Forging Ahead with Clear Eyes and Strong Resolve
The results of the November 2024 election — at both the federal and state levels — compel us to look ahead with clear eyes and strong resolve to protect civil liberties and civil rights. We balance our sober understanding of the threats ahead with our enduring commitment to a vision of the United States and its Constitution that respects the rights of all persons.
Following a year-long process, the boards of the ACLU of Northern California approved our 2025-2028 Strategic Framework, which we refresh with each presidential term.
Over the next four years, we will mobilize the talents of our staff, boards, and volunteers, and work with our partners to advance and protect civil liberties and civil rights. To that end, here are a few of our priorities:
Respond to Policies of the Trump Administration
The ACLU of Northern California will be nimble in response to policies of the Trump Administration that undermine civil liberties and civil rights. And we expect there will be many. For the past year, the ACLU and affiliates nationwide have analyzed the record of Trump’s first administration, his campaign promises, and policy agendas like Project 2025.
In Northern California and alongside ACLU nationwide, we will monitor and challenge actions and policies of the Trump administration that infringe on our rights. We will also advance state legislative reforms to further safeguard and bolster protections in California law as a firewall for freedom.
Double Down on Criminal Justice Reform
The November election included the passage of Proposition 36, which the ACLU of Northern California strongly opposed. Prop 36’s passage was based on hyperbolic, fear-inducing messaging and on the illusion that drug treatment would be provided — even though the measure takes funding away from treatment. In response, the ACLU of Northern California will double down on our criminal justice reform advocacy and public education, both to prevent further rollbacks, and to make progress with laws such as the Racial Justice Act. We will continue to tackle abusive local policing and the injustices of our criminal justice system at the county and state level.
Defend Democracy
We will also gear up to defend the fundamental rights of all people to speak, assemble, and protest, and to hold decision-makers accountable through access to open government. We will monitor voting rights issues for significant threats. We will also continue our long-standing work safeguarding the right to privacy and free expression in the context of rapidly evolving new technologies. We will be attentive to the rapid deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and the ways in which it can violate people’s rights, threaten their freedoms, and automate discrimination.
Advance Equality and Justice
The ACLU of Northern California has a long-standing commitment to the tenets of equal protection under the law and addressing systemic inequalities in society. As a continuation of our work to safeguard and advance racial and economic justice, in the wake of the Supreme Court Grants Pass decision, we will explore and advance new ways to protect unhoused residents from poverty-based criminal sanctions.
Across the breadth of the ACLU of Northern California’s issues, we will also expand our monitoring and advocacy of cases at the California Supreme Court. Long part and parcel of our work here in California, state law and state courts will be an increasingly important domain for legal advocacy.
We have our work cut out for us across these and many other issues. We look forward to being in partnership with you to advance justice for all.
