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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187 Smart Justice Cases
Florida
Mar 2019
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Doe, et al. v. Miami-Dade County, et al.
The ACLU and the ACLU of Florida filed suit against Miami-Dade County and the Florida Department of Corrections, seeking a permanent injunction against an unconstitutional housing ordinance that is extraordinarily difficult for former sex offenders to follow without becoming homeless.
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Florida
Mar 2019
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Doe, et al. v. Miami-Dade County, et al.
The ACLU and the ACLU of Florida filed suit against Miami-Dade County and the Florida Department of Corrections, seeking a permanent injunction against an unconstitutional housing ordinance that is extraordinarily difficult for former sex offenders to follow without becoming homeless.
U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2018
Smart Justice
Gamble v. United States
Whether the “dual-sovereignty” exception to the Double Jeopardy Clause—whereby a state and the federal government can each prosecute a person for the same crime, even where neither would be able to do so alone—violates the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2018
Smart Justice
Gamble v. United States
Whether the “dual-sovereignty” exception to the Double Jeopardy Clause—whereby a state and the federal government can each prosecute a person for the same crime, even where neither would be able to do so alone—violates the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.
Kansas
Jun 2018
Smart Justice
Kansas Crossroads Foundation v. Markle
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Kansas
Jun 2018
Smart Justice
Kansas Crossroads Foundation v. Markle
U.S. Supreme Court
Apr 2018
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Hester v. Gentry
In Alabama’s criminal justice system, wealth can be synonymous with freedom, and lack of wealth can mean incarceration. That’s wealth-based justice, and it’s unconstitutional. Hundreds of defendants, including Bradley Hester, Ray Charles Schultz, and Randall Parris, are routinely jailed pretrial due to their inability to afford a predetermined bail bond required for release. This system disregards the ramifications of unconstitutional pretrial detention for individuals and families, which include presumption of innocence, economic and emotional hardship, and potential loss of one’s job. We along with partners intervened in a federal class action lawsuit which seeks to end this unlawful detention scheme, and calls on Cullman County to instead implement fair, efficient, alternative conditions of release that are not based on how much money someone has.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Apr 2018
Smart Justice
Criminal Law Reform
Hester v. Gentry
In Alabama’s criminal justice system, wealth can be synonymous with freedom, and lack of wealth can mean incarceration. That’s wealth-based justice, and it’s unconstitutional. Hundreds of defendants, including Bradley Hester, Ray Charles Schultz, and Randall Parris, are routinely jailed pretrial due to their inability to afford a predetermined bail bond required for release. This system disregards the ramifications of unconstitutional pretrial detention for individuals and families, which include presumption of innocence, economic and emotional hardship, and potential loss of one’s job. We along with partners intervened in a federal class action lawsuit which seeks to end this unlawful detention scheme, and calls on Cullman County to instead implement fair, efficient, alternative conditions of release that are not based on how much money someone has.
U.S. Supreme Court
Jan 2018
Smart Justice
Bobby Bostic v. Rhoda Pash
Does sentencing a juvenile offender who did not commit homicide to a term-of-years sentence under which he will not be eligible for parole until he is 112 years old violate the Eighth Amendment?
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U.S. Supreme Court
Jan 2018
Smart Justice
Bobby Bostic v. Rhoda Pash
Does sentencing a juvenile offender who did not commit homicide to a term-of-years sentence under which he will not be eligible for parole until he is 112 years old violate the Eighth Amendment?