News

SAN DIEGO — Please attribute the following statement to Norma Chavez-Peterson, executive director of the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, speaking on behalf of the three California ACLU affiliates, with regards to Governor Gavin Newsom’s reassignment of National Guard troops from the state’s southern border: Read More

Today, in a ruling in Contra Costa Superior Court, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) blocked an effort by six police unions that are seeking to prevent the enforcement of SB 1421 by keeping files private that were created before January 1, when the new law took hold. SB 1421 makes public previously secret information about officers who shoot, kill, or engage in serious misconduct like fals... Read More

SACRAMENTO – Today, the ACLU of California, faith-based organizations, police reform advocates, labor unions, and families who have lost loved ones to police violence called on the legislature to pass AB 392: The California Act to Save Lives. The bill was introduced by Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego) to bring California’s deadly use of force law in line with best practices to avoid dead... Read More

SACRAMENTO — Voting rights groups, the California Secretary of State, and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) have filed a joint request for a stipulated federal court order outlining several steps the Secretary and DMV will take to correct errors related to the delayed transmission of voter registrations submitted to DMV, and to prevent such errors in the future. The League of Women Voters ... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — Before 1995, the state of California considered young people under the age of 16 as children by law. With the advent of the “tough on crime” era of the late 1990s, the law changed to allow for the adult prosecution of 14-and 15-year-old children who were shamefully described as “super predators”. Youth of color bore the brunt of this draconian law. Between 2007-2016, compared to... Read More

San Francisco — The following complaint has been filed against the city of Berkeley, California on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and Berkeleyside, an online publication, in response  to the city’s assertion that Berkeley Police Department records related to police misconduct predating January 1, 2019 are exempt from disclosure, despite the passage of the histo... Read More

SACRAMENTO — The ACLU Foundation of Northern California along with the law firm Rogers Joseph O’Donnell today filed suit on behalf of Black Lives Matter leaders who were unlawfully blocked from Sacramento Sheriff Scott Jones’ official Facebook page. Tanya Faison and Sonia Lewis, co-leaders of Black Lives Matter Sacramento, have been vocal critics of the sheriff and other law enforcement officia... Read More

SEATTLE — A group of Amazon shareholders announced today that they have filed a shareholder resolution echoing widespread calls for Amazon to stop sales of facial recognition to the government. The shareholder resolution, which asks Amazon’s board of directors to prohibit sales of facial recognition technology to government agencies unless the board concludes that the technology does not pose actu... Read More

SACRAMENTO — Yesterday, the California Secretary of State confirmed that a bail-bond-industry-funded referendum campaign asking voters to overturn Senate Bill 10, the recent legislation that would eliminate the bail bond industry in California, has qualified to be on the November 2020 ballot. In response, the following statement can be jointly attributed to the three executive directors of the ... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — The ACLU Foundation of Northern California has sent Public Records Act (PRA) requests to multiple law enforcement agencies on behalf of people seeking information about the officers involved in the killings of their loved ones. A new law, SB 1421, went into effect in California on Jan. 1. The historic legislation makes public previously secret information about officers who shoo... Read More

NEW YORK — A coalition of over 85 racial justice, faith, and civil, human, and immigrants’ rights groups today sent letters to Microsoft, Amazon, and Google demanding the companies commit not to sell face surveillance technology to the government.  The coalition makes it clear to each company that a decision to provide face surveillance technology to the government threatens the safety of commu... Read More

SACRAMENTO — Today, California Governor Gavin Newsom introduced his budget proposal for the 2019-20 Fiscal Year. Included in the budget was a commitment to expand paid family leave to six months from the current six weeks. In addition to expanding the length of leave, the Administration will consider other changes—including alignment of existing worker protections and non-retaliation protections—t... Read More