Criminal Law Reform
Featured
Oregon
Feb 2024
![Disability Rights Oregon v. Washington County, Oregon](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Disability Rights Oregon v. Washington County, Oregon
Status: Ongoing
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Arizona
Oct 2023
![Fund for Empowerment v. Phoenix, City of](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
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](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
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](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
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](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
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
128 Criminal Law Reform Cases
Colorado
Nov 2023
![Sellers v. People](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Sellers v. People
In September 2023, the ACLU, the ACLU of Colorado, The Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, the law firm Mintz Levin, and other partners filed an amicus brief with the Colorado Supreme Court arguing that mandatory life-without-parole (LWOP) sentences for strict liability felony murder are “cruel and unusual” in violation of the Colorado and U.S. Constitutions. The brief focuses on how these mandatory LWOP sentences drive racial injustice.
Status: Ongoing
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![Sellers v. People](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Colorado
Criminal Law Reform
Racial Justice
Sellers v. People
In September 2023, the ACLU, the ACLU of Colorado, The Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, the law firm Mintz Levin, and other partners filed an amicus brief with the Colorado Supreme Court arguing that mandatory life-without-parole (LWOP) sentences for strict liability felony murder are “cruel and unusual” in violation of the Colorado and U.S. Constitutions. The brief focuses on how these mandatory LWOP sentences drive racial injustice.
Nov 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
Criminal Law Reform
Racial Justice
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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U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2023
![Samia v. United States](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Samia v. United States
In Samia v. United States, the Supreme Court addressed whether the introduction of a co-defendant's redacted out-of-court confession, which indirectly incriminates the defendant without formally naming him, constitutes a violation of the Confrontation Clause by depriving the defendant of the opportunity to confront his accuser.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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![Samia v. United States](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
Samia v. United States
In Samia v. United States, the Supreme Court addressed whether the introduction of a co-defendant's redacted out-of-court confession, which indirectly incriminates the defendant without formally naming him, constitutes a violation of the Confrontation Clause by depriving the defendant of the opportunity to confront his accuser.
Sep 2023
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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West Virginia
Aug 2023
![United States v. Myles](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
United States v. Myles
This case challenges a presumption of pretrial detention that applies to nearly all people charged with federal drug offenses.
Status: Ongoing
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![United States v. Myles](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
West Virginia
Criminal Law Reform
Smart Justice
United States v. Myles
This case challenges a presumption of pretrial detention that applies to nearly all people charged with federal drug offenses.
Aug 2023
Status: Ongoing
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jul 2023
![Past Due Bill](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/WEB18-PastDueBill-1160x864-600x447.jpg)
Daves v. Dallas County
Whether federal courts have the power to remedy systemic unconstitutional pretrial detention practices that remain unchecked by state courts.
Status: Ongoing
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![Past Due Bill](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/01/WEB18-PastDueBill-1160x864-600x447.jpg)
U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
Smart Justice
Daves v. Dallas County
Whether federal courts have the power to remedy systemic unconstitutional pretrial detention practices that remain unchecked by state courts.
Jul 2023
Status: Ongoing
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