News & Commentary

Abdi Soltani writes about the enduring power of the Bill of Rights, while on vacation in the Yellowstone and Grand Tetons national parks.

It’s Time for a Public Debate and a New Vote Over San Jose Police Purchase of Drone

If implemented, SB 1053 (Mitchell), would help protect women’s health by building on existing federal and California state law to eliminate remaining restrictions on access to contraception.

This year the California Legislature can take another step toward ending a shameful chapter in the state’s history—coerced sterilization of its most vulnerable residents.

My family and I left Iran when I was 8 years old and eventually made our way to the United States. Today there are thousands of children who have fled from some of the most dangerous places in the world and are now detained throughout the country. Some have made the treacherous journey here alone.

The San Jose City Council has approved a police request to acquire a drone – without public debate and with no policy overseeing its use.

When the government demands that your cell phone carrier reveal information about where you’ve been, or where you’re going to go, they should get a warrant. Location information is exactly the kind of sensitive information that the Fourth Amendment is supposed to protect.

Linda Lye and Nicole Ozer are legal stalwarts at the ACLU of Northern California, and for many years have advocated fiercely on behalf of privacy and free speech in our digital era. They are hard at work reining in the government’s use of technology for surveillance.

Net neutrality is a civil rights issue. The open internet that we now enjoy allows minority groups and dissenting voices to engage in the political process and tell their stories like never before, bypassing traditional big-media gatekeepers.