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ACLU of Northern CA
News

Civil Rights, Law Enforcement, and Legal Services Groups Invite San Francisco City Attorney to Discuss Settlement, Refocus City’s Efforts to Improve Homelessness Crisis

Aug 10, 2023
The ACLU of Northern California and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area sent a letter to San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu asking him to discuss settlement terms that would prioritize developing affordable housing, expanding access to temporary shelter, and providing services to help unhoused San Franciscans get off the streets and back on their feet. Read More
Illustrated image of a white police officer using face surveillance on a Black family. It
Blog

Progress in the Fight Against Face Surveillance

Aug 08, 2023
For years, ACLU of Northern California has built momentum to ban the use of face surveillance by law enforcement. That’s why we put all our muscle behind a campaign to defeat AB 642, a bill that would have normalized real-time, mass surveillance. Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Berkeley Fails to Learn Surveillance Lessons Within 'Oppenheimer'

Aug 05, 2023
In Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer,’ there is a scene where government agents creep outside a gathering of UC Berkeley-affiliated activists to write down the license plates of those parked outside the event. Instead of learning from this history, the City of Berkeley has taken a step towards repeating it.  Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
News

Lawsuit Challenges Santa Clara Superior Court over Unconstitutional Policy that Forces Poor Defendants to Go to Jail if They Can’t Make Bail

Jul 31, 2023
In Santa Clara County, people who want to voluntarily appear in court to address an outstanding arrest warrant must first go to jail if they are too poor to post bail. The ACLU Foundation of Northern California and Criminal Defense Clinic at Stanford Law School have sued Santa Clara County Superior Court over this unconstitutional policy that results in an unequal system of justice. Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Case

O'Neill Rogge et al v. Fleming (Criminal Justice)

Jul 31, 2023
The ACLU Foundation of Northern California and our legal partner sued Santa Clara County Superior Court over its unfair policy requiring people who want to voluntarily address an outstanding arrest warrant to first go to jail if they are too poor to post bail. Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
News

Homeless Advocates Respond to San Francisco’s Flouting of Court Order to Stop Policing Unhoused People

Jul 26, 2023
The ACLU of Northern California, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area and Latham & Watkins LLP filed a brief in federal court asking a judge to appoint a special master to oversee the city of San Francisco's compliance with a December 2022 injunction barring the city from forcibly displacing unhoused people and destroying their belongings. Read More
A photo of a young child holding her mother's hand.
Blog

The Indian Child Welfare Act: A Unique Law within a Flawed System

Jul 13, 2023
The U.S. Supreme Court's affirmation of the Indian Child Welfare Act was a landmark victory for tribal sovereignty and Native families. But despite the law's protections, Native and Black children are much more likely to be removed from their homes and placed in foster care. The government must do more to support struggling families and help them stay together. Read More