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Send the ACLU to SXSW 2014!

Aug 26, 2013
The annual SXSW Interactive festival draws thousands of developers and entrepreneurs – an audience that needs to hear how much you care about issues like online privacy and free speech. Please vote for our three panels and help us spread the word! Read More
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Stop Driver's Licenses from Being "Enhanced" with Security Flaws

Aug 21, 2013
SB 397 would allow the California DMV to issue Enhanced Driver's Licenses embedded with computer chips called RFIDs that can be read from 30 feet away without your knowing. The country's largest electronics industry group warned against using this technology for security reasons. SB 397 lacks the basic safeguards necessary to protect our privacy and security. Enhanced Driver's Licenses just aren't... Read More
stop immigration holds
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Five Law School Deans, 46 Profs Urge Gov. Brown on TRUST Act

Aug 19, 2013
Today, 51 leading legal scholars issued a detailed letter to California Governor Jerry Brown regarding the TRUST Act, a bill that seeks to limit deportations and rebuild community confidence in law enforcement.In the letter, the experts urge the Governor to uphold a key feature of the bill as currently written by ensuring that prior brushes with the nation's broken immigration system do not cause ... Read More
Student doing homework
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Let's Fix School Discipline in California

Aug 14, 2013
Taxpayers spend more on the criminal justice system than what it would cost to educate every young person in California. AB 420 addresses the school-to-prison pipeline and will keep more kids in front of a blackboard instead of behind bars. Read More
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California Must Follow the Attorney General's Lead

Aug 12, 2013
California must follow the Attorney General’s lead. We must abandon the failed and costly policies of the past that have left far too many people locked up for far too long who don’t need to be kept behind bars to keep our families and communities safe. Now is the time to focus on front end sentencing reforms, especially for low-level, nonviolent drug crimes, that will reduce wasteful spending on ... Read More
Ashton Lee delivering petitions to Gov. Brown
News

Governor Brown Signs Historic Transgender Students Bill into Law

Aug 12, 2013
On Aug. 12, 2013, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the historic School Success and Opportunity Act into law, ensuring transgender youth have the opportunity to fully participate and succeed in schools across the state. Assembly Bill 1266—which goes into effect on January 1, 2014—was authored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and passed the California State Senate and Assembly earlier this summer. Th... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

The Dream 9, Immigration Detention and Solitary Confinement

Aug 09, 2013
Solitary confinement completely isolates immigration detainees: They are generally confined to a small jail cell for twenty-three hours a day, with little to no human contact, and a slot in the door through which officers pass their meals. In some Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities, their one hour of daily “rec” time takes place in a human-size cage or in a narrow concrete yard o... Read More
News

Parents and Physicians Launch New Challenge in Sex Education Lawsuit

Aug 08, 2013
Today parents and physicians filed an update to the lawsuit against Clovis Unified School District, seeking permission from the court to add new information about how the district’s revised sex education is still out of compliance with California law. Last August the plaintiffs sued the district for violating the state’s comprehensive sex education law. The lawsuit was brought by two parents in th... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

SCOTUS to California: End Prison Overcrowding

Aug 02, 2013
The U.S. Supreme Court today rejected a request from the state of California for a stay of the federal court order that the state reduce its prison capacity to 137.5 percent of capacity.The following statement was issued this afternoon by the ACLU of California:"Today's Supreme Court ruling makes plain that state leaders can no longer avoid the urgent need to enact the kinds of reforms that will c... Read More
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Ashton is Standing Up for Transgender Students

Aug 02, 2013
Many of us get a little nostalgic for high school sometimes: long summers off, overnight trips for sports competitions, pep rallies, and football games. For many, it brings back fond memories of a time with fewer responsibilities and a faster metabolism. But unfortunately, for some students, the memories they make in high school aren't so warm.Meet AshtonMeet Ashton, a 16-year-old who is an aspiri... Read More