Texas
OCA-Greater Houston v. Paxton
Texas has growing Hispanic and Black populations that helped propel record voter turnout in the November 2020 election. The Texas Legislature responded to this increased civic participation with an omnibus election bill titled Senate Bill 1—SB 1 for short—that targeted election practices that made voting more accessible to traditionally marginalized voters like voters of color, voters with disabilities, and voters with limited English proficiency. Since 2021, SB 1 has resulted in tens of thousands of lawful votes being rejected, and it remains a threat to democracy in Texas.
Status: Ongoing
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U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2023
Women's Rights
Racial Justice
United States v. Rahimi
Whether 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), which prohibits the possession of firearms by persons subject to domestic-violence restraining orders, violates the Second Amendment on its face.
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2023
Reproductive Freedom
Danco Laboratories, LLC, v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine; U.S. FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine
The American Civil Liberties Union joined over 200 reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of an emergency request to stay a decision issued by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that severely restricted the use of mifepristone — a medication used in most abortions in this country — and threatened the innovation of new drugs and the ability of Americans to access lifesaving drugs.
U.S. Supreme Court
Dec 2021
Reproductive Freedom
Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas, and coalition partners filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of abortion providers and funds on July 13, 2021, challenging S.B. 8, a Texas law allowing private citizens to enforce a ban on abortion as early as six weeks in pregnancy—before many know they are pregnant. The ACLU’s challenge made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court three times in as many months. After hearing oral arguments in the case, the Court issued a decision on December 10, 2021, that ended the most promising pathways to blocking the ban. The Supreme Court’s decision makes it more difficult to obtain adequate relief from the courts and gives states the green light to ban abortion using bounty-hunting schemes. Texas’ abortion ban will remain in effect until relief can be secured from a court.
Texas
Jul 2021
Prisoners' Rights
Criminal Law Reform
Sanchez et al v. Dallas County Sheriff et al
Decarceration has always been an emergency, a life and death proposition, but COVID-19 makes this effort intensely urgent. The ACLU has been working with our partners to litigate for the rights of those who are incarcerated and cannot protect themselves because of the policies of the institutions in which they are jailed.
All Cases
42 Texas Cases
Texas
Oct 2016
Immigrants' Rights
Texas Health and Human Services Commission v. United States of America
The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Texas, National Immigration Law Center and Southern Poverty Law Center filed a legal response on behalf of the International Rescue Committee in order to prevent the State of Texas from illegally barring Syrian refugees from entering the state.
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Texas
Oct 2016
Immigrants' Rights
Texas Health and Human Services Commission v. United States of America
The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Texas, National Immigration Law Center and Southern Poverty Law Center filed a legal response on behalf of the International Rescue Committee in order to prevent the State of Texas from illegally barring Syrian refugees from entering the state.
Texas
Aug 2016
LGBTQ Rights
Texas v. U.S.
Five leading national civil and LGBT rights organizations filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief in a multi-state lawsuit challenging the Federal Government issued guidance regarding public school districts’ responsibility to allow transgender students to use the same restrooms as other students.
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Texas
Aug 2016
LGBTQ Rights
Texas v. U.S.
Five leading national civil and LGBT rights organizations filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief in a multi-state lawsuit challenging the Federal Government issued guidance regarding public school districts’ responsibility to allow transgender students to use the same restrooms as other students.
Texas
Feb 2015
Capital Punishment
State of Texas v. Max Soffar
An innocent man is dying of terminal liver cancer on Texas's Death Row.
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Texas
Feb 2015
Capital Punishment
State of Texas v. Max Soffar
An innocent man is dying of terminal liver cancer on Texas's Death Row.
Texas
Oct 2014
Smart Justice
Capital Punishment
Manuel Velez v. The State of Texas
Manuel Velez, an innocent man, was released from a Texas prison today after almost nine years behind bars, four on death row. Rather than risk a new trial that could be plagued with the same problems that sent him to death row, Velez, an ACLU client, pleaded no contest to a lesser charge.
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Texas
Oct 2014
Smart Justice
Capital Punishment
Manuel Velez v. The State of Texas
Manuel Velez, an innocent man, was released from a Texas prison today after almost nine years behind bars, four on death row. Rather than risk a new trial that could be plagued with the same problems that sent him to death row, Velez, an ACLU client, pleaded no contest to a lesser charge.
Texas
Mar 2014
Reproductive Freedom
Planned Parenthood v. Abbott
The American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Center for Reproductive Rights and Texas law firm George Brothers Kincaid & Horton have filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of their clients (over a dozen women's health care providers) to block harmful and unconstitutional provisions of a recently enacted Texas law that would force a third of the health centers that currently offer abortion care to stop providing abortions altogether.
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Texas
Mar 2014
Reproductive Freedom
Planned Parenthood v. Abbott
The American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Center for Reproductive Rights and Texas law firm George Brothers Kincaid & Horton have filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of their clients (over a dozen women's health care providers) to block harmful and unconstitutional provisions of a recently enacted Texas law that would force a third of the health centers that currently offer abortion care to stop providing abortions altogether.