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ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

U.S. Supreme Court Decision Undermines Roe v. Wade

Apr 18, 2007
The U.S. Supreme Court decision  issued on April 18, 2007 upholding a federal law banning certain abortions will endanger women's health and is a set back for all Americans who believe politicians should not legislate medical decision-making.  The decision disregards the opinion of leading doctors and medical organizations that oppose the ban because it is harmful to women... Read More
Jerry Miller
Blog

Innocence Project Marks Its 200th Exoneration

Apr 22, 2007
Jerry Miller, a former Army cook, spent nearly 25 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. In 1981, at the age of 22, Miller was tried and convicted for the brutal rape of woman in downtown Chicago. His conviction was based on what is now understood to be mistaken eyewitness identification. Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Case

People v. Broderick Boys

Apr 23, 2007
The District Attorney of Yolo County in late December 2004 sought a permanent injunction against the Broderick Boys “gang,” attempting to place on permanent probation, without any trial or due process, hundreds of residents of a predominantly Latino neighborhood in West Sacramento. In July 2005, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a motion to set aside the permanent injunction for lac... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Governor Shrinking From Real ID?

May 10, 2007
While other states are courageously standing up to Congress' misguided national ID mandate, California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is giving his constituents a different, or shall we say, indifferent message. In response to constituent letters urging California to reject implementation of the REAL ID Act, the Governor's office simply replied: "The issue you have written about is ... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Some Tech Trying to Protect Privacy

May 17, 2007
We are now living in a world where the technology exists to keep track of everything we do and say and everywhere we go. Video surveillance, RFID chips that allow stored data to be read at a distance, and massive databases of who we call and what Internet sites we browse mean more information about our lives is being preserved, and being preserved for longer periods of time. Advances ... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

All Quiet on the Middle Eastern Front: Silencing the Speech of Military Troops

May 18, 2007
Earlier this week, the U.S. military ordered troops to stop posting to blogs and sending personal emails without getting clearance. More information here. And the regulations here. Now, the Defense Department is claiming that barring military troops from using social networking, video sharing, and other "recreational" sites such as YouTube and MySpace on military computers is purely a... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Landmark RFID Bill Overwhelmingly Passes California Senate

May 24, 2007
The Identity Information Protection Act (SB 30), the first bill in the country to require privacy and security protections for the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags in state government-issued ID's passed the California State Senate this morning with a strong bipartisan vote of 33-2. Today's vote was an even more emphatic message to Governor Schwarzenegger that the priv... Read More
ACLU of Northern CA
Blog

Facebook’s New Third-Party Applications: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

May 25, 2007
The blogosphere is buzzing with commentary about Facebook's announcement that the social networking site is opening its doors to third-party developers. The newly announced feature, Facebook Platform, allows third-party developers (including heavyweights like Microsoft and Amazon.com) to create their own applications to provide Facebook's users with enhanced functionality, such as the... Read More