Court Cases

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed a discrimination lawsuit against Northwest Airlines for refusing to allow Arshad Chowdhury, a 26-year-old Bangladeshi-American, to board a Northwest flight even though he posed no security threat. The complaint was filed on the same day and in collaboration with four other similar complaints filed across the country by other ACLU affiliates against major airlines. All of the lawsuits concern airlines' widely-reported practice since September 11 of discriminating against passengers who are, or are perceived to be, of Middle Eastern origin.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal rejects an attempt by the French courts to force Yahoo! to block French users' access to web pages that contain speech related to Nazism. The ACLU Foundation of Northern California filed an influential amicus brief in the case.

California’s Contraception Equity Act is a protective health measure that promotes important workers’ rights. No constitutional principle prohibits Catholic Charities’ employees from receiving the protection this law affords to millions of workers throughout the state. The Women’s Contraception Equity Act (“Contraception Equity Act”) requires employment health insurance policies that include prescription drug benefits to cover contraception. Insurance Code Section 10123.196; Health and Safety Code Section 1367.25. The Legislature enacted this workers’ health measure to address California’s high rate of unplanned pregnancy, which results in part from the failure of many health insurance plans to cover contraception.

The State of California is prohibited from using the gas chamber to execute condemned prisoners.

The California Court of Appeals rules that organized graduation prayers are not constitutional.

The California Supreme Court establishes that the First Amendment requires a higher standard of proof and review to find libel, especially when the respondents are public figures.