Request Legal Assistance

The ACLU handles cases that involve serious violations of civil liberties by the government. We do not have a large staff of lawyers. We are funded through donations, and do not receive any government money. Because of this, we cannot take every worthy case that comes our way. Before you submit a request for legal help, please read the below information.

If you are seeking the ACLU's help in a legal matter involving your constitutional rights, please:

• Fill out our online complaint form.
• Send us a one-page letter summarizing your situation along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the address below (do not send legal documents with your letter)

All legal claims have time deadlines. Please be careful when requesting assistance for an issue with an upcoming deadline. If you are concerned about whether the time for bringing a complaint or an upcoming deadline (such as a hearing or trial date,) is about to pass, you SHOULD NOT rely on filing an ACLU complaint to protect you; instead, it is highly recommended that you continue to seek legal assistance elsewhere.

The organization is not a provider of general legal services; it only litigates cases where there has been a violation of a person’s civil rights, primarily by the government. We do not practice criminal law or generally take cases where rights have been violated by a private entity. Accordingly, the ACLU of Minnesota does not provide legal advice pertaining to specific cases, or legal representation, on demand. Instead, the main focus of the ACLU Legal Department is to bring high-impact cases that affect the civil liberties of large numbers of people. We are not an attorney referral service. For a list of attorneys, and/or for information about organizations that assist low-income Minnesotans with legal matters, we recommend you consult:

• MN State Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service (click on “Public – Find a Lawyer”)
• LawHelpMN.org
• Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid or call (612) 334-5970 (Minneapolis office intake line)
• The Legal Rights Center (Hennepin County) or call (612) 337-0030

The ACLU of Minnesota does not handle matters that arise outside of Minnesota. Because of the nature of civil liberties claims, only rarely does the ACLU of Minnesota takes a case that does not involve the government.

Additionally, the ACLU of Minnesota does NOT generally accept the following types of cases:

• An individual being fired from private employment without a good reason or just cause.
• An individual being denied benefits, such as worker’s compensation or unemployment benefits.
• Criminal defense or post-conviction appeal (The ACLU of Minnesota considers criminal cases ONLY in limited circumstances. For example, when a person is being prosecuted for engaging in activity protected by the Constitution.)
• Domestic Matters: This includes family law, divorce, child custody, child support, parenting time, visitation, or other similar cases.
• Complaints about Lawyers or Judges: For complaints regarding lawyers or judges, please file a complaint with the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility (available here or by calling 1-800-657-3601.)
• Private Civil Disputes: This includes contractual matters between private parties.
• Complaints against tribal government entities such as tribal police, tribal courts, and tribal child welfare agencies.

The ACLU of Minnesota generally accepts cases that affect the civil liberties of large numbers of people, rather than those involving a dispute between two parties. Before accepting a case, the ACLU of Minnesota considers:

• Does the case raise a civil liberties or civil rights issue? The Civil Liberties and Civil Rights we seek to protect include but are not limited to:
  • Freedom of Speech and Press
  • Freedom of Religion
  • Privacy
  • Equal Protection/Discrimination
  • Due Process
• What impact will the case have on people other than the parties involved? Lawsuits can affect a large number of people in two ways. First, we sometimes challenge a policy or practice which directly impacts many people. Second, a lawsuit brought on behalf of one person can have a larger impact on others in the long run when it establishes or expands legal protections.
• How likely is it that a court will reach the civil liberties issue? Generally, the ACLU of Minnesota will not accept a case that involves complicated disputes of facts. Facts are considered to be in dispute whenever you have one version of what happened and the other party or parties have a different view. An example of a factual dispute is an employment discrimination case where the employer claims he fired the employee because of poor job performance and has credible evidence to support that claim, but the employee disputes this claim and has credible evidence of her own. We often will not accept cases involving factual disputes because: (1) If a court resolves the facts against the client, it may never reach the civil liberties or civil rights issues; (2) if the decision rests upon the particular facts of a case, it is unlikely to have an impact on a large number of people; and (3) we have very limited resources and it is often very expensive and time-consuming to prove particular facts in a case.
• Does the ACLU of Minnesota have the necessary resources to take the case?

There are many cases and problems of unfairness and injustice which the ACLU of Minnesota is simply unable to handle. We receive many requests for assistance each month and have limited staff and resources, due to the fact that the ACLU of Minnesota is funded solely through donations and does not receive any government funding. Therefore, we cannot accept all of the complaints that fall within the guidelines discussed above. We must select those which we believe will have the greatest impact on protecting civil liberties.

Each complaint is reviewed by legal department staff to determine (1) whether it constitutes civil liberties or civil rights violation; and (2) meets the above-listed guidelines for acceptance. If the ACLU of Minnesota is able to offer you assistance, we will contact you to gather more information.

As each complaint is reviewed by staff, and due to the overwhelming number of requests for assistance and limited staff size, we will only contact you if we are able to provide you with assistance or we need additional information from you.

The ACLU of Minnesota is NOT a legal aid service organization. Accordingly, we are unable to provide advice or other types of assistance (including legal research, reviewing documents, or providing referrals) if we do not accept your case. This policy allows us to direct the necessary resources to those cases that we do accept.

No. Submitting a complaint is not a guarantee of legal representation, advice, or assistance by the ACLU of Minnesota. Please be cautious of any approaching legal deadlines. If you are concerned about an approaching deadline or have a question about legal deadlines for your case, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you continue to seek legal assistance elsewhere.

ONLY SUBMIT A COMPLAINT TO THE ACLU OF MINNESOTA AFTER YOU HAVE READ ALL OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ABOVE. If your complaint meets the guidelines listed above it can be submitted to the ACLU of Minnesota via the following methods:

1) Submit a request for legal help electronically (recommended). Requests can be submitted using our online intake form.

Submit a legal request online

2) Submit a complaint by mail: Send a short letter (no more than 1-page) briefly outlining your complaint to:

ACLU of Minnesota
PO Box 14720
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Attn: Legal Department

If you choose to submit a complaint by mail, instead of utilizing the recommended electronic intake form, please DO NOT send original documents pertaining to your case or excessive copies of documents as we cannot guarantee their return due to our limited resources. If we wish to follow up with you for more information, sending additional documents would be appropriate at that time.

Due to our small staff, we regret that there is no one to answer the phone line personally and that we cannot see people on a walk-in basis, give legal advice by fax, over the phone or through email.