Spring 2025 Legal Intern, Racial Justice Program

The ACLU seeks a Legal Intern in the Racial Justice Program of the ACLU’s National office in New York, NY. 

The Team:

The Racial Justice Program (RJP) is part of the ACLU’s Trone Center for Justice and Equality. RJP challenges racial discrimination and other practices and policies that have a direct or disparate impact on communities of color, including Native American communities and people who reside in U.S. territories. RJP has a particular emphasis on education, housing, indigenous justice, reentry, and economic justice issues. To advance its work, RJP, often working with the ACLU's 53 affiliates nationwide, uses litigation, legislative advocacy, and public education to challenge unequal educational, housing, and employment opportunities, unfair lending practices, and a range of civil and criminal justice system practices that unfairly target communities of color. 

What You'll Do:

The intern will be responsible for conducting legal and factual research and otherwise supporting RJP’s ongoing litigation, investigations, and advocacy efforts.  

Your Day to Day:

• Legal and factual research 
• Producing and editing memos, research reports, drafts of briefing, etc. 
• Participating in team meetings
• 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:

Applicants should be current law school students who will have completed their first year of school before the internship commences. Applicants should possess the following: 

• Excellent research, writing, and verbal communication skills. 
• Initiative to see projects through to completion 
• Demonstrated commitment to public interest law, civil liberties, and racial justice. 
• Commitment to the mission of the ACLU 

Future ACLU-ers Will: 

• Be committed to advancing the mission of the ACLU 
• Center and embed the principles of equity, inclusion and belonging in their work by demonstrating commitment to diversity with an approach that respects and values multiple perspectives 
• Be committed to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflict 

Internship Logistics:

• Location: Our internship program offers a limited number of in-person, remote, or hybrid intern positions. This internship is remote or hybrid from our National office in New York City. 
• 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 beginning either January 13 or January 27, 2025.
• Stipend: A stipend is available for students who are lawfully authorized to work. Arrangements can be made with educational institutions for work/study or course credit. Below are the stipend rates: 
• $24/hour for graduate and law students or equivalent experience 

Priority Application Deadline: November 1, 2024

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 Equity, Diversity and Inclusion  

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.