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, 2020

ACLU-DC Comment on WMATA Board Vote to Create Metro Transit Oversight Board

The vote is a first step, but much more is needed to restore trust in Metro Transit Police.
Jun 18, 2020

Federal Judge Orders Sweeping Reforms to D.C. Jail Conditions During COVID-19

Today’s order mandates that DOC provide prisoners with medical care within 24 hours, enforce CDC policies on social distancing, provide prisoners with necessary materials to clean their cells and instruction on how to use them, ensure access to confidential legal calls, and more.
Jun 16, 2020

ACLU Analysis of D.C. Stop-and-Frisk Data Reveals Ineffective Policing, Troubling Racial Disparities

The report finds highly ineffective police stop practices that are potentially violating the constitutional rights of Black people in the District every day.
Jun 09, 2020

Bureau of Prisons Officials Added As Defendants to Lawsuit Against Trump, Barr for Tear-Gassing of White House Protesters

Today’s amended complaint also seeks class status to represent the hundreds of individuals who were affected by the administration’s unlawful use of force against protestors, and adds Lia Poteet, a protester, as a plaintiff.
Jun 04, 2020

Civil Rights Groups Sue Trump, Barr for Tear-Gassing Protesters Outside White House

Protesters allege Trump, Barr, Esper, and other officials unlawfully conspired to violate their constitutional rights.
May 31, 2020

ACLU-DC Statement on Curfew and Deployment of D.C. National Guard

The nation's capital is one of the most important places for protest to take place right now. To impose a curfew is tone deaf and exactly the wrong approach.
May 26, 2020

Court Issues Preliminary Injunction to Protect St. Elizabeths Patients from Dangers of Covid-19

A federal court has found that there is “an imminent risk to [patients’] health and well-being, and the consequences of contracting the virus are irreparable.”
Issue Areas: Disability Rights
Court Cases: Costa v. Bazron - Challenging Conditions at St. Elizabeths Hospital During Month-Long Water Outage and COVID-19 Crisis
May 12, 2020

After ACLU-DC Flags First Amendment Problems With Student Online-Speech Rules, D.C. Public Schools Modifies Technology Policy

The ACLU-DC identified several constitutional deficiencies in its policy governing students' online speech.
Apr 28, 2020

ACLU-DC Files Friend-of-the-Court Briefs Challenging Federal Government’s Moving Felony Gun Charges to Federal Court

The briefs assert the U.S. Attorney for D.C. acted unlawfully in deciding last year to begin charging all felon-in-possession gun cases in federal court rather than D.C. Superior Court.