List of court cases involving the American Civil Liberties Union

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has been involved in the following legal cases, either by representing a party, or filing an amicus brief, or otherwise significantly involved.

1920s

1925

Tennessee v. Scopes (Scopes Trial) - paid for John Scopes' defense
Gitlow v. New York, 268 U.S. 652 (1925) - represented Benjamin Gitlow

1927

Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927)

1930s

1931

Stromberg v. California, 283 U.S. 359 (1931) - represented Yetta Stromberg

1932

Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45 (1932) - represented the Scottsboro Boys

1933

United States v. One Book Called Ulysses

1935

Patterson v. Alabama, 294 U.S. 600 (1935)

1937

De Jonge v. Oregon, 299 U.S. 353 (1937) - represented Dirk De Jonge

1938

Lovell v. City of Griffin, 303 U.S. 444 (1935)

1939

Hague v. CIO, 307 U.S. 496 (1939).

1939

Bolanos v. California - represented Wesley Packard

1940s

1940

Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940)

1941

Edwards v. California, 314 U.S. 160 (1941)

1942

Betts v. Brady, 316 U.S. 455 (1942)

1943

Hirabayashi v. United States, 320 U.S. 81 (1943) - Amicus curiae for Gordon Kiyoshi Hirabayashi
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943) - Amicus curiae
Martin v. Struthers

1944

1946

Hannegan v. Esquire

1947

Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1 (1947) - Amicus curiae for Arch R. Everson

1948

Shelley v. Kraemer

1950s

1951

Kunz v. New York

1952

1954

Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) - Amicus curiae for Oliver Brown
Hernandez v. Texas, 347 U.S. 475 (1954) civil rights

1957

Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476 (1957) - Amicus curiae for Samuel Roth
Watkins v. United States
Yates v. United States, 354 U.S. 298 (1957) - Amicus curiae for Yates

1958

Kent v. Dulles
Speiser v. Randall, 357 U.S. 513 (1958) - ACLU lawyer Lawrence Speiser defended himself
Trop v. Dulles

1959

Smith v. California

1960s

1961

Mapp v. Ohio, 377 U.S. 643 (1961) - Amicus curiae for Dollree Mapp
Poe v. Ullman

1962

Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962) - represented Steven I. Engel

1963

Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963) - represented Edward Schempp
Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963) - Amicus curiae for Clarence Earl Gideon

1964

Baggett v. Bullitt
Carroll v. Princess Anne County
Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U.S. 478 (1964) - Amicus curiae for Danny Escobedo
Jacobellis v. Ohio
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964) - Amicus curiae for The New York Times
Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964) - represented B.A. Reynolds

1965

Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965) - Amicus curiae for Estelle T. Griswold
Lamont v. Postmaster General
United States v. Seeger, 380 U.S. 163 (1965) - Amicus curiae for Seeger, Jakobson and Peter

1966

Bond v. Floyd
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966) - Amicus curiae for Ernesto Miranda

1967

1968

Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97 (1968) - Amicus curiae for Susan Epperson
Jones v. Mayer, 392 U.S. 409 (1968) - Amicus curiae for Joseph Lee Jones
King v. Smith
Levy v. Louisiana
Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968) - Amicus curiae for John W. Terry
Washington v. Lee

1969

Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969) - represented Clarence Brandenburg
Gregory v. Chicago
Street v. New York
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969) - represented the Tinker and Eckhardt families
Watts v. United States

1970s

1970

Goldberg v. Kelly

1971

Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971) - Amicus curiae for Paul Robert Cohen
New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971) - Amicus curiae for The New York Times and The Washington Post
Organization for a Better Austin v. Keefe
Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971) - represented Sally Reed
United States v. Vuitch

1972

Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972) - Amicus curiae for William Baird
Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972) - Amicus curiae for William Furman, Lucious Jackson and Elmer Branch
Laird v. Tatum, 408 U.S. 1^[1]

1973

Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179 (1973) - represented "Mary Doe"
Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677 (1973) - Amicus curiae for Sharron Frontiero
Schlesinger v. Holtzman
Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973) - Amicus curiae for Marvin Miller

1974

Communist Party of Indiana v. Whitcomb
Smith v. Goguen
United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (1974) - Amicus curiae against Richard Nixon

1975

1976

Buckley v. Valeo

1977

Wooley v. Maynard

1978

In re Primus
National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie, 432 U.S. 43 (1977) - represented the National Socialist Party of America. Also known as Smith v. Collin

1980s

1980

Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins

1982

Island Trees School District v. Pico
New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S. 747 (1982) [1] - Amicus curiae for Paul Ferber
McLean v. Arkansas

1983

Bob Jones University v. United States
City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, 462 U.S. 416 (1983).

1985

Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (1985) - Amicus curiae for Ishmael Jaffree

1987

Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578 (1987) - represented Aguillard pro bono

1988

Nelson v. Streeter - represented artist in Harold Washington portrait controversy

1989

County of Allegheny v. ACLU, 492 U.S. 573 (1989) - represented itself
Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989) - Amicus curiae for Gregory Lee Johnson
United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez, 494 U.S. 259 (1990) - Amicus curiae for Rene Martin Verdugo-Urquidez
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490 (1989)

1990s

1990

Cruzan v. Director of the Missouri Department of Health - represented Nancy Cruzan's family
Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990) - Amicus curiae for Alfred Smith and Galen Black
Hodgson v. Minnesota, 497 U.S. 417 (1990).
United States v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310 (1990) - Amicus curiae for Shawn Eichman

1991

Rust v. Sullivan, 500 U.S. 173 (1991).

1992

Hudson v. McMillian
Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 (1992) - Amicus curiae for Deborah Weisman
Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992) - represented Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania
R. A. V. v. City of St. Paul, 505 U.S. 377 (1992) - Amicus curiae for R. A. V.

1993

1994

City of Ladue v. Gilleo

1995

Capitol Square Review Board v. Pinett
Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah
Hurley v. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Group of Boston
McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission
Miller v. Johnson, 515 U.S. 900 (1995).
Campaign for Fiscal Equity, Inc. v. State of New York, - Amicus curiae^[2]

1996

ACLU v. Zell Miller [2] - represented itself
Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996).
NOW v. Scheidler, - Amicus curiae

1997

Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.S. 844 (1997).

1999

ACLU v. Schundler
Hunt v. Cromartie, 526 U.S. 541 (1999) - Amicus curiae
Sutton v. United Air Lines, Inc.

2000s

2000

Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914 (2000) - Amicus curiae
Curley v. NAMBLA - represented NAMBLA pro bono
Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640 (2000) - Amicus curiae
City of Indianapolis v. Edmond

2002

2003

State v. Dalton
McConnell v. FEC
Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) - Amicus curiae
Goodridge v. Department of Public Health - Amicus curiae
Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of New England - Amicus curiae
United States v. American Library Association

2004

ACLU v. Ashcroft (2004)
ACLU v. Department of Defense - appellant
Hamdi v. Rumsfeld - Amicus curiae
Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow - Amicus curiae
Rumsfeld v. Padilla - Amicus curiae
Rasul v. Bush - Amicus curiae
Locke v. Davey - Amicus curiae

2005

Castle Rock v. Gonzales - Amicus curiae for Jessica Gonzales
Citizens for Equal Protection v. Bruning - Plaintiff alongside Citizens for Equal Protection and Nebraska Advocates for Justice Equality
City of San Diego and Mt. Soledad Memorial Association v. Paulson - represented Philip Paulson
McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky - ACLU defended itself
The King’s English v. Shurtleff - represented King's English and others
Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District - represented eleven parents
Varian v. Delfino - Amicus curiae for Michelangelo Delfino and Mary Day
Gonzales v. Oregon - Amicus curiae for Oregon
Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights - Amicus curiae for Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights
MGM v. Grokster - Amicus curiae in support of Grokster

2006

Qassim v. Bush - Amicus curiae in support of Qassim
ACLU v. NSA
Howard v. Arkansas - represented Matthew Lee Howard and other plaintiffs

2007

Morse v. Frederick - Amicus curiae in support of Frederick
Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood - Amicus curiae in support of Carhart and Planned Parenthood

2008

Abdel-Moniem El-Ganayni vs. the United States Department of Energy et al. - represented Dr. El-Ganayni pro-bono

2009

In re Gill - represented Martin Gill
Safford Unified School District v. Redding – represented respondent Redding

2010s

2010

Perry v. Schwarzenegger - Amicus curiae; private communications between officials in the organization were ordered to be released publicly as court evidence
Amnesty v. Blair - Amicus curiae^[3]
Davis v. Billington

2013

2015

2017

Stewart v. Heineman^[4]^[5]^[6]

2020s

2021

Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L.^[7]

2024

National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo^[8]

Alphabetical

References

^ David Andrew Schultz (2009). Encyclopedia of the United States Constitution. Infobase Publishing. p. 420. ISBN 978-1-4381-2677-7.
^ "CAMPAIGN FOR FISCAL EQUITY, INC. ET AL. APPELLANTS v. STATE OF NEW YORK ET AL. RESPONDENTS". www.law.cornell.edu. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
^ "In Amnesty v. Blair--Questions of Surveillance, Harm and Standing | Brennan Center for Justice".
^ "Stewart and Stewart v. Heineman | ACLU of Nebraska". www.aclunebraska.org. 2015-11-06. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
^ "Nebraska Is Sued Over Policy Banning Gay Foster Parents". Bloomberg.com. 2013-08-27. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
^ "Legal Recognition of LGBT Families" (PDF). nclrights.org.
^ "Mahanoy Area School District, Petitioner v. B. L., a Minor, By and Through Her Father, Lawrence Levy and Her Mother, Betty Lou Levy". Supreme Court.
^ Howe, Amy (March 18, 2024). "Court sympathetic to NRA's free speech claim". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved March 22, 2024.

ACLU list of successes
[3] New Hampshire ACLU: "100 greatest ACLU cases"

[Schultz2009-1] David Andrew Schultz (2009). Encyclopedia of the United States Constitution. Infobase Publishing. p. 420. ISBN 978-1-4381-2677-7.

[2] "CAMPAIGN FOR FISCAL EQUITY, INC. ET AL. APPELLANTS v. STATE OF NEW YORK ET AL. RESPONDENTS". www.law.cornell.edu. Retrieved 19 August 2020.

[3] "In Amnesty v. Blair--Questions of Surveillance, Harm and Standing | Brennan Center for Justice".

[4] "Stewart and Stewart v. Heineman | ACLU of Nebraska". www.aclunebraska.org. 2015-11-06. Retrieved 2024-01-24.

[5] "Nebraska Is Sued Over Policy Banning Gay Foster Parents". Bloomberg.com. 2013-08-27. Retrieved 2024-01-26.

[6] "Legal Recognition of LGBT Families" (PDF). nclrights.org.

[7] "Mahanoy Area School District, Petitioner v. B. L., a Minor, By and Through Her Father, Lawrence Levy and Her Mother, Betty Lou Levy". Supreme Court.

[8] Howe, Amy (March 18, 2024). "Court sympathetic to NRA's free speech claim". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved March 22, 2024.

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