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The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson opens the door for cities to cite and arrest people simply for being homeless. However, San Francisco has policies and an ordinance requiring the city to offer shelter before clearing encampments. Our lawsuit challenging San Francisco's costly and ineffective response to homelessness will proceed. Read More

The State of California will be required to strengthen oversight of school districts to prevent systemic discrimination against Black students, children with disabilities and English learners. Read More

Last week, over 50 organizations wrote to Congress to warn of the dangers of including broad preemption in the pending federal privacy bill, the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA) Read More

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