Progress in the Fight Against Face Surveillance

Illustrated image of a white police officer using face surveillance on a Black family. It

The Indian Child Welfare Act: A Unique Law within a Flawed System

The U.S. Supreme Court's affirmation of the Indian Child Welfare Act was a landmark victory for tribal sovereignty and Native families. But despite the law's protections, Native and Black children are much more likely to be removed from their homes and placed in foster care. The government must do more to support struggling families and help them stay together.

A photo of a young child holding her mother's hand.

Native Families' Right to Stay Together is at Stake at the Supreme Court

The Indian Child Welfare Act — a law that protects Native children from forced removal from their families, tribes, and culture — is currently under attack.

Indigenous Children

To Achieve True Reproductive Justice in California, We Must Look Beyond Roe v. Wade

The ACLU of Northern California fights for Californians’ bodily autonomy and the right to have children, not have children, and parent the children we have with dignity and safety. Although the U.S. Supreme Court has dealt a devastating step back by [dismantling/overturning] Roe v. Wade and nearly 50 years of precedent guaranteeing the constitutional right to abortion, we know that Roe was never enough to make our vision a reality, and that it does not define our vision for reproductive justice and liberation.

Graphic with yellow and red colors. To the left of the image is a Black woman holding a megaphone, in the middle there is a cropped image of a person holding a rally sign reading "No justice, No peace" and on the left is a Black man with his fist raised in the air.

Confronting the Tragic Legacy of Forced Boarding

Sherman Indian Boarding School

Our Vision to Achieve True Public Safety

We can increase equality, justice, and safety without resorting to criminalization and surveillance.

a person is holding a sign that says Black Lives Matter in front of the San Francisco City Hall building

Recordings Show the California Highway Patrol’s Aerial Surveillance of Racial Justice Protests

Our year-long investigation uncovered records that show California Highway Patrol (CHP) spying on protesters for racial justice in cities up and down the state

Screenshot of Protesters

Prosecutors Used Rap Lyrics as Evidence in a Murder Trial; that’s Racial Bias

Hip Hop artist on stage

Exploring the ACLU News Archive: The Fight Against Housing Discrimination in California is a Story of Progress and Backlash

The ACLU News archive, dating back to 1945, documents the various forms of legalized housing discrimination leveled at Black people in Northern California, and also charts severe backlash to progress, whenever it was made. It provides a snapshot of the ways that businesses, the state, and individuals partnered to exclude Black people from the accumulation of wealth through dispossession and the denial of their means to secure a home.

A collaged image with an archived news clipping in the top left corner that reads "Racial Discrimination in Richmond Housing". A generic 'For Sale' sign is seen underneath that. A Black man and woman are pictured together, and then a Black man is pictured at a podium. On the far right of the image is an image of an apartment building in black and white.