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.

ballot selfie
Case

ACLU Foundations of California v. Alex Padilla (Ballot Selfies)

Oct 31, 2016
The ACLU Foundations of California filed suit against Secretary of State Alex Padilla challenging two statutes that prohibit voters from sharing ballot selfies. The suit asks for a temporary restraining order to prohibit the state from enforcing the ban for the November presidential election. Read More
Person looking at a phone
Case

In re Ricardo P. (Electronic Search)

Oct 27, 2016
This case arises from the decision by a California trial court to impose an expansive “electronics search condition” on a young probationer that required him to submit his electronic devices and online account passwords for a search as a condition of probation. Read More
youth looking at a cell phone
Case

Hassell v. Bird (Yelp Free Speech)

Sep 21, 2016
The CA Supreme Court has agreed to review a case that could have allowed people to censor online speech without even giving the website’s owner an opportunity to come to court to defend itself. Read More
files
Case

ACLU v. CDCR (JLWOP Records Request)

Sep 15, 2016
On June 7, 2016, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a suit under the California Public Records Act demanding that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) release information about people serving life sentences for crimes committed as juveniles. Read More
fence
Case

Preap v. Johnson (Mandatory Immigration Detention)

Aug 04, 2016
Most immigrants who are detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") and placed in deportation proceedings are eligible for release on bond. Under a broad and incorrect interpretation of federal law, however, each of the named plaintiffs in this case has been denied the opportunity to challenge his detention while deportation proceedings are pending. Read More
Photo: HaywardPoliceDept via Facebook
Case

National Lawyers Guild v. Hayward PD (Bodycam Records)

Jun 24, 2016
The ACLU of Northern California filed a lawsuit against the City of Hayward and its Police Department for charging the National Lawyers Guild unlawful and excessive costs as the price of disclosing body camera footage the NLG requested under the California Public Records Act. Read More
vehicle rear-view mirror showing police cruiser and active lights
Case

Rubicon Programs v. Solano County Superior Court (Driver's License Suspension)

Jun 15, 2016
ACLU of Northern California, along with a coalition of legal organizations, has brought suit against Solano County Superior Court, challenging the court’s practice of suspending the driver’s licenses of people who are too poor to pay exorbitant traffic fines. In California, millions of people do not have valid driver’s licenses because they cannot afford to pay traffic fines and fees. In 2015, ove... Read More
San Quentin
Case

ACLU Foundation of Northern California v. CDCR (Lethal Injections)

Jun 01, 2016
The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a suit under the California Public Records Act to demand records from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation related to lethal injection. The ACLU Foundation of Northern California issued this request for documents in advance of the department's promulgation of a new, one-drug lethal injection protocol, so that the ACLU Foundati... Read More
Mercy Medical Center Redding
Case

Chamorro v. Dignity Health (Religious Refusals)

Apr 27, 2016
The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a lawsuit against Dignity Health for the hospital chain’s use of religious directives to deny basic reproductive health care to its patients. The suit argues that withholding pregnancy-related care for reasons other than medical considerations is illegal in California. Read More