Racial Justice
Racial justice is a core priority of the ACLU of Louisiana, and we believe our calling to defend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights must carry with it a corresponding duty to address racial injustice in all its forms.
Immigrants' Rights
The fundamental constitutional protections of due process and equal protection embodied in our Constitution and Bill of Rights apply to every person, regardless of immigration status.
Mass Incarceration
Louisiana has the nation’s highest incarceration rate, and while historic reforms implemented as part of the 2017 Justice Reinvestment Package have begun to alleviate this crisis, more work must be done to reduce the state’s harmful reliance on incarceration.
Voting Rights
Following the 2016 election, the fight for voting rights remains as critical as ever. Politicians across the country continue to engage in voter suppression, efforts that include additional obstacles to registration, cutbacks on early voting, and strict voter identification requirements.
Religious Liberty
The First Amendment to the US Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Governme
Capital Punishment
The death penalty in Louisiana is a broken process from start to finish. Death sentences are predicted not by the heinousness of the crime but by the poor quality of the defense lawyers, the race of the accused or the victim, and the county and state in which the crime occurred.
Criminal Law Reform
Imprisonment is a brutal and costly response to violations or possible violations that traumatizes incarcerated people and hurts families and communities. It should be the last option, not the first. Yet the U.S.
Free Speech
Freedom of speech, of the press, of association, of assembly and petition -- this set of guarantees, protected by the First Amendment, comprises what we refer to as freedom of expression. Without it, other fundamental rights, like the right to vote, would wither and die.
LGBTQ Rights
The ACLU works to ensure that LGBTQ people have equal opportunity to participate fully in civil society. No LGBTQ person should experience discrimination in employment, housing, or in businesses and public places, or the suppression of their free expression or privacy rights.
Prisoner's Rights
A culture of punishment, combined with race- and class-based animus, has led the United States to rely on incarceration more heavily than any other country in the world does.
Privacy & Technology
The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hand does not make the information any less worthy of the protection for which the Founders fought.”
—U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in Riley v. California (2014)