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

Privacy and Free Speech - It's Good for Business Graphic

ACLU Guide: How Companies Can Protect Privacy and Free Speech Read More

News

ACLU of California Statement: White Supremacist Violence is Not Free Speech

August 16, 2017

File Under :

Free Speech, Racial Justice

The First Amendment does not protect people who incite or engage in violence. If white supremacists march into our towns armed to the teeth and with the intent to harm people, they are not engaging in activity protected by the United States... Read more

Blog

Red-Baiting – An Old Trend Resurfaces #ACLUTimeMachine

July 21, 2017

File Under :

Free Speech, Voting Rights

During the last four weeks of the 2016 election cycle, I was placed at a county Republican headquarters as part of a fellowship. While there, I witnessed firsthand how then candidate Donald Trump’s open contempt for the free press was mirrored and... Read more »

News

Supreme Court to Hear Trump Muslim Ban Challenge

June 26, 2017

File Under :

Free Speech, Immigrants' Rights, Racial Justice

San Francisco, CA – The Supreme Court will review the challenge to President Trump’s Muslim ban, and will keep the ban from taking effect in the interim as to individuals who have a connection to the United States. The American Civil Liberties Union... Read more

Events

Webinar: Know Your Rights to Demonstrate

June 19, 2017 - 6:00pm

File Under :

Free Speech

Monday, June 19 at 6 p.m. PST: Know Your Rights to Demonstrate! An online training series on ACLU advocacy and activism in California. Read more

Blog

Why Did the Government Search an Artist’s iPhone at the Border?

May 4, 2017

File Under :

Free Speech, Privacy and Government Surveillance, Technology and Civil Liberties

In late February, Aaron Gach was returning to the United States from Brussels. An artist and activist, he had been abroad exhibiting works about mass incarceration, government control, and political dissent. In his pocket was a smartphone. During a... 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 Foundation v. US Dept. of Homeland Security (Trump's Muslim Ban)

File Under :

Free Speech, Immigrants' Rights, Racial Justice

American Civil Liberties Union Foundations 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 Foundation of... 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 »