News & Commentary
You Have Every Right to Photograph that Cop
Taking photographs and video of things that are plainly visible in public spaces is a constitutional right — and that includes the outside of federal buildings, as well as transportation facilities, and police and other government officials carrying out their duties.
By Jay Stanley
Breaking California's Prison Habit
In May, in Brown v. Plata, the U.S. Supreme Court spoke definitively: California must stop imprisoning so many people. The High Court concluded that California's prison system is so bloated that it poses extreme risks to prisoners and to staff, and that reducing the number of people in state prisons is the only way to end grossly inadequate health care and "needless suffering and death." The Court invoked the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.The Plata decision, 10 years in the making,
By ACLU of Northern California
The ACLU's 12-Step Plan to End California's Addiction to Incarceration
The Golden State has a problem. An addiction problem. California is addicted to incarceration. We've hit rock bottom, and it's time for an intervention. To help the state break the addiction, yesterday the ACLU of California sent a 12-step plan to every county in the state, as part of a larger ACLU comprehensive public safety realignment report. The report urges a fundamental shift in criminal justice policies toward smart on crime alternatives to incarceration.
By Allen Hopper
Timeline for California’s "Secret Mission" for Lethal Injection Drugs
July 2010 to Present (in reverse chronological order)
By ACLU of Northern California
Bring Back Balance - Sentencing Reforms Save Money & Improve Realignment
It's time to reform California's sentencing laws. Californians are fed up with misguided policies that have packed our prisons & jails, drained our state budget and led to one of the highest rates of recidivism in the country.The recent Plata v. Brown decision from the U.S. Supreme Court requires the Department of Corr
By ACLU of Northern California
A Straight Answer on Warrants for Email from the Government? Not So Easy.
By Amanda SimonACLU National Office
By ACLU of Northern California
Documents from the CDCR
On Nov. 17, 2010, the ACLU-NC filed a suit under the California Public Records Act to demand records from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) about its recent acquisition of sodium thiopental, a controlled substance used as part of California’s lethal injection protocol for executing death row inmates. Here are the documents we have received from the CDCR to date.
By ACLU of Northern California
Blow to Free Speech: UC Berkeley Chancellor Invited Use of Force Against Student Protesters
Political protest and vigorous debate are vital elements of a healthy democracy and essential attributes of university communities in particular. A university is, after all, a community of ideas, and so universities should be especially welcoming of protest and dissent. For that reason, we found it shocking and disappointing when UC Berkeley responded to peaceful student protesters last fall with baton blows. Even more troubling, the ACLU-NC recently obtained emails in response to a Public Records Act request that show that the police conduct that day was authorized at the very highest levels of the University.
By Linda Lye
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