Archive

Dear Governor Brown:While the holidays can be the most magical time of the year for some families – a time to reflect, connect, and give – the holidays can be the toughest time of year for families that are living in deep poverty.Unfortunately, for more than 20 years, California has maintained a policy of denying financial support to babies born while their families are receiving CalWORKs basic ne... Read More

A coalition of California civil rights and LGBT organizations said today that supporters of a proposed anti-transgender ballot initiative announced that they have failed to submit the signatures necessary to qualify it for the November 2016 ballot. Read More

Facebook just announced concrete changes to its harmful “real name” policy. Following up on its promise to groups including the ACLU of California, the changes are meant to reduce risks such as abusive reporting and lockouts of users and their speech from the site. Read More

I'm one of these brothers that have been through the front gates of San Quentin and the front gates of the White House, and I can't necessarily say that was a short stroll. I wish I could say it was an easy thing to do. Read More

Used tape. A dirty toothbrush. A rose with no petals. A chewed up piece of gum. The list goes on. Abstinence-only sex ed programs are notorious for using tragically bad sex metaphors to push their harmful agenda. Parents in Redding, California recently learned that their eighth-graders’ school would be teaching that “sex is like a fire” —dangerous and scary, outside the “fireplace” of marriage. Read More

We just got a pile of public records from the police department in Fresno, California. Fresno police have been using several different brands of social media surveillance software – all without the public’s consent. What’s worse, the ACLU has discovered that Fresno police have been using an especially offensive piece of software called MediaSonar, which encourages the police to identify “threats t... Read More

Rather than sinking more resources into incarceration, San Francisco should invest in smart approaches to crime prevention and public safety. Building a new jail will duplicate the mistakes of the past and exacerbate the failings of our current system. Read More

Never has it been more important for students to know their rights, especially in the face of increasing police presence in our schools. Look no further than what happened in Columbia, South Carolina last month, where video footage showed a school officer grabbing a student from her desk and throwing her to the ground. Introducing our newest campaign: My School, My Rights! This story... Read More

On Dec. 13, we're going to celebrate in Oakland—and here are 10 reasons why YOU should join us! Because the Bill of Rights belongs to us all. No matter how much money you make, what your skin color is, or your immigration status. Read More

Today, the ACLU sent the Butte County Board of Supervisors a letter to warn them that their proposal to take $650,000 from the Inmate Welfare Fund – a fund that is supposed to be used for inmates’ welfare and not everyday costs associated with housing them – to help pay for the cost of building a new county jail is illegal as well as just bad public policy. Read More