Win in Juror Discrimination Case Recognizes Harm of Implicit Bias in Jury Selection

Siding with arguments the ACLU-NJ made in a friend-of-the-court brief, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued a ruling in the case State v. Andujar recognizing implicit or unconscious bias on the part of the State in running a criminal check on a potential Black juror to exclude him from a jury. The court also acknowledged the general harms of implicit bias in jury selection and will establish a Judicial Conference on Jury Selection to explore the nature of discrimination in the jury selection process.  More »

In Memoriam: A Tribute to Frank Askin

For more than 50 years, Frank Askin devoted everything within him to the principles of liberty, equality, fairness, and personal freedom. Even a word like devotion doesn’t suffice to capture truly how fully Frank served making the world better. He found creative ways to use intellect, empathy, and rigor to outmaneuver the forces seeking to diminish our freedoms.  More »

ACLU Files First Immigration Suit Against Biden Administration to Halt Illegal Transfer of Essex ICE Detainees

In its first legal challenge to an immigration policy filed during the Biden administration, the American Civil Liberties Union launched a federal class-action lawsuit that seeks to immediately block the long-distance transfer of ICE detainees from the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark.  More »

NJ to Adopt Significant Reforms Affirming Transgender, Intersex, and Non-Binary People in Prison as a Result of Civil Rights Suit

New Jersey agreed to adopt major policy reforms regarding transgender, intersex, and non-binary people in state prisons, the result of an agreement settling a civil rights suit brought by a woman who was forced to live in men’s prisons for over a year. More »