News

The Court administers this additional fee known as the civil assessment without judicial review, adequate notice, or consideration for a person’s circumstances. The $300 charge is often six to eight times greater than the base fine for a traffic infraction in California. Read More

The report spotlights the discriminatory tactics that cities throughout California have instituted to target unhoused people, ignoring the bedrock principle of equal treatment under the law. It calls upon communities to amend anti-discrimination laws to include unhoused people and acknowledge their fundamental human rights.   Read More

The Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, and Disability Rights Advocates joined with pro bono partners Hewlett Packard Enterprise and King & Spalding to file a lawsuit today against the City of Mountain View on behalf of Mountain View residents who live in RVs and oversized vehicles. The class-action lawsuit aims to strike down a law that effectively bans R... Read More

The demand letter contends that civil assessments violate due process, equal protection rights, and California statutes, by denying a fair hearing and imposing costs without regard to people’s ability to pay. Read More

Today, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California sent a letter to the Chico City Council expressing concern for the City’s treatment of unhoused people and recent violations of the Brown Act, a law that requires advance notice of Council meetings, follows a set agenda, and provides for public comment. Read More

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California sent a letter to the Lemoore Union Elementary School District expressing deep concern for the District’s failure to provide all students with a distance learning option during the Covid-19 pandemic. The letter urges the District to immediately comply with public health guidance and the law to provide a high-quality distance learning option to all students... Read More

Pacifica's RV parking ban is a blatant attempt by Pacifica to banish those who rely on RVs for housing and mobility, and therefore violates the U.S. Constitution, the California Constitution, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Read More

Today, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed an Amicus brief to support groups who are representing unhoused people and requesting to intervene in legal action between UC Hastings and the City of San Francisco concerning conditions in the Tenderloin neighborhood. The settlement proposed by the parties would directly impact the lives of unhoused people whose voices have been excluded fro... Read More

The California Court of Appeal ruled that the Department of Motor Vehicles cannot suspend the licenses of drivers who fail to appear in court unless the DMV receives a notification of a willful failure to appear. Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – Under a proposed settlement announced today between the California Department of Transportation (“Caltrans”) and a class of homeless people whose property was taken by Caltrans crews in sweeps of their encampments, Caltrans will establish a $1.3 million fund to compensate people for the loss of property that was destroyed in the sweeps. In addition, Caltrans will be required to ado... Read More

SACRAMENTO — California Governor Gavin Newsom today signed historic legislation to permanently bar county jails and state prisons from charging incarcerated Californians copays and other fees for medical and dental services. AB 45, state legislation introduced by Assemblymember Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay), goes into effect January 1, 2020, making California the first state in the country to abolis... Read More

SACRAMENTO — Today, the California Senate voted to pass AB 45, state legislation introduced by Assemblymember Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay) to eliminate copays for medical and dental services provided in California county jails. The bipartisan vote follows the decision by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to voluntarily eliminate copays in state prisons earlier this ... Read More