News

Today, a bill to close a significant loophole in existing law regarding jailhouse informants passed unanimously out of the Assembly Public Safety Committee. Assembly Bill 359, by Assemblymember Reginald Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), comes in the wake of controversy in Orange County over use of jailhouse informants and revelations that two informants were paid over $335,000 in cash payments fr... Read More

The ACLU of Northern California is asking that people who have been expecting visitors to arrive at SFO, OAK, SJO, or FAT from one of the seven countries in yesterday’s executive order – Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen – and have not heard from their visitors or have heard that their visitors have arrived and been detained or denied entry to please contact us at one of our two ... Read More

In response to Gov. Jerry Brown’s unveiling of his proposed 2017-18 budget, the ACLU of California’s Center for Advocacy and Policy issued the following statement on behalf of its Center Director, Natasha Minsker. Read More

The Richmond City Council last night voted to approve a “Fair Chance Access to Affordable Housing” ordinance to protect the rights of people who are re-entering society and find themselves excluded from housing opportunities because of their criminal record. Read More

A lawsuit filed today by civil rights groups charges the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) with violating the constitutional rights of homeless people by confiscating and destroying their property in ongoing sweeps. On multiple occasions, Caltrans has failed to give proper notice before raiding encampments—refusing plaintiffs an opportunity to move their belongings before destroyi... Read More

Gov. Brown signed a groundbreaking bill to limit civil asset forfeiture abuse in California, marking a victory for the larger asset forfeiture reform movement underway throughout the US. California lawmakers overwhelmingly approved SB 443 in October. The new law will go into effect Jan. 1, 2017. Read More

A state bill to reform civil asset forfeiture, a practice that has come under fire nationwide following widespread claims of abuse, received strong, bipartisan approval from the California Senate today. Senate Bill 443 will now head to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature. Read More

A state audit finding that the CalGang database is plagued by inaccuracies and weak oversight provides further evidence of the long-held position of the ACLU of California that the controversial intelligence-gathering system violates individuals’ rights to privacy and fair treatment. Read More

In a first-of-its-kind decision and a victory for police accountability and transparency, an Alameda County judge has ruled that a public agency can’t charge excessive fees for police body worn camera footage. Read More

A lawsuit was filed today against Solano County Superior Court, challenging the court’s practice of suspending the driver’s licenses of people who are too poor to pay exorbitant traffic fines. In 2015, over 11,000 driver’s licenses were suspended in Solano County for failure to pay alone. Read More

In a first of its kind class action settlement, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has agreed to change its policies in four Northern California detention centers. Read More

After years of tireless work to see one of California’s most discriminatory laws repealed, today women and families across the state are rejoicing in news that Gov. Jerry Brown, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon agreed to include funds to repeal CalWORKs Maximum Family Grant (MFG) rule in the state's 2016 Budget Act. Read More