Legal Docket

We filed a class-action lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's policy of arresting immigrants when they appear for court in Northern California and holding them in inhumane conditions inside the San Francisco ICE field office. Read More

We filed a motion in federal court to prevent Meta from complying with the Department of Homeland Security’s demand that the tech giant turn over the name, email address, and phone number associated with an Instagram account that reposted a video naming a Border Patrol agent. We argue that the government’s administrative subpoena violated First Amendment protections for anonymous political speech. Read More

National TPS Alliance v. Noem is a legal challenge to the Trump administration's early termination of Temporary Protected Status for Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Read More

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California has filed a lawsuit to block Sonoma County code inspectors from using drones to conduct surveillance of people's homes without a warrant. Read More

We're challenging the governor's authority to reverse parole as a violation of the rights of young people. Read More

On February 19, 2025, the National TPS Alliance and seven Venezuelan TPS holders sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to challenge the vacatur of the previously ordered extension of TPS for Venezuela, and the subsequent termination. On March 20, 2025, the plaintiffs amended the complaint to also challenge the vacatur of the full TPS extension for 500,000 Haitians, with four Haitian TPS h... Read More

The ACLUs of California and Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP sued the Dept. of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Border Patrol for violating the U.S. Constitution and federal law by indiscriminately stopping, detaining, and arresting people of color regardless of their actual immigration status or individual circumstances. Read More

A habeas petition based on claims brought under the Racial Justice Act, in which our client is challenging his conviction and death sentence. We subsequently filed a writ of habeas corpus challenging four unfounded disciplinary infractions. Read More

In May 2024, the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) banned over 110 students and faculty from campus after their arrest at a pro-Palestine protest. The bans went into effect immediately and cut off students and faculty from classes, jobs, and other school resources, such as meal plans, health care, and housing. Read More

In June of 2024, we filed a motion to unseal court records and preserve public access to hearings in the class action lawsuit that survivors of sexual assault at Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin brought against the federal Bureau of Prisons. Read More

Action against the City of Fresno for its failure to provide records about police canine use of force, as required by the state’s Public Records Act. Read More

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California sued the California Department of State Hospitals for refusing to provide public records about severely mentally ill individuals who died in jail, while waiting to get treatment at a state facility. At least 35 people died in one five year period alone. DSH claimed it did not keep track of the in-custody deaths of people on its waitlist. Read More