ACLU Releases Legal, Legislative, and Advocacy Roadmap to Fight the Expansion of Mass Incarceration by a Second Trump Administration
The roadmap continues ACLU’s 2024 “Freedom is on the Ballot” election policy memo series exploring likely policies from a potential Trump or Biden second term.
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union released Trump on the Criminal Legal System today, as part of its 2024 “Freedom is on the Ballot” election policy memo series. The memo includes analysis of the likely policies on the criminal legal system that Americans can expect from a possible second Trump administration — along with a roadmap of concrete legal, legislative, and advocacy actions the ACLU would take in response to these policies should the former president win in November and implement them. The full memo can be found here.
“Trump has told us what he wants to do with a second term: fuel mass incarceration, encourage law enforcement to engage in unconstitutional policing practices, and expand the death penalty,” said Yasmin Cader, director of the ACLU’s Trone Center for Justice and Equality. “We know from this country’s history that these extreme and immoral policies harm communities and infringe upon on our rights and humanity. The ACLU is prepared to meet the Trump administration with the same fierce response as we did during his last term in office should he be reelected.”
Based on Trump’s own statements, advocates can expect a second Trump administration to further dehumanize people in our criminal legal system and reverse many reforms gained over the last two decades, including by:
- Fueling brutal and authoritarian policing by encouraging use of deadly force, supplying local law enforcement agencies with military equipment, and overturning federal checks on law enforcement abuse.
- Accelerating mass incarceration by directing federal prosecutors to seek the most serious charges and maximum sentences, pressuring local prosecutors to take a similarly draconian approach, and reincarcerating thousands of people on home confinement.
- Expanding the use of the death penalty by broadening the category of crimes punishable by death, sentencing more people to die, and killing every person on federal death row.
The ACLU’s roadmap released today outlines multiple routes for defending our constitutional rights against these attacks, including:
- Litigation: The ACLU will challenge unlawful attempts by a Trump administration to reincarcerate people on home confinement, fight against the return of torturous methods of execution, and defend the health, safety, and dignity of incarcerated people.
- Federal advocacy: The ACLU will advocate for Congress to constrain the funneling of military equipment to local police, fight for legislation to end sentencing disparities, and, under any administration, continue to push for the full implementation of the First Step Act.
- Mobilizing the states: The ACLU will work with states to reduce opportunities for violent encounters with police, including by advocating for state use of force standards and the de-prioritization of non-safety related traffic stops. We will continue our work exposing the racist roots of capital punishment and ending the death penalty, state by state.
“Trump threatens to drown out millions of voices across the country demanding transformative change to our criminal legal system and a new approach to achieving safe communities,” said Ellen Flenniken, deputy director of campaigns at the ACLU’s Justice Division. “But the ACLU will not let these voices be silenced. We will make clear to elected officials on the federal, state, and local levels that Trump’s extremist approach to the criminal legal system is ineffective, cruel, and against the will of the people — and we will resist at every level of government.”
From 2017-2021, the ACLU filed more than 430 legal actions against the Trump administration, including lawsuits aimed at defending the right to protest against police brutality, protecting the health and humanity of incarcerated people during the COVID-19 pandemic, and stopping mass surveillance by law enforcement. In Trump on the Criminal Legal System, the ACLU makes the case for why, if he’s elected, the policies Trump and his supporters are proposing on the campaign trail would be far more aggressive than the policies we saw during Trump’s presidency, threatening all of our civil rights and liberties and continuing to fuel our mass incarceration crisis. Additionally, the ACLU discusses why it’s imperative for elected officials in Congress and state and local governments, as well as civil society, to mobilize now to begin planning a sustained and coordinated response.
Trump on the Criminal Legal System marks the seventh and final memo in the series the ACLU is releasing on Trump’s anticipated policies. Previous memos have covered immigration, LGBTQ rights, abortion, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), voting rights, and surveillance, protest, and free speech. Following its focus on policies of a potential second Trump administration, the ACLU will focus on those of a potential second Biden administration. All released memos will be available here.
Learn More About the Issues in This Press Release
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Press ReleaseDec 2024
Prisoners' Rights
Criminal Law Reform
ACLU Sues Bureau of Prisons for Keeping People in Prison Longer Than the Law AllowsACLU Sues Bureau of Prisons for Keeping People in Prison Longer Than the Law Allows
WASHINGTON – A federal lawsuit brought today by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of D.C., and Jenner & Block LLP challenges the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for unlawfully incarcerating people longer than the law allows under the First Step Act. The lawsuit contends that the BOP’s failure to implement the First Step Act according to its plain language violates the rights of thousands of people who should be returning to their communities and rebuilding their lives but instead remain incarcerated. Signed into law in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump, the bipartisan First Step Act was designed to reduce the population in federal prisons, reform extreme sentencing laws, and provide programming and reentry transition services to people in prison. Central to the First Step Act is a system of earned time credits, which allows people in prison to earn time off their sentences and time out of prison by participating in rehabilitation programs. Through the First Step Act, Congress unambiguously ordered BOP to move people out of prison when they meet certain requirements to use their earned time credits. Instead of faithfully following the mandatory law, BOP adopted a regulation treating the law as optional. As a result, thousands of people, who should already be back in their communities and with their families, remain in prison. “Every extra unlawful day our clients spend in prison is a serious injustice,” said Emma Andersson, deputy director of the Criminal Law Reform Project at the ACLU. “It is egregious that the Bureau of Prisons is imprisoning people for months longer than the law allows. The government must follow through on its legal obligation to get people out of prison on time and back into their communities, where they belong.” Additional comments below from: Vanessa Crowe, plaintiff: “Time is what I owed for my wrongdoing, and I have paid my time. But I should not have to spend more time in prison than the law allows. I often reflect on what I will miss during the months after when I should be out of prison. I will miss work and lose out on wages that would help me get back on my feet. I could be a tax paying citizen instead of a burden on society. But most of all, I will miss more precious time with my family. My family and I are ready to tum the page on this period in our lives — we are all ready to start a new life, a life with purpose, hope, and healing together. I want to start that life when I am legally entitled to start it-not five months later.” Arthur Spitzer, senior counsel at ACLU of D.C.: “There’s no excuse for the Bureau of Prisons to pretend not to understand Congress’s clear command that people who have earned the right to early release must be released. This law has been on the books for six years. The Bureau of Prisons has had plenty of time to understand it. Law enforcers should obey the law.” Betsy Henthorne, partner at Jenner & Block: “It has been six years since the First Step Act was signed, but despite Congress’s clear directives, the Bureau of Prisons continues to hold thousands of people in prison longer than the law allows. We should and do expect better—it’s past time for the BOP to ensure that those who have earned their release are able to return home to their families and communities according to the law Congress passed.” -
Maryland Supreme CourtDec 2024
Criminal Law Reform
Roland Branch v. State of MarylandRoland Branch v. State of Maryland
This petition to the Supreme Court of Maryland asked the court to reconsider its adherence to Whren v. U.S., 517 U.S. 806 (1996), which declared that a traffic stop undertaken for pretextual reasons does not violate the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution so long as the police have probable cause to believe that a traffic violation occurred. The ACLU, alongside the ACLU of Maryland, filed an amicus brief in support of the defendant’s petition, in which the ACLU argued that the court should take up the question of whether pretextual stops violate the Maryland Constitution. In September 2024, the Court denied the petition. -
North Carolina Supreme CourtDec 2024
Criminal Law Reform
State v. WrightState v. Wright
This case in the North Carolina Supreme Court involves the question of whether the police violated the U.S. Constitution when they searched the defendant, Mr. Wright’s, backpack even after he repeatedly said no to the search requests. The ACLU alongside the ACLU of North Carolina filed an amicus brief arguing that the search was unconstitutional because Mr. Wright’s eventual “consent” was the result of police coercion. Our brief urges the court to consider the totality of the circumstances that make one more susceptible to coercion, including race and poverty. -
News & CommentaryDec 2024
Criminal Law Reform
Disability Rights
Incarceration Should Not be a Death Sentence for Individuals Who Use OpioidsIncarceration Should Not be a Death Sentence for Individuals Who Use Opioids
New litigation centered on increasing access to substance-use disorder treatment in jails and prisons is helping to reduce mortality rates among incarcerated individuals.