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MADERA, CA — The ACLU Foundation of Northern California today filed a lawsuit against Chawanakee Unified School District and Minarets High School administrators on behalf of two students for censoring the students’ speech celebrating their LGBTQ identities in violation of their free speech rights and right to be free of anti-LGBTQ bias in California schools. Steven Madrid and Mikayla Garaffa, t... Read More

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the law firm Rukin Hyland & Riggin LLP filed a lawsuit on March 21, 2019 on behalf of Oliver Knight, a 29-year-old transgender man who was denied health care based on the hospital’s religious views, which do not recognize gender-affirming care. On August 30, 2017, minutes before Mr. Knight was scheduled t... Read More

SACRAMENTO – Last night, news broke that California Governor Gavin Newsom is planning to announce a moratorium on executions in the state. The following statement can be jointly attributed to the three executive directors of the California ACLU affiliates: Abdi Soltani (Northern California), Hector Villagra (Southern California) and Norma Chávez Peterson (San Diego & Imperial Counties):  Read More

UPDATE: The Union City Police Department informed the ACLU that it does not operate license plate cameras and has no license plate detection data to share with ICE. Union City provided a recent sharing report and screenshots showing that ICE is not listed as a sharing partner and that Union City has not contributed “detections” data to the LEARN database. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcemen... Read More

On January 14, 2019, Steven Madrid and Mikayla Garaffa, two Minarets High School students, had their pro-LGBTQ yearbook quotes rejected by school administrators who called the quotes “politically divisive.” After the quotes were rejected, the two students sent the district a letter from the ACLU national office to Minarets High School’s yearbook advisor and school principal, asserting their fr... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California today released records revealing that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has gained access to an expansive surveillance database to target immigrants. The documents also reveal that local law enforcement agencies are aiding ICE in the surveillance efforts by sharing residents’ location information with ICE agents, some... Read More

The ACLU, along with our client Communications Workers of America and other civil rights groups, announced a historic settlement agreement with Facebook that will result in major changes to Facebook’s advertising platform. Advertisers will no longer be able to exclude users from learning about opportunities for housing, employment, or credit based on gender, age, or other protected characteristics... Read More

SACRAMENTO — One year after the tragic shooting death of Stephon Clark in his grandmother’s backyard in Sacramento, the ACLU of California is launching an advertising buy in support of legislation to reduce the number of police shootings in the state. The organization is investing in 30 second radio spots that will be featured for a two-week period on KHYL-FM in Sacramento and KPWR-FM in Los Angel... Read More

NEW YORK — A historic civil rights settlement was announced with Facebook today following a variety of anti-discrimination legal actions. The settlement encompasses sweeping changes that the tech giant will make to its paid advertising platform to prevent discrimination in employment, housing, and credit advertising. Since late 2016, Facebook has faced legal pressure from the American Civil Lib... Read More

After years of working to affirm my identity in a world where transgender people are questioned constantly about their decisions, I felt hopeful as I arrived for the surgery I had waited so long for. I was 27, and I would finally be closer to calling my body home. Since I was a kid, I’ve felt like my body didn’t match my soul. I felt uncomfortable in clothes. I felt disgusting when I showered. ... Read More