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

Clement v. California Department of Corrections

Jun 23, 2003
The landmark case Clement v. California Department of Corrections was brought on behalf of Pelican Bay prisoner Frank Clement by the ACLU Foundation of Northern California and the Prison Law Office. Clement filed a federal court challenge to the California Department of Corrections policy prohibiting inmates at the prison from receiving any mail that contains material printed from the Internet. A ... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Case

Castaneda v. The Regents of the University of California

Jun 18, 2003
Filed in 1999 on behalf of African-American, Latino, and Pilipino American applicants to UC Berkeley, Castaneda v. Regents of the University of California alleged that the university's admission procedures unfairly disadvantaged applicants of color in violation of their federal civil rights by not taking into account the full range of indicators of "merit." The parties were able to settle the case... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Case

Gordon v. FBI

Apr 22, 2003
The federal government settles a lawsuit that made public, for the first time, hundreds of records about the government's secret "No-Fly" list. Read More
The Faces of DWB
Case

Rodriguez v. CHP

Feb 27, 2003

Racial profiling by law enforcement has long plagued communities of color. The 2003 settlement in our racial profiling case established a moratorium on California Highway Patrol consent searches.

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ACLU of Northern CA
Case

Gay Straight Alliance Network v. Visalia Unified School District

Aug 13, 2002
The Visalia Unified School District has agreed to adopt sweeping reforms to address anti-gay harassment, including groundbreaking measures to train staff and students with the goal of preventing harassment before it happens.The settlement ends a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union over routine harassment of lesbian and gay students, some of whom were then forced into a spec... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Case

Intel Coporation v. Hamidi

Aug 07, 2002
ACLU Amicus Brief asking the California Supreme Court to determine the extent to which the Constitution limits the state's power to authorize a content-based injunction restraining a private individual's criticism of his previous employer. Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Case

Debro v. San Leandro Unified School District

Jun 28, 2002
ACLU Foundation of Northern California Amicus Brief arguing that if a school superintendent does not offend the First Amendment by retaliating for the speech at issue in this case would be to find that teachers are automatons – that every moment of class time can be scripted, and that the school administrators can control every classroom utterance even if they have no cons... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Case

Chowdhury v. Northwest Airlines Corporation

Jun 04, 2002
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... Read More
default statue of liberty torch
Case

Catholic Charities of Sacramento Inc. v. The Superior Court of Sacramento County

Jan 18, 2001
California’s Contraception Equity Act is a protective health measure that promotes important workers’ rights. No constitutional principle prohibits Catholic Charities’ employees from receiving the protection this law affords to millions of workers throughout the state. The Women’s Contraception Equity Act (“Contraception Equity Act”) requires employment health insurance policies that include pr... Read More