Supreme Court Term 2023-2024

Mississippi has a growing Black population, which is already the largest Black population percentage of any state in the country. Yet. Black Mississippians continue to be significantly under-represented in the state legislature, as Mississippi’s latest districting maps fail to reflect the reality of the state’s changing demographics. During the 2022 redistricting process, the Mississippi legislature refused to create any new districts where Black voters have a chance to elect their preferred representative. The current district lines therefore dilute the voting power of Black Mississippians and continue to deprive them of political representation that is responsive to their needs and concerns, including severe disparities in education and healthcare.

In October 2022, the Biden administration confirmed the existence of the White House’s latest set of policy rules governing the United States’ use of lethal force outside of recognized battlefields abroad. These new rules are known as the “Presidential Policy Memorandum (PPM).” The administration made the partially-redacted PPM public in response to the latest in a series of ACLU lawsuits to force transparency about the U.S. government’s secretive, unlawful, and controversial use of lethal force abroad, including through the use of drones.

If the death penalty is racist, arbitrary and serves no valid penological purpose, does it violate the Kansas Constitution? The ACLU, together with the ACLU of Kansas and law firm Hogan Lovells US LLP, challenged the Kansas death penalty statute under the Kansas Constitution and United States Constitution in the case of Kansas v. Kyle Young. Mr. Young is a Black man who faced a capital trial in Sedgwick County, Kansas. Prosecutors sought a death sentence. The Sedgwick County District Court held an unprecedented evidentiary hearing in February 2023.

Voters of color in Nassau County, N.Y., are no strangers to having to organize to ensure their votes count. But in 2023, the county’s Legislature took vote dilution to new heights. In places like Elmont, Freeport, Inwood, Lakeview, South Valley Stream, New Hyde Park, and Uniondale, the Legislature “cracked and packed” communities of color with the effect of squashing their growing electoral power. But the landmark John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York (NYVRA), enacted in 2022, and the New York Municipal Home Rule Law prohibit New York State and localities from diluting the voting strength and political influence of Black, Latino, and Asian residents.

In this case, the Iowa Supreme Court considered when rap lyrics are admissible evidence in criminal trials. The State sought further review of a court of appeals decision which reversed the defendant’s criminal convictions and remanded for a trial based on errors in the admission of evidence. Together with the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project and the ACLU of Iowa, the State Supreme Court Initiative filed an amicus brief arguing that such evidence should usually be excluded because it is rarely probative and yet creates a high risk of prejudice to the defendant. The Court ultimately reversed the court of appeals conviction, although somewhat attempted to limit the admission of the rap video to the facts of the case.