Blog

Trans women’s lives are endangered when renting hotel rooms, driving cars, walking down the street. How much longer will we sit idly by while they are murdered for having the audacity to exist? This must stop. Read More

The ACLU of Southern California sued LAUSD, asking that the school district be required to invest the appropriate amount of money to develop new or improved services for the high need students targeted under LCFF. Read More

Whatever your immigration status, you should not be arrested without proper justification. You should not have your home entered or searched without a warrant or other cause. You should not be treated differently because of your race or ethnicity. You should not have a gun pointed at your head for no reason. Read More

This piece originally appeared at PostEverything on washingtonpost.com.The ACLU joined calls this month for the state of South Carolina to unhook the “Southern Cross”—a Confederate battle flag—from the flagpole at the state capitol and permanently remove the flag from the seat of its government. When the flag came down, we applauded. South Carolina, its governor, legislatu... Read More

While the criminal justice system’s primary aim is to further public safety, all too often it is co-opted to perpetuate the history of racial inequality and economic injustice in the United States. Conscious and unconscious racial bias can impact every part of the criminal justice system, from initial stops and arrests, to bail decisions, charging practices, plea bargaining, sentencing, and time i... Read More

The tragic shooting of Kate Steinle in San Francisco has focused national attention on why her accused assailant, Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, was released from the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department’s custody in April and not deported. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and others have rushed to cast blame on the sheriff’s department for Ms. Steinle’s death. But this horrible and apparently ran... Read More

San Francisco, like many local communities, is considering the use of police body worn cameras, and the Board of Supervisors recently allocated $6.6 million for their purchase pending approval of a use policy. But for body cameras to deliver on their promise of accountability and promote public trust, there must be transparency and public trust in both the process that leads to a decision to adopt... Read More

Arizona is a little bit freer today.With a federal court’s approval, we successfully settled our lawsuit over the state law that made our clients — booksellers, photographers, publishers, and librarians — risk a felony record for publishing images fully protected by the First Amendment. The plaintiffs in the case can now do their important work delivering newsworthy, artistic, and histor... Read More

By the time Credy Madrid Calderon fled Honduras and sought asylum in the United States, he had been threatened, shot at and severely beaten by local gangs. Arriving in the United States, however, did not mean sanctuary for Credy. Instead of being reunited with his wife and children, all U.S. citizens, Credy found himself in an immigration jail. He waited there for months, uncertain of whether he w... Read More

With the introduction today of the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Woman Act, members of Congress declared not only that every woman who receives care or insurance through the federal government will have coverage for abortion services, but they also prohibited political interference with decisions by private health insurance companies to offer coverage for abortion care. Read More

If there’s one thing the First Amendment stands for, it’s that vigorous debate about the issues of the day—even, and perhaps especially, uncomfortable debate about things like racism or terrorism—should be free from government interference. Tragically, that principle has been betrayed repeatedly over the past decade and a half, as law enforcement agencies continue to single out individuals for scr... Read More

Brutality takes many forms. One kind takes your life away, another leaves your body broken. Perhaps the most insidious kind seeks you out and makes you feel terrified, harassed, unsafe, unprotected, as though people see you as a threat through no fault of your own. Read More