The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a discrimination lawsuit against Northwest Airlines for refusing to allow Arshad Chowdhury, a 26-year-old Bangladeshi-American, to board a Northwest flight even though he posed no security threat. The complaint was filed on the same day and in collaboration with four other similar complaints filed across the country by other ACLU affiliates against major airlines. All of the lawsuits concern airlines' widely-reported practice since September 11 of discriminating against passengers who are, or are perceived to be, of Middle Eastern origin.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal rejects an attempt by the French courts to force Yahoo! to block French users' access to web pages that contain speech related to Nazism. The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed an influential amicus brief in the case.