All Cases

33 Court Cases
Court Case
Jan 21, 2026
drone flying overhead
  • Privacy and Technology

Schmitz, et al. v. Permit Sonoma, et al.

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California has filed a lawsuit to block Sonoma County code inspectors from using drones to conduct surveillance of people's homes without a warrant.
Court Case
Jan 21, 2026
A hand pressing button on a digital door lock
  • Privacy and Technology

San Francisco Tenants Union, et al. v. Smart Rent, et al.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court today to protect tenants' privacy rights from landlords who force renters to allow AI-powered surveillance technology in their homes
Court Case
Jan 20, 2026
Cartoon grid with cars, location pins and license plate, which are overlooked by a camera and a law enforcement officer
  • Privacy and Technology|
  • +1 Issue

SIREN, et al. v. City of San Jose, et al.

The ACLU of Northern California and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed suit in Santa Clara County Superior Court against the City of San Jose and others to challenge San Jose police officers’ practice of searching for location information collected by automated license plate readers (ALPRs) without first getting a warrant.
Court Case
Dec 09, 2025
Protestor recording with phone
  • Free Speech|
  • +1 Issue

J. Doe v. United States Department of Homeland Security

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.
Court Case
Jul 06, 2023
hand typing on laptop with keyhole symbol
  • Free Speech|
  • +1 Issue

In Re Ex Parte Application of Dr. Fredric Eshelman (anonymous online speech)

Court Case
Sep 30, 2022
Illustration of an ankle monitor strapped to a person's leg.
  • Police Practices|
  • +1 Issue

Simon et al v. The City and County of San Francisco, Sheriff Paul Miyamoto

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California and the law firm Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati filed a class-action lawsuit to prevent the San Francisco Sheriff's Office from requiring that individuals agree to unconstitutional “four-way” searches and GPS location data-sharing as conditions of pretrial release on electronic monitoring.
Court Case
Jun 02, 2022
CA Police Scanning
  • Immigrants' Rights|
  • +2 Issues

Lagleva v. Doyle (License Plate Surveillance)

California activists are suing the Marin County Sheriff for illegally sharing drivers’ license plate data with ICE, CBP and other out-of-state agencies.
Court Case
Apr 13, 2021
Facial recognition technology scan
  • Immigrants' Rights|
  • +2 Issues

ACLU of Northern California et al. v. ICE

The ACLU of Northern California, the Immigrant Defense Project, Just Futures Law, and Mijente sued the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection under the Freedom of Information Act seeking records of their use of Clearview AI’s face surveillance system.
Court Case
Oct 07, 2020
A photograph of surveillance camera in the foreground with a heat map of a gathered crowd in the background.
  • Police Practices|
  • +2 Issues

Williams v. City and County of San Francisco (Illegal Surveillance)