Archive

Senator Joe Simitian introduced four RFID bills into the California legislature: SB 30 - Identity Information Protection Act of 2007- privacy and security protections on the use of RFID tags in all California government-issued identification documents. SB 28 – Prohibition of RFID tags in California driver's licenses. SB 29 – Prohibition of RFID ta... Read More

The Radelet-Pierce is the first state-wide study of the role of race, ethnicity and geography in death sentencing in California. The authors reviewed all homicides that occurred in California from 1990-99, using records from the FBI and Vital Statistics. During this period, 302 death sentences were returned (close to half the number of people currently on death row in California). The study finds ... Read More

Video Surveillance: Stop Expansion of Video Surveillance Cameras at 16th and Mission Do you live, work, or walk around 16th and Mission? If you don't let the Police Commission know that you do not want public video cameras put up that will monitor your activities, while not preventing or reducing crime, you need to let them know now ! Come to the Police Commi... Read More

A federal judge announced today his intention to issue a preliminary injunction stopping the City of Fresno from unlawfully destroying the personal property of thousands of homeless residents. The lawsuit, Kincaid v. City of Fresno, was filed in October and claims that the City has been violating the constitutional rights of homeless people by seizing and immediately destroying their personal pro... Read More

The issue raised in Barrett v. Rosenthal was whether the protection of the Communications Decency Act's Section 230 applies to individuals who frequently use the Internet to pass on information obtained elsewhere, whether by forwarding an email written by someone else or, as was the case in Barrett, posting an email from someone else to a newsgroup. The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed... Read More

The Berkeley Police Association is seeking to shut down the open public hearing process that has made Berkeley's Police Review Commission (PRC) a model for the nation since its creation in 1973. In the wake of the recent Copley Press v. San Diego County decision (which severely limits public access to the disciplinary records of police officers), the police association is hoping to exclude the pu... Read More

In response to San Francisco's first request for a sweeping civil injunction against an alleged gang in the City’s Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, the ACLU of Northern California filed an amicus brief today asking the Court not to issue an injunction at the hearing on the topic next week. Read More

Download the Fall 2006 ACLU-NC Newsletter and read about our latest events and initiatives. Read More

In a decision that will be appealed to the California Supreme Court, a divided panel of the California Court of Appeal ruled today that California may continue to bar same-sex couples from marriage. In a strong dissent, Justice Anthony Kline wrote, “the inescapable effect of the analysis the majority adopts is to diminish the humanity of the lesbians and gay men whose rights are defeated. The righ... Read More

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California has historically opposed civil gang injunctions because of their unfair impact on civil liberties, their potential for racial profiling, and due process concerns. In September 2006, the City Attorney of San Francisco sought the city's first civil gang injunction in the Bayview neighborhood.  On June 21, 2007, the city filed two new gang injun... Read More