Court Cases

On January 13, 2026, the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaiʻi (“ACLU of Hawai‘i”) filed a habeas immigration petition in federal court, seeking the release of Juan Jose Estrada Lopez, a Hawai‘i island resident and husband. At his green card interview in August 2025, he was ripped away from his family and community and locked up at the Honolulu Federal Detention Center. He has been detained there ever since—even though he has committed no crime.

This lawsuit, brought on behalf of a Maui family, challenges Maui Preparatory Academy’s (“Maui Prep”) discriminatory policy targeting transgender students. Under Maui Prep’s new policy, transgender students are no longer allowed to use facilities, play on sports teams, or room with students of the same gender. Plaintiffs argue that the school violated Hawaiʻi anti-discrimination law and engaged in unfair and deceptive practices by implementing the policy.

In December 2018, the ACLU of Hawaiʻi, together with Legal Aid at Work and Simpson Thacher & Barlett, filed a Title IX class action lawsuit on behalf of brave Campbell High School female student-athletes against the Hawaiʻi DOE and the OIA seeking gender equity in school athletics.

In October 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Hawaiʻi filed suit on behalf of a Kauai doctor and several professional health care associations to challenge Food and Drug Administration restrictions that significantly limit access to medication abortion.