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Slide Show: Survivor Stories >> Supreme Court Strikes Michigan Law The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Michigan law denying legal representation to poor people in a criminal appeal is unconstitutional. The ACLU of Michigan filed the one of a kind case after the law was passed in 1999. Under the law, an indigent criminal defendant who wished to challenge his sentence after pleading guilty was generally not entitled to appointed counsel, even for a first appeal. Michigan was the only state in the country that denied appointed counsel under these circumstances. Read more >> Ensuring Young People's Access to Counsel in Ohio The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, ACLU National, The Children’s Law Center and the Ohio Public Defender’s Office filed a petition with the Ohio Supreme Court on March 9 calling for the court to protect children’s right to counsel when they are accused of a crime. Read more >> Montana's Defense Bill Leads Trend The ACLU applauds the Montana Legislature's passage of ground breaking public defender legislation that creates a new state wide office and guarantees constitutional rights to all Montanans, not just those who can afford to pay lawyers. Read more >> The Trials of Darryl Hunt ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Reggie Shuford talks with Darryl Hunt, left, and Mark Rabil about Darryl Hunt's wrongful conviction. His case brings up questions of cross-racial eyewitness identification, prosecutorial misconduct, inexperienced defense attorneys and racial bias in death penalty cases. Learn more >> MP3 | Podcast Day of Darryl Hunt's Exoneration Feb 2004

ACLU Calls on Congress to End the Sentencing of Children to Life Imprisonment without Parole (9/11/2008)
Washington, DC – Today, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security is scheduled to hold a hearing on a bill that would help end the practice of sentencing children to life in prison without the possibility of parole and provide grants to states to improve the quality of legal representation for youth charged with an offense that could lead to a life sentence. In a letter to Representatives Robert C. Scott (D-VA), chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee, and Louie Gohmert (R-TX), ranking member, the ACLU calls on Congress to move forward with H.R. 4300, the Juvenile Justice Accountability and Improvement Act of 2007.

ACLU Applauds DOJ Revision of Right to Counsel Policy (8/28/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the Department of Justice’s effort to better protect the American people from overzealous investigations by revising its policy on the right to counsel. However, the ACLU points out that this policy has been revised, at the whim of the deputy attorney general, five times in the last ten years. In order to guarantee a clear and consistent application of this important legal principle, the ACLU urges senators to pass the Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act of 2008 (S. 3217) to permanently protect the right to counsel. The legislation was passed unanimously by the House of Representatives and has 13 bipartisan cosponsors in the Senate.

ACLU Urges Senate Judiciary Committee to Close School-to-Prison Pipeline (7/31/2008)
Washington, DC – The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled today to mark up S. 3155, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2008 (JJDPA), a bill setting standards and providing funding to protect the rights of juveniles in the criminal justice system.

Congress Should Demand Answers from Attorney General (7/23/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union urges the House Judiciary Committee to demand accountability from Attorney General Michael Mukasey during the Department of Justice oversight hearing scheduled for today.

ACLU Opposes Expansion of Federal DNA Program to Arrestee Testing (6/12/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union urges Congress to oppose an amendment sponsored by Representative Adam B. Schiff (D-CA) that is designed to test arrestees as part of an expansion of the federal DNA program. Schiff’s amendment, which recently passed the House Judiciary Committee, will provide incentives for state law enforcement officials to create a permanent DNA database of arrestees that includes people who are detained on misdemeanor charges, wrongfully arrested and others.