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The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California today sent a letter to members of an Oakland City Council committee demanding there be more transparency and oversight over the city’s ongoing plans to build a domain awareness center (DAC) – essentially a central surveillance hub for law enforcement. Read More

The ACLU of Northern California today submitted an analysis of the City of Alameda’s draft policies for automated license plate readers (ALPR), which the city will discuss next Monday night at a public forum hosted by the city council. Read More

The ACLU of California and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCR) today filed a lawsuit charging the state with unconstitutionally stripping tens of thousands of people of their right to vote. Read More

Today’s order from the three-judge panel overseeing the standing federal court order to reduce the state’s prison population to 137.5 percent of capacity gives the state an additional two year extension to comply, and Plaintiffs’ attorneys’ are justifiably concerned about ongoing constitutional violations inside the prisons due to the continued overcrowding. Read More

Just under a month ago, the California State Board of Education was tasked with reviewing and voting on the emergency spending regulations and accountability template, the rules that govern how school districts must use the funding they have received under Governor Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and how they will be held accountable to ensuring that the promise of the LCFF becomes a ... 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

Oakland Police Department (OPD) documents obtained by the ACLU of Northern California and released for the first time today reveal an example of OPD officers engaging in unconstitutional selective enforcement based on political ideology, underscoring serious and ongoing concerns about the city’s planned Domain Awareness Center and its potential for abuse. Read More

We are pleased that following our shareholder advocacy, AT&T has now joined Verizon and released its first transparency report. AT&T’s report shows how large volumes of customer information have been disclosed, typically without a warrant. Read More

Taking photos of things that are plainly visible from public spaces is a constitutional right. Unfortunately, officers keep ordering people to stop taking photos, and harassing, detaining and arresting those who fail to comply. Know your rights. Read More

Today, the effort to repeal the School Success and Opportunity Act—California’s new law ensuring that all children have opportunities to do well in school—failed to qualify for the ballot. Read More