Summer 2027 Legal Intern, Trone Center for Justice and Equality

ACLU - Internships • Washington, DC

5d

About The Position

The ACLU is seeking a Summer Legal Intern for the Trone Center for Justice and Equality in its Legal Department at the National office in Washington, DC. The position may be remote or hybrid. Applicants must be matriculated legal students and must be based in the United States for the entire internship.

The Trone Center leads litigation and advocacy addressing inequity, oppression, and dehumanization in the criminal legal system, systemic inequalities affecting communities of color, and the criminalization of homelessness. Its work includes challenging excessive criminal justice policies, pursuing reforms to pretrial detention and surveillance, police practices, public defense, sentencing, and prosecutorial conduct; challenging capital punishment; improving conditions and accountability in places of detention; and confronting racial discrimination in education, housing, fair lending, policing, and the criminal justice system.

The intern will conduct legal research and analysis, draft legal memoranda, briefs, and other written work, and support the Center Director, Staff Attorney, and Legal Fellow. The intern will also collaborate with ACLU projects and affiliates on litigation and advocacy related to unhoused justice, racial justice, and criminal legal system change.

The internship is a full-time commitment of 35 hours per week for 10 consecutive weeks, beginning May 24 or June 7, 2027. A stipend of $24 per hour is available to students authorized to work; students receiving outside funding may be eligible for a partial stipend to bring total summer funding up to the ACLU stipend amount. Stipends are taxed.

Requirements

• Be a matriculated legal student and be based in the United States for the entire internship.
• Be a second- or third-year law student pursuing a J.D. at an ABA-accredited law school, with at least one year of law school completed before the internship begins.
• Demonstrate commitment to the issues addressed by the Trone Center for Justice and Equality.
• Have outstanding legal research, writing, and communication skills.
• Demonstrate the ability to perform complex legal analytical work.
• Have strong organizational skills and the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Be able to foster and contribute to a collaborative team environment.
• Have strong computer skills, particularly web-based research, and proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, including Word and Excel.
• Be committed to advancing the ACLU's mission and to equity, inclusion, belonging, respectful collaboration, and resolving obstacles and conflicts.
• Be lawfully authorized to work to receive the stipend.

Responsibilities

• Conduct legal research and analysis.
• Draft legal memoranda, briefs, and other written products.
• Support the Center Director, Staff Attorney, and Legal Fellow with other assigned tasks.
• Collaborate with ACLU projects and affiliates on litigation and advocacy related to unhoused justice, racial justice, and criminal legal system change.

Benefits

• A stipend of $24 per hour is available to students lawfully authorized to work.
• Students with outside funding may be eligible for a partial stipend to bring their total summer funding up to the ACLU stipend amount.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Intern