Court Cases

The ACLU of Pennsylvania has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Sloane Wolfe, a high school student who has been advocating to end her school district’s use of its “Raider” mascot based on its stereotypical depiction of North American indigenous people.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania, the Public Interest Law Center, and ACLU’s Voting Rights Project have filed a motion to intervene in a federal lawsuit over the federal government’s demand that Pennsylvania turn over its entire voter registration rolls, including with voters’ sensitive personal data such as drivers’ license numbers and partial social security numbers. The motion to intervene was filed on behalf of seven Pennsylvania voters, many of whom were the target of baseless mass challenges to their mail ballots during the 2024 election cycle that resulted from faulty data-matching techniques. The voters’ experiences have heightened their concerns about the privacy of their voting data. Other plaintiffs are two non-partisan, good government organizations dedicated to voter engagement: the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and Common Cause. If intervention is granted, the civil rights groups will seek to prevent the federal government from forcing Pennsylvania to turn over the entirety of its voter registration database and to protect sensitive data within the voter rolls.

Seven voters, the Center for Coalfield Justice, and the Washington Branch NAACP sued the Washington County Board of Elections for concealing from voters errors they had made on their mail ballot return envelopes that meant their votes would not be counted in the 2024 primary election.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and Catherine M. Harper of Timoney Knox, LLP filed a lawsuit against Upper Pottsgrove Township on behalf of Matthew Murray, a township resident who was advocating against the development of a piece of permanently protected public land. Mr. Murray filed a number of Right To Know requests to obtain township records regarding the development of the land. Using those records as evidence, Mr. Murray then successfully sued the township alleging that its development plan was in violation of the Pennsylvania Open Space Act. In retaliation, the township sued Mr. Murray in the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County, asking the court to issue an injunction to prevent Mr. Murray from filing additional Right To Know requests.That request was denied by the court and the township’s case was dismissed. The ACLU-PA’s lawsuit against the township draws on Pennsylvania’s 2024 law allowing a party to assert immunity or seek legal fees against another party for filing a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation or “SLAPP” litigation as a means to silence or intimidate critics. The lawsuit asks Upper Pottsgrove Township to reimburse Mr. Murray for the legal fees he incurred defending himself against the township’s meritless litigation.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania and the Community Justice Project have filed a lawsuit on behalf of Make The Road Pennsylvania, NAACP Bucks County, the BuxMont Unitarian Universalists, and an impacted Bucks County resident in the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County challenging a so-called 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement that the Bucks County Sheriff entered into without authorization of the county’s governing body, the Bucks County Commissioners. ICE uses such agreements to deputize local law enforcement to act as immigration agents. The lawsuit argues that Sheriff Fred Harran illegally entered into the 287(g) because he failed to consult with and get approval from Bucks County Commissioners, the majority of whom oppose the agreement. By entering into this agreement over the County Board of Commissioners’ objection, the Sheriff violated both the Pennsylvania Constitution and the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Cooperation Act. The lawsuit asks the court to issue an injunction that would prevent the agreement from taking effect.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania joined lawyers from the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) to file a habeas corpus petition on behalf of Dylan Lopez Contreras, a New York City high school student and asylum seeker who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is currently being held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. Mr. Lopez Contreras, who is from Venezuela, entered the United States legally in 2024 after receiving humanitarian parole. Despite having no criminal record and a pending application for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status which would have put him on a pathway to a green card, Mr. Lopez Contreras was detained at a courthouse by ICE during a routine immigration hearing on May 21, 2025, after ICE moved to dismiss his asylum case. Mr. Lopez Contreras does not speak English and had no attorney at this hearing. As a result, he did not understand that dismissing his case would allow ICE to place him into expedited removal, a summary deportation process with little judicial review or oversight. Mr. Lopez Contreras also suffers from a severe medical condition that doctors were attempting to diagnose before ICE detained him; in detention, he has no access to the specialized care he needs. The ACLU-PA habeas petition challenges Mr. Lopez Contreras' unlawful detention and seeks to prevent him from being moved by ICE to another jurisdiction and to ensure he is given full due process as guaranteed by the 5th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania and the National ACLU sued President Donald Trump and other high-level administration officials to stop the potential deportation of A.S.R., a Venezuelan man who has been living in the United States with his wife, his child, and two step-children since 2023.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania has filed a Freedom of Information Act request in federal court regarding the detention and deportation proceedings of Sereyrath "One" Van, a longtime lawful permanent resident who resided in Philadelphia prior to his detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.