Preventing Litigation Through Advocacy

ACLU-NC is frequently able to protect civil liberties without going to court. To halt violations of individual rights, we communicate directly with people who have the authority to change policies and practices. Click here for samples of letters that reflect our non-litigation advocacy.

April 2010

ACLU Calls on UC Berkeley to Respect Constitutional Rights in Student Disciplinary Process
The ACLU-NC sent a letter to U.C. Berkeley, criticizing its handling of discipline against students involved in on-campus protests in 2009. Students were issued overbroad suspensions that limited even their off-campus communications in violation of the rights to free association and speech. Read More »

June 2008

Settlement Protects Students from Anti-Gay Harassment
The ACLU-NC reached a settlement with a Lake County school district that contains a series of steps the district will undertake to protect students from anti-gay harassment and discrimination. The agreement is on behalf of a student who was persistently subjected to verbal taunting and physical abuse based on his sexual orientation. The ACLU-NC sought this settlement, reached without a lawsuit with the Upper Lake Union Elementary School District, in light of federal and state laws that allow for school administrators to be held liable if they fail to take adequate measures to remedy anti-LGBT harassment and discrimination. Read More »

April 2008

School District Changes Its Unconstitutional Cell Phone Search Policy
In response to a March 3, 2007, letter from the ACLU-NC, the Linden Unified School District has agreed not to read private text messages stored on students' cell phones unless there is good reason to believe that the search will provide evidence that the student was violating the law or breaking a school rule. The district's new policy also limits the scope of the search to the alleged infraction leading to the seizure of the cell phone. Read More »

March 2008

Free Speech and the Olympic Torch
The San Francisco Mayor's Office has responded to a Public Records Act request filed by the ACLU-NC seeking information about the procedures the city intends to follow during public demonstrations expected to surround the passing of the Olympic Torch through San Francisco on April 9. The letter indicates that the city does not plan to restrict the activity of protestors. Read More »

September 2007

ACLU Protects Native American Children in Landmark School Settlement
Bishop, in eastern California, has roughly 3,400 residents, with 1,500 Paiute Tribe members living on a nearby reservation. Parents reported to the ACLU-NC that on Oct. 11, 2005, a School Resource Officer manhandled several Native-American students at Bishop Union Elementary School District, causing one to lose consciousness. The vice principal relied only on the officer's account, suspending the students involved. Filing Public Records Act requests with BUESD, the ACLU soon uncovered a long history of harsh disciplinary treatment of Native-American students by school officials. Negotiations involving parents and the school district led to a groundbreaking settlement on Sept. 12, 2007, instituting reforms that protect Native-American children from racial discrimination. Read More »

October 2007

ACLU Prompts State Hospitals to Halt Forced Medication of Patients
In May 2007, the ACLU of Northern California and Protection and Advocacy, Inc., a statewide disability rights organization, issued a letter to the California Department of Mental Health stating our concern that the state hospital system was forcibly drugging patients who have been tried for crimes and were found not guilty by reason of insanity. Read More »