Publications

Our new policy paper, Metadata: Piecing Together a Privacy Solution, examines how outdated laws and new technologies combine to put personal privacy at risk and proposes a way forward to ensure that sensitive data of any type gets the protection it deserves. Read More

Our new policy paper, Losing the Spotlight: A Study of California’s Shine the Light Law, takes a close look at California’s landmark transparency law, why its important and whether current law is doing enough to protect our personal information. Read More

In the name of public safety, Black children in Oakland are being arrested at vastly disproportionate rates. This derails their opportunities for educational success while failing to ensure our children’s safety. From Report Card to Criminal Record: The Impact of Policing Oakland Youth describes the various and overlapping law enforcement agencies which police Oakland’s children. Read More

La "Ley de Seth" es una nueva ley que fortalece leyes estatales existentes contra el hostigamiento para ayudar a proteger a todos los estudiantes de las escuelas públicas de California. La Ley de Seth requiere que las escuelas públicas de California actualicen sus politicas y programas contra el hostigamiento, y se enfoquen en proteger a los estudiantes que son hostigados por su orientación sexual... Read More

This report reviews both legal and policy considerations for police practices in immigrant communities – from traffic stops and unnecessary arrests to immigration-based detention in local jails, including vechicle checkpoints and impoundments. Details are included on the financial and human costs of these practices, including several personal stories.The report is accompanied by a summary of cost-... Read More

"Death by Geography" reviews the death-sentencing practices, public safety records, and spending practices of the 24 most populous California counties. The report reveals that while the vast majority of California counties have largely abandoned execution in favor of simply sentencing people to die in prison, just 10 counties continue to aggressively pursue executions, accounting for nearly 85 pe... Read More

"The Hidden Death Tax" is a comprehensive report on the costs of California’s death penalty, analyzing for the first time records of actual costs in California death penalty trials.  The report demonstrates that while California tax payers spend well over $100 million every year on the death penalty, it is unclear just how much money is being spent. At the post-conviction level, California taxp... Read More

This report is a distillation of a roundtable discussion, which focused on the nature of the problem of school bias and pushout, how vulnerable youth populations intersect with one another, and the need to address these very complex and overlapping issues in a manner that is respectful of all students served by our education system. The report concludes with a discussion of various approaches that... Read More

Twenty-three high school-aged young people from northern California spent eight days in the summer of 2007 investigating a civil liberties topic of their choice: the myths and truths of military recruitment and military service. The result is an empathic, impassioned, evocative series of essays, poems, photographs and drawings titled “The Truth Behind the Camouflage.” The young people, who were... Read More

This report explains in detail the joint assessment the ACLU of California on government-funded video surveillance cameras and the current state of video surveillance in California. Read More

The Radelet-Pierce is the first state-wide study of the role of race, ethnicity and geography in death sentencing in California. The authors reviewed all homicides that occurred in California from 1990-99, using records from the FBI and Vital Statistics. During this period, 302 death sentences were returned (close to half the number of people currently on death row in California). The study finds ... Read More

In California, more than 200 people have been wrongfully convicted of murder, rape, or other serious offenses since 1989; Across the country, 123 people have been exonerated and released from death row since 1973.; The average time spent in prison by persons who were sentenced to death and later found to be wrongfully convicted is nine years.; There are approximately 650 current death row inmates ... Read More