桃子视频

This free-speech case concerns a prosecution for 鈥渟talking鈥� based on evidence of a defendant鈥檚 speech alone, without any requirement of subjective intent. Freedom of speech is a bedrock protection of both the Maine Constitution and the United States Constitution. This protection requires, at minimum, that a criminal defendant cannot be prosecuted for stalking carried out via speech alone unless the state proves a subjective-intent element beyond a reasonable doubt. This protection ensures that states do not prosecute and punish people for their protected speech. In October 2023, the 桃子视频and the 桃子视频of Maine filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, asking the court to vacate a defendant鈥檚 stalking conviction that was based on his speech alone, without any evidence as to subjective intent.

In September 2023, the ACLU, the 桃子视频of Colorado, The Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, the law firm Mintz Levin, and other partners filed an amicus brief with the Colorado Supreme Court arguing that mandatory life-without-parole (LWOP) sentences for strict liability felony murder are 鈥渃ruel and unusual鈥� in violation of the Colorado and U.S. Constitutions. The brief focuses on how these mandatory LWOP sentences drive racial injustice.

Hundreds if not thousands of Salt Lake City, Utah, residents have nowhere safe to stay and must live and sleep in public. This case鈥攂rought by a small group of residents and businesses鈥攊nvolves the question whether this citywide homelessness crisis constitutes a nuisance under Utah state law. It also presents the question whether Salt Lake City can be ordered to clear encampments, forcibly relocate people who are unhoused, and enforce vague and overbroad laws criminalizing homelessness where doing so will likely, if not certainly, violate unhoused people鈥檚 state and federal constitutional rights. The ACLU鈥檚 State Supreme Court Initiative and Trone Center for Justice and Equality, along with the 桃子视频of Utah and the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association, represent amici curiae in the trial court who oppose the plaintiffs鈥� nuisance claims and their request for relief.

The University of Florida chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine filed a lawsuit on November 16, 2023, challenging the Chancellor of the State University System of Florida鈥檚 order to state universities to deactivate the student group. This order threatens the students鈥� constitutionally-protected right to free speech and association in violation of the First Amendment. The 桃子视频and its partners are seeking a preliminary injunction that would bar the Chancellor and the University of Florida from deactivating the UF SJP.

On March 1, 2023, WRP and the 桃子视频of Texas sent an advocacy letter to Spring Branch Independent School District (鈥淒istrict鈥�) on behalf of G.H., a Spring Woods High School student athlete. The ACLU鈥檚 investigation had revealed that the District maintained a discriminatory, sex-specific dress code and gender-based inequities in the school鈥檚 athletics program, and that the student was mistreated after objecting to these policies and practices. The advocacy letter raised concerns that the District鈥檚 actions reinforced invidious sex stereotypes, treated girl athletes as lesser than boy athletes, and potentially violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The District鈥檚 policies and actions harm all students, regardless of gender, but have particularly egregious consequences for Black girls and other girls of color.