Court Cases

Foothills Park is a 1,400-acre public green space located in the city of Palo Alto. For decades, the city has kept the park exclusive to Palo Alto residents under an ordinance that threatens non-residents who enter the park with jail time and a hefty fine unless they enter as guests of a city resident. This ordinance is a vestige of Palo Alto's history of racial discrimination. The ACLU Foundation of Northern California and co-counsel Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP filed suit to compel the city to remove its unjust and unconstitutional residents-only restriction.

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.

In a historic settlement, the County of Riverside agreed to stop referring students to an abusive probation program.

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

The ACLU Foundations of California and legal partners filed a federal class action lawsuit seeking the immediate release of detainees at Yuba County Jail and Mesa Verde Detention Facility. The overcrowded and unsanitary conditions at the ICE jails endanger our plaintiffs' lives in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic.

Thirteen detained immigrants at risk of a potentially fatal COVID-19 infection sue ICE, demanding their release

In March of 2018, two Bay Area fathers who had been detained for over six months at the Contra Costa West County Detention Facility in Richmond, California sued the federal government in a class action lawsuit challenging their unlawful and prolonged detention. Complaint is here.  On June 5, 2018, a federal judge ruled that people who have been detained under 8 U.S.C. 1231(a)(6) cannot be held by the government for more than 180 days without a bond hearing before an immigration judge. She also granted a motion for class certification. The ruling is expected to affect hundreds of people detained throughout the Ninth Circuit.”