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
Aug 2010
Connick v. Thompson
Whether someone who spent 14 years on death row before his murder conviction was overturned because the prosecution withheld exculpatory evidence can recover damages from the prosecutor's office on a theory that it failed to train its staff regarding their constitutional obligations.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
+2 Issues
Connick v. Thompson
Whether someone who spent 14 years on death row before his murder conviction was overturned because the prosecution withheld exculpatory evidence can recover damages from the prosecutor's office on a theory that it failed to train its staff regarding their constitutional obligations.
Aug 2010
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jul 2010
Safford Unified School District v. Redding
Whether school officials acted unconstitutionally by strip searching a 13-year-old girl based on the uncorroborated accusation of a fellow student and, if so, whether the strip search was so clearly unconstitutional that plaintiff is entitled to damages.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
Smart Justice
Safford Unified School District v. Redding
Whether school officials acted unconstitutionally by strip searching a 13-year-old girl based on the uncorroborated accusation of a fellow student and, if so, whether the strip search was so clearly unconstitutional that plaintiff is entitled to damages.
Jul 2010
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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Michigan
Criminal Law Reform
+2 Issues
Duncan et al. v. Granholm
Apr 2010
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U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2009
Pottawattamie County v. McGhee
Whether a prosecutor is entitled to absolute immunity from damages for fabricating evidence during a criminal investigation when the same prosecutor later uses that evidence at trial to convict.
Status: Closed (Voluntarily Dismissed)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
+4 Issues
Pottawattamie County v. McGhee
Whether a prosecutor is entitled to absolute immunity from damages for fabricating evidence during a criminal investigation when the same prosecutor later uses that evidence at trial to convict.
Sep 2009
Status: Closed (Voluntarily Dismissed)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Aug 2009
Wood v. Allen
Whether the federal courts properly reviewed the state court findings in this habeas corpus proceeding to determine the constitutionality of the petitioner's death sentence.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
+2 Issues
Wood v. Allen
Whether the federal courts properly reviewed the state court findings in this habeas corpus proceeding to determine the constitutionality of the petitioner's death sentence.
Aug 2009
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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