Cases To Watch

Cases in our current docket that hold promise in establishing important contemporary precedents in protecting and defending civil liberties.

Associated General Contractors of America v. California Department of Transportation (2009)
On September 14, 2009 ACLU-NC and civil rights allies filed a motion to intervene in Associated General Contractors of America v. California Department of Transportation. The lawsuit, currently pending in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, was brought by the Pacific Legal Foundation and seeks to dismantle support Caltrans' Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program . DBE aims to give minority and women-owned businesses equal opportunity to compete for federal contracts. The ACLU-NC motion to intervene was filed on behalf of small businesses led by women and people of color who support DBE program and oppose the lawsuit.

Haskell v. Brown (2009)
ACLU-NC filed a lawsuit in federal court on October 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 January 1, 2009.

Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. (2009)
In a historic decision on April 21, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reinstated our landmark lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen DataPlan Inc. for its role in the Bush administration's unlawful extraordinary rendition program. The court ruled that cases like this one may not be dismissed on the grounds that "the very subject matter" of the lawsuit is a state secret. Rather, the government must invoke the state secrets privilege with respect to specific evidence, on an item-by-item basis. The Government and Jeppesen have now asked the Ninth Circuit to have an 11-member panel of judges rehear the case en banc.  We are awaiting the court’s decision as to whether it will grant the request.

Committee for Immigrant Rights of Sonoma County et al. v. County of Sonoma et al. (2008)
The ACLU-NC filed a lawsuit in September 2008 charging that the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department and the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been collaborating beyond the law to target, arrest, and detain Latino residents of Sonoma County. For three years sheriff deputies and ICE agents have stopped and searched people who appear to be Latino, interrogated them about their immigration status, and detained them in the county jail without lawful authority. The lawsuit charges that the actions by the local sheriff and ICE violated constitutional guarantees of due process, equal protection, and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, and that the Sheriff's Department acted beyond its authority in enforcing federal immigration law.

Williams et al. v. City of Antioch (2008)
The ACLU and co-counsel filed a class action lawsuit in federal court July 16, 2008, charging that the city of Antioch and its police department are engaged in a concerted campaign of intimidation, harassment, and discrimination against African Americans who receive federally funded Section 8 housing rent assistance. The lawsuit charges violations of state and federal laws, including the Fair Housing Act; the Fourth Amendment; and the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits intentional discrimination on the basis of race. It seeks an injunction against the city of Antioch to force it to stop its targeting of African-American tenants.