Issues

Criminal Justice Reform

Over the past five decades, the United States has dramatically increased its reliance on the criminal justice system as a way to respond to substance use disorders, mental illness, poverty, and underfunded schools.

Death Penalty

The death penalty in America is a broken process from start to finish. Death sentences are predicted not by the heinousness of the crime but by the poor quality of the defense lawyers, the race of the accused or the victim, and the county and state in which the crime occurred.

Disability Rights

The ACLU is striving for an America free of discrimination against people with disabilities, where people with disabilities are valued, integrated members of society who have full access to education, homes, health care, jobs, and families.

Free Speech

Freedom of speech, the press, association, assembly, and petition: This set of guarantees, protected by the First Amendment, comprises what we refer to as "free speech" or freedom of expression.

Immigrants’ Rights

The ACLU has been at the forefront of almost every major legal struggle on behalf of immigrants’ rights, focusing on challenging laws that deny immigrants access to the courts, impose indefinite and mandatory detention, and discriminate on the basis of nationality.

LGBT Rights

The ACLU seeks to create a just society for all LGBT people regardless of race or income. Through litigation, lobbying, public education, and organizing, we work to build a country where our communities can live openly without discrimination and enjoy equal rights, personal autonomy, and freedo