News & Commentary

Today, the Supreme Court struck down a Massachusetts law creating a 35 foot buffer zone around abortion facilities. The Court balanced two fundamental rights: freedom of speech on public sidewalks and women’s right to access reproductive health care. At the ACLU, we care deeply about both rights, and believe that in balancing rights in conflict the goal is to safeguard both. In our view, the Court gave too little weight to the real world experience of women who have suffered harassment, obstruction and intimidation in seeking care.

The United States Supreme Court unanimously acknowledged what common sense tells us and everyone who owns a cell phone (yes, that would be just about everyone) already knows: Our cell phones have a whole lot of private information about us. The Court therefore held that cops need a warrant to search a cell phone.

Growing up in any city it is easy to see the inequalities that permeate every-day life. Growing up in the Bay Area has provided me with so many opportunities to become aware and involved in challenging those inequalities. My time as an intern at the ACLU of Northern California helped me understand how to better do that.

Today is Juneteenth and the United States just executed three black men from three southern states in 24 hours. This is outrageous.

Barely a generation ago, California’s schools were the greatest in the nation. Now, the state’s education is abysmal, ranking 49th in the nation on how much it spends on students.

While we await much-needed federal immigration reform, dozens of counties are refusing ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) requests to detain immigrants in local jails.

Angelica Salceda, an 2013 Equal Justice Works Fellow with the ACLU of Northern California, is helping implement the Pregnant and Parenting Student Project for teen parents to receive the adequate resources they need to succeed in their academics. Read about her important work in the community with Equal Justice Works.

One year ago today, whistleblower Edward Snowden confirmed that the NSA was secretly engaged in a massive program of warrantless surveillance of the American people. Since then, the ACLU has worked both in the courts and in Congress to halt the agency’s abuses of power and violations of our constitutional rights. But the NSA isn’t the only agency guilty of dragnet surveillance without oversight. State and local governments have adopted surveillance technology at an astonishing rate, often without the public’s oversight and approval, and in some cases even hiding their use from the courts. Just like the NSA, our state and local agencies need to be transparent and accountable to the people they serve.

If you think "Orange Is the New Black" shows it all, you're about to find out a disgusting truth. While the women in OITNB face miserable conditions and abuse, it's nothing compared to what real people experience in the jail where they film as well as other jails in Suffolk County, New York.