American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana (ACLULA)

Organization

The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana was founded in 1956 as part of the national network of ACLU affiliates. The organization claims to be “working to dismantle systems of oppression” that harm black, brown, immigrant, and LGBT people, by executing legal policy and community strategies “dedicated to ending white supremacist policy and law.” The organization files lawsuits, supports legislation, supports the expansion of voting rights, and promotes racially equal outcomes. Immigration, voting access, abortion, equal outcomes for LGBT persons, and freedom of speech are areas of interest for the group. ^{1  2}

Legal Actions

The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana partnered with the left-of-center Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights (RFK Center), and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG) to visit Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers to educate detained suspected illegal immigrants about their rights. ³

The organization partnered with the left-of-center Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AUSCS) to challenge Ten Commandments displays at Louisiana law schools, as well as the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) in redistricting and voting-rights cases, including Nairne v. Ardoin, which struck down Louisiana’s state legislative redistricting maps. As of October of 2025, the case was awaiting rehearing in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. ^{4  5  6}

ACLULA joined Louisiana Trans Advocates in support of transgender interests, crisis support and anti-discrimination. ⁷

Initiatives

American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana initiatives include the Justice Lab, which challenges allegedly racist policing, cashless bail, and pretrial incarceration, and the Immigrant Rights Project, which exposes supposed inhumane conditions in Louisiana immigration detention facilities. ⁸

ACLULA made an appeal in the news section of its website in September 2021, after Hurricane Ida, for its donors to give to recommended organizations committed to race, equal outcomes, and social justice. Recommended Indigenous communities included the Isle de Jean Charles Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe, the Grand Caillou/Dulac Band, the Point-Au Chien Tribe, and the United Houma Nations. Immigrant organizations included Our Voice Nuestra Voces, Voces Unidas, and Union Migrante. Incarcerated or formerly incarcerated organizations advocacy groups include the Innocence Project New Orleans Client Fund, the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition, and the Justice and Accountability Center of Louisiana. River Parishes communities included The Descendants Project, Rise St. James, IDA Relief for Small Black Neighborhoods, and The Whitney Plantation. LGBT groups included House of Tulip Rapid Response and Trans/Queer Youth NOLA. Recommended racial minority organizations include Imagine Water Works, the New Orleans Black Youth Fund, Another Gulf is Positive, BAMM Cares, and Moms of Color.  ^{8  9}

Following Hurricane Ida in 2021, the ACLULA posted a news article encouraging donors to contribute to Unite Migrante’s fiscal sponsor, the left-wing Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), specifying that funding go to Solidarity Ignite (iSi!), another fiscally sponsored project of AFGJ. ⁹

People

Alanah Odoms Hebert is the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana and a previous director of Louisiana’s Department of Children and Families. ¹⁰

Petrice Sams-Abiodun is the president of the board of directors and vice president of strategic partnerships at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. ⁸