Archive

The ACLU of Northern California, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area and Latham & Watkins LLP filed a brief in federal court asking a judge to appoint a special master to oversee the city of San Francisco's compliance with a December 2022 injunction barring the city from forcibly displacing unhoused people and destroying their belongings. Read More

The U.S. Supreme Court's affirmation of the Indian Child Welfare Act was a landmark victory for tribal sovereignty and Native families. But despite the law's protections, Native and Black children are much more likely to be removed from their homes and placed in foster care. The government must do more to support struggling families and help them stay together. Read More

In response to ACLU of Northern California’s Motion to Quash, a pharmaceutical magnate drops subpoena seeking identity of person who critiqued him online. Read More

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to force the Chico Unified School District to out students who use different names or pronouns at school than those they were assigned at birth. The ruling affirms California's policy of allowing trans, nonbinary, and other LGBTQ+ students to be their authentic selves at school. Read More

On June 21, 2023, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California (“ACLU NorCal”) and co-counsel Public Citizen Litigation Group filed a motion to quash on behalf of J. Doe (“Doe”), an anonymous online user who was targeted by a subpoena seeking to unmask their identity after they criticized a wealthy pharmaceutical magnate named Fredric Eshelman.  Eshelman filed an ex parte application in fede... Read More

With the eyes of the world watching, California has released a historic report calling for reparations for the descendants of enslaved African Americans. A new ACLU of Northern California video connects the dots between the state's little known slavery past and its legacy of racist policies that have harmed Black people. Read More

Body cameras were intended to guard against police misconduct, not to be used as a mass surveillance system that identifies and tracks Californians. For three years, a state law prohibiting body camera face surveillance helped prevent the misidentification and wrongful imprisonment of Californians, safeguarded our freedom of speech, and protected our privacy. But that law expired in January. ... Read More

Privacy threats should never stand in the way of our ability make choices about our bodies. But since the repeal of Roe, we have seen anti-abortion states use digital data to prosecute people for having abortions or helping others obtain reproductive and gender-affirming care. In California, police can circumvent privacy protections around sensitive data by seeking "reverse demands." A reverse ... Read More

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California has launched the California Immigration Detention Database, a new tool to track formal complaints, also known as grievances, that immigrants detained in California detention facilities have filed to seek redress against the inhumane conditions of their confinement. Read More

Today we launched the California Immigration Detention Database, a new tool to track grievances that immigrants detained in California detention facilities have filed to seek resolutions to conditions of confinement issues. Through data captured in a publicly available, interactive chart, this database aims to document patterns of abuse in detention, and to serve as an advocacy tool. Read More