Protecting yours rights in a time of crisis

Response & Resources on the COVID-19 Crisis

The COVID-19 global pandemic is an unprecedented crisis. In an effort to stop the spread of the highly contagious and deadly virus, public health officials and lawmakers have put into place extraordinary measures to protect the health and safety of Californians.

Both here in California and nationwide, we are confronting a range of civil liberties issues and challenges due to the state of emergency. The ACLU of Northern California is monitoring the situation to ensure that our government’s response is rooted in science and no more intrusive upon civil liberties than absolutely necessary.

We are also working to ensure that government actors craft a response that does not create disproportionate harm to vulnerable populations, particularly communities of color, which have been hit hardest by the contagion.

On this page, you will find information about the ACLU’s response to COVID-19, including news updates, blog posts, guidelines, and letters to public officials – as well as other resources. We will update this page as the situation develops. See below for more resources.

ACLU of Northern California Letters & Responses

There are tens of thousands of people in overcrowded jails and prisons who cannot practice social distancing, making them extremely vulnerable to a COVID-19 outbreak. The ACLU of Northern California has called on our governor, county sheriffs, prosecutors and judges to take immediate steps to reduce incarceration by limiting new arrests, releasing pre-trial detainees, and releasing elderly or medically vulnerable prisoners.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses unique challenges for holding the November 2020 election in a manner that will be safe, secure, and accessible for all voters. The ACLU of Northern California is calling for elections officials and lawmakers in our state to make it as easy as possible for all eligible adults to vote by mail. At the same time, we’re demanding the institution of safe, in-person voting options for limited English speakers, people with disabilities, and others who need them.

As state officials consider what public health measures are necessary to combat the spread of COVID-19, the ACLU and our coalition partners urged them to issue guidance to medical providers making it clear that access to reproductive and sexual health services – including abortion, gender-affirming care, and family planning – is essential and must not be delayed.

Immigrants in ICE detention centers are held in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions where it is impossible to social distance. Scores of detainees nationwide have tested positive for COVID-19 infection so far. The ACLU of Northern California will continue to demand that ICE release all detainees in its five California detention facilities to protect the health of immigrants, staff, and the broader community. We’ve also called on local law enforcement authorities to immediately stop transfers of arrested and jailed individuals to federal immigration officials.

COVID-19 is exposing racial disparities that are causing a disproportionate impact on communities of color that suffer from pre-existing conditions, lack of access to adequate health care, poverty, and other inequities that affect their daily lives. The ACLU of Northern California is mounting pressure on the state to provide the accurate demographic data necessary to inform an adequate distribution of resources, etc. In coalition with our affiliates in Southern California, we also called on the state Department of Public Health to put guidelines in place to help protect unhoused people during the pandemic – both those in shelters and those living on the street. We’ve also written letters and issued statements calling for state officials to put a moratorium on towing, halt evictions, and take all measures possible to minimize the impact of school closures on our most vulnerable under resourced students.

In our society’s response to COVID-19, it is vital that we ensure technology is used only where it directly improves the safety, freedom, and health of communities and individuals, without causing additional to harm to our civil rights and liberties. The ACLU of Northern California is fighting to defend and strengthen privacy law and prevent governments and companies from using this health crisis as pretext to further entrench and expand surveillance infrastructure that will harm Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color already disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. To do this, we are building intersectional power with allies and using an array of strategies from legislation to litigation, all to promote civil rights and civil liberties in the digital age and ensure technology isn’t used to further exacerbate inequality and perpetuate discrimination.

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Mar 29, 2021

ACLU Urges Lemoore School District to Provide Distance Learning Options to all Students During COVID-19 in Accordance with the Law

Jun 09, 2020

Advocates Demand that Mayor Breed Follow the Law, Move Unhoused People into Hotels and Allow COVID-19 Tests for Shelter Residents

Mar 29, 2021

ACLU Urges Lemoore School District to Provide Distance Learning Options to all Students During COVID-19 in Accordance with the Law

Jun 09, 2020

Advocates Demand that Mayor Breed Follow the Law, Move Unhoused People into Hotels and Allow COVID-19 Tests for Shelter Residents

Apr 29, 2020

Court Finds Likely Constitutional Violation in ICE's Detention of Immigrants in Two Cramped Detention Centers During Pandemic

Apr 28, 2020

Santa Clara County Superior Court Installs Public Dial-in Line to Ensure Public Access to Criminal Proceedings During Pandemic

May 21, 2020

Response & Resources on the COVID-19 Crisis

ACLU of Northern California Letters & Responses

ACLU Urges Lemoore School District to Provide Distance Learning Options to all Students During COVID-19 in Accordance with the Law

Judge Orders ICE to Maintain Pandemic Protections at Detention Centers

ACLU of California Statement on the Governor’s Executive Order on the November General Election

Vote by Mail Not Enough, California Must Also Require Minimum Number of In-person Polls for November Elections

Why Freedom of Expression and Public Health Must Coexist

Court Rejects Lawsuit to Force Governor to Halt ICE Transfers During Pandemic

ACLU of California Statement on the Governor’s Executive Order on the November General Election

ACLU Condemns DAs in Stanislaus and Tulare Counties for Defying New COVID-19 Statewide Bail Directives

Advocates Demand that Mayor Breed Follow the Law, Move Unhoused People into Hotels and Allow COVID-19 Tests for Shelter Residents

ACLU Urges Lemoore School District to Provide Distance Learning Options to all Students During COVID-19 in Accordance with the Law

Judge Orders ICE to Maintain Pandemic Protections at Detention Centers

ACLU of California Statement on the Governor’s Executive Order on the November General Election

Court Rejects Lawsuit to Force Governor to Halt ICE Transfers During Pandemic

ACLU of California Statement on the Governor’s Executive Order on the November General Election

ACLU Condemns DAs in Stanislaus and Tulare Counties for Defying New COVID-19 Statewide Bail Directives

Advocates Demand that Mayor Breed Follow the Law, Move Unhoused People into Hotels and Allow COVID-19 Tests for Shelter Residents

Court Finds Likely Constitutional Violation in ICE's Detention of Immigrants in Two Cramped Detention Centers During Pandemic

Santa Clara County Superior Court Installs Public Dial-in Line to Ensure Public Access to Criminal Proceedings During Pandemic

Vote by Mail Not Enough, California Must Also Require Minimum Number of In-person Polls for November Elections

Why Freedom of Expression and Public Health Must Coexist

If COVID-19 Doesn’t Discriminate, Then Why Are Black People Dying at Higher Rates?

Let’s Stop the Scapegoating During a Global Pandemic

Become a Member

Response & Resources on the COVID-19 Crisis

ACLU of Northern California Letters & Responses

Criminal Justice

Democratic & Civic Engagement

Gender, Sexuality, & Reproductive Justice

Immigrants' Rights

Racial & Economic Justice

Tech & Civil Liberties

ACLU Urges Lemoore School District to Provide Distance Learning Options to all Students During COVID-19 in Accordance with the Law

Judge Orders ICE to Maintain Pandemic Protections at Detention Centers

ACLU of California Statement on the Governor’s Executive Order on the November General Election

Vote by Mail Not Enough, California Must Also Require Minimum Number of In-person Polls for November Elections

Why Freedom of Expression and Public Health Must Coexist

Court Rejects Lawsuit to Force Governor to Halt ICE Transfers During Pandemic

ACLU of California Statement on the Governor’s Executive Order on the November General Election

ACLU Condemns DAs in Stanislaus and Tulare Counties for Defying New COVID-19 Statewide Bail Directives

Advocates Demand that Mayor Breed Follow the Law, Move Unhoused People into Hotels and Allow COVID-19 Tests for Shelter Residents

ACLU Urges Lemoore School District to Provide Distance Learning Options to all Students During COVID-19 in Accordance with the Law

Judge Orders ICE to Maintain Pandemic Protections at Detention Centers

ACLU of California Statement on the Governor’s Executive Order on the November General Election

Court Rejects Lawsuit to Force Governor to Halt ICE Transfers During Pandemic

ACLU of California Statement on the Governor’s Executive Order on the November General Election

ACLU Condemns DAs in Stanislaus and Tulare Counties for Defying New COVID-19 Statewide Bail Directives

Advocates Demand that Mayor Breed Follow the Law, Move Unhoused People into Hotels and Allow COVID-19 Tests for Shelter Residents

Court Finds Likely Constitutional Violation in ICE's Detention of Immigrants in Two Cramped Detention Centers During Pandemic

Santa Clara County Superior Court Installs Public Dial-in Line to Ensure Public Access to Criminal Proceedings During Pandemic

Vote by Mail Not Enough, California Must Also Require Minimum Number of In-person Polls for November Elections

Why Freedom of Expression and Public Health Must Coexist

If COVID-19 Doesn’t Discriminate, Then Why Are Black People Dying at Higher Rates?

Let’s Stop the Scapegoating During a Global Pandemic

Become a Member