The National Office of the American Civil Liberties Union implements litigation to maintain and expand civil liberties throughout the country and involve their interns to help further that goal.
Their program is designed to expose interns to legal aspects of public interest work. Interns will have an opportunity to work with the attorneys and paralegals of the Legal Department on a range of significant issues and projects. Although they cannot predict what their needs will be for each term, projects will most likely involve factual and legal research regarding topics such as racial profiling, indigent defense, education, free speech, cyber-liberties and national security. Interns will also be responsible for managing all correspondence and inquiries from the public.
Applicants should have an interest in social and legal issues, excellent writing and communications skills, initiative and the energy necessary to see projects to completion. The number of interns accepted varies, but is usually 2 per term. For the summer term they receive over 150 applications; they receive far fewer applications for fall and spring.
The summer term internship requires a 10-12 week commitment. This position is full-time. The fall and spring term internships require a 12-16 week commitment. These positions are part-time with weekly hours negotiable. All ACLU internships are unpaid. They make every effort to cover daily commuting expenses, although terms of reimbursement are conditional.
Applicants wishing to apply to any other ACLU office must do so directly. The National Office will not forward applications to other offices.
The deadline is August 1 for fall; December 15 for spring; and April 1 for summer. Submissions received after these dates are considered only if space is available. There is no application form. Please send cover letter, resume and non-fiction writing sample of no more than 5 pages to hrjobs@aclu.org re: Undergraduate Internship or preferably by mail to the address below.
Contact: Internship Coordinator
Legal Department
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004
Email: hrjobs@aclu.org
Website: http://www.aclu.org/careers