Court Cases

On June 13, 2024, the ACLU-PA filed a lawsuit against Governor Josh Shapiro and the leadership of the state General Assembly challenging the inadequate representation provided to indigent criminal defendants in Pennsylvania courts. As a result of decades of inadequate funding and oversight of its public defense system, indigent Pennsylvanians are at risk of being denied their constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel in their criminal cases. The lawsuit was brought by 17 indigent Pennsylvanians facing criminal prosecution without effective assistance of counsel at each stage of their criminal proceedings. They brought the lawsuit on behalf of a class of all indigent Pennsylvanians at similar risk of harm due to the Commonwealth’s systemic failure to fund and supervise indigent defense services. The lawsuit asks a Pennsylvania court to rule that the current state of public defense services in Pennsylvania violates the constitution, so that the governor and the General Assembly will protect our constitutional rights by adequately funding public defense in Pennsylvania.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit against the Delaware County Office of Judicial Support’s due to the office's refusal to expunge a criminal record due to unpaid court costs, despite a court order requiring expungement.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania has filed an amended complaint against the Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board updating a previously filed lawsuit alleging multiple persistent violations of the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act. The lawsuit was originally filed by Rachel Radke, a community advocate who seeks a number of reforms at Allegheny County Jail. The latest filing adds another community advocate for criminal legal reform. The lawsuit alleges that the Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board failed to post public meeting agendas 24 hours in advance of the meeting; unreasonably restricted and ignored public comments; and used closed, executive session meetings to discuss topics that should have been part of public discourse.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit in Berks County regarding two county policies that prohibit individuals from participating in treatment court programs as long as they use medical marijuana to treat their serious medical conditions.

On January 5, 2021, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the law firm of Langer, Grogan & Diver P.C., and Seth Kreimer, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, filed a class action lawsuit against the Montgomery County court administration for illegally charging defendants duplicative court costs.

On March 23, 2020, the ACLU of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit against the Montgomery County commissioners accusing the county of violating the state Sunshine Act when the commissioners dismissed the county's top two public defenders, Dean Beer and Keisha Hudson. After observing thousands of bail hearings in Philadelphia during 2018 and 2019, the ACLU of Pennsylvania and allies determined that bail judges were not adequately taking into account the ability of a person to afford cash bail before assigning that person cash bail. The ACLU of Pennsylvania and allies filed a complaint with the state Supreme Court, asking the court to ensure that the rules are followed in Philadelphia and across the commonwealth. In Montgomery County, Chief Public Defender Dean Beer and Deputy Chief Keisha Hudson filed a brief in support of the Philadelphia lawsuit and called into question the misuse of cash bail in Montgomery County, noting that because “the Office of the Public Defender represents indigent individuals facing criminal charges at all stages of their proceedings,” the defenders have “a substantial interest in this matter.” Just weeks later, Mr. Beer and Ms. Hudson were abruptly fired. The ACLU of Pennsylvania's lawsuit alleges that the firing of Mr. Beer and Ms. Hudson is a violation of the Sunshine Act, which mandates that actions taken by public agencies, such as the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, be made in public — and the action must be preceded by an opportunity for public comment. The lawsuit asks the court to void the actions of the commissioners.