Summer 2027 Legal Intern, Racial Justice Program

The ACLU seeks a Summer Legal Intern in the Racial Justice Program of the ACLU’s National office in New York, NY. This position may be remote or hybrid.

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 and other Indigenous communities, and people who reside in U.S. territories. RJP has a particular emphasis on health equity, education, housing, Indigenous justice, reentry, and economic justice issues. To advance its work, RJP, 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, attacks on civil rights, and a range of civil and criminal justice system practices that unfairly target communities of color.

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

• Conducting legal and factual research
• Reviewing and coding discovery productions
• Producing and editing memos, research reports, drafts of briefing, etc.
• Participating in team meetings
• Participating in meetings with clients, as available

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
• Centering principles of equity, inclusion, and belonging in all work, embedding the values in program development, policy application, and organizational practices and processes

• 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 conflicts

• Location: Our internship program offers a limited number of remote or hybrid intern positions. This internship can be remote or hybrid based in our New York office.
• Time Commitment: This internship is full-time (35 hrs/wk) for a duration of 10 consecutive weeks.
• Internship Duration: This internship has a start date of May 24 or June 7.
• Stipend: A stipend is available for those students who are lawfully authorized to work. Students who receive outside funding are eligible for a partial stipend to bring their total funding up to the level of the ACLU’s stipend amount for the summer. Legal interns receive a stipend amount of $24/hour (stipends are taxed)

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

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.