http://www.aclunc.org/news/index.rss Visit the ACLU of Northern California's News Section to learn more and get involved. en-us Tuesday, May 13, 200810:05:40 PST http://www.aclunc.org/news/rss_feeds.shtml Weblog Editor 2.0 croallos@aclunc.org (Catrina Roallos) croallos@aclunc.org (Catrina Roallos) 60 SAN FRANCISCO - The FBI has withdrawn an unconstitutional national security letter (NSL) issued to the Internet Archive after a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). As the result of a settlement agreement, the FBI withdrew the NSL and agreed to the unsealing of the case, finally allowing the Archive's founder to speak out for the first time about his battle against the record demand. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/fbi_withdraws_unconstitutional_national_security_letter_after_aclu_and_eff_challenge.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/fbi_withdraws_unconstitutional_national_security_letter_after_aclu_and_eff_challenge.shtml May 7, 2008 PST SAN FRANCISCO - A class action lawsuit on behalf of Native American middle schoolers will move forward as a result of a federal judge’s rejection of the school district’s motion to have the suit dismissed. The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC), charges that the Del Norte County Unified School District discriminated against Native American students on the basis of race when it decided to close grades 6-8 of Margaret Keating School in Klamath, California. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu_lawsuit_on_behalf_of_native_american_students_advances.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu_lawsuit_on_behalf_of_native_american_students_advances.shtml May 1, 2008 PST SAN FRANCISCO –Maternal and child health advocates and leading public interest law groups have filed a lawsuit against the state of California seeking to end a requirement that low-income working women must be residents of California for six months before they are eligible to receive prenatal and other medical care services through California’s Access for Infants and Mothers (AIM) insurance program. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/civil_rights_groups_sue_state_over_6-month_in-state_residency_requirement_for_women_in_need_of_pre-natal_care.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/civil_rights_groups_sue_state_over_6-month_in-state_residency_requirement_for_women_in_need_of_pre-natal_care.shtml April 24, 2008 PST SAN FRANCISCO – In response to a letter from the ACLU of Northern California (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 show that a law or school rule was violated. The District’s new policy also limits the scope of the search to the alleged infraction leading to the seizure of a cell phone. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/school_district_agrees_to_protect_students_privacy.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/school_district_agrees_to_protect_students_privacy.shtml April 17, 2008 PST The ACLU of Northern California filed a request today under the Sunshine Ordinance with the San Francisco Mayor’s Office and San Francisco Police Department seeking records relating to the Olympic torch relay. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu_seeks_information_from_city_on_torch_route_planning_and_crowd_control.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu_seeks_information_from_city_on_torch_route_planning_and_crowd_control.shtml April 10, 2008 PST SAN FRANCISCO - The ACLU of Northern California has serious concerns about the city’s decision to change the route of today’s Olympic torch relay in an apparent attempt to avoid protestors. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu_calls_change_to_torch_route_an_end_run_around_the_first_amendment.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu_calls_change_to_torch_route_an_end_run_around_the_first_amendment.shtml April 9, 2008 PST SAN FRANCISCO—California’s death penalty is costing us well over a $100 million each year, but no one is keeping track of just how much or why. In a new report titled “The Hidden Death Tax,” the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California reveals for the first time some of the hidden costs of California’s death penalty. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/hidden_costs_of_death_penalty_revealed_in_two_new_aclu_reports.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/hidden_costs_of_death_penalty_revealed_in_two_new_aclu_reports.shtml March 28, 2008 PST SAN FRANCISCO – The Mayor’s Office responded today to a Public Records Act request filed by the ACLU of Northern California 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. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/s.f._mayors_office_responds_to_aclus_first_amendment_concerns_surrounding_olympic_torch_relay.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/s.f._mayors_office_responds_to_aclus_first_amendment_concerns_surrounding_olympic_torch_relay.shtml March 26, 2008 PST SAN FRANCISCO – A new process that allows people who have been placed on a gang injunction enforcement list to petition to have themselves removed by showing that they are no longer active gang members is a positive step, say ACLU of Northern California and LCCR attorneys, who today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the San Francisco City Attorney. The agreement follows months of negotiation. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu,_lawyers_committee_and_s.f._city_attorney_agree_to_removal_process_from_gang_injunction_lists.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu,_lawyers_committee_and_s.f._city_attorney_agree_to_removal_process_from_gang_injunction_lists.shtml March 24, 2008 PST SAN JOSE, CA - The American Civil Liberties Union today announced it will appeal a federal court decision to throw out a lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan for its role in the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program. Mohamed et al. v. Jeppesen, filed by the ACLU on behalf of five victims of the rendition program, was dismissed in February after the government intervened, once again misusing the “state secrets” privilege to avoid legal scrutiny of an unlawful program. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu_appeals_dismissal_of_extraordinary_rendition_lawsuit_against_boeing_subsidiary.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu_appeals_dismissal_of_extraordinary_rendition_lawsuit_against_boeing_subsidiary.shtml March 14, 2008 PST SACRAMENTO -- Following an intensive advocacy campaign, the ACLU of Northern California is delighted to announce that California Department of Education has adopted its first-ever set of K-12 Health Education Content Standards. The new standards include essential information about sexual orientation, contraception, and other important topics critical to the health and wellbeing of young people in California. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/historic_victory_for_sex_ed.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/historic_victory_for_sex_ed.shtml March 13, 2008 PST SAN FRANCISCO – Attorneys for same-sex couples presented arguments to the California Supreme Court today in a historic lawsuit seeking to strike down a state law that bars lesbians and gay men from marriage. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/same-sex_couples_ask_california_supreme_court_to_strike_down_marriage_ban.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/same-sex_couples_ask_california_supreme_court_to_strike_down_marriage_ban.shtml March 4, 2008 PST SAN FRANCISCO - The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Northern California and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) last night filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit that led a federal district judge to order the domain name Wikileaks.org shut down. The motion is on behalf of organizations and individuals that have accessed and used documents on the Wikileaks.org website in their work and want to continue to be able to do so. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu_and_eff_file_to_intervene_in_internet_free_speech_lawsuit.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu_and_eff_file_to_intervene_in_internet_free_speech_lawsuit.shtml February 27, 2008 PST Maya Harris, executive director of the ACLU of Northern California, and other representatives of the ACLU are in Geneva this week to testify before the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The ACLU delegation will provide detailed testimony intended to counter the stark shortcomings of the U.S. government report to CERD, including the absence of data on California, the country’s most racially diverse state. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu_in_geneva_to_testify_on_ongoing_racial_and_ethnic_injustice.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu_in_geneva_to_testify_on_ongoing_racial_and_ethnic_injustice.shtml February 20, 2008 PST SAN JOSE, CA - A federal court yesterday bowed to pressure from the Bush administration and dismissed a case against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. for the company’s role in the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/court_decision_denies_extraordinary_rendition_victims_their_day_in_court.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/court_decision_denies_extraordinary_rendition_victims_their_day_in_court.shtml February 14, 2008 PST SAN FRANCISCO – The California Supreme Court announced today that it will hear oral arguments on March 4 in the marriage cases challenging the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/california_high_court_to_hear_oral_arguments_in_historic_marriage_case_on_march_4.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/california_high_court_to_hear_oral_arguments_in_historic_marriage_case_on_march_4.shtml February 6, 2008 PST The American Civil Liberties Union will argue in federal court today for the continuation of its case against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. for the company’s role in the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program. The ACLU is opposing the government’s attempt to throw out the case by misusing the “state secrets” privilege in an effort to avoid legal scrutiny of the unlawful and shameful program. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu_in_court_today_in_lawsuit_against_boeing_subsidiary_that_aided_cia_torture_flights.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu_in_court_today_in_lawsuit_against_boeing_subsidiary_that_aided_cia_torture_flights.shtml February 5, 2008 PST The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice will begin hearings on California’s broken death penalty system on Jan. 10 in Sacramento. The state Commission’s task is to recommend reforms for the many problems that plague California’s death penalty. But on the same day, Gov. Schwarzenegger will release his plan to deal with state’s crippling $14 billion budget deficit, raising serious questions about whether the state can afford to pay for the many reforms needed. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/historic_hearings_on_californias_broken_death_penalty_begin_jan._10.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/historic_hearings_on_californias_broken_death_penalty_begin_jan._10.shtml January 9, 2008 PST San Francisco -- In a letter addressed to the Board of Supervisors, the Public Defender’s Office, the ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC) and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights (LCCR) requested today that the City enact a policy to ensure that all persons named in San Francisco gang injunctions are given the opportunity to be removed from the injunctions when appropriate. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/public_defenders_office,_aclu,_and_lawyers_committee_for_civil_rights_call_for_gang_injunction_exit_process.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/public_defenders_office,_aclu,_and_lawyers_committee_for_civil_rights_call_for_gang_injunction_exit_process.shtml December 19, 2007 PST SAN JOSE – The American Civil Liberties Union today filed legal papers opposing the CIA’s attempt to throw out a lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. for its participation in the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program. The ACLU charged that the U.S. government is improperly invoking the “state secrets” privilege to avoid judicial scrutiny of this unlawful policy. http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu_opposes_governments_attempt_to_throw_out_rendition_case_under_guise_of_state_secrets.shtml http://www.aclunc.org/news/press_releases/aclu_opposes_governments_attempt_to_throw_out_rendition_case_under_guise_of_state_secrets.shtml December 14, 2007 PST