Court Cases

The ACLU of Nevada and Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice filed an amicus brief in Song Spencer & James Spencer v. City of Henderson, urging the Nevada Supreme Court to allow people to recover attorney’s fees as special damages in successful challenges in civil asset forfeiture cases when the government wrongfully seizes their property. Our amicus brief argues that Nevada law already allows recovery of attorney’s fees in cases when warranted, even when there is no law directly on point, and that principle should apply here, when someone is forced to sue the government to get their own property back. This case is a challenge to the constitutionality of civil forfeiture laws.

During the 2024 Presidential Preference Primary, a nonpartisan observer who is also an ACLU of Nevada staff member was denied access to observe the election process by the Nye County Clerk's Office. The county implemented a policy that limited only one election observer per political affiliation, even when there was space available, violating Nevada law and the Nevada Constitution, which protects individuals’ right to observe voting, handling, and processing ballots. The ACLU of Nevada filed a lawsuit against Nye County for violating these rights by prohibiting them from observing the voting process. Our Nevada Constitution protects the right to access to information and access to observe government activities, ensuring there is transparency in our democratic processes. This case seeks to affirm the rights of Nevadans to uphold election transparency and prevent viewpoint discrimination in our democracy.

The ACLU of Nevada, alongside Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice, filed an amicus brief asking the court to strengthen due process protections and ensure defendants receive fair trials. In this case, the state made mid-trial disclosures of critical evidence—information that could have helped the defense. The state’s delayed disclosure hindered the defense’s ability to prepare an effective case, and the defendant is now asking that his conviction be reversed due to the state’s failure to meet its legal obligations to disclose evidence in a timely manner. Our amicus brief argues that the convictions should be overturned when delays in the disclosure of evidence violate a defendant’s right to Due Process, as well as when the State, in bad faith, fails to comply with Nevada discovery laws.

ACLU of Nevada, alongside the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), filed an amicus brief asking the court to dismiss a case challenging Nevada's efforts to maintain its voter rolls. The case, Republican National Committee v. Aguilar, was filed against Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar by The Republican National Committee, the Nevada Republican Party, and a Nevada voter, claiming the state must be violating its obligations under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) because certain misleading metrics show more registered voters than eligible voters in some counties. The amicus brief explains that the lawsuit is based on deeply flawed and misleading metrics that have been pieced together by unreliable and inaccurate measures of voter registration rates and that have been repeatedly rebuked by federal courts. The voter registration numbers they rely on are taken from a single recent snapshot of the state's voter roll but use an outdated census of the citizen voting age population for comparison. Unfortunately, this lawsuit is just one of several cases recently filed across the country with claims under the NVRA and is part of a years-long pattern to bully states into administering voter roll purges beyond what the law requires. Without proper guardrails, when states rush to purge voters, eligible voters, in many cases, are kicked off the rolls and disenfranchised. These lawsuits are based on false information and only erodes the public's trust and integrity in our elections.

In Nevada, people who are detained in a city or county jail are being held pre-trial or are serving a misdemeanor sentence and, therefore, have not lost their right to vote. Despite never losing this right, eligible voters detained in Nevada jails have continuously been denied meaningful access to the ballot box. Recognizing the unique constraints and widespread disenfranchisement of voters taking place in Nevada jails, the 2023 Nevada Legislature passed Assembly Bill 286, mandating that jail administrators work with the city or county clerk to implement policies and procedures that would ensure eligible voters detained in these facilities can register to vote and cast their ballot in an election. Since the bill took effect January 1, the ACLU of Nevada has been monitoring the implementation of the policies and procedures outlined in AB286, which should have been in place for the Presidential Preference Primary; however, public records requests revealed that Elko County Jail had not implemented such policies and continues not to be compliant. ACLUNV attorneys sent a demand letter to the jail, urging them to be compliant with the law or legal action would take place. The jail continues not to be compliant. Without the implementation of these policies and procedures as outlined in the bill, eligible voters detained in Elko County Jail will continue to be disenfranchised and have their voices silenced ahead of a critical election year.

Our client is a prisoner at Florence McClure Women's Correctional Facility in Southern Nevada. She was sexually abused by a prison chaplain, Donald Burse, on two separate occasions in August 2020. While Burse was fired after the abuse came to light, and there is a pending criminal case, we are taking on this case because we believe that the Nevada Department of Corrections has not done enough to make sure that such abuse will not happen again in the future.

We're challenging Clark County's pedestrian flow zone ordinance for its vague language that allows LVMPD to selectively enforce and, in effect, selectively target people. Our client uses a manual wheelchair, and under this ordinance, could be charged with a misdemeanor for stopping to take a break. In January 2024, the Clark County Commission voted to establish pedestrian flow zones on the pedestrian bridges at the Las Vegas Strip and charge people with a misdemeanor for stopping or standing on these bridges.

The Clark County Detention Center (CCDC) is the largest jail in Nevada, housing thousands of people every year. The ACLU of Nevada has been investigating the treatment of people who are deaf and detained at the Detention Center since April 2021. Based on our investigation, we have determined that the Clark County Detention Center regularly denies basic aids and services to deaf people, including sign language, interpreters, videophones, and visual aids. These services are denied for even the most important communication needs, such as classes meant to rehabilitate prisoners, medical appointments, religious services, and even fire alarms. Failure to provide these services functionally places deaf people detained at CCDC in solitary confinement, unable to communicate with staff, other people who are detained, and anyone outside the facility. Based upon records we've received through public records requests, we know the Detention Center is aware it must offer these services, but still fails to do so. Mr. Jones, our client, is a deaf person who has spent over two years in CCDC. Again and again, he requested the services he is entitled to under federal law, and again and again, he was denied, rendering him unable to participate in group therapy, religious services, or other rehabilitative opportunities. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the United States Constitution, and the Nevada Constitution, the Detention Center is obligated to comply and offer appropriate aids and services to deaf people detained at the facility. Together, we are working to make sure he, nor any other person who is deaf and detained in jail, is treated that way again

The ACLU of Nevada and the Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice filed an amicus brief in Aldape v. State, a case on appeal before the Nevada Supreme Court, discussing the importance of the internet to free speech and the First Amendment rights of people released on probation.