Archive

Thirteen detained immigrants at risk of a potentially fatal COVID-19 infection sue ICE, demanding their release Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — Today, thirteen immigrants detained in two ICE detention centers in California filed a lawsuit in federal district court against U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement calling for their immediate release. Because of their advanced age and underlying medical conditions, the 13 plaintiffs are especially vulnerable to the potentially fatal COVID-19 infection while they are confi... Read More

ACLU of Northern California urges you to develop and implement holistic policies that align with guidance from public health experts and that will minimize the harm inflicted on people involved in the criminal legal system – and, by extension, the harm inflicted on broader communities. Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — In March, the Northern California Indian Development Council (NCIDC) hired an Indigenous Education Advocate. This newly created position is part of a larger collaboration between NCIDC and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California, aimed at advancing educational equity for Native American students in Del Norte and Humboldt Counties and adjacent tribal lan... Read More

On Wednesday, the Santa Cruz Public Safety Committee voted to approve an ordinance that would bring oversight to government use of surveillance technology, prohibit government use of facial recognition, and ban government use of predictive policing technology. Read More

In a late-night raid in April 1852, three formerly enslaved black men who had built a lucrative business hauling mining supplies during the California Gold Rush, were rousted from their cabin by armed white men. They were forcibly taken before a justice of the peace in Sacramento County who ordered them deported to their former “owner,” a white man in Mississippi. Read More

SACRAMENTO — A partial company list published today in an expose by Buzzfeed confirms that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and at least one California law enforcement agency have teamed up with Clearview AI to run people’s faces against the company’s shadily-assembled database of billions of photos. In fact, according to Buzzfeed, ICE agents have run more than 8,000 searches from about 60 acco... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – Under a proposed settlement announced today between the California Department of Transportation (“Caltrans”) and a class of homeless people whose property was taken by Caltrans crews in sweeps of their encampments, Caltrans will establish a $1.3 million fund to compensate people for the loss of property that was destroyed in the sweeps. In addition, Caltrans will be required to ado... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – The City of San Francisco has agreed to financially compensate seven black men and women who were purportedly arrested for selling small amounts of drugs by the San Francisco Police Department, which targeted them for federal criminal prosecution because of their race, while ignoring people of other races engaged in the same activity. In a $225,000 settlement, the City of San Fr... Read More

In the last few weeks, a company called Clearview has been in the news for marketing a reckless and invasive facial recognition tool to law enforcement. The company claims the tool can identify people in billions of photos nearly instantaneously. And Exhibit A in support of their claim to law enforcement that their app is accurate? An “accuracy test” that Clearview boasts was modeled on the ACLU’s... Read More