Archive

ACLU of Northern California urges you to develop and implement holistic policies that align with guidance from public health experts and that will minimize the harm inflicted on people involved in the criminal legal system – and, by extension, the harm inflicted on broader communities. Read More

SACRAMENTO — The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Northern California along with its other California affiliates, and the law firms Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and Paul Hastings LLP have settled a lawsuit brought against the State of California and Fresno County. The settlement is a considerable step toward ensuring that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel is upheld throughout all of C... Read More

FRESNO — On Saturday, the children of Hugo Hernandez, an undocumented Fresno resident who was arrested during a traffic stop and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, will lead community members in a march to raise public awareness about ICE continuing to terrorize and traumatize immigrant families. ICE officers pulled Hernandez over on Nov. 5, while he was taking his ... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – The ACLU of Northern California (ACLU NC), KQED, the California Historical Society, and the Equal Justice Society today launched “Gold Chains: The Hidden History of Slavery in California,” a public education campaign that exposes chapters of California’s history that may come as a surprise, if not an outright shock, to many people. Little known is the fact that, while California en... Read More

There is a story we tell ourselves about being American. Much of it is a lie. Two dates that students throughout the country are required to memorize to inform an American identity are 1492, when Columbus supposedly “discovered” America, and 1776, when the United States claimed sovereignty from England and through the Declaration of Independence declared: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, ... Read More

SACRAMENTO — Today, the Repeal Ineffective Sentence Enhancements (RISE) Coalition celebrated Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature on SB 136: The RISE Act. The legislation, authored by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), dismantles a cruel, expensive, and ineffective sentence enhancement that adds an extra year to an individual’s base sentence for each prior prison or felony jail term they already... Read More

SACRAMENTO — California Governor Gavin Newsom today signed historic legislation to permanently bar county jails and state prisons from charging incarcerated Californians copays and other fees for medical and dental services. AB 45, state legislation introduced by Assemblymember Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay), goes into effect January 1, 2020, making California the first state in the country to abolis... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — Today in an unforeseen move, Mayor London Breed appointed her favored candidate, Suzy Loftus, to be the interim San Francisco District Attorney following the premature resignation yesterday of DA George Gascón who is not seeking a third term. Gascón will leave his post on Oct. 18th, just weeks before what would have been the first open District Attorney race in San Francisco in 100... Read More

SACRAMENTO — Today, the California Senate voted to pass AB 45, state legislation introduced by Assemblymember Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay) to eliminate copays for medical and dental services provided in California county jails. The bipartisan vote follows the decision by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to voluntarily eliminate copays in state prisons earlier this ... Read More

SACRAMENTO – Today the California State Assembly passed Assembly Constitutional Amendment (ACA) 6, which would restore voting rights to nearly 50,000 Californians on parole. ACA 6, authored by Asm. Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), passed with a 54-16 vote. ACA 6 will next go through the California State Senate, where it will need a 2/3 majority to pass. If it passes through the Senate, the constituti... Read More