep 2013
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Sep 2013
John Doe, Jane Doe, and James Doe v. Todd Entrekin
The Etowah County Sheriff’s Department has subjected a family in Alabama to an ongoing series of unannounced, random, and suspicionless inspections of their home, threatening the family with arrest if they fail to cooperate.
Status: Ongoing
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Criminal Law Reform
John Doe, Jane Doe, and James Doe v. Todd Entrekin
The Etowah County Sheriff’s Department has subjected a family in Alabama to an ongoing series of unannounced, random, and suspicionless inspections of their home, threatening the family with arrest if they fail to cooperate.
Sep 2013
Status: Ongoing
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