Scales of Justice in Courtroom

Legal Docket

For decades, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California has used the courts to protect and expand the rights of all Californians. From fighting against the internment of Japanese Americans, to suing California Highway Patrol for targeting Black and Latinx drivers, the ACLU is building a more just state one lawsuit at a time.

ACLU of Northern CA
Case

Martinez et al v. The City of Fresno

Nov 16, 2022
On March 16, 2022, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California (“ACLU”) filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Fresno, urging the court to strike down a city ordinance that targets unhoused people, and puts unconstitutional restrictions on advocates, organizers, and reporters who try to draw attention to how the unhoused are treated during encampment sweeps. In February 2022, city officials am... Read More
RV's parked
Case

Navarro et al. v. City of Mountain View

Nov 04, 2022
On July 14, 2021, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, Disability Rights Advocates, King & Spalding LLP, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise filed a class action complaint against the City of Mountain View for enacting two ordinances that, together, severely restricted when and where “oversized vehicles” (OSVs) could park in the City. The plaintiffs i... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Case

Yesue et al v. The City of Sebastopol

Oct 26, 2022
The ACLU Foundation of Northern California, Disability Rights Advocates, Legal Aid of Sonoma County, and California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Sebastopol for enacting an ordinance that prohibits vehicles “used for human habitation” from parking anywhere within city limits during the day. Read More
People play chess in the early evening along Market St in the Tenderloin neighbourhood, near the intersection with Turk and Mason Streets. San Francisco, California, USA.
Case

San Francisco's Attempt To Ban 28 Individuals from the Tenderloin

Oct 06, 2022
In September 2020, the City of San Francisco filed a series of shockingly unprecedented lawsuits against 28 Bay Area residents. The City is seeking to use California’s public nuisance and Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”) statutes to banish individuals from the San Francisco's Tenderloin District for allegedly engaging in a few instances of street-level drug dealing. Read More
Illustration of an ankle monitor strapped to a person's leg.
Case

Simon et al v. The City and County of San Francisco, Sheriff Paul Miyamoto

Sep 30, 2022
The ACLU Foundation of Northern California and the law firm Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati filed a class-action lawsuit to prevent the San Francisco Sheriff's Office from requiring that individuals agree to unconstitutional “four-way” searches and GPS location data-sharing as conditions of pretrial release on electronic monitoring. Read More
wheelchair beside a tent on a street in San Fransisco
Case

Coalition on Homelessness v. City and County of San Francisco

Sep 27, 2022
On September 27, 2022, the Coalition on Homelessness and seven individual plaintiffs filed suit against the City and County of San Francisco and Mayor London Breed for their efforts to criminalize homelessness through an array of brutal policing practices that violate the constitutional rights of unhoused San Franciscans. Plaintiffs are also seeking a preliminary injunction to stop these practices... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Case

Chang et al v. County of Siskiyou and Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue

Aug 03, 2022
For years, Siskiyou County officials and the Siskiyou Sheriff’s Department have threatened, targeted, and intimidated Hmong American and other Asian American community members in an effort to isolate them and drive them out of the region. A new class action lawsuit led by four Asian American community members details how county officials have waged a systematic campaign of racist hostility and per... Read More
California Police Surveillance Art
Case

Lagleva v. Doyle (License Plate Surveillance)

Jun 02, 2022
Community activists are suing Marin County Sheriff Robert Doyle for his practice of illegally sharing millions of local drivers’ license plate numbers and location data with hundreds of federal and out-of-state agencies Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Case

Debt Collective v. Superior Court of California

Jan 27, 2022
On January 27, 2022, we filed suit against San Mateo County Superior Court for their unlawful practice of automatically imposing a $300 charge every time an individual misses a payment or court deadline in their traffic infraction case. The Court administers this additional fee, known as the civil assessment, without judicial review, adequate notice, or consideration for a person’s circumstances. ... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Case

Echeveste v. Jones (Unlawful ICE Transfers)

Nov 16, 2021
On Nov. 15, 2021, our organization, along with co-counsel Conrad | Metlitzky | Kane LLP , sued Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones and Sacramento County for unlawfully transferring immigrants to ICE custody. Internal documents show that sheriff’s officials illegally transfer immigrants to ICE after they have completed their county jail sentences, rather than releasing them to their families and ... Read More