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“Smart city” products are often touted as cost-efficient solutions to providing government services and addressing societal challenges, but in reality, these technologies are no more intelligent than the data and algorithms behind them. Like other tools, their effectiveness depends on when, where and how they are used. These technologies can cause real harm to people—they have the power to exacerb... Read More

San Francisco — The ACLU of California today released a report that identifies 146 officer-involved shootings by the Fresno Police Department between 2001 and 2016 and analyzes the department’s policies and practices related to use of force, transparency, and community relations.The report reveals a disparate impact of police shootings in low-income communities of color and shows how the departmen... Read More

This report recommends a hierarchy of reforms based on their financial feasibility. Policy updates and improvements would require no new resources and would help to improve degraded police-community relationships. Read More

These days, it seems like almost every city is launching “smart initiatives” that promise to turn data about the city into improved public services, a vibrant business community, or a new approach to challenges like public health. But it's not smart to assume that any given “smart city” technology will actually benefit the public. These technologies can cause real harm to people. They ha... Read More

For more than four decades, the ACLU of Northern California has hosted Bill of Rights Day to honor leaders who’ve made great contributions to civil liberties and individual freedom. It started in 1973 when we recognized Anthony Amsterdam, a Stanford law professor who argued Furman v. Georgia in front of the US Supreme Court. In a landmark decision, the court held that capital punishment const... Read More

The ACLU Campaign for Smart Justice released new public opinion polling today that shows consensus support for criminal justice reform across the ideological and political spectrum.

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On Nov. 6, the ACLU of Northern California sent a letter to Taylor Swift’s attorney refuting  meritless legal defamation and copyright threats against local blogger Meghan Herning. The ACLU’s letter requested a response by Nov. 13. Today Senior Staff Attorney Michael Risher, issued this statement:The deadline has passed and we have not heard from Ms. Swift or her attorney. Their failure ... Read More

“These baseless threats are the latest in the Trump Administration’s campaign to coerce local police and sheriffs into serving as de facto immigration agents,” said Julia Harumi Mass, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of California. “Withholding federal money from cities and counties based on these reasonable local policies is both unlawful and unwise. Courts have already upheld the legality of ... Read More

The teenagers must be given notice of the reasons for their arrests, access to the evidence being offered against them, and a prompt hearing in front of a judge, in which the government would have the burden to justify continued detention.

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F.E., a 17-year-old from Brentwood, New York, has returned home to his family after being detained for five months in jail-like facilities run by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). Read More