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
Mar 2022
Weir et al v. United States
Does Congress have authority to criminalize conduct on the high seas by a foreign national on a foreign boat having no connection with the United States
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U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
Weir et al v. United States
Does Congress have authority to criminalize conduct on the high seas by a foreign national on a foreign boat having no connection with the United States
Mar 2022
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North Carolina
Mar 2022
Johnson v. Jessup
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of North Carolina, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and Southern Coalition for Social Justice are suing the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for indefinitely revoking driver’s licenses of people who cannot afford to pay traffic tickets. North Carolina’s wealth-based license revocation system impacts hundreds of thousands of people each year, preventing them from driving legally to support themselves and their families. This system funnels people unable to pay traffic tickets, particularly people of color, into cycles of debt, traffic violations, and poverty in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s promises of due process and equal protection under the law.
Status: Ongoing
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North Carolina
Criminal Law Reform
Racial Justice
Johnson v. Jessup
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of North Carolina, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and Southern Coalition for Social Justice are suing the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for indefinitely revoking driver’s licenses of people who cannot afford to pay traffic tickets. North Carolina’s wealth-based license revocation system impacts hundreds of thousands of people each year, preventing them from driving legally to support themselves and their families. This system funnels people unable to pay traffic tickets, particularly people of color, into cycles of debt, traffic violations, and poverty in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s promises of due process and equal protection under the law.
Mar 2022
Status: Ongoing
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U.S. Supreme Court
Feb 2022
Hemphill v. New York
Whether, or under what circumstances, a criminal defendant who opens the door to responsive evidence also forfeits his right to exclude evidence otherwise barred by the Constitution’s Confrontation Clause.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
Hemphill v. New York
Whether, or under what circumstances, a criminal defendant who opens the door to responsive evidence also forfeits his right to exclude evidence otherwise barred by the Constitution’s Confrontation Clause.
Feb 2022
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jan 2022
Concepcion v. United States
Whether a district court must or may consider intervening legal and factual developments when deciding if it should “impose a reduced sentence” on an individual under Section 404(b) of the First Step Act of 2018, which was enacted to ameliorate the unjust sentences imposed by overly harsh treatment of crack cocaine offenses under prior law.
Status: Ongoing
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U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
Racial Justice
Concepcion v. United States
Whether a district court must or may consider intervening legal and factual developments when deciding if it should “impose a reduced sentence” on an individual under Section 404(b) of the First Step Act of 2018, which was enacted to ameliorate the unjust sentences imposed by overly harsh treatment of crack cocaine offenses under prior law.
Jan 2022
Status: Ongoing
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U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2021
Edwards v. Vannoy
Whether the Supreme Court’s decision in Ramos v. Louisiana, holding that the Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to a unanimous jury verdict, applies retroactively to cases on federal collateral review.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Criminal Law Reform
Edwards v. Vannoy
Whether the Supreme Court’s decision in Ramos v. Louisiana, holding that the Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to a unanimous jury verdict, applies retroactively to cases on federal collateral review.
Dec 2021
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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