News & Commentary about Smart Justice
![Smart Justice image](https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/themes/aclu-wp/img/news/news-by-issue-images/smart-justice_600.png)
The ACLU Campaign for Smart Justice is an unprecedented, multiyear effort to reduce the U.S. jail and prison population by 50% and to challenge racism in the criminal legal system.
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![Entrance to the Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons in Brooklyn, NY.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2024/03/fedreal-bureau-of-prisons-b-400x266.jpg)
Mar 1, 2024
President Biden's Order to Ban Private Prisons Faces a Persistent Internal Challenge: The U.S. Marshals Service
![A pair of handcuffs over several 100 dollar bills.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/07/cash-bail-handcuffs-blog-400x266.jpg)
Jul 21, 2023
The Illinois Supreme Court Cash Bail Ruling, Explained
![LGBTQ flag with police in the background.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/06/lgbtq-flag-with-police-in-background-f-400x266.jpg)
Jun 23, 2023
Pride Has Always Been About Ending Mass Incarceration
![The exterior of the Supreme Court.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/03/GW_Blog-400x266.jpg)
Mar 18, 2023
Celebrating 60 Years of Gideon v. Wainwright
![People hold up a banner saying "No Execution by Covid-19."](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2023/03/Covidprison_blog-400x266.jpg)
Mar 13, 2023
Three Years Later, COVID-19 is Still a Threat to People Who Are Incarcerated
![Demonstrators, holding a sign reading "STOP THE DEATH PENALTY", stand on the steps of the State Capitol in Atlanta.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2022/12/CLEMENCY-Blog-V1-400x266.jpg)
Dec 14, 2022
From the Death Penalty to Marijuana, Clemency is a Tool For Justice
![A judges' gavel on a U.S. dollar cash background, top view, close-up.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2022/10/HIDDEN_TAXES-Blog-400x266.jpg)
Oct 6, 2022
Hidden Taxes Don't Belong Anywhere, Least of All in Our Justice System
![With helmets, gas masks and armed with shotguns, state police overlook the Attica prison yard which is filled with prisoners, face down in mud with their hands behind their heads. Other policemen are in orange ponchos are walking and searching the prisoners in Sept. 1971.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2022/09/ATTICA_V1-Blog-400x266.jpg)
Sep 26, 2022
50 Years of Fighting for the Rights of Incarcerated People