Court Cases

Davi Luks, a retired schoolteacher and longtime Contra Costa County resident, wanted to protest the human cost of the war in Gaza. So, he posted several signs and flags on his property in El Sobrante in the county’s unincorporated area. County code enforcement fined him $4,300, claiming he had violated the county’s sign ordinance – a flagrant violation of his First Amendment rights. Today, the ACLU of Northern California filed a federal lawsuit against Contra Costa County on behalf of Luks. It calls for the court to declare the ordinance unconstitutional. The suit also demands that county officials return Luks' unlawful $4,300 fine and remove the lien from his property.

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California and the ACLU of the District of Columbia sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over its unlawful attempt to obtain from Google the personal and location information of a Canadian citizen who has posted content critical of the Trump administration online. This case is among a large number of instances of social media critics who have been targeted by DHS. Since the start of the second Trump administration, social media platforms have received hundreds of similar government demands for information designed to chill speech the government doesn’t like. Our lawsuit asks the court to rule that DHS is exceeding its legal authority by demanding vast swaths of personal information about the plaintiff, including his name, where he lives, extensive information about his physical movements, and detailed records about the websites he visits and the people he communicates with online. On his social media accounts, the plaintiff, John Doe, who uses a pseudonym to protect his privacy and family, regularly posts strongly worded criticisms of President Trump and his policies. In February, DHS issued an administrative demand to Google to release his personal information shortly after he posted online criticism of the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis. The attempt to force Google to turn over information about Mr. Doe far exceeds DHS’s legal authority, which the agency issued without any involvement from a court, citing a customs enforcement law. Mr. Doe, a Canadian citizen who resides in Canada, has not entered the U.S. since 2015. The ACLU of Northern California, the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and the ACLU national organization have filed three other cases challenging similar abuses, but DHS withdrew those subpoenas before a judge could rule on their legality. This lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California, goes a step further than previous challenges. It asks the court to not only invalidate this summons, but also make clear that the government may not use its customs enforcement authority to attempt to identify and intimidate its critics.

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California sued the city of Modesto over its unconstitutional ordinance banning face coverings and safety gear at protests.

We filed a motion in federal court to prevent Meta from complying with the Department of Homeland Security’s demand that the tech giant turn over the name, email address, and phone number associated with an Instagram account that reposted a video naming a Border Patrol agent. We argue that the government’s administrative subpoena violated First Amendment protections for anonymous political speech.

On March 16, 2022, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California (“ACLU”) filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Fresno, urging the court to strike down a city ordinance that targets unhoused people, and puts unconstitutional restrictions on advocates, organizers, and reporters who try to draw attention to how the unhoused are treated during encampment sweeps. In February 2022, city officials amended an existing ordinance to create a buffer zone around abatement activity, like encampment sweeps, taking place on public property. Anyone who enters the off-limits area “without express authorization” from the city can now be charged with a misdemeanor or fined up to $250. This outrageously broad ordinance is a direct assault not just on our plaintiffs’ constitutional rights, but on everyone’s rights. The ACLU and the California Homeless Union, represented by the Law Offices of Anthony D. Prince, filed the complaint in the United States District Court, Eastern District of California on behalf of Dez Martinez, a longtime advocate who was once unhoused, Robert McCloskey, a reporter and activist, the Fresno Homeless Union, and Faith in the Valley. The lawsuit seeks to stop the ordinance from going into effect on March 31 and ultimately to get it voided altogether. On March 30, 2022, the ACLU and the California Homeless Union filed a motion for preliminary injunction to ask the Court to prohibit the City of Fresno from enforcing the ordinance and conducting nuisance abatements under the ordinance. In response, the City of Fresno moved to dismiss the lawsuit. The Court has scheduled a hearing on the preliminary injunction for Wednesday, May 11.

On July 6, 2021, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California joined the legal team defending the free speech rights of a Sacramento City Councilmember’s representative, Skyler Henry—a case with important First Amendment implications.

The ACLU sued Fresno County's top election official in dispute over Church Black Lives Matter banners.