Archive

Pepper spray cop
Case

Baker v. Katehi (UC Davis Pepper Spray Cop)

Jan 09, 2013
21 students and alumni filed a federal lawsuit on Feb. 22, 2012 against UC Davis over the University's treatment of protesters during a Nov. 18, 2011 demonstration in which campus police were caught on video dousing seated protesters with pepper spray. Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

All Eyes on Alameda County

Jan 03, 2013
In response to an ACLU of Northern California Public Records Act request, the California Emergency Management Agency, the state entity that administers federal homeland security grant funds, recently confirmed that the Alameda County Sheriff's Office is the only agency in the entire state of California to have applied for or obtained grant funding from Cal-EMA for a drone.While this doesn't mean t... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Twitter Subpoenas Chill Free Speech

Jan 02, 2013
In a disturbing trend that can have a chilling effect on free speech, law enforcement agencies around the country are seeking wide-ranging information about the social networking activity of political activists. The San Francisco District Attorney recently issued subpoenas to Twitter for tweets by two political protesters, Lauren Smith and Robert Donohoe, who had been charged with rioting and unla... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
News

CDCR Documents Reveal "Secret Mission" to Acquire Lethal Injection Drug

Dec 10, 2012
Following a California Superior Court order on Nov. 30, 2010, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) released 989 pages of heavily redacted records to the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC). The documents reveal a "secret mission" by the Department to acquire sodium thiopental, a controlled substance used as part of California's lethal injec... Read More
drones
Blog

Is All (Drone) Politics Local?

Dec 07, 2012
The next time a cop sees a picture of you, that picture may not have been taken by a person at all. Unmanned flying drones can allow their operators to remotely - and cheaply - monitor and record individuals, groups, or locations. These drones pose significant threats to privacy when police can use them to peer into homes or track an individual's actions from afar. While law enforcement agencies a... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
News

U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Prop 8 Challenge, ACLU Challenge to Defense of Marriage Act

Dec 07, 2012
The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will grant review in Hollingsworth v. Perry, the challenge to California’s Proposition 8, and in Windsor v. United States, the ACLU’s challenge to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. The ACLU of California was co-counsel with Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights in In Re Marriage Cases, the case that legalized marriage for Calif... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

California Attorney General: Immigration Detainers are Voluntary

Dec 05, 2012
For the first time yesterday, California Attorney General Kamala Harris publicly weighed in on the hotly-contested federal immigration program, Secure Communities (S-Comm).In an information bulletin to local law enforcement agencies, she provides much needed clarification to these agencies about the parameters of their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Her statement should finally ... Read More
drones
Blog

Alameda County Sheriff has Secret Plans to Unleash Surveillance Drone, Documents Show

Dec 04, 2012
Buried on the Board of Supervisor's 66-item agenda for its December 4, 2012 hearing was a surprising request by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office for approval to "apply for, accept and administer" funds from the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal-EMA) to buy a drone.This was very troubling for a number of reasons.The Sheriff to date has not been forthcoming about his intentions and act... Read More