News & Commentary

California applies the death penalty disproportionately to people of color, especially when the victim is white. A recent, rigorous statewide study found that Black people are up to 8.7 times as likely to be sentenced to death as similarly situated non-Black defendants, Latino people are up to 6.2 times as likely to be sentenced to death, and defendants of all races are up to 8.8 times as likely to be condemned to death when at least one of the victims in the case is white.

Alameda County is set to choose a new district attorney to replace Pamela Price. The next top prosecutor must commit to promoting equal justice and safety for all

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California and Public Justice intervened to unseal records records related to decades of sexual abuse at a federal prison in Dublin. If the Bureau of Prisons is to be held accountable, there must be full and complete transparency as the cases against it proceed.

With so much at stake in this election, the ACLU has launched its most comprehensive voting rights protection and voter education programs in the organization's history. We're prepared to defend civil rights and civil liberties no matter who wins in November.

John Do is the ACLU of Northern California’s lead counsel for a lawsuit challenging the city’s costly and ineffective practice of destroying unhoused individuals’ belongings, and citing, arresting, and moving them without offering shelter. For Do, who grew up poor in subsidized public housing, ending homelessness is personal. “I’ve always seen homelessness as a direct result of decades of poor policymaking and a lack of investment in affordable housing,” said Do, a senior attorney with the Racial and Economic Justice Program. “Without it, I know with one hundred percent certainty that my family would have been homeless.”