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.
View Case
Learn About Smart Justice
Featured
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.
All Cases
187 Smart Justice Cases
Court Case
Dec 2012
Smart Justice
Capital Punishment
Petitions Filed Under North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act
On August 3, 2010, five North Carolina death row inmates filed claims under their state's landmark legislation, the Racial Justice Act. The law, which passed in August 2009, requires that courts enter a life sentence for any death row defendant who proves that race was a factor in the imposition of his or her death sentence.
Explore case
Court Case
Dec 2012
Smart Justice
Capital Punishment
Petitions Filed Under North Carolina’s Racial Justice Act
On August 3, 2010, five North Carolina death row inmates filed claims under their state's landmark legislation, the Racial Justice Act. The law, which passed in August 2009, requires that courts enter a life sentence for any death row defendant who proves that race was a factor in the imposition of his or her death sentence.
U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2012
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Alleyne v. United States
Whether the quantity of drugs involved in a crime must be decided by the jury before it can be the basis for a mandatory minimum sentence.
Explore case
U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2012
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Alleyne v. United States
Whether the quantity of drugs involved in a crime must be decided by the jury before it can be the basis for a mandatory minimum sentence.
U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2012
Smart Justice
National Security
Rumsfeld v. Padilla
Reviewing the President's authority to designate an American citizen an 'enemy combatant' and detain him indefinitely in an American military brig without charges, trial, or private access to counsel.
Explore case
U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2012
Smart Justice
National Security
Rumsfeld v. Padilla
Reviewing the President's authority to designate an American citizen an 'enemy combatant' and detain him indefinitely in an American military brig without charges, trial, or private access to counsel.
Louisiana
Oct 2012
Smart Justice
Capital Punishment
Damon Thibodeaux: A Case of False Confession
Damon A. Thibodeaux was exonerated in 2012 after 15 years on death row in Louisiana. DNA and other evidence proved he did not commit the crime of raping and murdering his young cousin to which he originally confessed. His confession came at the end of nine hours of police interrogation; he was exhausted when it began and beyond confused by the time he issued a confession riddled with mistakes of fact, and containing only information he had received from the police or conjecture.
Explore case
Louisiana
Oct 2012
Smart Justice
Capital Punishment
Damon Thibodeaux: A Case of False Confession
Damon A. Thibodeaux was exonerated in 2012 after 15 years on death row in Louisiana. DNA and other evidence proved he did not commit the crime of raping and murdering his young cousin to which he originally confessed. His confession came at the end of nine hours of police interrogation; he was exhausted when it began and beyond confused by the time he issued a confession riddled with mistakes of fact, and containing only information he had received from the police or conjecture.
Court Case
Mar 2012
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Barnes v. Camden
In July 2010, the ACLU and the ACLU of New Jersey filed a lawsuit on behalf of an innocent Camden, New Jersey man, Joel Barnes, who was jailed for more than a year as the result of having drugs planted on him by police officers later implicated in a large-scale evidence-planting conspiracy affecting nearly 200 other Camden residents. Mr. Barnes is seeking compensatory damages, as well as injunctive relief designed to prevent such conduct among Camden police officers from occurring in the future.
Explore case
Court Case
Mar 2012
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Barnes v. Camden
In July 2010, the ACLU and the ACLU of New Jersey filed a lawsuit on behalf of an innocent Camden, New Jersey man, Joel Barnes, who was jailed for more than a year as the result of having drugs planted on him by police officers later implicated in a large-scale evidence-planting conspiracy affecting nearly 200 other Camden residents. Mr. Barnes is seeking compensatory damages, as well as injunctive relief designed to prevent such conduct among Camden police officers from occurring in the future.