William J. Brennan Fellowship, Speech, Privacy & Technology Project
aclu
New York, New York, United States · New York · United States
Posted Jul 8, 2026
- Full-time
- Speech, Privacy & Technology Project
aclu
New York, New York, United States · New York · United States
Posted Jul 8, 2026
The ACLU seeks applicants for a full-time two-year fellowship position in the Speech, Privacy and Technology Project of the ACLU’s National office in New York, NY.
The Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project is dedicated to protecting and expanding the First Amendment freedoms of expression, association, and inquiry; expanding the right to privacy and increasing the control that individuals have over their personal information; and ensuring that civil liberties are enhanced rather than compromised by new advances in science and technology. The project is currently litigating cases and conducting other advocacy efforts on a variety of issues, including political protest, freedom of expression online, privacy of electronic information, journalists’ rights, scientific and academic freedom, the free speech rights of noncitizens, openness in the courts, privacy rights at the border, and the impact of big data and algorithmic decision-making.
The Brennan Fellowship, established by a special gift from author Tom Peters and poet Catherine Abbe and named after retired Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, was created to give people just starting their careers an opportunity to receive training and experience in First Amendment advocacy, and to help the ACLU advance its First Amendment goals. The Brennan Fellow will function as an integral part of the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, and will work on our extensive docket of First and Fourth Amendment cases. This is a two-year fellowship position, and starts in Fall 2027.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, but priority consideration will be given to applications submitted by October 1, 2026.
The Brennan Fellow's responsibilities will include, but will not be limited to, the following:
The ACLU has a litigator scale that determines pay for attorneys in our Legal Department. The range of salaries are the following, based on year of law school graduation (please consult the hiring manager for specific salary details, based on individual circumstances):
These salaries are reflective of positions based in New York, NY. The salary will be subject to a locality adjustment (according to a specific city and state), if an authorization is granted to work outside of the location listed in this posting. Note that most of the salaries listed on our job postings reflect New York, NY salaries, where our National offices are headquartered.
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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 from government abuse and overreach.
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