Alicia Granse, ACLU of Minnesota

Alicia Granse is a staff attorney at the ACLU of Minnesota (ACLU-MN), where she facilitates the Criminal Legal Reform and Police Surveillance issue team. Her work focuses on dismantling Minnesota’s system of mass incarceration, addressing racial disparities in the criminal legal system, and implementing alternatives to police while ensuring police transparency and accountability.

Before joining ACLU-MN, Granse worked as a Hennepin County public defender, where she and a colleague exposed serious issues with a drug prosecution involving police use of a confidential informant, leading to dismissal of charges. The case became the subject of an in-depth report by the Star Tribune and PBS Frontline as part of their Local Journalism Initiative.

At ACLU-MN, Granse has drafted numerous amicus briefs across various legal areas and serves as a public voice for the organization’s work through media appearances and testimony. She has been quoted in the Star Tribune, featured on KSTP, and appeared on live streams with the Sahan Journal.

In March 2025, Granse testified before the Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee on two significant pieces of legislation. Regarding SF 1665, which would authorize drone use to track crime suspects, she advocated for meaningful limits on this surveillance tool, stating that while the ACLU does not oppose legitimate UAV uses, broad scope warrantless surveillance raises constitutional concerns. She also testified on SF 1905, which changed Minnesota’s legal treatment of bong water, arguing that the previous law created a loophole that artificially inflated drug possession charges by treating residue as if it were pure substances.

Granse’s community engagement includes providing “know your rights” training to protesters and speaking at community events. She has attended protests like the Hands Off! demonstration to inform participants of their rights and has conducted numerous virtual trainings on protest rights.

Her volunteer work spans multiple organizations, including pro bono asylum clinic work with The Advocates for Human Rights, immigration appeals with the James H. Binger Center for New Americans, and serving as a legal observer with the National Lawyers Guild. She received the Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ “Gotcha” Award in 2021 for her work on State v. Moore and has served on the organization’s Amicus Committee.