Crimes and Punishments - Law Enforcement, Prisoner's Rights, and More

The text, origins, and meaning of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects citizens from warrantless searches.

Biographies of prison reformers John Howard, Cesare Beccaria, Jeremy Bentham, Benjamin Rush, Abigail Hopper Gibbons, Dorothea Dix, Zebulon Brockway, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Harry Wu, Angela Davis, Kiran Bedi, and Olawale Fapohunda.

In October 2006, President George W. Bush said that the United States "doesn't torture, and isn't going to torture." Three and a half years earlier, in March 2003, the Bush administration had legally tortured Khalid Sheikh Mohammed 183 times in a single month.

But critics of the Bush administration who describe torture as unprecedented are also in the wrong. Torture is, sadly, an establi…

Definition of whole body imaging, also known as advanced imaging technology, TSA naked scans, or full body scanning.

On February 20th, 2009, two white police officers in rural Homer, Louisiana charged into the home of a 73-year-old black cancer survivor and shot him to death.

On New Year's Day 2009, 22-year-old Oscar Grant was handcuffed, restrained, and fatally shot in the back by Oakland police officers.

Definition of the legal term ex post facto.

Definition of habeas corpus.

Habeas corpus is a Latin term meaning "you have the body," but its exact modern definition is a subject of legal debate.

Among the hundreds of Guantanamo detainees is a man named Salim Hamdan, often described in media reports as "Osama bin Laden's chauffeur." But who is he, and what has he really been accused of doing?

In July 2008, Congress passed revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allowing the Bush administration and future administrations to expand its foreign intelligence operations in a manner that could violate U.S. civil liberties.

On June 12th, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that enemy combatants held in U.S. territory are entitled to the Writ of Habeas Corpus as set out in Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution. This means that enemy combatants may not be detained indefinitely without receiving fair hearings under civilian courts.

Current status and description of the NYPD's internal investigation into the Sean Bell shooting.

Racial profiling is irrational, unjust, and unproductive, but one thing it is not is un-American. Racial profiling has been part of the U.S. criminal justice system for as long as there has been a U.S. criminal justice system, and part of North American colonial justice systems in the centuries prior to its formation.

While little has been done to root out the problem, it is at least ackn…

The hardest thing about advocating reform of racial profiling practices, at a policy level, is convincing political leaders that it isn't just a "politically incorrect" or "racially insensitive" practice, but rather a destructive, ill-conceived, and ultimately ineffective law enforcement technique. This means looking hard at what racial profiling does, what it doesn't do, and what it says about …

Why is Mumia Abu-Jamal in prison? Tom Head explains.

On September 17, 2007, a student was tasered at a John Kerry town hall forum held at the University of Florida.

A school district in Massachusetts has recently begun fingerprinting students at the lunch counter. Does it violate students' right to privacy?

The trial and death of Jesus Christ, from a civil libertarian's perspective.

A school district in Massachusetts has recently begun fingerprinting students at the lunch counter. Does it violate students' right to privacy?

The text, origins, and meaning of Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects defendants from cruel and unusual punishment.

The text, origins, and meaning of the Seventh Amendment, which protects the right to trial by jury in tort actions.

The text, origins, and meaning of the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects suspects' rights to a jury, to a speedy trial, and to an attorney.

The text, origins, and meaning of the Fifth Amendment, which governs confessions and protects property rights, among other things.

On March 6, 2007, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit against Michael Chertoff and the Department of Homeland Security over conditions at the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility in Taylor, Texas.

In March 2007, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security for inhumane treatment of 200 child prisoners at the T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility in Taylor, Texas.

A new program holds sex offenders indefinitely for "treatment" after their prison sentences end, creating a potential Eighth Amendment concern.

On March 22nd, 2006, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote an opinion (joined by Justice Antonin Scalia) dissenting from a Supreme Court ruling which established that a co-tenant may refuse to allow the police to search a house, even if another tenant has given permission.

On March 22nd, 2006, Justice Clarence Thomas dissenting from a Supreme Court ruling which established that a co-tenant may refuse to allow the police to search a house, even if another tenant has given permission.

On March 22nd, 2006, Justice David Souter wrote an opinion (joined by justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Anthony Kennedy, and John Paul Stevens) establishing that a co-tenant may refuse to allow the police to search a house, even if another tenant has given permission.

On March 22nd, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled by a 5-3 margin in Georgia v. Randolph that the Fourth Amendment gives tenants the authority to refuse to consent to a house search, even if one or more co-tenants has granted permission.

Austin Cline examines the contradictory nature of privacy protection--and the sacrifices we may have to make to protect our personal data.

The city of Dillingham, Alaska (pop. 2,400) is too small for traffic lights, but apparently not too small for 80 security cameras--installed courtesy of a $202,000 Homeland Security grant.

U.S. Government Info Guide Robert Longley examines the 1966 case that led to the Miranda warning--the statement police officers read during an arrest (which begins with the words "You have the right to remain silent...").

Seven frequently asked questions about Miranda rights, answered by U.S. Government Info Guide Robert Longley.

In reviewing the work of philosopher Martha Nussbaum, Atheism and Agnosticism Guide Austin Cline develops a solid way of explaining the justification behind hate crime statutes.

The ACLU's advocacy page for criminal justice issues, with up-to-the-minute news, links, and special reports.

The ACLU's advocacy page for law enforcement issues, with up-to-the-minute news, links, and special reports.

The ACLU's advocacy page for prison and prisoner rights issues, with up-to-the-minute news, links, and special reports.

The ACLU's advocacy page for privacy and technology issues, with up-to-the-minute news, links, and special reports.

The ACLU's advocacy page for poverty and indigent defendant issues, with up-to-the-minute news, links, and special reports.