News

The ACLU of Northern California and Public Justice filed a motion to unseal court records and preserve public access in the class action lawsuit women who were sexually abused at FCI Dublin brought against the federal Bureau of Prisons. The First Amendment protects the right of public access to court records and judicial proceedings. Read More

The Supreme Court’s decision could have far-reaching implications for unhoused people. However, most of the legal issues in Coalition on Homelessness v. City of San Francisco, which challenges the City’s costly and ineffective practice of citing, arresting, and moving unhoused individuals without offering real alternative shelter and destroying their belongings, are not under review in the Grants ... Read More

The ACLU of Northern California re-affirmed its opposition to the recall of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, following reports that Price's critics had obtained enough signatures to force a recall election. Read More

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a lawsuit to compel the California Department of State Hospitals to produce records about severely mentally ill people who died in jail, while awaiting transfer to a treatment facility. Read More

Grants Pass v. Johnson involves an Oregon town that passed ordinances barring people from sleeping outside in public using a blanket, pillow, or even a cardboard sheet to lie on. Last year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that criminally punishing unhoused people violates the Eighth Amendment “if there are no other public areas or appropriate shelters where those individuals can sleep.” Read More

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A federal district court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office (SFSO) from requiring that individuals agree to unconstitutional “four-way” searches and GPS location data-sharing as conditions of pretrial release on electronic monitoring absent a court order. Read More

In a brief filed in federal district court, plaintiffs in Coalition on Homelessness v. City of San Francisco argued that the case should proceed while the U.S. Supreme Court reviews Grants Pass v. Johnson. Read More

Although one of thirteen claims directly builds on the findings in the Grants Pass case, the San Francisco lawsuit also deals with separate issues affecting unhoused individuals including the City’s destruction of property and failure to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. Read More

The decision could upend decades of established Supreme Court precedent, and reopen a definition of cruel and unusual punishment that protects all Americans from unconstitutional treatment in the criminal legal system. Read More

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a federal judge’s finding that San Francisco had likely violated the constitutional rights of homeless people thousands of times in recent years by criminalizing their existence. Read More

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California opposes Proposition E, a measure on the March 2024 San Francisco ballot. Read More