Court Cases

Lawsuit Seeks Information on FBI Activities in Northern CA Muslim Communities; Demand to comply with FOIA request stems from reports of community anxiety and fear over surveillance tactics. Following reports of anxiety and fear over FBI surveillance tactics in Muslim communities, the ACLU Foundation of Northern California joined with the Asian Law Caucus and the San Francisco Bay Guardian in 2010 to file a Freedom of Information Act request in order to understand the scope of the FBI's activities, including the infiltration of Muslim communities and mosques through the use of informants.

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California has settled a lawsuit against the Alameda County Sheriff over a policy that required mandatory pregnancy testing at Alameda County jails.

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California is asking Del Norte, Fresno, Mendocino, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Tulare, Madera, and Shasta counties to reverse their policies of requiring payment in advance of traffic court dates, or face possible legal action. These counties are currently withholding the right to contest a traffic citation until the fines and fees for the citation are paid in full. This practice is a clear violation of due process.

All adult citizens have a right to vote in California except while they're "imprisoned or on parole for conviction of a felony" or are mentally incompetent. But the CA Secretary of State has expanded this exclusion to include people who are on forms of community supervision created by the 2011 Criminal Justice Realignment Act. Over 58,000 Californians were wrongfully disenfranchised.

A settlement in ACLU Foundation of Northern California's federal class action lawsuit sets new standards for the medical and mental health care provided to inmates in the Monterey County Jail. It will also expand accessibility for inmates with disabilities.

ACLU Foundations of California amicus brief arguing that denying juveniles’ petitions for Prop 47 resentencing and reclassification relief incorrectly ignores the initiative’s legislative intent, violates juveniles’ equal protection rights, and results in harmful collateral consequences for these young people.