For Immediate Release: Dec 10, 2012
Media Contact: press@aclunc.org, (415) 621-2493
ACLU of Northern CA
Following a California Superior Court order on Nov. 30, 2010, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) released 989 pages of heavily redacted records to the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC). The documents reveal a "secret mission" by the Department to acquire sodium thiopental, a controlled substance used as part of California's lethal injection protocol.
Dec 07, 2012

The next time a cop sees a picture of you, that picture may not have been taken by a person at all. Unmanned flying drones can allow their operators to remotely - and cheaply - monitor and record individuals, groups, or locations. These drones pose significant threats to privacy when police can use them to peer into homes or track an individual's actions from afar.

For Immediate Release: Dec 07, 2012
Media Contact: press@aclunc.org, (415) 621-2493
ACLU of Northern CA
The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will grant review in Hollingsworth v. Perry, the challenge to California’s Proposition 8, and in Windsor v. United States, the ACLU’s challenge to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. The ACLU of California was co-counsel with Lambda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights in In Re Marriage Cases, the case that legalized marriage for California same-sex couples in 2008. Windsor, an 83-year-old New York City resident, was forced to pay more than $363,000 in federal estate taxes after the death of her spouse, Thea Spyer, because their marriage was not recognized under federal law. If Spyer had married a man instead of a woman, no estate tax would have been owed.
Dec 05, 2012

For the first time yesterday, California Attorney General Kamala Harris publicly weighed in on the hotly-contested federal immigration program, Secure Communities (S-Comm).In an information bulletin to local law enforcement agencies, she provides much needed clarification to these agencies about the parameters of their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

For Immediate Release: Dec 05, 2012
Media Contact: press@aclunc.org, (415) 621-2493
ACLU of Northern CA
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California today demanded an investigation into the unlawful and systemic targeting of Latinos for traffic stops and vehicle impoundments by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in the Central Valley.
Nov 19, 2012

You don't surrender your constitutional rights based on who you work for. That's why the ACLU of Northern California sued on behalf of a deputy sheriff in Trinity County who was censured at work after publishing letters to the editor in the local paper.

Nov 13, 2012

This morning, 26 individuals and organizations including the ACLU of California sent an open letter to new Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer asking her to add HTTPS security to Yahoo! Mail. Without secure connections, the email sent and received by Yahoo! users around the world — from dissidents living under repressive regimes to Americans communicating about sensitive topics — is vulnerable to interception by ISPs, WiFi "sniffers," and others. Please join us by telling Yahoo!

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