Search Results

On Thursday, December 19th President Obama commuted the sentences of eight people who have been imprisoned more than 15 years on crack-cocaine charges, a move in line with his administration's attempts to ease some of the harsher drug-sentencing decisions of the past two decades. Read More

Audley Barrington Lyon, Jr. is currently in immigration detention while he fights deportation to Jamaica. A “U visa” is a beacon of hope for Mr. Lyon, who was an innocent bystander when he was seriously injured in shooting. A U visa—available to crime victims who cooperate with criminal investigations—would give him the opportunity to stay in the country with his U.S. citizen wife. Unfortunately, ... Read More

Are you giving - or, better yet, hoping to get - a new Xbox One this holiday season? With the recent news that the NSA is spying on gaming networks, we put together some important privacy information and tips to help you better protect yourself. Read More

Transgender students and their families are celebrating California’s new School Success and Opportunity Act, which ensures that schools across the state understand their obligation to provide a fair opportunity for transgender students to participate in all school programs and to graduate with their peers. The law went into effect on January 1st. Read More

Transgender students, and their parents, educators and friends today are both relieved and concerned that while the California School Success and Opportunity Act (AB 1266), which helps schools better understand how to provide a fair opportunity for transgender students to participate and succeed, failed to qualify for a referendum based on a random count of signatures but may still qualify dependi... Read More

The Department of Education and Department of Justice today released federal guidance to assist schools in administering discipline in a nondiscriminatory way and to provide alternatives to overly punitive school discipline practices. Read More

Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday unveiled his proposed budget for 2014-2015, a budget that contains some elements that would actually move California in the direction of criminal justice reform that remains so urgently needed.Expanding medical and elderly parole will continue to reduce the state prison population. The presumption of split sentencing will help ensure people are able to successfully tra... Read More

Sheriff Lee Baca stunned the public this week by announcing that he will immediately retire as the head of Los Angeles County jails. His announcement marks another milestone in the ACLU's campaign to end the culture of rampant deputy-on-prisoner violence that has plagued the Los Angeles County jails for years. Read More

Nine years ago, as a result of an ACLU lawsuit, California promised $800 million help address school facility conditions that pose urgent threats to students' health and safety. The state has failed to honor that commitment. But on Friday, the governor proposed $188.1 million for the Emergency Repair Program in his budget. Read More

This Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission will decide an important issue - whether to initiate a rulemaking to update privacy protections for the modern smartphone age. Join the ACLU of California and the Electronic Frontier Foundation and ask them to stand up for your cell phone privacy. Read More