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UPCOMING
EVENTS

Tue., June 18
Sin País (Without Country)
6:00 PM
Salt Lake County Government Center
Free film screening and community discussion on Immigration
More info >>

Tue. Aug 6
Member Meeting & Open House
5:30 PM
ACLU of Utah Office
Reception & Presentations
More info soon >>


2013 Legislative Report

Fiscal Year 2012
Annual Report
2012 Annual Report

Failing Gideon:
Utah’s Public
Defender System

Failing Gideon

Say No to HB 497

Know Your Rights

 

 


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

Gideon's Army  
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)

Issues
» Criminal Justice
» Equal Protection
» Free Expression
» Immigrants’ Rights
» LGBT Equality
» Open Government
» Police Practices
» Post-9/11
» Prison/Jails
» Privacy
» Religious Liberty
» Reproductive Rights
» Student Rights
» Voting Rights
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