Arizona
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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Arizona
Apr 2023
![Prison Inside](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/web18-prisonlight-1160x768-600x397.jpg)
Jensen v. Thornell
UPDATE: In a thorough and sweeping injunction issued on April 7, 2023, U.S. District Judge Roslyn O. Silver is requiring the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reentry (“ADCRR”) to make “substantial” changes to staffing and conditions so that medical care and mental healthcare at Arizona prisons comes up to constitutional standards.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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30 Arizona Cases
Arizona
Aug 2017
![Money and US flag](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/Money and US flag -600x400.jpg)
Cox v. Voyles, et. al.
The ACLU, the ACLU of Arizona, and the law firm Perkins Coie filed the case in 2015 against the Sheriff, the County Attorney, and other Pinal County, Arizona officials, for their enforcement of Arizona’s civil asset forfeiture laws.
The defendants filed three motions to dismiss, but a federal court ruled on August 18, 2017, that the claims at the heart of the case can move forward. The judge found that the lawsuit establishes a plausible claim that the state’s asset forfeiture laws violate due process rights “because Defendants have a financial incentive to zealously enforce the forfeiture laws.”
Status: Ongoing
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![Money and US flag](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/Money and US flag -600x400.jpg)
Arizona
Criminal Law Reform
Cox v. Voyles, et. al.
The ACLU, the ACLU of Arizona, and the law firm Perkins Coie filed the case in 2015 against the Sheriff, the County Attorney, and other Pinal County, Arizona officials, for their enforcement of Arizona’s civil asset forfeiture laws.
The defendants filed three motions to dismiss, but a federal court ruled on August 18, 2017, that the claims at the heart of the case can move forward. The judge found that the lawsuit establishes a plausible claim that the state’s asset forfeiture laws violate due process rights “because Defendants have a financial incentive to zealously enforce the forfeiture laws.”
Aug 2017
Status: Ongoing
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Arizona
Dec 2016
![For more than a decade, Joseph Casias of Battle Creek, Mich. has endured the painful symptoms of an inoperable brain tumor and cancer. Medical marijuana was his only hope.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/blog-marijuana-500x280-v01.jpg)
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.
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![For more than a decade, Joseph Casias of Battle Creek, Mich. has endured the painful symptoms of an inoperable brain tumor and cancer. Medical marijuana was his only hope.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/blog-marijuana-500x280-v01.jpg)
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
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Arizona
Jun 2016
![Joe Robinson and Melissa Mayo](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/WEB16-dignityhealth-1160x864-600x447.jpg)
Robinson v. Dignity Health
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit against the fifth largest health care system in the U.S., Dignity Health, because it denies transgender employees health insurance coverage for medically necessary transition-related health care.
Status: Closed (Voluntarily Dismissed)
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![Joe Robinson and Melissa Mayo](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/WEB16-dignityhealth-1160x864-600x447.jpg)
Arizona
LGBTQ Rights
Robinson v. Dignity Health
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit against the fifth largest health care system in the U.S., Dignity Health, because it denies transgender employees health insurance coverage for medically necessary transition-related health care.
Jun 2016
Status: Closed (Voluntarily Dismissed)
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Arizona
Apr 2016
![Dulce Matuz](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/dreamers-500x280-crop-v08.jpg)
Arizona Dream Act Coalition, et al v. Brewer
The American Civil Liberties Union, along with a coalition of civil rights organizations, filed a class-action lawsuit challenging Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s unconstitutional executive order, which denies driver’s licenses to a specific class of immigrant youth despite their being authorized to live and work in the United States.
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![Dulce Matuz](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/dreamers-500x280-crop-v08.jpg)
Arizona
Immigrants' Rights
Arizona Dream Act Coalition, et al v. Brewer
The American Civil Liberties Union, along with a coalition of civil rights organizations, filed a class-action lawsuit challenging Arizona Governor Jan Brewer’s unconstitutional executive order, which denies driver’s licenses to a specific class of immigrant youth despite their being authorized to live and work in the United States.
Apr 2016
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Arizona
Apr 2016
![Prison cell with window](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/blog15-prisonwindowbars-1160x768-600x397.jpg)
Graves v. Penzone
Despite a federal court order from 2008, the Maricopa County jails – overseen by Sheriff Joe Arpaio –continue to skirt their constitutional responsibility for detainees' mental health. On April 1, 2016, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Arizona – which have represented the detainees at the Maricopa County jails for close to 20 years – filed a motion to enforce the 2008 order. Many detainees with mental illnesses were still suffering unnecessarily from the scarcity and poor quality of the jails' care.
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![Prison cell with window](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/blog15-prisonwindowbars-1160x768-600x397.jpg)
Arizona
Prisoners' Rights
Graves v. Penzone
Despite a federal court order from 2008, the Maricopa County jails – overseen by Sheriff Joe Arpaio –continue to skirt their constitutional responsibility for detainees' mental health. On April 1, 2016, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Arizona – which have represented the detainees at the Maricopa County jails for close to 20 years – filed a motion to enforce the 2008 order. Many detainees with mental illnesses were still suffering unnecessarily from the scarcity and poor quality of the jails' care.
Apr 2016
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