Texas
OCA-Greater Houston v. Paxton
Texas has growing Hispanic and Black populations that helped propel record voter turnout in the November 2020 election. The Texas Legislature responded to this increased civic participation with an omnibus election bill titled Senate Bill 1—SB 1 for short—that targeted election practices that made voting more accessible to traditionally marginalized voters like voters of color, voters with disabilities, and voters with limited English proficiency. Since 2021, SB 1 has resulted in tens of thousands of lawful votes being rejected, and it remains a threat to democracy in Texas.
Status: Ongoing
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U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2023
Women's Rights
Racial Justice
United States v. Rahimi
Whether 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), which prohibits the possession of firearms by persons subject to domestic-violence restraining orders, violates the Second Amendment on its face.
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2023
Reproductive Freedom
Danco Laboratories, LLC, v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine; U.S. FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine
The American Civil Liberties Union joined over 200 reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of an emergency request to stay a decision issued by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that severely restricted the use of mifepristone — a medication used in most abortions in this country — and threatened the innovation of new drugs and the ability of Americans to access lifesaving drugs.
U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2021
Reproductive Freedom
Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, and coalition partners filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of abortion providers and funds on July 13, 2021, challenging S.B. 8, a Texas law allowing private citizens to enforce a ban on abortion as early as six weeks in pregnancy—before many know they are pregnant. The ACLU’s challenge made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court three times in as many months. After hearing oral arguments in the case, the Court issued a decision on December 10, 2021, that ended the most promising pathways to blocking the ban. The Supreme Court’s decision makes it more difficult to obtain adequate relief from the courts and gives states the green light to ban abortion using bounty-hunting schemes. Texas’ abortion ban will remain in effect until relief can be secured from a court.
Texas
Jul 2021
Prisoners' Rights
Criminal Law Reform
Sanchez et al v. Dallas County Sheriff et al
Decarceration has always been an emergency, a life and death proposition, but COVID-19 makes this effort intensely urgent. The ACLU has been working with our partners to litigate for the rights of those who are incarcerated and cannot protect themselves because of the policies of the institutions in which they are jailed.
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42 Texas Cases
U.S. Supreme Court
Feb 2023
Immigrants' Rights
United States v. Texas
Texas and other states are challenging ICE’s enforcement priorities, which direct agents to focus their arrests and deportations on immigrants with particular immigration law violations, such as those with criminal convictions. The Court will decide whether the states can bring these types of challenges, and if so, whether ICE’s priorities are legal.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Feb 2023
Immigrants' Rights
United States v. Texas
Texas and other states are challenging ICE’s enforcement priorities, which direct agents to focus their arrests and deportations on immigrants with particular immigration law violations, such as those with criminal convictions. The Court will decide whether the states can bring these types of challenges, and if so, whether ICE’s priorities are legal.
Texas
Oct 2022
Voting Rights
State of Texas v. Hervis Rogers
The ACLU, ACLU of Texas, and Nicole DeBorde Hochglaube represented Mr. Hervis Rogers, a Houston man who faced charges for voting while on parole after waiting more than six hours to cast his ballot in March 2020. Mr. Rogers faced up to 40 years in prison, despite believing he was simply fulfilling his civic duty. In October 2022, Mr. Rogers' charges were dismissed.
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Texas
Oct 2022
Voting Rights
State of Texas v. Hervis Rogers
The ACLU, ACLU of Texas, and Nicole DeBorde Hochglaube represented Mr. Hervis Rogers, a Houston man who faced charges for voting while on parole after waiting more than six hours to cast his ballot in March 2020. Mr. Rogers faced up to 40 years in prison, despite believing he was simply fulfilling his civic duty. In October 2022, Mr. Rogers' charges were dismissed.
Texas
Sep 2022
Reproductive Freedom
Whole Woman's Health v. Paxton
On June 24, 2022, abortion provision in Texas entirely stopped due to confusion over whether the state’s century-old criminal abortion ban could be enforced after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the federal constitutional right to abortion and 50 years of precedent. On June 27, 2022, abortion providers in Texas filed a lawsuit in state court seeking to block officials from enforcing the state’s antiquated pre-Roe abortion ban. If successful, the lawsuit would restore early abortion access in Texas for two months or longer.
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Texas
Sep 2022
Reproductive Freedom
Whole Woman's Health v. Paxton
On June 24, 2022, abortion provision in Texas entirely stopped due to confusion over whether the state’s century-old criminal abortion ban could be enforced after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the federal constitutional right to abortion and 50 years of precedent. On June 27, 2022, abortion providers in Texas filed a lawsuit in state court seeking to block officials from enforcing the state’s antiquated pre-Roe abortion ban. If successful, the lawsuit would restore early abortion access in Texas for two months or longer.
Texas
Sep 2022
LGBTQ Rights
Reproductive Freedom
Franciscan Alliance v. Burwell
The ACLU intervened in a case challenging a section of the Affordable Care Act that prohibits health care entities from discriminating based on race, national origin, sex, age or disability.
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Texas
Sep 2022
LGBTQ Rights
Reproductive Freedom
Franciscan Alliance v. Burwell
The ACLU intervened in a case challenging a section of the Affordable Care Act that prohibits health care entities from discriminating based on race, national origin, sex, age or disability.
U.S. Supreme Court
Apr 2022
Religious Liberty
Ramirez v. Collier
In a Supreme Court amicus brief filed by the ACLU and the law firm Williams & Connolly LLP, a group of spiritual leaders who have been present in the death chamber during executions and former high-level corrections officials who have collectively witnessed or overseen more than 50 executions argues that Texas should allow John H. Ramirez’s pastor to pray aloud and lay hands on him as he is executed.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Apr 2022
Religious Liberty
Ramirez v. Collier
In a Supreme Court amicus brief filed by the ACLU and the law firm Williams & Connolly LLP, a group of spiritual leaders who have been present in the death chamber during executions and former high-level corrections officials who have collectively witnessed or overseen more than 50 executions argues that Texas should allow John H. Ramirez’s pastor to pray aloud and lay hands on him as he is executed.