News

San Francisco, CA — A San Francisco judge has held that California elections officials must notify voters before rejecting their mail-in ballots over signature concerns.State law was allowing elections officials — who may not be handwriting experts — to reject vote-by-mail ballots if they felt the signature on the ballot envelope didn’t match the signature on file for the voter, without givin... Read More

Increased ICE activity has been reported throughout the Bay Area, the Central Coast, and in the Central Valley. Local rapid response hotlines have confirmed that ICE has arrested at least 37 people over the past few days in cities including Monterey, Oakland, Fresno, Napa, San Francisco, Sacramento, Santa Clara, and Salinas.Contrary to statements provided by ICE, agents are aggressively intimidati... Read More

The County of Madera and the ACLU of Northern California settled a lawsuit today regarding California’s open meeting law, the Ralph M. Brown Act. The ACLU filed suit in July of last year, alleging the County violated the Brown Act during a closed session item at a Board of Supervisor’s meeting on March 7, 2017. The lawsuit was prompted in part by statements the Madera County District Attorney made... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Today, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón announced a new program to automatically review past marijuana convictions.The following is a statement from Ana Zamora, Criminal Justice Director at the ACLU of Northern California.We applaud District Attorney Gascón for upholding the will of Californians who voted to legalize the adult use of recreational marijuana and ... Read More

The ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the ACLU of Northern California have filed suit against Bakersfield Police Department officers. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of passenger Robert Mitchell, who exercised his constitutional right to not give his identity or other information to the officers as he was not suspected of a crime. Read More

The First District Court of Appeal of California just issued a ruling that will have an immediate impact on how courts will use and set money bail, that highlights an urgent need for systemic statewide reforms. Read More

In his final State of the State Address, Gov. Brown highlighted California’s journey towards sound criminal justice reforms. Read More

The ACLU of Northern California prevailed in court today in a suit under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) seeking the Department of Justice’s policies related to the use of location tracking surveillance technology in criminal investigations. Read More

Millions of Californians who renew their driver’s license or state identification by mail will be able to use the renewal form to register to vote or update their voter registration starting in April. Read More

Download the Winter 2018 ACLU of Northern California Newsletter and read about our latest events and initiatives. Read More

The Department of Justice is expected to reverse an Obama-era policy today that discouraged federal prosecutors from bringing charges against marijuana users in states where marijuana is legal. This decision would directly impact residents of the six states and the District of Columbia who have already legalized marijuana use, and should the change also affect medical marijuana regulations, could ... Read More

ACLU clients are home for the holidays after months in detention without due process. Read More