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ACLU of Northern CA
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ACLU Stands Up for Sheriff's Free Speech

Nov 19, 2012
You don't surrender your constitutional rights based on who you work for. That's why the ACLU of Northern California sued on behalf of a deputy sheriff in Trinity County who was censured at work after publishing letters to the editor in the local paper.A judge agreed, and has issued a permanent injunction in behalf of our client, protecting his free speech rights. The injunction means that the Tri... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Wait Wait...Do Tell Me: Why It's Time to Start Demanding Transparency from Companies That Share Consumer Information

Nov 20, 2012
Think Facebook is only interested in your online activity? Think again. The company recently announced a partnership with information broker Datalogix, which operates many of the loyalty card programs we use to get a discount at stores like CVS. The partnership — one of Facebook's three new advertising programs —allows Facebook to gauge the effectiveness of its ads by learning about the offline pu... Read More
drones
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Alameda County Sheriff has Secret Plans to Unleash Surveillance Drone, Documents Show

Dec 04, 2012
Buried on the Board of Supervisor's 66-item agenda for its December 4, 2012 hearing was a surprising request by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office for approval to "apply for, accept and administer" funds from the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal-EMA) to buy a drone.This was very troubling for a number of reasons.The Sheriff to date has not been forthcoming about his intentions and act... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

California Attorney General: Immigration Detainers are Voluntary

Dec 05, 2012
For the first time yesterday, California Attorney General Kamala Harris publicly weighed in on the hotly-contested federal immigration program, Secure Communities (S-Comm).In an information bulletin to local law enforcement agencies, she provides much needed clarification to these agencies about the parameters of their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Her statement should finally ... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
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U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Prop 8 Challenge, ACLU Challenge to Defense of Marriage Act

Dec 07, 2012
The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will grant review in Hollingsworth v. Perry, the challenge to California’s Proposition 8, and in Windsor v. United States, the ACLU’s challenge to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. The ACLU of California was co-counsel with Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights in In Re Marriage Cases, the case that legalized marriage for Calif... Read More
drones
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Is All (Drone) Politics Local?

Dec 07, 2012
The next time a cop sees a picture of you, that picture may not have been taken by a person at all. Unmanned flying drones can allow their operators to remotely - and cheaply - monitor and record individuals, groups, or locations. These drones pose significant threats to privacy when police can use them to peer into homes or track an individual's actions from afar. While law enforcement agencies a... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
News

CDCR Documents Reveal "Secret Mission" to Acquire Lethal Injection Drug

Dec 10, 2012
Following a California Superior Court order on Nov. 30, 2010, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) released 989 pages of heavily redacted records to the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC). The documents reveal a "secret mission" by the Department to acquire sodium thiopental, a controlled substance used as part of California's lethal injec... Read More