Summer 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.

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: Full-time (35 hours/week).
• Internship Duration: Full-time internships span 10 consecutive weeks. This internship has a start date of: May 27 or June 9, 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:
• · $20/hour for undergraduate students or equivalent experience
• · $24/hour for graduate and law students or equivalent experience

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.