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Executive summary The question of whether or not California should legalize adult use of marijuana beyond medical purposes is gaining increased attention by voters and policymakers in California. Four states and the District of Columbia have voted to legalize recreational marijuana use, and each offers important lessons for California. But there are circumstances that are unique to our state th... Read More

While the criminal justice system’s primary aim is to further public safety, all too often it is co-opted to perpetuate the history of racial inequality and economic injustice in the United States. Conscious and unconscious racial bias can impact every part of the criminal justice system, from initial stops and arrests, to bail decisions, charging practices, plea bargaining, sentencing, and time i... Read More

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project, and the law firm Paul Hastings LLP filed a lawsuit against Fresno County and the state of California, seeking an overhaul of the county’s deficient public defense system. Because public defenders do not receive the resources necessary to represent their clients, thousands of Fresno County residents a... Read More

The tragic shooting of Kate Steinle in San Francisco has focused national attention on why her accused assailant, Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, was released from the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department’s custody in April and not deported. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and others have rushed to cast blame on the sheriff’s department for Ms. Steinle’s death. But this horrible and apparently ran... Read More

San Francisco, like many local communities, is considering the use of police body worn cameras, and the Board of Supervisors recently allocated $6.6 million for their purchase pending approval of a use policy. But for body cameras to deliver on their promise of accountability and promote public trust, there must be transparency and public trust in both the process that leads to a decision to adopt... Read More

Arizona is a little bit freer today.With a federal court’s approval, we successfully settled our lawsuit over the state law that made our clients — booksellers, photographers, publishers, and librarians — risk a felony record for publishing images fully protected by the First Amendment. The plaintiffs in the case can now do their important work delivering newsworthy, artistic, and histor... Read More

By the time Credy Madrid Calderon fled Honduras and sought asylum in the United States, he had been threatened, shot at and severely beaten by local gangs. Arriving in the United States, however, did not mean sanctuary for Credy. Instead of being reunited with his wife and children, all U.S. citizens, Credy found himself in an immigration jail. He waited there for months, uncertain of whether he w... Read More

With the introduction today of the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Woman Act, members of Congress declared not only that every woman who receives care or insurance through the federal government will have coverage for abortion services, but they also prohibited political interference with decisions by private health insurance companies to offer coverage for abortion care. Read More

If there’s one thing the First Amendment stands for, it’s that vigorous debate about the issues of the day—even, and perhaps especially, uncomfortable debate about things like racism or terrorism—should be free from government interference. Tragically, that principle has been betrayed repeatedly over the past decade and a half, as law enforcement agencies continue to single out individuals for scr... Read More

Today Assembly Bill 953, Law Enforcement: Racial Profiling, made it out of the Senate Committee on Public Safety. AB 953, one of over 20 police reform laws proposed this year, was introduced by Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego) to curb racial and identity profiling in California. Read More