News

SAN FRANCISCO — Today, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Trump administration's attempt to suspend the California law SB 54 that limits local and state law enforcement from acting as deportation agents. The ACLU of California, which supported the law — also known as the California Values Act — applauds the court's decision. Please attribute the following quote to Maria Romani, I... Read More

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the state’s top law enforcement official, is refusing to follow the law that he has been sworn to uphold. It has been a week now since a court of appeal in Contra Costa County ruled that law enforcement agencies must release records prior to January 1 under California’s police transparency law. The judges found the legal challenge by police unions to be ... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – On Friday, civil rights groups prevailed in their lawsuit against Secretary of State Alex Padilla to expand voter registration at agencies in the state that serve people on public assistance and individuals with disabilities. San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Ethan P. Schulman ruled (see ruling) Padilla must require voter registration at additional agencies and contractors ... Read More

Today, 25 top A.I. researchers called on Amazon to stop selling facial recognition technology to law enforcement. In response, Matt Cagle, Technology and Civil Liberties Attorney at the ACLU of Northern California, released the following statement: This call by top A.I. experts adds a new and uniquely authoritative voice to the chorus of consumers, shareholders, policymakers, and civil right... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – Today the ACLU Foundation of Northern California (ACLU-NC) filed a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on behalf of Andreas Gal who, on November 29, 2018, was subjected to interrogation and retaliation by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for questioning the unwarranted search of his electronic devices. T... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – Today, a judge authorized the release of all records of San Francisco police officers involved in shootings, killings and other serious misconduct, as legally required under SB 1421.  The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC) had gone to court to thwart the San Francisco Police Officer’s Association’s efforts to defy the historic transparency bill by re... Read More

SACRAMENTO – New polling released today shows that Californians from all walks of life and all parts of the state support legislation to strengthen consumer privacy protections. Across race, gender, party, and regional lines, 90% of likely California voters want to require companies to do more to protect their personal information. (Read the polling results.) “California voters clearly want inc... Read More

A judge ruled that California is violating the due-process rights of defendants who have been declared incompetent to stand trial by letting them languish for months in jail. State agencies must now reduce transfer delays. Read More

EUREKA — The ACLU Foundation of Northern California, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the law firm Rukin Hyland & Riggin LLP today filed a lawsuit against St. Joseph Health Northern California for denying care to a transgender patient. Filed on behalf of Oliver Knight, the suit argues that withholding medical care from a patient because he is transgender violates California’s Unru... Read More

NEW YORK — A historic civil rights settlement was announced with Facebook today following a variety of anti-discrimination legal actions. The settlement encompasses sweeping changes that the tech giant will make to its paid advertising platform to prevent discrimination in employment, housing, and credit advertising. Since late 2016, Facebook has faced legal pressure from the American Civil Lib... Read More

SACRAMENTO — One year after the tragic shooting death of Stephon Clark in his grandmother’s backyard in Sacramento, the ACLU of California is launching an advertising buy in support of legislation to reduce the number of police shootings in the state. The organization is investing in 30 second radio spots that will be featured for a two-week period on KHYL-FM in Sacramento and KPWR-FM in Los Angel... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California today released records revealing that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has gained access to an expansive surveillance database to target immigrants. The documents also reveal that local law enforcement agencies are aiding ICE in the surveillance efforts by sharing residents’ location information with ICE agents, some... Read More