Racial Justice
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
![United States v. Rahimi](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
United States v. Rahimi
Whether 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), which prohibits the possession of firearms by persons subject to domestic-violence restraining orders, violates the Second Amendment on its face.
Status: Ongoing
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U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2023
![Muldrow v. City of St. Louis](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Muldrow v. City of St. Louis
Do employees claiming that they have been denied a transfer because of their race have to demonstrate in addition that the transfer caused a significant material disadvantage?
Status: Ongoing
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jan 2022
![Alabama on a map of the United States of America](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2021/11/Alabama-Redistricting-SocialShare-600x314.jpg)
Allen v. Milligan
Whether Alabama’s congressional districts violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because they discriminate against Black voters. We succeeded in winning a new map for 2024 elections which, for the first time, has two congressional district that provide Black voters a fair opportunity to elect candidates of their choosing despite multiple attempts by Alabama to stop us at the Supreme Court. Despite this win, Alabama is still defending its discriminatory map, and trial will occur in February 2025 to determine the map for the rest of the decade.
Status: Ongoing
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Jun 2020
![Defy Ventures, Inc. v. Small Business Administration](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Defy Ventures, Inc. v. Small Business Administration
Suing the Trump administration to lift its unlawful exclusion of businesses owned by people with criminal records from being eligible for Paycheck Protection Act funds
Status: Ongoing
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California
Mar 2019
![Protester holding "#Black Lives Matter" sign](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/web19-blm-rally-1160x864-600x447.jpg)
MediaJustice, et al. v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, et al.
On March 21, 2019, the American Civil Liberties Union and MediaJustice, formerly known as “Center for Media Justice,” filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking records about FBI targeting of Black activists. The lawsuit enforces the ACLU and MediaJustice’s right to information about a 2017 FBI Intelligence Assessment that asserts, without evidence, that a group of so-called “Black Identity Extremists” poses a threat of domestic terrorism. The Intelligence Assessment was widely disseminated to law enforcement agencies nationwide, raising public concern about government surveillance of Black people and Black-led organizations based on anti-Black stereotypes and First Amendment protected activities.
Status: Ongoing
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Aug 2015
![S.R. v. Kenton County Sheriff's Office](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/String out 2.00_01_01_06.Still001-600x338.jpg)
S.R. v. Kenton County Sheriff's Office
A deputy sheriff shackled two elementary school children who have disabilities, causing them pain and trauma, according to a federal lawsuit filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Children’s Law Center, and Dinsmore & Shohl.
Status: Closed (Settled)
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All Cases
123 Racial Justice Cases
Tennessee
Oct 2023
![OUTMemphis v. Lee](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
OUTMemphis v. Lee
OUTMemphis v. Lee is a first-of-its-kind challenge to a state-level HIV criminalization law as a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Constitution. Plaintiffs OUTMemphis and Jane Does 1-4 seek to strike down Tennessee’s discriminatory, irrational and cruel enforcement of its “Aggravated Prostitution” law and related sex offender registration requirements.
Status: Ongoing
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![OUTMemphis v. Lee](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Tennessee
Racial Justice
+3 Issues
OUTMemphis v. Lee
OUTMemphis v. Lee is a first-of-its-kind challenge to a state-level HIV criminalization law as a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Constitution. Plaintiffs OUTMemphis and Jane Does 1-4 seek to strike down Tennessee’s discriminatory, irrational and cruel enforcement of its “Aggravated Prostitution” law and related sex offender registration requirements.
Oct 2023
Status: Ongoing
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Northern California
Oct 2023
![Sacramento Homeless Union v. City of Sacramento](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Sacramento Homeless Union v. City of Sacramento
The ACLU, along with the Northern and Southern California affiliates and four other organizations, filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit supporting affirmance of a preliminary injunction that prevented the City of Sacramento from clearing homeless encampments during periods of extreme heat.
Status: Ongoing
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![Sacramento Homeless Union v. City of Sacramento](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Northern California
Racial Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Sacramento Homeless Union v. City of Sacramento
The ACLU, along with the Northern and Southern California affiliates and four other organizations, filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit supporting affirmance of a preliminary injunction that prevented the City of Sacramento from clearing homeless encampments during periods of extreme heat.
Oct 2023
Status: Ongoing
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Northern California
Sep 2023
![Liapes v. Facebook, Inc.](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Liapes v. Facebook, Inc.
Status: Ongoing
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![Liapes v. Facebook, Inc.](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Northern California
Racial Justice
Women's Rights
Liapes v. Facebook, Inc.
Sep 2023
Status: Ongoing
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Jul 2023
![school classroom](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/Web21-critical-race-theory_Blog-Wordpress-1110x740-1-600x400.jpg)
Pernell v. Lamb
On Thursday, August 18, 2022 the ACLU, ACLU of Florida, Legal Defense Fund and Ballard Spahr filed a lawsuit challenging Florida’s HB7 (aka the Stop W.O.K.E. Act) on behalf of a group of Florida educators and students in higher education.
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![school classroom](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/Web21-critical-race-theory_Blog-Wordpress-1110x740-1-600x400.jpg)
Racial Justice
Free Speech
Pernell v. Lamb
On Thursday, August 18, 2022 the ACLU, ACLU of Florida, Legal Defense Fund and Ballard Spahr filed a lawsuit challenging Florida’s HB7 (aka the Stop W.O.K.E. Act) on behalf of a group of Florida educators and students in higher education.
Jul 2023
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2023
![Children from the Zuni Pueblo lead the U.S. pledge of allegiance in the Zuni language in the New Mexico state Capitol in Santa Fe, N.M.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2022/08/BRACKEEN-V-HAALAND-Blog-600x400.jpg)
Brackeen v. Haaland
On August 18, 2022 the American Civil Liberties Union, along with 12 ACLU state affiliates and represented by Cooley LLP, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court urging the court to uphold the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Status: Closed
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![Children from the Zuni Pueblo lead the U.S. pledge of allegiance in the Zuni language in the New Mexico state Capitol in Santa Fe, N.M.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2022/08/BRACKEEN-V-HAALAND-Blog-600x400.jpg)
U.S. Supreme Court
Racial Justice
Brackeen v. Haaland
On August 18, 2022 the American Civil Liberties Union, along with 12 ACLU state affiliates and represented by Cooley LLP, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court urging the court to uphold the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Jun 2023
Status: Closed
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