Criminal Law Reform
Featured
Arizona
Oct 2023

Criminal Law Reform
Racial Justice
Fund for Empowerment v. Phoenix, City of
Fund for Empowerment is a challenge to the City of Phoenix’s practice of conducting sweeps of encampments without notice, issuing citations to unsheltered people for camping and sleeping on public property when they have no place else to go, and confiscating and destroying their property without notice or process.
U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2023

Criminal Law Reform
McElrath v. Georgia
Does the Double Jeopardy Clause bar an appellate court from reviewing and setting aside a jury’s verdicts of acquittal on the ground that the verdict is inconsistent with the jury’s verdict on other charges?
U.S. Supreme Court
Jun 2023

Criminal Law Reform
Pulsifer v. United States
This case involves the interpretation of a federal law that allows defendants to avoid mandatory minimum sentences for certain nonviolent drug crimes, allowing judges to impose sentences tailored to their individual circumstances.
Texas
Jul 2021

Criminal Law Reform
Prisoners' Rights
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 ºìÐÓÊÓÆµ 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
147 Criminal Law Reform Cases

U.S. Supreme Court
Feb 2016
Criminal Law Reform
Simmons v. Himmelreich
Whether a tort action against the federal government that is dismissed for reasons unrelated to the merits bars a subsequent action for the same tort against the responsible employee.
Explore case
U.S. Supreme Court
Feb 2016

Criminal Law Reform
Simmons v. Himmelreich
Whether a tort action against the federal government that is dismissed for reasons unrelated to the merits bars a subsequent action for the same tort against the responsible employee.

U.S. Supreme Court
Feb 2016
Criminal Law Reform
Racial Justice
Utah v. Strieff
Whether the prosecution may use evidence seized after an arrest on an outstanding warrant that was only discovered after an unconstitutional stop.
Explore case
U.S. Supreme Court
Feb 2016

Criminal Law Reform
Racial Justice
Utah v. Strieff
Whether the prosecution may use evidence seized after an arrest on an outstanding warrant that was only discovered after an unconstitutional stop.

Louisiana
Jan 2016
Criminal Law Reform
Yarls v. Bunton
The ºìÐÓÊÓÆµ Criminal Law Reform Project has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of criminal defendants in Orleans Parish who are unable to afford an attorney. The suit attacks Louisiana’s chronic underfunding of its public defender system.
Explore case
Louisiana
Jan 2016

Criminal Law Reform
Yarls v. Bunton
The ºìÐÓÊÓÆµ Criminal Law Reform Project has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of criminal defendants in Orleans Parish who are unable to afford an attorney. The suit attacks Louisiana’s chronic underfunding of its public defender system.

Arizona
Sep 2015
Criminal Law Reform
Smart Justice
Welton v. State of Arizona
In March 2014 the Maricopa County Superior Court ruled in favor of Zander Welton, finding that his parents and physicians could resume treating his seizure disorder with a marijuana extract. Sadly, Zander passed away in September 2015.
During the trial, Judge Katherine Cooper found that the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA), approved by voters in 2010, allows patients to use marijuana extracts without fear of prosecution. In October of 2013, the ºìÐÓÊÓÆµ and the ºìÐÓÊÓÆµ of Arizona sued the county on behalf of Zander and his parents, Jennifer and Jacob Welton, because Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and other Arizona law enforcement agents had asserted that the AMMA does not sanction the use of marijuana extracts and threatened criminal charges for patients who used extracts.
Explore case
Arizona
Sep 2015

Criminal Law Reform
Smart Justice
Welton v. State of Arizona
In March 2014 the Maricopa County Superior Court ruled in favor of Zander Welton, finding that his parents and physicians could resume treating his seizure disorder with a marijuana extract. Sadly, Zander passed away in September 2015.
During the trial, Judge Katherine Cooper found that the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA), approved by voters in 2010, allows patients to use marijuana extracts without fear of prosecution. In October of 2013, the ºìÐÓÊÓÆµ and the ºìÐÓÊÓÆµ of Arizona sued the county on behalf of Zander and his parents, Jennifer and Jacob Welton, because Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and other Arizona law enforcement agents had asserted that the AMMA does not sanction the use of marijuana extracts and threatened criminal charges for patients who used extracts.

U.S. Supreme Court
Jul 2015
Criminal Law Reform
Montgomery v. Louisiana
Whether the Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling prohibiting mandatory sentences of life without parole for juvenile offenders applies retroactively.
Explore case
U.S. Supreme Court
Jul 2015

Criminal Law Reform
Montgomery v. Louisiana
Whether the Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling prohibiting mandatory sentences of life without parole for juvenile offenders applies retroactively.