Press Releases

ACLU Challenges the Implementation of Section 2(B) of SB 1070 in Arizona

TUCSON – The American Civil Liberties Union is putting law enforcement agencies across Arizona on notice that they will be held accountable for constitutional violations that result from the implementation of the state’s “show me your papers” law, Section 2(B) of SB 1070.

Health Department Threatens to Search Home of Reproductive Rights Advocate, Prompts Demand for Records Related to Facility Inspections

PHOENIX – Following a threat by the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) to search the home of a reproductive rights leader, the ACLU of Arizona is demanding records that will help establish whether intimidation tactics are routinely being used by the department.
Issue Areas: Reproductive Freedom

ACLU of Arizona Celebrates Decision Striking Down State's Marriage Ban

PHOENIX – The ACLU of Arizona is celebrating District Court Judge John W. Sedwick's ruling this morning finding the state's ban on marriage for same-sex couples unconstitutional.
Issue Areas: LGBTQ+ Rights

Federal Court Strikes Down Arizona Law Denying Bail to Immigrants

San Francisco – The en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today struck down Proposition 100, an Arizona state constitutional amendment that barred state judges from even considering bail for criminal defendants suspected of being undocumented immigrants.
Issue Areas: Immigrants' Rights

ACLU to Gilbert Schools Board: Don't Censor or Remove Honors Biology Textbook

GILBERT – The ACLU of Arizona late Tuesday sent a letter to the Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board, urging them to allow science teachers to continue using the district’s honors biology textbook.
Issue Areas: Free Speech

Arizona Agrees to Major Improvements in Prison Health Care, Crucial Limits on Solitary Confinement in Landmark Settlement

PHOENIX – The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona, the Prison Law Office, and co-counsel today filed a settlement agreement in their class-action suit on behalf of more than 33,000 prisoners in Arizona’s state prisons.
Issue Areas: Prisoners' Rights

Arpaio's Jails Ordered to Stop Endangering Prisoners' Health

PHOENIX – More than four years after a federal judge put the Maricopa County jails operated by Sheriff Joseph Arpaio under court order for neglect of detainees, that same judge, Neil Wake, has ruled that the jails must remain under the order.
Issue Areas: Prisoners' Rights

ACLU Files First Lawsuit Challenging Officers Use of SB 1070 "Show Me Your Papers" Law

PHOENIX – The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit today in federal court in Phoenix on behalf of an Arizona woman who spent five days in the custody of immigration authorities after a Pinal County Sheriff’s deputy “cited and released” her following a traffic stop.

Arizona Criminal Law Banning Nude Images Violates First Amendment

PHOENIX – A broad coalition of bookstores, newspapers, photographers, publishers and librarians filed a lawsuit in federal court today challenging a new Arizona law that criminalizes speech protected by the First Amendment.
Issue Areas: Free Speech