Smart Justice
Singleton v. Cannizzaro
The ACLU Trone Center for Justice and Equality, ACLU of Louisiana, and Civil Rights Corps, filed suit against District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro, his office in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, and several Assistant District Attorneys for systematically breaking the laws of Louisiana and of the U.S. Constitution.
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Mississippi
Mar 2017
![Dockery v. Hall](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Dockery v. Hall
The ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the Law Offices of Elizabeth Alexander, and the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP, filed a petition for class certification and expert reports for a federal lawsuit on behalf of prisoners at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility (EMCF). The lawsuit, which was filed in May 2013, describes the for-profit prison as hyper-violent, grotesquely filthy and dangerous. EMCF is operated "in a perpetual state of crisis" where prisoners are at "grave risk of death and loss of limbs." The facility, located in Meridian, Mississippi, is supposed to provide intensive treatment to the state's prisoners with serious psychiatric disabilities, many of whom are locked down in long-term solitary confinement.
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187 Smart Justice Cases
Pennsylvania
Jul 2024
![Horton v. Rangos (Amicus Brief)](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Horton v. Rangos (Amicus Brief)
This case challenges the government’s authority to incarcerate individuals accused of probation violations for months or years without meaningfully assessing their risk to the community.
Status: Ongoing
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![Horton v. Rangos (Amicus Brief)](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Pennsylvania
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Horton v. Rangos (Amicus Brief)
This case challenges the government’s authority to incarcerate individuals accused of probation violations for months or years without meaningfully assessing their risk to the community.
Jul 2024
Status: Ongoing
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Texas
Jun 2024
![Gonzalez v. Ramirez et al.](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Gonzalez v. Ramirez et al.
Although Texas law clearly prohibits prosecuting people for terminating their pregnancies, Starr County officials indicted, arrested, and jailed Lizelle Gonzalez for having an abortion. The ACLU’s Abortion Criminal Defense Initiative and Criminal Law Reform Project, alongside the ACLU of Texas and south Texas firm Garza Martinez, are representing Ms. Gonzalez in a lawsuit against Starr County and local officials based on violations of Ms. Gonzalez’s constitutional rights.
Status: Ongoing
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![Gonzalez v. Ramirez et al.](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Texas
Smart Justice
+3 Issues
Gonzalez v. Ramirez et al.
Although Texas law clearly prohibits prosecuting people for terminating their pregnancies, Starr County officials indicted, arrested, and jailed Lizelle Gonzalez for having an abortion. The ACLU’s Abortion Criminal Defense Initiative and Criminal Law Reform Project, alongside the ACLU of Texas and south Texas firm Garza Martinez, are representing Ms. Gonzalez in a lawsuit against Starr County and local officials based on violations of Ms. Gonzalez’s constitutional rights.
Jun 2024
Status: Ongoing
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Nevada Supreme Court
Nov 2023
![Cannabis Equity & Inclusion Community v. Nevada Board of Pharmacy](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Cannabis Equity & Inclusion Community v. Nevada Board of Pharmacy
Nevadans, like voters in many states, have chosen to legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational use. In Nevada, these changes—adopted through citizen ballot initiatives and, in the case of medical marijuana, enshrined in the Nevada Constitution—were intended to ensure that marijuana is regulated much like alcohol and that law enforcement resources are focused on violent crime, not the prosecution of non-violent drug offenses. Despite these legal changes, Nevada’s Board of Pharmacy continues to regulate marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance for purposes of state law, akin to the Board’s treatment of cocaine and fentanyl. The Board’s scheduling designation for marijuana has enormous implications for criminal defendants in Nevada since state law makes it a felony to possess or engage in certain other activity with respect to a Schedule I controlled substance, as designated by the Board.
This case, brought by an individual and organization harmed by the Board’s scheduling designation for marijuana, involves the question whether the designation violates the Nevada Constitution and state statutes. The ACLU of Nevada is counsel in the case, and the ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative is co-counsel on appeal.
Status: Ongoing
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![Cannabis Equity & Inclusion Community v. Nevada Board of Pharmacy](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Nevada Supreme Court
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Cannabis Equity & Inclusion Community v. Nevada Board of Pharmacy
Nevadans, like voters in many states, have chosen to legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational use. In Nevada, these changes—adopted through citizen ballot initiatives and, in the case of medical marijuana, enshrined in the Nevada Constitution—were intended to ensure that marijuana is regulated much like alcohol and that law enforcement resources are focused on violent crime, not the prosecution of non-violent drug offenses. Despite these legal changes, Nevada’s Board of Pharmacy continues to regulate marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance for purposes of state law, akin to the Board’s treatment of cocaine and fentanyl. The Board’s scheduling designation for marijuana has enormous implications for criminal defendants in Nevada since state law makes it a felony to possess or engage in certain other activity with respect to a Schedule I controlled substance, as designated by the Board.
This case, brought by an individual and organization harmed by the Board’s scheduling designation for marijuana, involves the question whether the designation violates the Nevada Constitution and state statutes. The ACLU of Nevada is counsel in the case, and the ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative is co-counsel on appeal.
Nov 2023
Status: Ongoing
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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
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
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
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
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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