Press Releases

ACLU-D.C. lawyers and advocates are among the nation's leading experts on civil liberties and constitutional freedoms. They are regularly sought out by leading broadcast, print and online media to lend an essential voice to the conversation about some of the most important issues facing the nation and the District. For all press inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Jun 23, 2023

Immigrants’ Rights Advocates Sue Government Over Asylum Ban and Rapid Deportation Process that Places Asylum Seekers in Grave Danger

“The previous administration tried to build a physical wall at the border, and now the current administration is trying to build a procedural wall at the border. Both are unlawful."
Issue Areas: Immigrants' Rights
Jun 23, 2023

COURT OF APPEALS DENIES CONSTITUTIONAL CLAIMS AGAINST FEDERAL OFFICIALS FOR POLICE ATTACK ON CIVIL RIGHTS DEMONSTRATORS NEAR WHITE HOUSE  

The Court is blocking us from holding federal officials responsible for attacking me and other demonstrators when we exercised our right to protest police brutality and racism.
Issue Areas: Criminal Justice Reform, Racial Justice, Police Practices and Police Misconduct, Freedom of Speech and Association
May 25, 2023

ACLU-DC Statement on President Biden vetoing attempt to block D.C. police bill

"As we celebrate President Biden’s veto, we also renew our commitment to making D.C. the 51st state.”
Issue Areas: Criminal Justice Reform, D.C. Statehood, Voting Rights
May 04, 2023

ACLU-D.C. Staff Unionize with Voluntary Recognition

The ACLU-DC and the Washington-Baltimore News Guild announced the voluntary recognition of its employees’ union, which was formed with a supermajority of support from eligible staff.
Apr 03, 2023

Oral Arguments in Black Lives Matter D.C. Case Seeking to Hold Federal Officials Financially Accountable for 2020 Attack on Protestors

“What’s at stake in this appeal is a question testing our nation’s commitment to the rule of law: whether civil rights demonstrators, brutally attacked by federal officers without provocation across the street from the White House, can sue to vindicate their constitutional rights."
Mar 14, 2023

ACLU-D.C. Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Demonstrator Injured by Military Helicopter Used to Intimidate Racial Justice Protesters

The ACLU-D.C. filed a complaint on behalf of Dzhuliya Dashtamirova, a 25-year-old woman who suffered injuries caused by low-flying military helicopters that assaulted racial justice protestors on June 1, 2020, in downtown D.C.
Issue Areas: Freedom of Speech and Association, National Security/War on Terror, Police Practices and Police Misconduct
Mar 02, 2023

ACLU-D.C. Statement on President Biden's Signaling to Overturn Local D.C. Criminal Code Law

President Biden's support to overturn the Revised Criminal Code Act undermines D.C.'s fight for statehood and maintaining home rule.
Issue Areas: Criminal Justice Reform, D.C. Statehood, Racial Justice
Feb 15, 2023

ACLU-D.C. statement on the McPherson encampment eviction

As a tenant in a building bordering McPherson Square and a community organization that protects civil rights and civil liberties, ACLU-D.C. joins our unhoused neighbors and advocates to condemn Mayor Bowser and the National Park Service’s decision to evict people from McPherson Square on February 15
Feb 14, 2023

St. Elizabeths Hospital Settles Case with Patients Who Endured Life Threatening Conditions During Water Crisis and COVID-19

“This settlement will help ensure that the government meets its constitutional obligation to provide a safe environment for the patients of St. Elizabeths.”
Issue Areas: Due Process/Procedural Rights, Criminal Justice Reform, Disability Rights