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
Smart Justice
Prisoners' Rights
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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190 Smart Justice Cases
Missouri
May 2014
Smart Justice
Capital Punishment
ACLU Petition to IACHR on Missouri and Oklahoma Executions that Will Violate International Law
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a petition with the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights showing that the upcoming executions by lethal injection in Missouri and Oklahoma will violate international law against cruel and unusual punishment, should they go forward. The ACLU asks that the executions be stopped until the IACHR can conduct independent investigations of the two cases.
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Missouri
May 2014
Smart Justice
Capital Punishment
ACLU Petition to IACHR on Missouri and Oklahoma Executions that Will Violate International Law
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a petition with the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights showing that the upcoming executions by lethal injection in Missouri and Oklahoma will violate international law against cruel and unusual punishment, should they go forward. The ACLU asks that the executions be stopped until the IACHR can conduct independent investigations of the two cases.
Court Case
May 2014
Smart Justice
+2 Issues
Hill v. United States of America
In March 2014, the ACLU urged the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to rule that sentencing children to mandatory life without the possibility of parole violates the Declaration of the Rights of Man and universal human rights principles. This hearing was held in response to a February 2006 petition from the ACLU and several other organizations to the IACHR, alleging that the human rights of juveniles sentenced to life without parole were being violated.
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Court Case
May 2014
Smart Justice
+2 Issues
Hill v. United States of America
In March 2014, the ACLU urged the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to rule that sentencing children to mandatory life without the possibility of parole violates the Declaration of the Rights of Man and universal human rights principles. This hearing was held in response to a February 2006 petition from the ACLU and several other organizations to the IACHR, alleging that the human rights of juveniles sentenced to life without parole were being violated.
Court Case
Mar 2014
Smart Justice
Racial Justice
Sheff v. O'Neill
A groundbreaking school desegregation case in Hartford, Connecticut.
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Court Case
Mar 2014
Smart Justice
Racial Justice
Sheff v. O'Neill
A groundbreaking school desegregation case in Hartford, Connecticut.
South Dakota
Feb 2014
Smart Justice
Racial Justice
Antoine v. Winner School District
Filed in 2006, the ACLU's Antoine v. Winner School District class action lawsuit alleged discrimination against Native American students in the mostly-white Winner, South Dakota school district. The lawsuit was settled in December of 2007, and the ACLU works directly with the community and the defendant school district to implement the resulting Consent Decree.
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South Dakota
Feb 2014
Smart Justice
Racial Justice
Antoine v. Winner School District
Filed in 2006, the ACLU's Antoine v. Winner School District class action lawsuit alleged discrimination against Native American students in the mostly-white Winner, South Dakota school district. The lawsuit was settled in December of 2007, and the ACLU works directly with the community and the defendant school district to implement the resulting Consent Decree.
Court Case
Oct 2013
Smart Justice
National Security
ACLU of New Jersey v. The Federal Bureau of Investigation
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Jersey sued the FBI and Department of Justice in 2011 for records related to the FBI's use of race and ethnicity in conducting assessments and investigations of local communities in New Jersey.
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Court Case
Oct 2013
Smart Justice
National Security
ACLU of New Jersey v. The Federal Bureau of Investigation
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Jersey sued the FBI and Department of Justice in 2011 for records related to the FBI's use of race and ethnicity in conducting assessments and investigations of local communities in New Jersey.