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.

Case

The Sacramento County Airport and the California Endowment

Jul 11, 2014
The Sacramento International Airport features a wide range of amenities including various restaurants and shops, art displays, and a massage bar. The airport also rents scores of display cases for advertising throughout the terminals, including both static and multi-media displays. One of the advertisement cases is rented by the California Endowment, a non-profit foundation that seeks to expa... Read More
airplane
Case

Latif v. Holder (No Fly List)

Jun 24, 2014
The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and the ACLU Foundations of Oregon, Southern California, Northern California, and New Mexico have filed a legal challenge on behalf of ten U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who cannot fly to or from the United States or over U.S. airspace because they are on the "No Fly List"—a component of the government's watch list system. None ... Read More
Loleta, CA
Case

Humboldt County Schools Litigation

Mar 17, 2014
The ACLU Foundation of Northern California and NCYL have charged school officials in two Humboldt County towns with intentionally discriminating against Native American and Black students by allowing the pervasive racial and sexual harassment of these students to go unchallenged. Read More
People marching
Case

Maral v. City of Live Oak

Feb 13, 2014
In 1996, the people of California passed an initiative to ensure that “seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes.” This initiative (Proposition 215), as well as a later law passed by the Legislature (S.B. 420), makes it clear that California patients and their caregivers can grow and cultivate marijuana for medical use. However, at the end of 2013 t... Read More
Bob Offer-Westort photo by Emory Jones
Case

Offer-Westort v. San Francisco (Warrantless Cell Phone Search)

Mar 20, 2013
The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a lawsuit against the City and County of San Francisco and San Francisco Police Chief Gregory Suhr on March 20, 2013 challenging the warrantless searches of cell phones of individuals who have been arrested. The suit was brought on behalf of a civil rights activist, Bob Offer-Westort, whose cell phone was searched by the San Francisco Police Departm... Read More
Case

Mejia v. Aitken (Immigration Detention)

Mar 13, 2013
On Feb. 6, 2013 the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, along with Bertha Mejia Espinoza's immigration attorney Rosy Cho, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, seeking Ms. Mejia's release from Yuba County Jail.On the basis of minor, nonviolent offenses primarily petty theft of food items, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security (ICE) has... Read More
Pepper spray cop
Case

Baker v. Katehi (UC Davis Pepper Spray Cop)

Jan 09, 2013
21 students and alumni filed a federal lawsuit on Feb. 22, 2012 against UC Davis over the University's treatment of protesters during a Nov. 18, 2011 demonstration in which campus police were caught on video dousing seated protesters with pepper spray. Read More
We are the 99%
Case

ACLU v. FBI (Occupy Surveillance)

Aug 24, 2012
In early 2012, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a Freedom of Information Act request to enforce the public's right to information about government surveillance of the political movement "Occupy Wall Street." But after the FBI failed to provided documents, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California sued. The lawsuit is ongoing. Read More
Case

Palmer v. West Contra Costa County Unified School District

Jun 12, 2012
The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed suit on behalf of two concerned taxpayers against the West Contra Costa Unified School District, over conditions at district's Community Day School Program. The lawsuit seeks to compel the district to relocate its Community Day School Program (CDSP) and to provide adequate staffing, instructional materials, and legally required services to its stude... Read More