The ACLU of Utah works to ensure that criminal
suspects, defendants, offenders, as well as incarcerated individuals are
afforded their constitutional rights, including due process of the law
and the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Additional
information about our work can be found on our prison
and jail and police practices pages.
Learn
about national ACLU’s work supporting criminal justice >>
Indigent Defense - Death Penalty
Press Releases - Litigation
Legal Advocacy and Policy Work
Legislative Reports - Resources - Events
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Gideon v. Wainwright decision, we invite you to a free screening of the award winning HBO film "Gideon's Army," followed by a panel discussion to explore more deeply the impact of these issues on Utah.
April 1st, 2013
Salt Lake City Downtown Library Auditorium
6:30 PM
Free and open to the public
More info >>
ACLU OpEd Highlights Need For Utah Criminal Justice Reform
Posted 3/18/13 - In an opinion piece published in the Salt Lake Tribune on 3/17/13, ACLU of Utah Executive Director Karen McCreary, and Legal Director John Mejia explain our concerns, "For several years now we have been ringing the alarm bell that Utah is failing to fulfill Gideon’s promise to its people. Utah is one of only two states where there is no direct state funding, oversight or other assistance for public defense. Instead, Utah places an unfunded mandate on counties to provide indigent defense. We thus have a patchwork of 29 different methods of providing defense, with varying funding and operational standards."
Read the entire piece "Our right to a lawyer" (PDF) >>
ACLU of Utah Appeals Ogden's "Gang Injunction" To Utah Supreme Court And Requests Immediate Stay
Posted 9/12/12 - The ACLU of Utah, together with cooperating attorneys David Reymann of Parr Brown Gee & Loveless and Randy Richards of Allen, Richards & Pace, today filed a Notice of Appeal in the Second Judicial District Court for Weber County appealing the court’s so-called “gang injunction” to the Utah Supreme Court. The ACLU of Utah also requested that the district court suspend the enforcement of the injunction while the appeal is pending. The injunction purportedly applies to the “Ogden Trece” gang as an entity, covers virtually the entire city of Ogden, and prohibits more than three hundred of its alleged members from a wide range of constitutionally protected conduct, including associating with other alleged members (including family, friends, and co-workers), engaging in peaceful protests in public places, traveling together to vote, and even appearing in court together to challenge the injunction.
Read more >>
Salt Lake Tribune: ACLU will appeal Ogden Trece gang injunction >> (9/12/12)
Press Releases
ACLU of Utah Appeals Ogden's "Gang Injunction" To Utah Supreme Court And Requests Immediate Stay (9/12/12)
ACLU of Utah Adds Federal Goverment to Suit Challenging Salt Lake Count'y Policy of Indefinite Detention (3/26/2012)
ACLU of Utah Sues Salt Lake County and Sheriff Winder Over Unlawful Detention of College Student (8/5/2011)
ACLU of Utah Issues Report Detailing Chronic Underfunding, Other Systemic Failures in Public Defender Services (8/24/11)
UACDL and Salt Lake County Settle Discovery Fees Case (2/9/11)
Victims Of Human Rights Violations Denied Access To Justice In U.S., Says New ACLU Report (12/10/11)
Utah Supreme Court Grants Hearing on “Gang Injunction” (10/25/10)
Execution In Utah Highlights Need To Abolish Death Penalty, Says ACLU (6/18/10)
Utah Activists Form Group to Oppose the Death Penalty (June 2010)
Salt
Lake County Must Appoint Counsel for Child Abuse Substantiation Hearings (12/3/02)
The
ACLU of Utah Questions Proposed Database for all Arrestees (8/10/99)
Litigation
Uroza v. Salt Lake (2011)
State v. J.M.S. (2011)
Webb v. Lohra Miller (2011)
Weber v. Ogden Trece (2010)
State v. Ethridge
State of Utah v. Paul Johnson
Femedeer
v. Department of Corrections
Crank
v. Utah Judicial Council
State of Utah v. Simmons and State of
Utah v. Gardner
Legal Advocacy and Policy Work
ACLU of Utah writes Chief Justice Durham about Box Elder County Judge Kevin Christensen (2/24/10)
ACLU of Utah Action Alert: Stop Sentencing Discrimination (August 2009)
ACLU of Utah writes Kanab mayor about the lack of Fourth Amendment protections in the city’s new animal control ordinance (6/8/06)
Letter
to the Salt Lake Valley Detention Center regarding the detention of minors
without parental notification (2/20/04)
Letter
to Judge Kevin Christensen regarding Trent M. Brown and unpaid fine
for citations including illegal dumping, parking a trailer, and a violation
of UDOT right of way (10/3/03)
ACLU of Utah sends legislative interim committee
a review of the proposed amendments to the law regarding sentencing
in capital cases (9/17/02)
In
a letter to the Utah Supreme Court, the ACLU of Utah outlines the effects
of Alabama v. Shelton (7/1/02)
ACLU
of Utah urges Senator Orrin Hatch to attend a hearing on the death penalty (6/10/02)
ACLU
of Utah sends a letter to Governor Leavitt and GRAMA requests to the 8th
District Drug Court and Uintah County Jail in order to address due process
concerns posed by the drug court’s testing facilities (6/10/02)
In
a Letter to the Salt Lake City Council, the ACLU of Utah Questions the
Proposed Administrative Law Division (11/9/99)
From Our Legislative Reports
2012 Legislative Report - Criminal Justice/4th Amendment Bills
2011 Legislative Report - Criminal Justice/4th Amendment Bills
2011 Legislative Reprt - 14th Amendment/Due Process Bills
2010 Legislative Report - Privacy & Technology/4th Amendment Bills
2010 Legislative Report - 8th Amendment Bills
2009 Legislative Report - Court Bills
2008 Legislative Report
Two Bills that Sought to Expand the Death Penalty Are Amended to Address Constitutional Concerns (2007)
Legislators Consider Two Bills to Help Inmates Who Have Been Wrongly Convicted (2007)
New Law Bans Convicted Sex Offenders From Some Public Areas (2007)
Legislature Finally Funds the Drug Offender Reform Act (2007)
Lawmakers Change Penalties for Drug and Alcohol Crimes (2005)
No Resources Allocated to Provide Treatment for Drug Offenders (2005)
Legislators Consider Drug Offender Reform Act (2004)
Three Bills Amend Utah’s Death Penalty Law (2004)
Sentencing in Capital Cases
Amendments Passed (2003)
Mental Retardation to be Considered in Capital Offenses (2002)
Sex Offender Registration Requirements Modified (2002)
Law Passed Requiring Warrants in More Child Removal Cases (2002)
Lawmakers Expand State’s DNA Database (2002)
Sex Offender Registry Becomes Even More Expansive (2001)
Bill Provides Some Reform to State Sex Offender Registry (2000)
Rules Regarding the State Child Abuse Database Are Modified (1999)
State Now Will Maintain Database of Teachers Accused But Not Necessarily Convicted of Certain Crimes (1999)
The State Child Abuse Database Continues to Pose Due Process Concerns
Resources
TV Show Explores Utah's Constitutionally Inadequate Indigent Defense System(6/23/11)
Failing Gideon: Utah’s Flawed County-By-County Public Defender System (8/24/11)
Slamming the Courthouse Doors: Denial of Access to Justice and Remedy in America (12/10/11)
Combating Mass Incarceration - The Facts (6/20/11)
Utah Supreme Court Grants Hearing on “Gang Injunction" (10/1/12)
Fair trial integral to American values (6/21/10)
The fast and loose rulings of a Box Elder County Justice Court Judge are symptomatic of a broken system, advocates say (3/31/10)
Indigent Defense in Utah Ranked Almost Last in Nation (December 2009)
Indigent Defense in Utah: Constitutionally Adequate? (November 2009)
I Am Troy Davis (9/22/11)
Death Penalty Unconstitutional, Says Justice Stevens (5/7/10)
Death Penalty: Neither Just or Moral - Salt Lake Tribune Editorial (4/17/10)
Detention
Prior to Preliminary Proceedings in Utah (Spring 2003)
The Warrantless Removal of Children (January 2002)
Information About Utah’s Sex Offender Registry (December 2000)
Events
"Innocent Until Proven Guilty? Liberty and Justice for All?" Darryl Hunt Speaks at Calvary Baptist Church (3/10/11)
The Trials of Darryl Hunt- Free Community Film Screening and Public Talk (3/3/11)
Public Events to be Held in Response to Planned Execution (5/28/10)
"American Violet" with Graham Boyd of the ACLU's Drug Law Reform Project (11/2/09)
Listen to KRCL's Radioactive - featuring Graham Boyd and Marina Lowe of the ACLU talking about the film, the case, and the 6th and 14th Amendments >>
Civil Liberties Film Series Kicks Off with William Kunstler Documentary (9/8/09 )
ACLU of Utah in Honors the Life and Work of Attorney Martin Garbus (1/2/09)
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