One of the main ways ACLU-DC works to protect civil liberties and civil rights is through litigation. This section of our website documents the cases we’re working on now and those we’ve handled in recent years. Click here for general information about what types of cases we litigate.
Important disclaimer: Communicating with us through this website does not create an attorney-client relationship; only a signed agreement can create such a relationship. Additionally, past success is no guarantee of future results, even if we agree to represent you.
COVID-19 poses an unprecedented threat to a group of District of Columbia residents in the custody of the District of Columbia Department of Corrections (“DOC”). In the final week of March 2020, the DOC announced five positive cases from different units in its facilities.
In December 2022, we filed a complaint with the D.C. Office of Human Rights alleging discrimination based on family responsibilities and seeking compensation for our clients and changes to the DMV telework policy so it does not disadvantage parents and caregivers.
Immigrants have a right to legal representation in immigration proceedings, but do not have a right to government-appointed counsel. We filed this suit to challenge the failure to ensure compliance with constitutional requirements, federal law, and ICE’s own policies regarding access to counsel.
As of September 2022, more than 25,000 immigrants are held in nearly 185 ICE detention centers nationwide.
The government has long infringed on Americans’ fundamental rights and liberties under the guise of national security. We want to know DHS’s plan to safeguard civil liberties, civil rights, and privacy, or whether it even has one.
On February 11, 2022, President Biden issued an executive order seizing $7 billion of currency reserves belonging to the country of Afghanistan that were being held in the United States, and then transferred those funds to an account at the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
We filed this lawsuit, together with the ACLU National Prison Project and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, asking the court to compel the BOP to release the requested records relevant to its care and housing of people with mental illness in BOP custody.