Frequently Asked Questions About Getting Help
from ACLU-TN:
Can ACLU-TN give me legal advice about my case?
What does it cost to get help from ACLU-TN?
Do I have to be a member of ACLU-TN to request or receive assistance?
How does ACLU-TN choose cases?
Why does ACLU-TN prefer cases without serious factual disputes?
Why does ACLU-TN turn down cases that fall within its guidelines?
I live in Tennessee but my problem is in another state. Do I still contact ACLU-TN?
How do I contact ACLU-TN to request assistance?
Can ACLU-TN give me legal advice about my case?
Unless we agree to accept your case, ACLU-TN is unable to give you legal advice about your case or provide other types of legal assistance (such as reviewing your papers or conducting legal research to assist you). This policy allows us to direct our limited resources to those cases that we do accept.
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What does it cost to get help from ACLU-TN?
ACLU-TN does not charge clients for its representation.
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Do I have to be a member of ACLU-TN to request or receive assistance?
Membership in ACLU-TN and/or tax-deductible donations to the ACLU Foundation of Tennessee have no bearing on our intake decisions. We choose our cases based solely on the constitutional implications of the case.
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How does ACLU-TN choose cases?
ACLU-TN generally files cases that affect the civil liberties of large numbers of people rather than those involving a dispute between two parties. The basic questions we ask when reviewing a potential case are: 1) Is this a significant civil liberties issue? 2) What effect will this case have on other people in addition to our client? 3) Do we have the resources to take this case?
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Why does ACLU-TN prefer cases without serious factual disputes?
ACLU-TN prefers to take cases involving a question of law instead of those which involve complicated disputes of fact. An example of a factual dispute is an employment discrimination case where the employee alleges discrimination and the employer claims the employee was fired because of poor job performance, and there is credible evidence to support that claim.
The reasons we often decide not to accept cases involving factual disputes are 1) our limited resources (it is often expensive to prove a case which involves substantial factual disputes); 2) a court might never reach the civil liberties issue if it resolves the facts of the case against the client; and 3) the case is less likely to have a broad impact if the decision rests upon the specific facts of the case.
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Why does ACLU-TN turn down cases that fall within its guidelines?
There are many cases and problems of unfairness and injustice which ACLU-TN is simply unable to handle. We receive thousands of requests for assistance each year. Therefore, we cannot accept many cases that fall within the guidelines discussed above. We must select those cases which we believe will have the greatest impact on protecting civil liberties.
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I live in Tennessee but my problem is in another state. Do I still contact ACLU-TN?
No. ACLU-TN can only review requests for assistance and get involved in cases that actually occurred in Tennessee. If the incident happened outside of Tennessee, you will need to contact the ACLU office in that state if you wish to request assistance from the ACLU. Please see the national ACLU website for a list of ACLU offices in other states.
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How do I contact ACLU-TN to request assistance?
You can contact ACLU-TN by Phone or Mail.
- By phone: If you call our office at (615) 320-7142 and get our machine, please listen carefully to the entire message for important information. We rely on trained volunteer complaint counselors— NOT attorneys—to answer the phone. Their schedules and availability vary, and if a complaint counselor will be available during the week to take complaints, this information will be provided in the recording. Please do not leave us a message. Due to the high volume of calls we receive, we cannot return phone calls requesting legal assistance or asking legal questions. Instead, please make a note of the dates and times a complaint counselor will be available and call back then. If a complaint counselor will not be available during the week, you can contact us:
- By mail: You can write a letter explaining your situation or question or you can fill out our printable complaint form and send it to: Intake, ACLU of Tennessee, P. O. Box 120160, Nashville, TN 37212. Please keep your letter brief (for example, a summary of the events, not a detailed history spanning several years). If you wish to send any supporting documents, please do not send originals, and please send only the most relevant documents. We will contact you if we need more information.
We do not accept any comunication by email. Please write to our P. O. Box instead. Because of privacy concerns and the difficulty of confirming from whom and from where e-mail is sent, ACLU-TN cannot accept requests for legal assistance or provide legal advice of any kind via e-mail. We also do not accept communication by fax.
Important Note About Deadlines
All legal claims have time deadlines. The deadlines may be different depending on who violated your rights and depending on what rights were violated. For some kinds of violations, you may need to file a claim with a government agency before you can sue, and these agencies usually have their own time deadlines. Many of these deadlines are very short. ACLU-TN cannot give you advice about the deadlines that apply to your case. To protect your rights, please consult with an attorney promptly to find out what deadlines apply in your case. For a list of sources to help find an attorney, please click here.
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