News
Our lawyers and advocates are among the nation's leading experts on civil liberties and constitutional freedoms. Read the latest on the ACLU of Northern California’s work. To schedule a press interview, call (415) 621-2493 or contact press@aclunc.org.
ACLU Statement on Alameda County District Attorney Recall Election
Apr 16, 2024
The ACLU of Northern California re-affirmed its opposition to the recall of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, following reports that Price's critics had obtained enough signatures to force a recall election.
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ACLU Lawsuit Demands Records On Mentally IIl People Who Died In Jail Awaiting Transfer To A State Treatment Facility
Apr 15, 2024
The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a lawsuit to compel the California Department of State Hospitals to produce records about severely mentally ill people who died in jail, while awaiting transfer to a treatment facility.
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ACLU Brief Urges Supreme Court to Uphold Eighth Amendment Protections in Grants Pass v. Johnson
Apr 03, 2024
Grants Pass v. Johnson involves an Oregon town that passed ordinances barring people from sleeping outside in public using a blanket, pillow, or even a cardboard sheet to lie on. Last year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that criminally punishing unhoused people violates the Eighth Amendment “if there are no other public areas or appropriate shelters where those individuals can sleep.”
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Court Orders San Francisco Sherriff’s Office to Stop Unconstitutional Surveillance of Individuals Released on Electronic Monitoring
Feb 14, 2024
A federal district court issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office (SFSO) from requiring that individuals agree to unconstitutional “four-way” searches and GPS location data-sharing as conditions of pretrial release on electronic monitoring absent a court order.
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Plaintiffs Say Majority of Legal Issues in San Francisco Homelessness Lawsuit Unrelated to Grants Pass case
Jan 30, 2024
In a brief filed in federal district court, plaintiffs in Coalition on Homelessness v. City of San Francisco argued that the case should proceed while the U.S. Supreme Court reviews Grants Pass v. Johnson.
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Despite U.S. Supreme Court Review of Grants Pass Case, San Francisco Homelessness Case Should Continue
Jan 18, 2024
Although one of thirteen claims directly builds on the findings in the Grants Pass case, the San Francisco lawsuit also deals with separate issues affecting unhoused individuals including the City’s destruction of property and failure to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities.
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U.S. Supreme Court Grants Cert in Grants Pass Case, but Unrelated Constitutional Issues Still to be Resolved in San Francisco Homelessness Case
Jan 12, 2024
The decision could upend decades of established Supreme Court precedent, and reopen a definition of cruel and unusual punishment that protects all Americans from unconstitutional treatment in the criminal legal system.
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Ninth Circuit Affirms Preliminary Injunction Against San Francisco for Cruel and Unusual Treatment of Thousands of Unhoused Residents
Jan 11, 2024
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a federal judge’s finding that San Francisco had likely violated the constitutional rights of homeless people thousands of times in recent years by criminalizing their existence.
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San Francisco: Vote No on Proposition E
Jan 10, 2024
The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California opposes Proposition E, a measure on the March 2024 San Francisco ballot.
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Report Finds Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office Deputies Most Likely to Stop Black People For Traffic Violations
Dec 21, 2023
An analysis of 2019 data collected under California’s Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) found that Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office deputies disproportionately stop Black people for traffic violations, a disturbing finding given the number of high-profile, tragic police killings of Black people during traffic stops.
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