Search Results

Caltrans truck at homeless encampment
News

Civil Rights Groups Sue Caltrans to Stop Illegal Raids Against California’s Homeless

Dec 12, 2016
A lawsuit filed today by civil rights groups charges the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) with violating the constitutional rights of homeless people by confiscating and destroying their property in ongoing sweeps. On multiple occasions, Caltrans has failed to give proper notice before raiding encampments—refusing plaintiffs an opportunity to move their belongings before destroyi... Read More
Workers throw homeless people's property into a Caltrans truck
Blog

Client Stories: Illegal Caltrans Sweeps of Homeless Encampments

Dec 13, 2016
Sometimes the trucks arrive early. Sometimes they come with no notice at all. Sometimes, while workers from the California Department of Transportation make their way down the row of tents—seizing property and cherished belongings—people have mere minutes or seconds to grab everything they can carry before their bedding, clothes, tools, bikes, medicine, food, shelter, and other property are thrown... Read More
Dataminr protest social media surveillance demo
Blog

Twitter Cuts Off Fusion Spy Centers’ Access to Social Media Surveillance Tool

Dec 15, 2016
As of this week, Twitter has made sure that federally funded fusion centers can no longer use a powerful social media monitoring tool to spy on users. After the ACLU of California discovered the domestic spy centers had access to these tools, provided by Dataminr (a company partly owned by Twitter), Dataminr was forced to comply with Twitter’s clear rule prohibiting use of data for surveillance.&n... Read More
A meeting on a residential street in Richmond
Blog

VICTORY! Richmond, CA Passes New Affordable Housing Law for Formerly Incarcerated People

Dec 20, 2016
Finding affordable housing is tough. Finding affordable housing when you’re returning home after serving time is nearly impossible. Last night, the Richmond City Council passed a historic law to protect the rights of people who are re-entering society and find themselves excluded from housing opportunities because of their criminal record. Many people who have been convicted of a crime face c... Read More
Richmond City Council Meeting Passes Fair Housing Ordinance for Formerly Incarcerated People
News

Richmond City Council Adopts Fair Chance Housing Ordinance

Dec 21, 2016
The Richmond City Council last night voted to approve a “Fair Chance Access to Affordable Housing” ordinance to protect the rights of people who are re-entering society and find themselves excluded from housing opportunities because of their criminal record. Read More
man holds sign saying "Fascism is not our national policy yet"
Blog

Dissent is Patriotic. It’s also a Powerful Antidote to Propaganda - #ACLUTimeMachine

Jan 11, 2017
Fifty-five years ago this January, the ACLU of Northern California was busy filling orders from across the country for copies of its recently produced film, “Operation Correction.” The film was a response to a piece of Red Scare propaganda, “Operation Abolition,” which was produced by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and depicted civil liberties activists in San Francisco as viole... Read More
Resist & Reclaim: From MLK to Inauguration Day
News

ACLU of Northern California Statement in Support of the Movement for Black Lives

Jan 16, 2017
The ACLU of Northern California stands in support of the Movement for Black Lives. As we prepare to enter the presidency of a man who has called for the adoption of racist policies like Stop-and-Frisk and nominated an opponent of civil rights to run the Department of Justice, it is more important than ever that we actively resist the unrelenting oppression of Black people.We condemn the viole... Read More
A storefront in California's Central Valley sells clean drinking water
Blog

From Flint to Standing Rock to California’s Salinas Valley, Water is a Human Right

Jan 25, 2017
Everyone has a right to safe, clean, affordable drinking water. And the news this week means we’re going to have to shout it from the rooftops. Water is life. Water is a human right.One of Donald Trump’s first actions as president was to issue an executive order to violate the  water rights of the Standing Rock Sioux and advance the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. In the words of ... Read More