For Immediate Release: Mar 24, 2014
Media Contact: press@aclunc.org, (415) 621-2493
Marco Rodriguez receives his voter registration card from Covered California.
In a victory for voting rights, the state of California has agreed to mail voter registration cards to nearly 4 million Californians who have signed up for health insurance through the state health exchange, Covered California, and to ensure that Californians who apply for health benefits through the exchange going forward are provided voter registration opportunities. The action is the result of a settlement agreement reached with the ACLU of California, the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, Demos, and Project Vote, which threatened legal action over the state's failure to comply with the National Voter Registration Act and state laws.
Mar 19, 2014
Earlier this week, more than two dozen parent, student, policy, and legal advocacy organizations urged the California Board of Education to strengthen the rules that will govern the new Local Control Funding Formula to ensure that school districts spend the additional funding they will receive on the students it was intended to help.
Mar 17, 2014
The ACLU Foundation of Northern California and NCYL have charged school officials in two Humboldt County towns with intentionally discriminating against Native American and Black students by allowing the pervasive racial and sexual harassment of these students to go unchallenged.
Mar 10, 2014
In the strongest language yet used by any elected official in California, Newsom boldly offered a blistering critique of the criminal justice system and the willingness of too many in California to simply abide by the status quo, arguing that needlessly harsh sentences for low level, non-violent crimes have ravaged entire communities – particularly communities of color – and cost state taxpayers billions of dollars. And, he said, the time has come to have a “serious debate among serious people” about legalizing, taxing and regulating marijuana.
Mar 04, 2014
The ACLU of Northern California sent this letter urging the Oakland City Council not to approve the Domain Awareness Center (DAC), Phase 2 Contract. The resolution does not reflect the views of City Councilmembers, missing key facts and legal info interfere with meaningful oversight by the Council, and there are concerns with federal access to DAC data under the Patriot Act.
Feb 28, 2014
A year ago, Kyle Thompson a young, Black, freshman was led away from his school in handcuffs and ultimately expelled from school. His offense? Mistakenly thinking that his teacher's attempt to take a note for him was a joke and playfully trying to get the note back. When he realized this wasn't play, he immediately let her have the note. That misunderstanding left Kyle out of school and facing criminal charges. His harsh punishment is a reflection of zero tolerance discipline policies; policies that all too often disproportionately impact young people of color.
Feb 26, 2014
Government agencies from the NSA to local law enforcement have taken advantage of weak protections for “metadata” to build huge databases about ordinary Americans. In response, the ACLU of California today released “Metadata: Piecing Together a Privacy Solution,” a new policy paper that offers a way forward.
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