Archive

Long before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state must provide a lawyer to poor people charged with crimes, many counties in California already did so. Yet today, after years of neglect by the state, California is in the midst of a decades-long public defense crisis. Read More

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A San Francisco judge has ruled that the California Department of Justice can no longer indefinitely store the DNA of people who were never convicted of a crime. Read More

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The feeling of violation continues to feel overwhelming—strangers now have access to everything, from my random casual conversations to incredibly intimate family exchanges. I thought I could get back to my studies after the challenges of last spring when I was excluded from campus after the protests. But having my phone seized right at the start of the year has really set me back. Read More

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a motion today to challenge an unconstitutionally broad search warrant that authorized UCSC police to seize and search a student’s cellphone, in violation of the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (CalECPA), the First and Fourth Amendments, and the California Constitution.  Read More

On February 19, 2025, the National TPS Alliance and seven Venezuelan TPS holders sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to challenge the vacatur of the previously ordered extension of TPS for Venezuela, and the subsequent termination. On March 20, 2025, the plaintiffs amended the complaint to also challenge the vacatur of the full TPS extension for 500,000 Haitians, with four Haitian TPS h... Read More

After Trump threatens to pull funding from colleges and univerities that allow "illegal" protests, the ACLU sent a letter to colleges and universities, urging them to protect free speech. Read More

The ACLUs of California and Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP sued the Dept. of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Border Patrol for violating the U.S. Constitution and federal law by indiscriminately stopping, detaining, and arresting people of color regardless of their actual immigration status or individual circumstances. Read More

On behalf of the United Farm Workers (UFW) and five Kern County residents, the ACLUs of California sued the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Border Patrol to prohibit immigration agents from stopping, arresting, and expelling community members from the country using practices that violate the U.S. Constitution and federal law. Read More