Summer 2026 Trone Center for Justice and Equality Internship (hybrid/remote) | ACLU
Summer 2026 Undergraduate Intern, Trone Center for Justice and Equality
Remote/Hybrid-New York City
About the Role
The ACLU seeks a Summer Undergraduate Intern in the Legal Department’s Trone Center for Justice and Equality of the ACLU’s National office in New York City. This position can be remote or hybrid.
Qualifying applicants must currently be matriculated legal students and must be based in the U.S. for the entire duration of the internship.
The Team:
The ACLU’s Trone Center for Justice and Equality focuses on America’s issues around crime, punishment, and racial justice. These three issues are constantly intersecting and the implications for social and economic success in communities of color are hanging in the balance. As a result race and class permeate the entire criminal justice system, and today robust discussions about race in America are bringing issues of racial justice into the spotlight. This is a critical time in the fight to advance racial justice and to truly reform the criminal legal system. The Trone Center contains five Projects/Programs working towards these goals: the Capital Punishment Project, the National Prison Project, the Racial Justice Program, Criminal Law Reform Project, and the John Adams Project.
What You’ll Do:
The Trone Center for Justice and Equality is seeking a law student intern to work on the issues it addresses, including the following: seeking to end excessively harsh criminal justice policies that result in mass incarceration, over-criminalization, and racial injustice; fighting for nationwide reforms to pretrial detention and surveillance, police practices, public defense systems, disproportionate sentencing, and prosecutorial abuses of authority in the name of public safety; challenging the unfairness and arbitrariness of capital punishment while working towards the ultimate goal of abolishing the death penalty; improving conditions for people in prisons, jails, and detention centers and increasing oversight and accountability in places of detention; and confronting racial discrimination in education, housing, fair lending, policing, and the criminal justice system. The intern will be responsible for conducting legal research and writing support to the Center Director and Staff Attorney. The intern will also work on other Center priorities and issue areas as assigned.
Your Day to Day:
- Conduct research and analysis on issues in the criminal justice and racial justice fields
- Draft communications, memos, and presentations
- Documenting and tracking complaints received from incarcerated people and responding with informational materials
- Assist the Legal Operations team in department-wide initiatives, trainings, and compliance
- Support the Trone Center and the work of the Trone Center Director and Special Assistant
What You'll Bring:
- Completed at least two years of an undergraduate degree
- Demonstrated commitment to the issues on which the Trone Center for Justice and Equality works
- Excellent research, writing, and verbal communication skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills and a proven ability to work independently as well as within a team
- Self-motivated with the ability to take initiative, manage a variety of tasks and see projects through to completion
- Strong computer skills, particularly web-based research including proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (i.e. Word, Excel)
Future ACLU'ers Will:
- Be committed to advancing the mission of the ACLU
- Center and embed the principles of equity, inclusion and belonging in their work by demonstrating commitment to diversity with an approach that respects and values multiple perspectives
- Be committed to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflicts
Internship Logistics
- Location: Our internship program offers a limited number of remote or hybrid intern positions. This internship may be remote or hybrid and based in our New York City office.
- Time Commitment: Summer internships require a full time (35 hour/week) commitment.
- Internship Duration: Summer internships span 10 consecutive weeks with a start date of May 26 or June 8.
- Stipend: A stipend is available for those students who are lawfully authorized to work. Undergraduate interns receive a stipend amount $20/hour (stipends are taxed)
