One venue where the ACLU fights back against government overreach and attacks on our democracy is the courtroom. Our legal team at ACLU-WV is working tirelessly to challenge the Morrisey-Trump authoritarian agenda.
But while lawsuits tend to make the headlines, litigation is just one aspect of the work of our small-but-mighty legal department. Our lawyers and paralegal also work on myriad legal projects to promote open government and the rule of law in our state. They review hundreds of requests for legal assistance every year, helping many of those in need find an attorney suited to their case. They also help conduct Know Your Rights trainings and keep a close eye on public demonstrations around the state to make sure that police aren’t abusing their authority.
The legal team also works with local elected leaders by researching controversial topics and sharing expertise with them on how they can address problems in their communities while also respecting people’s constitutional rights. When officials do overstep, the legal team drafts demand letters carrying the threat of litigation from the ACLU.
Read on for a recap of some of our biggest legal cases we have brought since the inaugurations of Morrisey and Trump.
International Student SEVIS Terminations
The first of two cases we brought on behalf of international students this year involved a student whose legal status was revoked one month before he was set to graduate from Marshall University because of a nonviolent traffic violation that had already been adjudicated prior to his coming to the United States on a student visa.
The Trump administration backed down after our lawsuit, allowing our client to finish class. Under the agreement, the administration is reversing the actions it took against the student and will not repeat them.
“This status removal should never have occurred in the first place,” ACLU-WV Legal Director Aubrey Sparks said. “There are specific reasons under the law for which an administration may revoke a student’s ability to study in this country, and none of those reasons were present in this case. This was clearly just another example of the Trump administration’s animosity for all immigrants. We are relieved for our client that he can put this matter behind him.”
The Trump administration also unlawfully targeted a student at West Virginia University for deportation. On April 10, the 25-year-old computer science major from Pakistan received an email informing him that his records with the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) had been terminated and his visa had been revoked because he appeared in a criminal database. However, the student has never been convicted of a crime – police determined he and his family were actually the victims of one.
This was one of hundreds – maybe thousands – of incidents of international students being unjustly targeted by the administration, but Sparks said the case was one of the most egregious she has seen.
“Our client has been victimized three times now – once by a scammer, then again by police who incorrectly charged him with a crime, and now a third time by the Trump administration for citing that charge as grounds to endanger his legal status in the country,” Sparks said.
The administration also backed down in his case, allowing the student to return to class and reinstating his legal status.
“It’s important to remember that the administration is not backing down because it’s the right thing to do,” Sparks said, “but rather because they have been taken to court and lost again and again and again.”
Unlawful National Guard Deployments
WVCAG v. Morrisey – In August, ACLU-WV filed a lawsuit on behalf of West Virginia Citizen Action Group and its members challenging Gov. Morrisey’s unlawful deployment of the National Guard to Washington, D.C.
The lawsuit challenges the deployment as exceeding the governor's constitutional and statutory authority. West Virginia law governing National Guard deployments was shaped by legal battles following the coal wars of the early 20th Century, where National Guard troops were deployed against U.S. citizens, ACLU-WV Legal Director Aubrey Sparks said.
Dani Parent, Executive Director of WV CAG, said: “West Virginia Citizen Action Group has deep concerns about the Governor’s deployment of the West Virginia National Guard to Washington, D.C. As an organization with over 50 years of advocating and organizing West Virginians for accountability, justice, and good governance, we believe that the use of West Virginia’s National Guard troops in this context is a clear misuse of power. The Guard exists to serve West Virginians in times of crisis, and this action appears to be motivated by partisanship and to appease the current federal administration. Sending our Guard out of state for political posturing serves only to divert critical resources needed here at home. The Governor’s priority should be in serving West Virginians, not political grandstanding.”
Kanawha Circuit Judge Richard Lindsay is hearing the case. An evidentiary hearing is set for Monday, Nov. 3 2025.
Church-State Separation
American Humanists v. West Virginia Water Development Authority – In July, a Court sided with us in this case, ruling that a $5 million grant in water infrastructure funds to an out-of-state religious institution was unconstitutional.
In October, the water authority approved the grant to the Steubenville, Ohio-based College of Saint Joseph the Worker for the creation of a construction and real estate company headquartered in Weirton, as well as a new branch campus in the Kanawha Valley.
“Tens of thousands of West Virginians wonder every day where they will get clean drinking water,” Sparks said. “The College of Saint Joseph the Worker has every right to exist and to educate its students in line with its religious worldview, but to force the taxpayers of West Virginia to fund its mission is wholly inappropriate and unconstitutional.”
The West Virginia Constitution states: “No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever; nor shall any man be enforced, restrained, molested or burthened, in his body or goods, or otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument, to maintain their opinions in matters of religion; and the same shall, in nowise, affect, diminish or enlarge their civil capacities; and the Legislature shall not prescribe any religious test whatever, or confer any peculiar privileges or advantages on any sect or denomination, or pass any law requiring or authorizing any religious society, or the people of any district within this state, to levy on themselves, or others, any tax for the erection or repair of any house for public worship, or for the support of any church or ministry, but it shall be left free for every person to select his religious instructor, and to make for his support, such private contracts as he shall please.”
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of the American Humanist Association (AHA), a non-profit organization that advocates and supports the practice of humanism, a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism or other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good.
“We’re proud to have taken a stand on behalf of our members and are encouraged that the court held the line on this unconstitutional appropriation of funds,” said Amitai Heller, AHA legal director. “The separation of church and state is non-negotiable, and the West Virginia Water Development Authority had no business granting public infrastructure dollars to fund religious education and advocacy. Our members saw this blatant violation of church-state separation happening in their community and in concert with the ACLU of West Virginia, we acted.
“Public dollars should always serve the public good, and we will keep fighting in the courts to defend this principle as long as we need to,” Heller continued.
The Rule of Law
Jackson and Hess v. West Virginia Department of Health – On his second day in office, Governor Morrisey issued a slew of executive orders including one that sought to override state law on the matter of religious exemptions to West Virginia’s public school vaccine requirements.
During the 2025 Legislative Session, lawmakers declined to change the state law on vaccine requirements, which explicitly states that West Virginia does not grant exemptions on the basis of religion.
This led to chaos in state government as Morrisey instructed officials to ignore state law and enforce his executive order by granting religious exemptions. Along with Mountain State Justice, we filed suit on behalf of two West Virginia parents of medically vulnerable children who will be harmed if vaccine rates drop dramatically in West Virginia schools.
“Governors do not rule by decree,” ACLU-WV Legal Director Aubrey Sparks said. “At the center of this lawsuit is who gets to make these decisions for our students. On this question, the state Constitution is clear that the authority lies with the Legislature, not the governor.”
A ruling in the case is expected soon.