Cases

For more than one hundred years, ACLU lawyers have been at the center of one history-making court case after another, participating in more Supreme Court cases than any other private organization.

This page highlights current and important ACLU of Massachusetts cases, and provides ways to sort and search for other casework.

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Jun 21, 2015

ACLU of Massachusetts v. NEMLEC

This state lawsuit sought the release of documents about the North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council's SWAT team and other military-style tactics.

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May 13, 2015

Gordon v. Johnson and Castaneda v. Souza

The ACLU has challenged "mandatory" immigration detention and the procedures determining whether noncitizens will be detained or released during immigration proceedings.

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Mar 31, 2015

Cocroft v. Smith

Victory! In 2014, a Worcester jury in federal district court awarded $15,000 to Wakeelah Cocroft (shown left in photo, with her husband and sister), finding that Worcester Police Officer...

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Jan 10, 2015

Thayer v. City of Worcester

ACLU of Massachusetts suit in federal court seeks to block two anti-panhandling ordinances enacted in 2013 by the City of Worcester.

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Oct 18, 2014

Commonwealth v. Gelfgatt

Can a defendant can be forced to decrypt their electronic files?

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Jul 1, 2014

Doe v. Baker (formerly Doe v. Patrick)

In June 2014, three groups—Prisoners' Legal Services, the Center for Public Representation and the ACLU of Massachusetts—joined with the law firm WilmerHale to file a class-action suit challenging the...

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