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.
Breaking the Cycle of Incarceration for Women
Aug 28, 2018
Prosecutors and judges can stop harmful "generational incarceration" by looking at public safety with a trauma-informed eye on alternatives.
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Why Does the U.S. Prosecute and Incarcerate Children as Adults?
Aug 22, 2018
Frankie Guzman was 15 years old the first time he committed a crime. Even though it was his first offense, the prosecutor pushed for harsh punishment, ignoring an alternative path to rehabilitation.
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Protecting Immigrant Privacy with SB 54, the California Values Act
Aug 21, 2018
The federal government has long targeted people using information collected at the state and local level. A new California law offers new opportunities to curtail the flow of sensitive data that fuels Trump's deportation machine.
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Fresno’s Vision of the Future Needs All of Its Voices
Aug 20, 2018
Fresno County’s general plan violates California state law and ignores the needs of Fresno’s most vulnerable community members. Fresno should adopt a plan that includes the voices of all of its residents.
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California May Make Abortion Pill Available at All Public University Student Health Centers
Aug 17, 2018
California, the nation’s most populous state and a national leader in protecting and advancing reproductive health, could become the first to ensure that medication abortion is available to college students in public universities.
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Police Are Acquiring Surveillance Tech in Secret. A California Bill Would Give the Public a Say.
Aug 07, 2018
A groundbreaking bill pending in California would bring this day-to-day local surveillance out of the shadows and give communities a way to fight back against surveillance systems that are disproportionately aimed at immigrants and people of color.
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Amazon’s Face Recognition Falsely Matched 28 Members of Congress With Mugshots
Jul 26, 2018
In a test the ACLU recently conducted of Amazon's facial recognition tool, called “Rekognition,” the software incorrectly matched 28 members of Congress, identifying them as other people who have been arrested for a crime. The false matches were disproportionately of people of color.
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Electric Scooters Are Racing to Collect Your Data
Jul 25, 2018
Scooter companies Spin, Bird, and Lime are racing to gather your personal data, and have failed to take the time and steps necessary to properly address rider privacy.
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ICE Put Me in a Hot Van with No Windows or Water. I Thought I Would Die.
Jul 09, 2018
What happened to me was unacceptable.
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No Peace Without Justice
Jun 28, 2018
On the 150th Anniversary of the 14th Amendment, we’re talking about a promise of equality that was bookended by violence. On the front end was the vicious enslavement of Black people; on the back-end was the Jim Crow era, a response that successfully and brutally reinforced racial segregation in opposition to the rights afforded Black people by the 14th Amendment. In both cases, violence was prote...
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Celebrate Pride Month by Improving California Laws
Jun 22, 2018
June is Pride month, a month to celebrate the strength and activism of LGBTQ people. We at the ACLU of California are excited to be working on three LGBTQ-related bills this year to make things better for students, youth in foster care, and people in jail or prison.
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Despite Trump’s Order, for Many Families the Nightmare Is Just Beginning
Jun 21, 2018
President Trump's executive order has no plan to reunite over 2,300 children who have been take away from their parents. We will be monitoring the administration’s to see if family separations really stop.
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