open to all two women

Blog

We can be pretty sure that each new day will bring two things: new threats to our civil liberties, and new stories of people standing up for their rights and winning. Behind every court ruling is a person. Behind every landmark law is a movement. Read the stories and hear the voices that ground our work.

Vanity Fair cover - Caityln Jenner
Blog

Call Her Caitlyn - Not Your Typical Trans Story

Jun 01, 2015
Today Caitlyn Jenner introduced herself to the world in a fabulous Vanity Fair spread. “Call me Caitlyn,” she tells the public in this latest cover story and through her recently launched @Caitlyn­­_Jenner Twitter handle. It is important that people do actually call her Caitlyn. Read More
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ACLU on the Oakland Protest Curfew: Let the People March

May 29, 2015
Across the country communities are rising up to protest police violence and to assert that Black Lives Matter. We stand in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter and with the recent #SayHerName demonstrations about police violence against Black women.In a powerful and inspiring recent display of non-violent civil disobedience, Black women blocked traffic in downtown San Francisco during the morning rus... Read More
Students raise hands in classroom
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New Bill Will Strengthen Sex Education in California

May 29, 2015
The California Healthy Youth Act (AB 329), by Assemblymember Shirley Weber, will update and strengthen existing requirements for HIV prevention education and sexual health education to ensure that students receive education that is accurate, comprehensive, and inclusive. Read More
Police swat team via Flickr
Blog

A Plug-and-Play Model Policy for Police Body Cameras

May 21, 2015
A growing chorus of elected officials, law enforcement, and community leaders settled on an answer to the senseless deaths of unarmed people of color at the hands of law enforcement: body cameras. And one in four police agencies have already started using them. Read More
San Quentin
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California’s Death Penalty: All Cost, No Justice

May 20, 2015
Since the death penalty was reinstated in California in 1978, taxpayers have spent over $4 billion to prop up the defunct system. There are currently 750 men and women on death row. Most die of old age, not execution. We hope that California’s leaders will finally tackle this monstrous problem and replace the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole. Read More
Associate Director Christine P. Sun
Blog

CA Chief Justice Agrees: Traffic Courts Can’t Charge Fees in Advance of Trial

May 19, 2015
Across California, traffic courts are withholding the right to contest a traffic citation until the fines and fees for the citation are paid in full. This unfair practice violates constitutional guarantees of due process and unfairly impacts low-income people. But now there’s been an exciting development that could put an end to this practice once and for all. Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye has dire... Read More
Vigil outside of SF Immigration Court
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VICTORY! Clergy Can’t be Shut Out of Immigration Court Anymore

May 15, 2015
Building security at the San Francisco Immigration Court was forbidding pastors, who participated in the peaceful vigils outside the court, from accompanying families to their immigration court hearings in what we saw as blatant retaliation, even though both activities are strongly protected by the First Amendment. This carried with it serious constitutional implications and took an emotional toll... Read More
Woman going through airport security
Blog

TSA Makes Improvements to Get Out of Hairy Mess

May 13, 2015
Earlier this year, I shared my experiences and that of my client, Malaika Singleton, Ph.D. In my case, a TSA agent suddenly grabbed by hair without any warning and squeezed it from top to bottom after I had passed through the advanced imaging technology (AIT) body scanner at the airport. But this did not happen to me just once. In fact, I was selected for hair pat-downs during three out of four tr... Read More