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.

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
ACLU client Taylor Victor
Case

T.V. v. Beukelman (Student Censorship)

Feb 26, 2016
ACLU Foundation of Northern California has settled a lawsuit with the Manteca Unified School District after two high school officials chastised and censored a student for wearing a shirt to school identifying herself as a proud member of the LGBT community. Read More
ACLU client Leif Taylor
Case

In re Taylor (Juvenile LWOP Resentencing)

Feb 22, 2016
The ACLU Foundation of Northern California today asked the Supreme Court of California to provide justice to people unlawfully sentenced as teenagers to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Read More
hands
Case

Byrd v. Fresno (Local Ban on Medical Marijuana Cultivation)

Feb 17, 2016
The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed suit against the City and County of Fresno over complete bans on the cultivation and storage of medical marijuana. The bans are inconsistent with California’s 1996 voter-approved Compassionate Use Act, which allows seriously ill patients and caregivers to grow medical marijuana, and also with more recent legislation. The City and County also have ba... Read More
hands
Case

Kirby v. Fresno (Local Ban on Medical Marijuana Cultivation)

Feb 17, 2016
The ACLU is challenging a Fresno County ban on the cultivation and storage of medical marijuana in the California Supreme Court. The ban is inconsistent with California’s 1996 voter-approved Compassionate Use Act, which allows seriously ill patients and caregivers to grow medical marijuana. Read More
Mosque in Fresno, CA by David Prasad
Case

ACLU Foundation of Northern California, Asian Law Caucus, SF Bay Guardian v. FBI (Surveillance of Muslim Communities)

Feb 08, 2016
Lawsuit Seeks Information on FBI Activities in Northern CA Muslim Communities; Demand to comply with FOIA request stems from reports of community anxiety and fear over surveillance tactics. Following reports of anxiety and fear over FBI surveillance tactics in Muslim communities, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California joined with the Asian Law Caucus and the San Francisco Bay Guardian in 20... Read More
cell tower
Case

ACLU v. DOJ (StingRays)

Jan 13, 2016

In April 2013, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice to enforce the public's right to information about the federal government’s use of a surveillance tool commonly known as a StingRay. StingRays simulate a cell tower and trick all wireless devices on the same network in the vicinity to communicate with the device. 

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Military women in combat press conference photo by Gigi Pandian
Case

Hegar v. Carter (Women in Combat)

Dec 03, 2015

Four servicewomen and the Service Women's Action Network, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California and the law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, filed an amended complaint in their lawsuit against the Department of Defense for its ongoing blanket exclusion of women from thousands of ground combat positions. 

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