In July, 2006 the city of Hazelton, Pennsylvania passed anti-immigrant legislation that would punish landlords and employers who are accused of renting to hiring anyone the city classifies as an “illegal alien.” Businesses that refused to comply with the laws and investigate the immigration status of employees and tenants would be fined or denied business permits.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and the law firm of Pepper Hamilton LLP, have filed a federal lawsuit challenging an unconstitutional municipal ordinance that punishes innocent tenants and their landlords for requesting police assistance. The challenge was filed on behalf of a domestic violence victim who faced eviction from her home after requesting police protection from an abusive ex-boyfriend.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, the American Civil Liberties Union, and volunteer counsel from the law firm of Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller have filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of 21 Pennsylvanians who wish to marry in Pennsylvania or want the Commonwealth to recognize their out-of-state marriages. The lawsuit alleges that Pennsylvania’s Defense of Marriage Act and refusal to marry lesbian and gay couples or recognize their out-of-state marriages violates the fundamental right to marry as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a complaint against Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh for failing to protect a student even after concluding that her abusive ex-girlfriend violated its sexual assault policy.