Archive

45,000 ballots were discarded - without notice - in California's November 2016 election. This ACLU Foundation of Northern California lawsuit asks that future voters be given an opportunity to fix any signature match problems before their votes are thrown away. Read More

In California, the broad “disruption or willful defiance” category is a legit reason to suspend students from school. This subjective category must be abolished - here's why. Read More

In January 2017, Trump issued his first Muslim ban, an unconstitutional executive order which sent countless lives into disarray. What happened next? Read More

Increased ICE activity has been reported throughout the Bay Area, the Central Coast, and in the Central Valley. Local rapid response hotlines have confirmed that ICE has arrested at least 37 people over the past few days in cities including Monterey, Oakland, Fresno, Napa, San Francisco, Sacramento, Santa Clara, and Salinas.Contrary to statements provided by ICE, agents are aggressively intimidati... Read More

The County of Madera and the ACLU of Northern California settled a lawsuit today regarding California’s open meeting law, the Ralph M. Brown Act. The ACLU filed suit in July of last year, alleging the County violated the Brown Act during a closed session item at a Board of Supervisor’s meeting on March 7, 2017. The lawsuit was prompted in part by statements the Madera County District Attorney made... Read More

Douglass’s life and words continue to illustrate the struggle of being Black in America. In honor of his legacy and the movement he helped lead, we have asked members of our staff to read passages from his work and reflect on the meaning of his words. Read More

Last night, the Bay Area city of Alameda unanimously rejected a proposed $500,000 contract to purchase license plate reader technology from Vigilant, a company that recently sold ICE access to its nationwide database. This is a win for the rights of all residents. Read More

Last week, San Francisco’s District Attorney, George Gascón, announced that his office would erase thousands of marijuana convictions from people’s criminal records. District Attorneys across the country should follow the will of voters and address the lasting damage caused by ineffective and racist drug arrests. Read More

There were many awful aspects of President Trump’s State of the Union message, but we have a personal perspective on one in particular, thanks to our work on behalf of immigrants who have been accused of being gang members based on dubious or non-existent “evidence.” Read More

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Today, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón announced a new program to automatically review past marijuana convictions.The following is a statement from Ana Zamora, Criminal Justice Director at the ACLU of Northern California.We applaud District Attorney Gascón for upholding the will of Californians who voted to legalize the adult use of recreational marijuana and ... Read More