News & Commentary

Imagine: You pull out your phone to record police misconduct—suddenly, your camera just doesn’t work. Turns out, your phone’s camera has been disabled by an infrared emitter. Apple’s newly patented technology may make this possible. The technology places an infrared sensor in your phone that has the potential to be disabled remotely. While the technology is being promoted as a tool to prevent the filming of copyrighted material, we think it has the potential to undermine efforts to hold law enforcement accountable.

The decision by SF Pride and the City of San Francisco to dramatically increase police presence at this year’s Pride festivities creates a dangerous situation for LGBT people of color, the exact communities the organizers are recognizing with their 2016 theme.

Today the Supreme Court announced that it was deadlocked on United States v. Texas. The one-line non-decision leaves unanswered the central question about the president’s authority to set policy guidelines for the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in the deportation system. But it is a non-decision with a profound impact.

This piece originally appeared at The Huffington Post. 

California voters will be asked to legalize marijuana in November – and we couldn’t be happier that our state might finally end this chapter of the failed war on drugs.

The human cost of detention and deportation has thousands of faces. Children, grandparents, parents, coworkers and neighbors, the majority of whom have endured the grave consequences of deportation proceedings without legal counsel.

Santa Clara County has passed a landmark law to stop secret and discriminatory surveillance. The passage of this new law comes on the heels of San Jose's secret acquisition of a drone, the Santa Clara Sheriff's attempt to quietly buy an invasive cell phone tracking device, and revelations that Fresno and Bay Area police departments have been using social networking software that monitors Black Lives Matter activists.

Every four years, the U.S. explodes into a frenzy with coverage and commentary about the next President of the United States. You literally have to be hiding under a rock right now not to be bombarded with Clinton, Sanders, and Trump coverage.

It’s pretty simple: our social media content is protected by the First Amendment. That’s why the ACLU is concerned that the federal government is pressuring social media companies to limit content on platforms that hundreds of millions of people use every day.