News & Commentary

Despite criticism from the ACLU and Supervisor Joe Simitian, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a sheriff’s department request to use more than $500,000 of federal grant money to purchase a Stingray cell phone tracking system.

After a police officer is accused of a crime and the Department of Justice decides to investigate, virtually no data is available on how many officers are convicted or dismissed of these charges – or even what crimes police were charged with in the first place.

Countless immigrant families have been torn apart as a result of our failed immigration system. We hope the President’s deportation relief programs can move forward soon.

Insurmountable financial obstacles are key contributors to the rise in jail populations. For one, low-income defendants are often trapped by their inability to afford bail. Bail should not be used to punish people, and incarcerating people solely because they cannot pay for their release violates the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause.

The debate over cell phone surveillance comes to the heart of Silicon Valley on Feb. 24, when the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will consider a proposal to purchase a Stingray. Unfortunately, the public wasn't told about it.

On Feb. 20, 2015, federal district court Judge Richard Seeborg denied a government motion to dismiss the ACLU's case challenging the U.S. government’s Suspicious Activities Reporting program, Gill v. Department of Justice. As we’ve written before, this program relies on local law enforcement, security guards, shopkeepers, and neighbors to report any "suspicious activities" they observe.

I am not a distraction. I am a woman, and I shouldn't be fired for being who I am. That's why the ACLU filed a lawsuit on my behalf arguing that firing me because I am transgender is illegal sex discrimination.

Former director of the ACLU of Northern California's Racial Justice Project, Michelle Alexander directed and coordinated the Project’s litigation, media, lobbying, and grassroots organizing work.

Seven transgender women that we know of have been murdered in this country since 2015 started. At least five were women of color. It's a horrifying litany already, and it's only February.