Human Rights
Weir v. U.S.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit in June 2019 against the United States and the head of the U.S. Coast Guard on behalf of four Jamaican fishermen, who were forcibly removed from their fishing boat and detained for over a month at sea on four U.S. Coast Guard ships in patently inhumane conditions.
Status: Ongoing
View Case
Learn About Human Rights
Stay informed about our latest work in the courts.
By completing this form, I agree to receive occasional emails per the terms of the ACLU's privacy statement.
All Cases
25 Human Rights Cases
Montana Supreme Court
May 2024
![Held v. Montana](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Held v. Montana
This case pending before the Montana Supreme Court asks, among other things, whether the claims of sixteen youth plaintiffs challenging Montana energy policy present a political question under the Montana Constitution. The ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative, alongside the ACLU of Montana, filed an amicus brief arguing that the claims do not present a political question and, moreover, that state courts should not wholesale adopt the federal political questions doctrine.
Status: Ongoing
View case
![Held v. Montana](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Montana Supreme Court
Human Rights
+2 Issues
Held v. Montana
This case pending before the Montana Supreme Court asks, among other things, whether the claims of sixteen youth plaintiffs challenging Montana energy policy present a political question under the Montana Constitution. The ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative, alongside the ACLU of Montana, filed an amicus brief arguing that the claims do not present a political question and, moreover, that state courts should not wholesale adopt the federal political questions doctrine.
May 2024
Status: Ongoing
View case
Washington, D.C.
Feb 2024
![A view of the camp and the ruins of the building through an airplane bomber fighter viewfinder](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2021/05/web21-drone-policy-blog-Wordpress-1110x740-1-600x400.jpg)
ACLU v. DOD – FOIA Case Seeking Biden Administration’s Presidential Policy Memorandum
In October 2022, the Biden administration confirmed the existence of the White House’s latest set of policy rules governing the United States’ use of lethal force outside of recognized battlefields abroad. These new rules are known as the “Presidential Policy Memorandum (PPM).” The administration made the partially-redacted PPM public in response to the latest in a series of ACLU lawsuits to force transparency about the U.S. government’s secretive, unlawful, and controversial use of lethal force abroad, including through the use of drones.
View case
![A view of the camp and the ruins of the building through an airplane bomber fighter viewfinder](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2021/05/web21-drone-policy-blog-Wordpress-1110x740-1-600x400.jpg)
Washington, D.C.
Human Rights
National Security
ACLU v. DOD – FOIA Case Seeking Biden Administration’s Presidential Policy Memorandum
In October 2022, the Biden administration confirmed the existence of the White House’s latest set of policy rules governing the United States’ use of lethal force outside of recognized battlefields abroad. These new rules are known as the “Presidential Policy Memorandum (PPM).” The administration made the partially-redacted PPM public in response to the latest in a series of ACLU lawsuits to force transparency about the U.S. government’s secretive, unlawful, and controversial use of lethal force abroad, including through the use of drones.
Feb 2024
View case
Utah Supreme Court
Nov 2023
![Barrani v. Salt Lake City](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Barrani v. Salt Lake City
Hundreds if not thousands of Salt Lake City, Utah, residents have nowhere safe to stay and must live and sleep in public. This case—brought by a small group of residents and businesses—involves the question whether this citywide homelessness crisis constitutes a nuisance under Utah state law. It also presents the question whether Salt Lake City can be ordered to clear encampments, forcibly relocate people who are unhoused, and enforce vague and overbroad laws criminalizing homelessness where doing so will likely, if not certainly, violate unhoused people’s state and federal constitutional rights. The ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative and Trone Center for Justice and Equality, along with the ACLU of Utah and the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association, represent amici curiae in the trial court who oppose the plaintiffs’ nuisance claims and their request for relief.
Status: Closed (Dismissed)
View case
![Barrani v. Salt Lake City](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Utah Supreme Court
Human Rights
Civil Liberties
Barrani v. Salt Lake City
Hundreds if not thousands of Salt Lake City, Utah, residents have nowhere safe to stay and must live and sleep in public. This case—brought by a small group of residents and businesses—involves the question whether this citywide homelessness crisis constitutes a nuisance under Utah state law. It also presents the question whether Salt Lake City can be ordered to clear encampments, forcibly relocate people who are unhoused, and enforce vague and overbroad laws criminalizing homelessness where doing so will likely, if not certainly, violate unhoused people’s state and federal constitutional rights. The ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative and Trone Center for Justice and Equality, along with the ACLU of Utah and the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association, represent amici curiae in the trial court who oppose the plaintiffs’ nuisance claims and their request for relief.
Nov 2023
Status: Closed (Dismissed)
View case
Northern California
Apr 2023
![An aerial view of Pelican Bay Prison in Northern California. A large concrete lot with mutliple campuses and scorched green recreational areas is surrounded by a sea of green trees.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/04/0804Solitaryjp3-superJumbo-600x436.webp)
Ashker v. Governor of California
Ashker is a multi-year legal and advocacy struggle led by directly-impacted people to reform California’s use of solitary confinement and end its systemic reliance on fabricated confidential information to discipline people in prison.
Status: Ongoing
View case
![An aerial view of Pelican Bay Prison in Northern California. A large concrete lot with mutliple campuses and scorched green recreational areas is surrounded by a sea of green trees.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/04/0804Solitaryjp3-superJumbo-600x436.webp)
Northern California
Human Rights
Prisoners' Rights
Ashker v. Governor of California
Ashker is a multi-year legal and advocacy struggle led by directly-impacted people to reform California’s use of solitary confinement and end its systemic reliance on fabricated confidential information to discipline people in prison.
Apr 2023
Status: Ongoing
View case
U.S. Supreme Court
Mar 2022
![Egbert v. Boule](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
Egbert v. Boule
Whether a damages remedy should be available when a federal agent violated the plaintiff’s First and Fourth Amendment rights by entering private property without a warrant, throwing the plaintiff to the ground without justification, and then retaliated against him for exercising his right to seek redress from the government.
Status: Ongoing
View case
![Egbert v. Boule](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/fallback-case-gavel.png)
U.S. Supreme Court
Human Rights
Egbert v. Boule
Whether a damages remedy should be available when a federal agent violated the plaintiff’s First and Fourth Amendment rights by entering private property without a warrant, throwing the plaintiff to the ground without justification, and then retaliated against him for exercising his right to seek redress from the government.
Mar 2022
Status: Ongoing
View case