Archive

San Francisco – California cities are moving quickly to install video surveillance cameras on public streets and plazas without regulations, with little or no public debate, and without an evaluation of their effectiveness, according to an ACLU report released today.Even though 37 cities have some type of video surveillance program, and 10 cities are considering expansive programs, no jurisdiction... Read More

In March 2007, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a lawsuit in Napa Superior Court on behalf of five families, seeking judicial relief from an unconstitutionally vague, overbroad, and restrictive dress code enforced by Redwood Middle School and the Napa Valley USD. Read More

The public overflowed the courtroom and late-comers filed into an adjoining video room, members of the press hovered around the courthouse, and oral argument lasted an hour and forty five minutes- that was the scene yesterday afternoon as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard the government's appeal in Hepting v. AT&T. Hepting is one of several cases, including two filed ... Read More

The outcome in the lawsuit Hepting v. AT&T, being heard today by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, will be important to the various challenges to illegal spying of Americans. I'm attending the hearing scheduled for 2 p.m. today, after which I will provide a reaction to what occurred inside the room. (ETA 8/16/07: Read my reaction here.) Background on the Signific... Read More

Twenty-three high school-aged young people from northern California spent eight days in the summer of 2007 investigating a civil liberties topic of their choice: the myths and truths of military recruitment and military service. The result is an empathic, impassioned, evocative series of essays, poems, photographs and drawings titled “The Truth Behind the Camouflage.” The young people, who were... Read More

This report explains in detail the joint assessment the ACLU of California on government-funded video surveillance cameras and the current state of video surveillance in California. Read More

Today, two additional victims of the United States government’s unlawful “extraordinary rendition” program joined a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union against Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc., a subsidiary of Boeing Company. The ACLU charges in its amended complaint that Jeppesen knowingly provided direct flight services to the CIA enabling the clandestine transportation of Bisher al-Raw... Read More

ReportsUnder the Watchful Eye: The Proliferation of Video Surveillance Systems in California (Full Report)Under the Watchful Eye, a report issued by the California ACLU affiliates, examines the justifications for and consequences of the dramatic expansion in government video surveillance of public space at the local level. This report explains in detail the joint assessment of the three California... Read More

EarthLink announces halt on new municipal wireless build-outs- San Francisco plan may be delayed. Read More

Washington, DC - The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the failure of an amendment offered to the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill that would have authorized $300 million of federal funding for states to implement the Real ID driver's license program, which has been estimated by DHS to cost $23.1 billion. The ACLU deemed the proposal "sucker money" because it aimed ... Read More