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ACLU Letter of Support for the Fairness and Accuracy in Employment Background Checks Act of 2008 (H.R. 7033) (09/30/2008)
On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a non-partisan organization with hundreds of thousands of activists and members and 54 affiliates nationwide, we want to thank you for recently introducing the Fairness and Accuracy in Employment Background Checks Act of 2008 (H.R. 7033). As you know, the accuracy and completeness of federal records have significant implications for our criminal justice system, as well as for civil liberties.

ACLU Coalition Letter to Senate and House Judiciary Committee Leadership (09/16/2008)
We, the undersigned organizations who care deeply about both individual rights and effective intelligence-gathering, are gravely concerned about reported changes to federal guidelines that would lower the bar for the FBI’s law enforcement and intelligence investigations. We ask that you thoroughly question FBI Director Mueller this week about the extent of these changes and convene a hearing of civil liberties experts to discuss the implications of the guidelines once they become public and before they go into effect. It appears that fundamental changes will be made in the FBI and Department of Justice rules that govern criminal investigations and domestic intelligence gathering, and the implications of those changes require your dedicated oversight. We also ask that you prevent any funding from being used to implement these changes until the next Attorney General has a chance to review them.

ACLU Appluads House Judicary Committee's Consideration of the Juvenile Justice Accountability and Act of 2007 (09/11/2008)
On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a non-partisan organization with hundreds of thousands of activists and members and 53 affiliates nationwide, we applaud the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security for holding a hearing on H.R. 4300, the Juvenile Justice Accountability and Improvement Act of 2007. This important legislation would help to end the practice of sentencing children to life in prison without the possibility of parole and would provide grants to states to improve the quality of legal representation for youths charged with offenses that could lead to life sentences.

ACLU Comments to United States Sentencing Commission on Cocaine Sentencing (09/08/2008)
Dear Commissioners: On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union ACLU), and its hundreds of thousands of members, activists and fifty-three affiliates nationwide, we submit these comments pursuant to the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s request for public comment, as noted in the Federal Register on August 8, regarding the possible priority policy issues for the amendment cycle ending on May 1, 2009. We applaud the Commission’s proposal that continuation of its work on cocaine sentencing policy be one of the Commission’s priority issues for this amendment cycle.

ACLU Letter to Senate Judiciary Leadership Urging Opposition to Amendment S. 3155 (07/30/2008)
On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, we urge you to oppose Senator Kyl’s proposed amendment to S. 3155, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act, at tomorrow’s scheduled mark-up. The amendment would allow youth who commit certain crimes to be prosecuted as adults.

Re: ACLU Applauds Reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2008 (07/16/2008)
Dear Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Specter: On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, a non-partisan organization with hundreds of thousands of activists and members and 53 affiliates nationwide, we write to support S. 3155, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2008, and to urge the Committee to strengthen key elements of this important bill.

National Sign-On Letter Supporting Elimination of the Valid Court Order (VCO) Exception to the JJDPA (07/14/2008)

ACLU Letter to Congress Urging Opposition to an Amendment to H.R. 5057 Pertaining to the Collection of DNA Samples from Arrestees (07/14/2008)

ACLU Comments to the Justice Department Regarding the Collection of DNA Under the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005 and Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (05/19/2008)

ACLU Letter to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Regarding DNA Collection During Arrest (04/17/2008)

Justice Roundtable Coalition Letter to Senate Urging Support of The Drug Sentencing Reform and Cocaine Kingpin Trafficking Act of 2007 (S.1711) (02/15/2008)
We are part of the Justice Roundtable, a network of advocacy organizations that shares common goals toward rational reform of the U.S. criminal justice system. Although some of us have already forwarded individual letters to you, we write at this time to provide a collective voice on the critical issue of crack cocaine sentencing reform. We applaud the bipartisan recognition that the mandatory minimum statutes treating one gram of crack cocaine the same as 100 grams of powder cocaine must be corrected.