Publications

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

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

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

This ACLU-NC report tells the stories of individuals and organizations that have been targets of surveillance for their political activity, analyzes current law enforcement policy, and recommends specific policy reforms to safeguard Californians’ rights to privacy and free speech.

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Police use of Taser stun guns to subdue suspects in California and around the nation has increased dramatically in recent years. Billed by their manufacturer, Taser International, as a non-lethal alternative to deadly force, Tasers have been purchased and deployed by a growing number of law enforcement agencies. However, while the Taser is less deadly than a traditional firearm, it is hardly ... Read More

A criminal intelligence system engages in three general functions: (1) collection and analysis of information; (2) storage and maintenance of that portion of the information that qualifies as criminal intelligence and (3) limited dissemination and use of the intelligence information to enhance public safety. It is important to emphasize that there is a major responsibility which accompanies the op... Read More

Despite recent improvements, California teenagers continue to have rates of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STI) that would be considered a crisis in many countries. In fact, teen birth rates for California are higher than those for every other Western democracy in the world.1 This raises the question of whether the state's public schools are adequately educating young pe... Read More

The recent indictments of high-ranking officers in the San Francisco Police Department have brought into the spotlight both the Department as a whole and the mechanisms that exist for holding police accountable for misconduct. The media, elected officials, and members of the public have not only focused on the merits of the charges against the individual officers involved, but have begun to exa... Read More

Racial profiling by law enforcement has long plagued communities of color, yet until recently was virtually ignored by the media, courts, and public officials. In the last few years, the issue seized the attention of the public as never before, due in no small part to the data first released in New Jersey and Maryland showing extreme racial profiling problems within the state police departments... Read More

The cataclysm of Sept. 11, 2001, shuddered across America like an earthquake, shocking our basic assumptions, jarring our complacency and rattling our view of the world. But if the attacks on New York and Washington DC were an earthquake, they carried with them a powerful aftershock – a backlash that continues to penetrate the lives of American citizens and immigrants across the nation. Read More