News

The ACLU of Northern California supports public safety solutions that are consistent with the values of civil liberties and civil rights that San Francisco residents share. We acknowledge people are frustrated and angry about crime, but we reject the premise that keeping the public safe means abandoning our values. That is a false choice. Read More

Two new ACLU reports call on District Attorneys in Merced and Sacramento Counties to change policies that fuel mass incarceration, and racial disparities in sentencing Read More

Facing intense pressure from an ACLU-led coalition of nearly three dozen community organizations, Mayor London Breed has pulled her proposed ballot measure that would have gutted key provisions of San Francisco’s landmark surveillance oversight ordinance. Read More

Nearly three dozen community partners sent a letter expressing our grave concerns about Mayor Breed's proposal to give virtually unchecked surveillance power to the police. Read More

Central Valley sheriffs are pursuing an anti-immigrant agenda through various forms of cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, according to a new report by the ACLU of Northern California. Read More

Immigrants detained by ICE during the COVID-19 pandemic in two California detention facilities have reached a groundbreaking settlement agreement to resolve a long-running class action lawsuit against ICE and GEO, a private contractor who manages one of the facilities. Read More

The Court administers this additional fee known as the civil assessment without judicial review, adequate notice, or consideration for a person’s circumstances. The $300 charge is often six to eight times greater than the base fine for a traffic infraction in California. Read More

Civil rights groups in California sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the unlawful arrest of Brian Bukle, who has been a U.S. citizen for over 50 years. Read More

Tulare County jails are violating their legal and constitutional obligation to provide incarcerated people with adequate prenatal care. Read More

ACLU NorCal and co-counsel have sued Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones for unlawfully transferring immigrants to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The suit alleges that sheriff’s officials unlawfully transfer immigrants to ICE after they have completed their county jail sentences, rather than releasing them to their families and communities or following proper notificat... Read More

The ACLU of Northern California released findings from a year-long investigation into California Highway Patrol’s aerial surveillance of the 2020 protests following the murder of George Floyd. Read More

Representing the more than 1,200 people in custody at the Tulare County Jails, ACLU NorCal filed a motion for final approval of the settlement agreement in Criswell v. Boudreaux, an ongoing class action lawsuit against Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux for his failure to institute safety measures and policies to protect incarcerated people from COVID-19. Read More