American Civil Liberties Union

Court Poised To Issue Important Rulings On Free Speech, Government Accountability And Criminal Justice
The Supreme Court begins its 2009 Term with a new justice and a seemingly emboldened conservative majority. Both were previewed two weeks ago when the Court heard re-argument in Citzens United v. FEC (08-205), which has the potential to produce the most important decision on campaign finance since Buckley v. Valeo in 1976. More >>

Supreme Court Breakfast Briefing - September 22, 2009

Steven R. Shapiro, ACLU Legal Director, gives a broad overview of the upcoming Supreme Court Term More >>
Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project, discusses Department of Defense v. ACLU, a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in which the government has appealed a court ruling requiring the release of photos depicting the abuse of prisoners held in U.S. custody overseas. More >>
Peter Eliasberg, managing attorney with the ACLU of Southern California, discusses Salazar v. Buono, a case in which the government is challenging a lower court ruling that a congressional statute transferring a small parcel of land under a cross in the Mojave Desert National Preserve to a private owner failed to resolve a violation of the Establishment Clause. Eliasberg will argue this case before the Supreme Court on October 7. More >>

SUPREME COURT CASES

ATTORNEYS' FEES
Perdue v. Kenny A.
Whether a district court may award enhanced attorney’s fees to a prevailing plaintiff in a civil rights action based on extraordinary performance and exceptional results.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Wood v. Allen
Whether the federal courts properly reviewed the state court findings in this habeas corpus proceeding to determine the constitutionality of the petitioner's death sentence.

Pottawattamie County v. McGhee
Whether a prosecutor is entitled to absolute immunity from damages for fabricating evidence during a criminal investigation when the same prosecutor later uses that evidence at trial to convict.

DUE PROCESS
Alvarez v. Smith
Whether a state must provide some sort of preliminary hearing when it allows cars and other property to be seized and held for six months or more pending final forfeiture proceedings.

FREE SPEECH
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Whether a provision of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, which bars unions and corporations (both for-profit and non-profit) from engaging in "electioneering communications," violates the First Amendment and should be struck down as facially unconstitutional.

United States v. Stevens
Whether the First Amendment permits the government to criminalize the interstate sale or possession of any depiction of animal cruelty that is illegal where the depiction is created, sold or possessed, unless the depiction has serious value.

IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS
Kucana v. Holder
Whether a decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals denying a motion for reconsideration in an asylum case is subject to judicial review.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Salazar v. Buono
Whether a congressional statute transferring a small parcel of land in the Mojave Desert National Preserve to private owners satisfies the government's obligation to cure the Establishment Clause violation created by a Latin cross on public land, when the government also designates the cross as a national memorial and retains a reversionary interest in the land.

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