Court Cases

On January 27, 2022, we filed suit against San Mateo County Superior Court for their unlawful practice of automatically imposing a $300 charge every time an individual misses a payment or court deadline in their traffic infraction case. The Court administers this additional fee, known as the civil assessment, without judicial review, adequate notice, or consideration for a person’s circumstances.  

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a class action lawsuit to compel Tulare County to take immediate precautions to prevent a severe spread of COVID-19 that would expose approximately 1,900 incarcerated people to serious illness or death.

Lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court challenging the state of California for its retention of genetic samples and profiles from people arrested but never convicted of a felony.

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed suit against the California Department of Corrections on behalf of three media organizations challenging the execution viewing procedure.

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California and Protection and Advocacy, Inc. issued a letter to the California Department of Mental Health stating our concern that the state hospital system was forcibly drugging patients who have been tried for crimes and were found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Jarvis Jay Masters, a death-sentenced inmate, and Witness to Innocence, a nonprofit organization composed of and led by exonerated death row inmates and their family members, is challenging California’s new lethal injection regulations. 

In 2015, the California Legislature enacted SB 227 to try to ensure that prosecutors use a public process when deciding whether to criminally charge police officers accused in shootings or other uses of excessive force, as opposed to using secret grand-jury proceedings. The Court of Appeal held that the law is unconstitutional because it conflicts the constitutional role of the grand jury. The ACLU Foundations of California supported SB 227 and has now asked the California Supreme Court to grant review in the case.