https://www.aclu.org/aclu-defense-relig ... expression
2016
The ACLU and ACLU of Arizona (2016) secured an accommodation for a Muslim woman who, for religious reasons, did not want to reveal her hair color on her driver’s license.
The ACLU and the ACLU of South Carolina (2016) supported a Muslim student’s request to wear hijab as part of her uniform at a public military college.
The ACLU and the ACLU of Alabama (2016) intervened on behalf of a Christian woman who was forced by the DMV to remove her headscarf, which she wears for religious reasons.
The ACLU of Nebraska (2016) backed a mosque for which the City Council denied a conditional use permit.
2015
The ACLU of New Hampshire (2015) filed suit on behalf of a prisoner’s mother and three-year-old son against a prison policy that prohibits Christmas cards, prayer cards, and drawings sent through the mail.
The ACLU of Hawai’i (2015) secured the rights of a pastor and his wife to hand out religious literature on a public sidewalk.
The ACLU of Pennsylvania (2015) interceded on behalf of a Christian inmate seeking to have a communal prayer during the Christmas holiday.
The ACLU of Northern California (2015) represented a Native American public high school student who wanted to wear a ceremonial feather in his graduation cap.
The ACLU and ACLU of Florida (2015) successfully persuaded Walt Disney World to accommodate a Sikh mail carrier who wanted to perform his regular job duties with his religiously mandated beard and turban intact, regardless of the company’s “Look Policy.”
The ACLU and the ACLU of the Nation’s Capital (2015) won a lawsuit allowing a Sikh student to enroll in ROTC while still wearing his articles of faith.
The ACLU of Nebraska (2015) supported a man’s right to hand out the gospel of Jesus Christ outside an arena.
The ACLU of Indiana (2015) challenged a state law preventing sex offenders from attending religious worship services.
The ACLU of Virginia (2015) defended students’ right to wear rosary beads in a public high school.
The ACLU of Michigan (2015) backed Christian evangelists’ right to protest at a street festival.
2014
The ACLU, the ACLU of Alabama (2014), and a cohort of former corrections officials filed a brief in support of a Muslim prisoner who was denied the right to grow a half-inch beard in compliance with his religious beliefs.
The ACLU and the ACLU of Alabama (2014) filed a lawsuit to protect a pastor’s right to provide housing and ministry to those in need.
The ACLU of Texas (2014) spoke out against overly broad subpoenas served on pastors.
The ACLU of New Jersey (2014) defended a man’s right to wear a religious head-covering in court.
The ACLU of Louisiana (2014) secured a student’s right to maintain his religiously mandated hairstyle.
The ACLU of Nebraska (2014) defended a Christian man’s right to distribute religious pamphlets outside an arena.
The ACLU of Virginia (2014) decried the state’s denial of a permit for a National Day of Prayer event on Capitol Square.
The ACLU of Tennessee (2014) defended an elementary-school student’s right to read his Bible during a free-reading period.
The ACLU of Virginia (2014) supported the right of Christian students to proselytize on a community college campus.
The ACLU of New Jersey (2014) defended an orthodox Christian man’s right to wear his religious head-covering in a municipal courtroom.
The ACLU, the ACLU of Alabama (2014), and a cohort of former corrections officials filed a brief in support of a Muslim prisoner who was denied the right to grow a half-inch beard in compliance with his religious beliefs.
The ACLU and the ACLU of Florida (2014) filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Jewish prisoners’ right to receive a Kosher diet.
The ACLU and the ACLU of Wyoming (2014) sent a letter protesting the Wyoming Department of Corrections’ practice of prohibiting prisoners from wearing religious headgear outside of their cells.
2013
The ACLU and ACLU of Eastern Missouri (2013) sought access to religious websites that had been blocked at the public library.
The ACLU of Alabama (2013) represented a prisoner seeking to wear his hair unshorn in accordance with his Native American faith.
The ACLU and the ACLU of Oklahoma (2013) filed a brief in support of a Muslim job applicant who faced religious discrimination in the hiring process.
The ACLU of Washington (2013) supported the right of Orthodox Christian, Hindu, and Muslim employees to an accommodation for their religious dietary needs.
The ACLU and the ACLU of Mississippi (2013) defended the right of a Sikh man to wear a turban and carry a kirpan, without being subjected to harassment, in encounters with the Mississippi Department of Transportation and a Pike County judge/ during a traffic stop and courtroom appearance.
The ACLU and the New York Civil Liberties Union (2013) filed a lawsuit challenging the New York City Police Department's practice of targeting entire Muslim communities for discriminatory and suspicionless surveillance.
2012
The ACLU of North Carolina (2012) advocated for allowing a 6-year-old to read aloud a poem with the word "God" in it at her school's Veterans Day assembly, in response to school officials' decision to remove the word.
The ACLU of North Carolina (2012) objected to a decision by the presiding deputy of a Lenoir County courtroom to eject a man observing court proceedings after he refused to remove his kufi – a knitted skull cap commonly worn by Muslim men.
The ACLU of Pennsylvania (2012) filed a brief in support of a fifth grader's right to share her religious beliefs with classmates by distributing invitations to a Christmas party hosted by a local church.
The ACLU of Virginia (2012) represented four Sikh men challenging a law that allows ordained ministers to receive a license to perform marriages without posting a bond, but requires representatives of religions that have no ordained ministers, like Sikhism, to post a $500 bond.
The ACLU of Louisiana (2012) filed a lawsuit on behalf of a member of Raven Ministries, a Christian congregation that regularly preaches the Gospel in New Orleans's French Quarter. The lawsuit challenged a city ordinance that restricts religious speech on Bourbon Street after dark. As a result of the lawsuit, a federal judge issued an order that blocks enforcement of the law.
The ACLU of Michigan (2012) successfully represented Muslim and Seventh-Day Adventist prisoners in a religious class action challenging two Michigan Department of Corrections policies: one which accommodated Jewish inmates by providing kosher meals while denying Muslim inmates halal meals, while the other failed to excuse inmates from their prison jobs on the Sabbath.
The ACLU of Virginia (2012 and 2010) opposed bans on students' right to wear rosary beads at two public middle schools. The schools dropped the bans after receiving letters from the ACLU.
Letter to Matacoa Middle School
Letter Fairfield Middle School
The ACLU of Utah (2012) filed a lawsuit on behalf of members of the Main Street Church, a non-denominational Christian church in Brigham City, who were denied access to certain city streets for the purpose of handing out religious literature. An agreement was reached with the city allowing church members to distribute their literature.
The ACLU of New Mexico (2012) filed a lawsuit on behalf of two Christian street preachers who were arrested multiple times for exercising their First Amendment rights by preaching in public.
The ACLU and the ACLU of Texas (2012) filed a brief in support of an observant Jewish prisoner's right to receive kosher meals.
2011
The ACLU of Texas (2011) opposed a public high school's policy prohibiting students from wearing visible rosaries and crosses in the Brownsville Independent School District.
The ACLU of Nebraska (2011) opposed a policy at Fremont Public School that would prevent students from wearing Catholic rosaries to school.
The ACLU of Texas (2011) filed a brief in support of students in the Plano school district who wanted to include Christian messages in their holiday gift bags.
The ACLU of Virginia (2011) defended the free religious expression of a group of Christian athletes in Floyd County High School who had copies of the Ten Commandments removed from their personal lockers.
The ACLU and the ACLU of Southern California (2011) filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Sikh inmate who has faced multiple disciplinary sanctions for refusing to trim his beard on religious grounds. Keeping unshorn hair is one of the central tenets of the Sikh faith.
The ACLU of Connecticut (2011) filed a lawsuit on behalf of a Naval officer who sought recognition as a conscientious objector because of his Christian convictions against war. After a period of intense religious study, reflection, and prayer, he had come to realize that his religious beliefs were in conflict with his military service. The officer's request was subsequently granted and he received an honorable discharge.
New York Times Article
The ACLU of Southern California (2011) filed a lawsuit against the FBI alleging that an agent had infiltrated a California mosque and violated the constitutional rights of hundreds of Muslims by targeting them for surveillance because of their religion.
Washington Post Article
