For more than a decade, Joseph Casias of Battle Creek, Mich. has endured the painful symptoms of an inoperable brain tumor and cancer.

Manuel Velez, an innocent man, was released from a Texas prison today after almost nine years behind bars, four on death row. Rather than risk a new trial that could be plagued with the same problems that sent him to death row, Velez, an ACLU client, pleaded no contest to a lesser charge.

Whether a traffic stop based on a police officer’s mistaken understanding of the traffic laws violates the Fourth Amendment.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a request for precautionary measures with the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights showing that the execution of John Winfield, scheduled for June 18, 2014 in the state of Missouri, will cause irreparable harm should it go forward. The ACLU asks that the executions be stayed until the IACHR can review and rule on the ACLU's petition that alleges Mr. Winfield's death sentence violates international law. On June 6, 2014, the IACHR granted ACLU request for precautionary measures against the United States and requested that "the Government of the United States to abstain from executing John Winfield until the IACHR has ruled on the merits of the individual petition filed on his behalf."

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a petition with the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights showing that the upcoming executions by lethal injection in Missouri and Oklahoma will violate international law against cruel and unusual punishment, should they go forward. The ACLU asks that the executions be stopped until the IACHR can conduct independent investigations of the two cases.