Spring 2025 Legal Intern, Abortion Criminal Defense Initiative

The ACLU seeks a Legal Intern in the Abortion Criminal Defense Initiative of the ACLU’s National office in either New York or D.C. This position may be either hybrid or remote.

The Team:

The Abortion Criminal Defense Initiative (ACDI) was created in the wake of Dobbs to address the criminal defense needs of abortion providers, patients, and those helping people seek abortion care. We are a small and mighty team of criminal defense attorneys that manages and supports a network of experienced defenders nationwide who ready to represent people facing abortion-related criminal investigations and prosecutions. ACDI attorneys also provide legal, strategic, and logistical assistance to support local counsel in providing a coordinated defense against the criminalization of reproductive healthcare. In addition, the ACDI collaborates closely with other projects in the ACLU’s national office, as well as ACLU affiliates and national partners, to drive advocacy that affirmatively fight the harms of laws and policies that restrict access to care.

What You’ll Do

As an intern, you’ll be an integral part of the ACDI team and will have the opportunity to meaningfully support defensive and affirmative advocacy related to the criminalization of abortion care. In addition to legal research and writing to support advocacy, Interns will also participate in weekly team meetings, attend reproductive-rights specific orientation sessions, and engage with coalition partner organizations on litigation and policy advocacy related to the criminalization of abortion.

Your Day to Day

• Conduct legal research and writing including drafting memoranda, portions of briefs, motions, and training resources
• Track cases and issues of interest to the ACDI
• Assist with performing intakes for those who contact the ACDI in need of criminal defense representation
• Engage in special projects and other duties as assigned
• Center principles of equity, inclusion, and belonging in all work, embedding the values in program development, policy application, and organizational practices and processes

What You’ll Bring

The internship is open to law students who will have completed at least one year of law school before the internship commences. Interns should possess the following: 

• Enrolled at an ABA accredited law school and has completed at least 1L year. 
• Excellent legal research skills, strong legal writing, and ability to conduct complex legal analysis. 
• Organization including good attention to detail, and the ability to balance multiple assignments. 
• Team player approach with good communication skills who responds well to feedback. 
• Initiative to see projects through to completion.
• A demonstrated commitment to criminal defense, public interest law, civil rights and liberties, and social justice. 
• A commitment to the mission of the ACLU in general and to protecting access to abortion in particular. 

Future ACLU-ers will

• Demonstrate a commitment to the mission of the ACLU
• Demonstrate a commitment to diversity within the office using a personal approach that values all individuals and respects differences in regard to race, ethnicity, age, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, disability and socio-economic circumstance
• Demonstrate a commitment to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and/or conflicts

Internship Logistics

• Location: Our internship program offers a limited number of in-person, remote, or hybrid intern positions. This internship can be either remote or hybrid from our New York or D.C. office.
• Time Commitment: Term-time internships may be completed on a part-time basis (10, 15, or 20 hours/week) or full-time (35 hours/week).
• Internship Duration: Full-time internships span 10 consecutive weeks and part-time 12 weeks. This internship has a start date of January 13th or January 27th, 2025
• Compensation: This position is offering course credit only.

Priority Application Deadline: October 25th, 2024

While there is a priority deadline, our project is committed to review all applications on a rolling basis until the closing of posting.

ABOUT THE ACLU

The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union – beyond one person, party, or side. Our mission is to realize this promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees. For over 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBTQ+ community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people from government abuse and overreach. 

Equity, diversity, and inclusion are core values of the ACLU and central to our work to advance liberty, equality, and justice for all. We are a community committed to learning and growth, humility and grace, transparency, and accountability. We believe in a collective responsibility to create a culture of belonging for all people within our organization – one that respects and embraces difference; treats everyone equitably; and empowers our colleagues to do the best work possible. We are as committed to anti-oppression and anti-racism internally as we are externally. Because whether we’re in the courts or in the office, we believe ‘We the People’ means all of us.

Why the ACLU:

For over 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBTQ+ community, establishing new privacy

protections for our digital age or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people.

Our Commitment to Accessibility, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion:

Accessibility, equity, diversity, and inclusion are core values of the ACLU and central to our work to advance liberty, equality, and justice for all. For us diversity, equity and inclusion are not just check-the-box activities, but a chance for us to make long-term meaningful change. We are a community committed to learning and growth, humility and grace, transparency and accountability. We believe in a collective responsibility to create a culture of belonging for all people within our organization – one that respects and embraces difference; treats everyone equitably; and empowers our colleagues to do the best work possible. We are as committed to anti-oppression and anti-racism internally as we are externally. Because whether we’re in the courts or in the office, we believe ‘We the People’ means all of us.

With this commitment in mind, we strongly encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status and record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. 

The ACLU is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please email [email protected]. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.