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National Sign-On Letter Supporting Syringe Exchange Programs (07/30/2008)
We, the undersigned organizations, are writing to express our sincere thanks and support for your efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS and hepatitis epidemic through introduction of the Community AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention Act of 2008. Providing sterile syringes is a simple, cost-effective method of saving lives.

ACLU Letter to House and Senate Education Leadership on the Higher Education Act (07/07/2008)
On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, a non-partisan organization with hundreds of thousands of activists and members and 53 affiliates nationwide, we are writing to state once again our strong opposition to the inclusion of the aid elimination penalty (20 U.S.C. 1091(r)) in the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA). As the reauthorization conference for H.R. 4137, the College Opportunity and Affordability Act, and S. 1642, the Higher Education Amendments Act, moves forward, we urge that the penalty provision be deleted in the final conference report.

ACLU Coalition Letter to House Judiciary Leadership Urging Them Not to Reauthorize the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (06/17/2008)
The undersigned groups urge you to not reauthorize the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program without reforming it. The program is perpetuating racial disparities, police corruption, over-incarceration and civil rights abuses. This is especially the case when it comes to the program’s funding of hundreds of regional anti-drug task forces across the country. These task forces, which have very little state or federal oversight and are prone to corruption, are at the center of some of our country’s most horrific law enforcement scandals.

ACLU Testimony to Reform the 100-1 Crack/Powder Disparity (02/12/2008)
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) would like to thank the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary for the opportunity to submit testimony for this hearing on “Federal Cocaine Sentencing Laws: Reforming the 100-to-1 Crack/Powder Disparity.” The ACLU is a nonpartisan organization with hundreds of thousands of activists and members and with 53 affiliates nationwide. Our mission is to protect the Constitution and particularly the Bill of Rights. Thus, the disparity that exists in federal law between crack and powder cocaine sentencing continues to concern our organization due to the implications of this policy on due process and equal protection rights of all people. Equally important to our core mission are the rights of freedom of association and freedom from disproportionate punishment, which are also at risk under this sentencing regime.

ACLU Letter Urging Senators to Support S. 1711, the Drug Sentencing Reform and Cocaine Kingpin Trafficking Act of 2007 (02/04/2008)

ACLU Comments for Sentencing Commision (10/29/2007)
On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and its hundreds of thousands of members, activists, and fifty-three affiliates nationwide, we submit these comments pursuant to the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s request for public comments, as noticed in the Federal Register in July 2007, relating to its proposed amendment to the crack sentencing guidelines. Amendment 9, which pertains to crack offenses, has the effect of lowering the guideline sentencing range for certain categories of offenses and offenders. We write in support of the Commission’s proposal that to make Amendment 9 retroactive to sentenced defendants.

ACLU Open Letter to the United States Congress (10/02/2007)

In the Matter of Lyle Craker - Congressional Sign-On Letter (09/18/2007)
A letter signed by 45 members of Congress urging DEA Administrator Karen Tandy to follow an administrative law judge's recommendation and grant Professor Lyle Craker a license to cultivate marijuana for use in FDA-approved studies aimed at developing marijuana as a prescription medicine.

Written Testimony on Law Enforcement Confidential Informant Practices by Professor Alexandra Natapoff Before the House Judiciary Committee (07/19/2007)
Written testimony prepared by Alexandra Natapoff, Professor of Law at Loyola Law School, for presentation at the Joint Oversight Hearing on Law Enforcement Confidential Informant Practices before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, and the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

Written Testimony on Law Enforcement Confidential Informant Practices by J. Patrick O'Burke, Deputy Commander, Narcotics Service, Texas Department of Public Safety, Before the House Judiciary Committee (07/19/2007)
Written testimony prepared by J. Patrick O'Burke, Deputy Commander, Narcotics Service, Texas Department of Public Safety for presentation at the Joint Oversight Hearing on Law Enforcement Confidential Informant Practices before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, and the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.