Free Speech

Our support of the Bill of Rights and the first amendment right to free speech is unequivocal. This includes challenging activities or actions that seek to curtail, limit or erase the free speech of others. However, we reserve the right to exercise our free speech by critiquing the speech of others, such as hateful speech, that is contrary to our core values, which support liberty and justice for all.

ACLU responds to excessive force used on protesters. Read more

ACLU defends "I can't breathe" t-shirts at school... Read more

Your free speech rights at demonstrations and protests. Know Your Rights

$1M settlement for pepper-sprayed UC Davis students. Read more

News

Crowd of hundreds of students protests in UC Berkeley Sproul Plaza

ACLU of Northern California Statement on Berkeley College Republicans Lawsuit Against UC Berkeley

April 24, 2017

File Under :

Free Speech

Hate is contrary to our core values. The ACLU condemns bigotry and fights for equal rights for all, and we hope that the University and its officials will do the same. But no matter how heinous the speech, the First Amendment protects everyone. To... Read more

News

An excerpt from the ACLU legal complaint reads: AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF HAWAIʻI, AND AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF UTAH, Plaintiffs, v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY and U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, Defendants. COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR VIOLATION OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

ACLU of Northern California Files Lawsuit Demanding Documents on Implementation of Trump's Muslim Ban

April 12, 2017

File Under :

Free Speech, Immigrants' Rights, Racial Justice

American Civil Liberties Union affiliates across the country filed coordinated Freedom of Information Act lawsuits today demanding government documents about the on-the-ground implementation of President Trump’s Muslim bans. The ACLU of Northern... Read more

Case

ACLU of Hawai'i v. US Dept. of Homeland Security (Trump's Muslim Ban)

File Under :

Free Speech, Immigrants' Rights, Racial Justice

American Civil Liberties Union affiliates across the country filed 13 coordinated Freedom of Information Act lawsuits demanding government documents about the on-the-ground implementation of President Trump’s Muslim bans. The ACLU of Northern... Read more

Blog

HOWL Allen Ginsberg Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Fighting Censorship: Victories in 1957 & 2017 #ACLUTimeMachine

April 11, 2017

File Under :

Free Speech, LGBT Equality, Racial Justice

The ACLU has been fighting against censorship for nearly a century. April is National Poetry Month, so we’ve been thinking about a free speech case from sixty years ago that involved a small but powerful book of poetry. Read more »

Blog

Four female students stand with raised fists, looking up at the camera

"My Voice Matters." When Their Principal Tried to Remove #BlackLivesMatter from the Yearbook, These Teens Spoke Up.

March 24, 2017

File Under :

Education Equity, Free Speech, Racial Justice

Students on yearbook staff wrote an article about Black Lives Matter. When their principal rejected it, they knew it was time to speak up for their rights. Students have a right to free speech and expression at school . This includes political... Read more »

News

Thousands protest against the Muslim ban in front of San Francisco City Hall in January 2017

Court Blocks Trump’s New Muslim Ban

March 15, 2017

File Under :

Free Speech, Immigrants' Rights, Racial Justice

On day one of the Muslim ban, people took to the streets and the airports because they knew that this ban was disgraceful and discriminatory. We're heartened to see the courts repeatedly affirm that these executive orders are fatally flawed. The... Read more

2015 lawyer die-in California Supreme Court by Martha Winnacker

Know Your Rights: Free Speech, Protests & Demonstrations

Issues :

Free Speech

Activists! There are many questions you face when exercising your constitutional right to rally, march, and take direct action. Know your rights from civil disobedience to campus organizing to police permits. Read more

News

White and red text on blue background reads "Prejudice rewritten is still prejudice."

Californians Sue in Challenge to Latest Muslim Ban

March 13, 2017

File Under :

Free Speech, Immigrants' Rights, Racial Justice

Plaintiff Eric Miller is in his fourth year of graduate studies in physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he conducts cutting-edge particle-physics research. He needs to continue this research in collaboration with an Iranian... Read more

News

January 2017 - SFO protest by Rachael Herron

ACLU of Northern CA Statement Condemning New Muslim Ban

March 6, 2017

File Under :

Free Speech, Immigrants' Rights, Racial Justice

The new executive order banning the issuance of visas to people from certain countries is based on the same religious animus that fueled the Trump's first attempt at a Muslim ban. Read more

News

ACLU Comment on Trump's New Muslim Ban

March 6, 2017

File Under :

Free Speech, Immigrants' Rights, Racial Justice

The Trump administration has conceded that its original Muslim ban was indefensible... The only way to actually fix the Muslim ban is not to have a Muslim ban. - Omar Jadwat, ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project Director Read more