Blog
We can be pretty sure that each new day will bring two things: new threats to our civil liberties, and new stories of people standing up for their rights and winning. Behind every court ruling is a person. Behind every landmark law is a movement. Read the stories and hear the voices that ground our work.
Californians Should Vote No on Prop 24
Oct 16, 2020
Proposition 24 won’t strengthen privacy rights for Californians. Instead, it will undermine protections in current law and increase the burden on people to protect themselves—in ways that will disproportionately harm poor people and people of color. Please vote NO on Prop 24.
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Why Black People Must Be Informed And Empowered About Their Rights With The Police
Oct 01, 2020
To this day, I have not been able to watch the whole video of George Floyd’s execution by police on a Minneapolis street. Nor can I bring myself to view the countless other recordings of Black and brown people who have been unlawfully killed by those sworn to protect and serve the public. I start having flashbacks about my own traumatic police encounter that happened when I was 16 — a still vivid ...
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The House that Ruth Built: ACLU of Northern CA Reflects on the Legacy of RBG
Sep 25, 2020
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a trailblazing social justice warrior who made it her life’s work to tear down gender-biased laws. The ACLU of Northern California shares some of our staff’s reflections on her legacy.
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Facebook Blocked My Ad, Mislabeled it "Sexually Explicit"
Sep 23, 2020
My wife and I have made music together for the past 8 years, in an independent band named Unsung Lilly. We are passionate about creating epic, empowering pop music.
As a same-sex couple, we have been heartened recently by the improved representation of LGBTQ people on television, and we are grateful that most people we meet are accepting of our relationship. It’s enough to make you think that m...
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ACLU Calls On Tech Companies to End Their Alliance with ICE and CBP
Sep 09, 2020
Tech companies provide access to the sensitive personal information used to destroy communities and undermine the rights that we work every day to protect. Join the #NoTechforICE campaign.
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Banning My "Phenomenally Black" Shirt is Only a Symptom of the Racism in Bakersfield Schools
Aug 07, 2020
I was told by the Greenfield Unified School District that I could not wear a t-shirt with the words “Phenomenally Black” because they said it was the same thing as wearing a “Make America Great Again” shirt. A Black colleague then later told me the administration asked if I was trying to push a Black agenda on campus. And yet when I wore a “Phenomenally Woman” shirt, there was no issue.
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Banning Dangerous Surveillance Tech is One Step Towards Wider Police Reform in Santa Cruz
Jun 22, 2020
Facial recognition and predictive policing technology fuel the exact type of intrusive and racially discriminatory policing that people are protesting against.
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Microsoft Says it Supports Racial Justice. Will it Refuse to Power Discriminatory Police Surveillance?
Jun 10, 2020
As major tech companies rush to claim solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, they’re being rightfully called out for the ways their products and workplace conditions actively undermine the rights and safety of Black people. IBM has listened and stopped development of face recognition, a technology that supercharges police surveillance and has repeatedly been shown to disproportionately m...
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In Response to the Murder of George Floyd
Jun 02, 2020
The killing of George Floyd on May 25 has returned the spotlight on racist policing and the dehumanization of African Americans in the criminal legal system. We share the grief and anger that’s spilling into the streets calling for justice.
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Why Freedom of Expression and Public Health Must Coexist
May 18, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic forces a reckoning with the balance between freedom of assembly and public health and safety. The virus is highly contagious and the risks of exposure include severe illness or death. These risks are especially high for medically vulnerable people and communities that our systems have failed, especially Black and brown communities.
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If COVID-19 Doesn’t Discriminate, Then Why Are Black People Dying at Higher Rates?
Apr 20, 2020
To provide meaningful protection and support for all members of the community, a COVID-19 response must address the pervasive racial injustices at the federal, state, and local level.
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