The ACLU seeks applicants for the full-time position of Paralegal in the Disability Rights Program of the ACLU’s National office in San Francisco, CA or Washington, DC. This is a hybrid role that has in-office requirements of two (2) days per week or eight (8) days per month.
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 overrepresented in, civil and criminal institutions such as nursing homes, psychiatric hospitals, jails, and prisons.
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. In 2012, the ACLU established the Disability Rights Program (DRP). DRP litigates and advocates to fight the over-representation of people with disabilities in the criminal legal system, 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.
While the ACLU’s Legal Department is headquartered in New York, it also has programs housed in San Francisco and Washington, DC. The Disability Rights Program works out of the San Francisco and DC offices.
This position is part of a collective bargaining unit. It is represented by ACLU Staff United (ASU).
Reporting to the Program Director, the Paralegal will be responsible for providing paralegal and administrative support to the Disability Rights Program, which litigates and advocates in our priority areas of voting, education, autonomy, and criminal justice and also provides support to affiliates and the National office on disability rights issues that intersect with core civil liberties.
The ACLU is committed to equity, transparency, and clarity in pay. Consistent with our compensation philosophy, there is a set salary for each role based on geographic work location. The annual salary for this position is $81,166 (Level K), reflecting the salary of a position based in New York, NY. Salaries are subject to a regional pay adjustment if authorization is granted to work outside of the location listed in this posting.
For details on our pay structure, please visit: https://www.aclu.org/careers/ACLU_Geographic_Pay_Structure-July_2024.pdf
For over 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBTQ+ community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people.
We know that great people make a great organization. We value our people and know that what we offer is essential not just their work, but to their overall well-being.
At the ACLU, we offer a broad range of benefits, which include:
Accessibility, equity, diversity and inclusion are core values of the ACLU and central to our work to advance liberty, equality, and justice for all. For us diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion are not just check-the-box activities, but a chance for us to make long-term meaningful change. We are a community committed to learning and growth, humility and grace, transparency and accountability. We believe in a collective responsibility to create a culture of belonging for all people within our organization – one that respects and embraces difference; treats everyone equitably; and empowers our colleagues to do the best work possible. We are as committed to anti-oppression, anti-ableism, and anti-racism internally as we are externally. Because whether we’re in the courts or in the office, we believe ‘We the People’ means all of us.
With this commitment in mind, we strongly encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status and record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
The ACLU is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please complete the Accommodation Request Form
If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.
The ACLU is an non-profit, non-partisan organization of people who believe in the power of action. We are united by the quest – “We the people dare to create a more perfect union.”
Whether in the courts, statehouses, Congress or communities, we fight to defend the rights that the Constitution guarantees to all of us —regardless of who we are, where we come from, whom we love, or what we believe.
Together, we take up the toughest civil rights and liberties challenges of our time. We seek to inspire those who want change to become the ones who make change.
