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As firefighters in California battle the deadliest wildfires in the state’s history, they are joined by unlikely allies against the blaze. About 200 prisoners in California’s Conservation Camp program are fighting the fires alongside civilian employees, earning just $1.45 a day for their work. Their pay as workers is a fraction of minimum wage. The hazard to their lives is real, as evidenced by a ... Read More

Today we proudly announce the official launch of Debt Free Justice California (DFJC). We are a concerned group of legal advocates, policy experts, researchers, and — most importantly — movement-building organizations led by impacted people. Building on the recent momentum of local criminal justice reform efforts throughout California, this statewide coalition will put a stop to the unfair ways our... Read More

San Francisco — A federal court issued a ruling on Friday that halts a Trump administration policy that blocked hundreds of lawful permanent residents from serving in the U.S. military. Judge Jon S. Tigar granted a preliminary injunction, holding that the Department of Defense likely violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act after it implemented a policy discriminating against lawful pe... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — Today, a bail-bond-industry-funded campaign turned in signatures in an effort to qualify a referendum for the November 2020 ballot asking voters to overturn Senate Bill 10, the recent bail reform legislation that would end commercial bail in California.  In response, American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California Executive Director Abdi Soltani issued the following statem... Read More

WASHINGTON — Reports released today indicate that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents are using tear gas against migrants attempting to seek asylum at the San Ysidro port of entry at the Mexico/California border. Lorella Praeli, deputy political director at the ACLU, had the following response: “Under no circumstances should CBP be using tear gas on children. This show of violence is ... Read More

On October 24, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a discrimination complaint on behalf of Black students in the Visalia Unified School District who have faced ongoing racial hostility. The complaint, filed with the Office for Civil Rights within the Department of Education, charges the district with violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by creating a racially hostile ... Read More

In yet another step toward the normalization of facial recognition as a blanket security measure, last week the Department of Homeland Security published details of a U.S. Secret Service plan to test the use of facial recognition in and around the White House. According to the document, the Secret Service will test whether its system can identify certain volunteer staff members by scanning vide... Read More

Recently, a patent application from Amazon became public that seeks to pair face surveillance — like Rekognition, the product that the company is aggressively marketing to police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement — with Ring, a doorbell camera company that Amazon bought earlier this year. While the details are sketchy, the application describes a system that the police can use to match th... Read More

BANGKOK — Google today made it clear that it has not, and will not, sell a facial recognition surveillance product until the technology’s dangers are addressed, citing its susceptibility to abuse. Nicole Ozer, technology and civil liberties director for the American Civil Liberties Union of California, issued the following comment in response: “This is a strong first step. Google today demon... Read More

Download the Fall 2019 ACLU of Northern California Newsletter and read about our latest events and initiatives. Read More