Summer 2027 Legal Intern, Disability Rights Program- Veterans' Rights

<h2><strong>About the Role</strong></h2> <p>The ACLU seeks a <strong>Summer</strong> <strong>Legal Intern </strong>focusing on Veterans' Rights in the <strong>Disability Rights Program </strong>of the ACLU’s National office in<strong> Washington D.C. </strong>or<strong> San Francisco, CA. </strong>This position can be remote or hybrid.</p> <p><strong>Qualifying applicants must currently be matriculated legal students and must be based in the U.S. for the entire duration of the internship.</strong></p> <h2><strong>The Team:</strong></h2> <p>The Disability Rights Program’s mission is to achieve an America free of discrimination against people with disabilities; where people with disabilities are valued, integrated members of society who have full access to education, homes, health care, jobs, families, voting and civic engagement. We fight to ensure that people with disabilities are no longer segregated into, and over-represented in, civil and criminal institutions such as nursing homes, psychiatric hospitals, jails, and prisons.</p> <p>The ACLU has fought for decades for the rights of people with disabilities - achieving key wins to stop coerced mental health treatment and unnecessary institutionalization, as well as playing a role in the drafting of the ADA. DRP litigates and advocates to use disability rights laws to end the overrepresentation of people with disabilities in the criminal legal system, including pursuing first of its kind litigation to ensure that municipalities provide trained, non-police responders to people experiencing mental health crises. We also litigate and advocate to promote alternatives to guardianship and to secure equal access to the ballot. We also provide support to affiliates and the National office on disability rights issues that intersect with core civil liberties.</p> <p>The ACLU has recently strengthened its work at the intersection of disability, veterans’ rights, and civil liberties. This internship focuses specifically on this emerging area of work.</p> <h2><strong>What You’ll Do:</strong></h2> <p>This position will work primarily on DRP’s veterans’ docket. Specifically, the intern will work on litigation and advocacy at the intersection of disability rights, civil liberties, and the rights of servicemembers and veterans. </p> <p>The intern will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience by working alongside the team and assisting in legal research and writing, factual investigation, and strategic advocacy to advance our litigation and integrated advocacy. The intern will have the opportunity to participate in litigation, advocacy, and internal meetings and discussions.</p> <h2><strong>Your Day to Day:</strong></h2> <p>Interns will support DRP litigation work and integrated advocacy across our priority areas:</p> <ul> <li>Legal research</li> <li>Legal writing, such as memos and portions of court submissions</li> <li>Fact investigation</li> <li>Support in preparation for and during court cases, such as depositions, oral argument, hearings, or trial</li> </ul> <h2><strong>What You'll Bring:</strong></h2> <p><span data-contrast="auto"><span data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)">The internship is open</span><span data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)"> only</span><span data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)"> to students enrolled at U.S. law schools who will have </span><span data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)">completed at least one year </span><span data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)">of law school before the internship </span><span data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)"