Archive

Oakland Police Department (OPD) documents obtained by the ACLU of Northern California and released for the first time today reveal an example of OPD officers engaging in unconstitutional selective enforcement based on political ideology, underscoring serious and ongoing concerns about the city’s planned Domain Awareness Center and its potential for abuse. Read More

In 1996, the people of California passed an initiative to ensure that “seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes.” This initiative (Proposition 215), as well as a later law passed by the Legislature (S.B. 420), makes it clear that California patients and their caregivers can grow and cultivate marijuana for medical use. However, at the end of 2013 t... Read More

Just under a month ago, the California State Board of Education was tasked with reviewing and voting on the emergency spending regulations and accountability template, the rules that govern how school districts must use the funding they have received under Governor Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and how they will be held accountable to ensuring that the promise of the LCFF becomes a ... Read More

Today’s order from the three-judge panel overseeing the standing federal court order to reduce the state’s prison population to 137.5 percent of capacity gives the state an additional two year extension to comply, and Plaintiffs’ attorneys’ are justifiably concerned about ongoing constitutional violations inside the prisons due to the continued overcrowding. Read More

The ACLU of California and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCR) today filed a lawsuit charging the state with unconstitutionally stripping tens of thousands of people of their right to vote. Read More

The ACLU of Northern California today submitted an analysis of the City of Alameda’s draft policies for automated license plate readers (ALPR), which the city will discuss next Monday night at a public forum hosted by the city council. Read More

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California today sent a letter to members of an Oakland City Council committee demanding there be more transparency and oversight over the city’s ongoing plans to build a domain awareness center (DAC) – essentially a central surveillance hub for law enforcement. Read More

On Jan. 16, Congress introduced the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014 — a modern-day bill to strengthen voter protections nationwide. The bill is in response to last year’s Supreme Court ruling in Shelby County v. Holder that invalidated a critical part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA): the coverage formula that determined which states and political subdivisions were subject to the law’s p... Read More

Hard to believe, but until recently, all detained immigrants appearing in the civil immigration court in San Francisco were forced to give critical testimony while restrained by shackles and chains at the wrists, waist, and ankles. The inhumane practice was particularly problematic for asylum seekers and immigrants who had suffered from torture and domestic violence in the past—and it was unnecess... Read More

Today the ACLU of California and the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project applaud the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to halt its troubling practice of arresting individuals at Kern County courthouses. Read More