Legal Docket

The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors violated the California Constitution’s requirement that the government remain neutral on matters of religion when it passed a resolution recognizing a local Christian ministry for, among other things, its “advocacy and education” “to enlighten and strengthen the lives of women and young women in Calaveras County by inviting them to test and see for themsel... Read More

TSA employees at two different airports subjected Malaika Singleton to unreasonable, discriminatory searches of her hair within a week - because she is black. Read More

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a lawsuit in federal court on Oct. 7, 2009 seeking to stop California's policy of mandating that DNA is collected from anyone arrested for a felony, whether or not they are ever charged or convicted. The policy is a result of Proposition 69, which was enacted by voters in 2004 and went into effect on Jan. 1, 2009. Under this new law, people who a... Read More

The ACLU filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act to compel the Federal Housing Finance Agency to provide details about the its relationship with the financial industry and its efforts to block municipalities from using eminent domain to prevent foreclosures. Read More

In May 2014, the County of Sacramento adopted an ordinance making it a crime to panhandle except when soliciting donations for charitable purposes. The ACLU Foundation of Northern California sued to stop the enforcement of the new law, which prohibits free speech. Read More

The Sacramento International Airport features a wide range of amenities including various restaurants and shops, art displays, and a massage bar. The airport also rents scores of display cases for advertising throughout the terminals, including both static and multi-media displays.  One of the advertisement cases is rented by the California Endowment, a non-profit foundation that seeks to ... Read More

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and the ACLU Foundations of Oregon, Southern California, Northern California, and New Mexico have filed a legal challenge on behalf of ten U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who cannot fly to or from the United States or over U.S. airspace because they are on the "No Fly List"—a component of the government's watch list system. None ... Read More

A class action settlement ending the blanket policy of shackling adult detainees in immigration court, regardless of their history or capacity for disruption. Read More

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California and NCYL have charged school officials in two Humboldt County towns with intentionally discriminating against Native American and Black students by allowing the pervasive racial and sexual harassment of these students to go unchallenged. Read More

In 2010, Long Beach officers shot and killed Douglas Zerby when they mistakenly believed the garden hose nozzle he was holding was a gun. A concerned LA Times journalist requested the names of the officers involved under the CA Public Record Act, but the requested information was not disclosed. Read More

In 1996, the people of California passed an initiative to ensure that “seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes.” This initiative (Proposition 215), as well as a later law passed by the Legislature (S.B. 420), makes it clear that California patients and their caregivers can grow and cultivate marijuana for medical use. However, at the end of 2013 t... Read More

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a lawsuit against the City and County of San Francisco and San Francisco Police Chief Gregory Suhr on March 20, 2013 challenging the warrantless searches of cell phones of individuals who have been arrested. The suit was brought on behalf of a civil rights activist, Bob Offer-Westort, whose cell phone was searched by the San Francisco Police Departm... Read More