Communities of Color Face Unexpected Foe in Foreclosure Prevention

Millions of Americans are still suffering the effects of the subprime mortgage meltdown. More than four million homeowners have been foreclosed upon already, and nearly 11 million are "underwater," that is, they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. But it's not just these 15 million who are suffering, that number is much larger if you count the children who live in those homes.

By Rachel Goodman

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Fostering Success Among Pregnant and Parenting Foster Youth

A recent report titled California’s Most Vulnerable Parents: A Population-Based Examination of Youth Involved with Child Protective Services captures the existing need to provide services and resources to a vulnerable and often forgotten population—pregnant and parenting foster youth.

By Angélica Salceda

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Over Two Years and $100,000 Later: Grandmother Released from Arbitrary Immigration Detention

Over the course of 26 months, the federal government wasted over $100,000 to incarcerate this grandmother of eight with no serious or violent criminal history. Every day, U.S. Customs and Immigration is forced to fill 34,000 beds in the immigration prison system -- regardless of how many people actually warrant detention. This policy is wasteful and inhumane.

By Jenny Zhao

Bertha Mejia and her grandson Pablo

NSA and Phone Companies: Can You Hear Us Now?

ACLU of Northern California files shareholder proposal with AT&T and Verizon, time for companies to break silence on data sharing with government.

By Abdi Soltani

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Honor Our Dead and Fight Like Hell for the Living

November 20th is the Transgender Day of Remembrance. The transgender experience in the United States has been heavily misunderstood and stigmatized. Being transgender in this country has become a radical act of self-preservation in the face of a traditionally gendered society.Today we honor the 238 trans* people worldwide we've lost this year.

By Shanelle Matthews

Graphic by Micah Bazant

Confronting California's Abuse of Solitary

Solitary confinement can eat away at someone's mind, making mental illness worse and leaving many people depressed, suicidal, hopeless or hallucinating. It's no place for individuals with mental illness.

By Helen Vera

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Remembering Raul Ramirez

The ACLU of Northern California suffered a double blow with the death of veteran journalist Raul Ramirez Nov. 15. Ramirez, who was the executive news editor at KQED, was also an ACLU-NC client for over a decade.

By Elaine Elinson

Raul Ramirez photo by Rick Rocamora, 1991

Q & A: Funding California Schools for More Equal Opportunity

We sat down with Linnea Nelson, ACLU of Northern California staff attorney who specializes in education equity, to understand how California's new funding formula could help ensure more equal educational opportunities for all schoolchildren.

By ACLU of Northern California

Linnea Nelson

New ACLU of CA Report Shines Light on Transparency

From revelations of widespread NSA spying to high profile data breaches, transparency is more important than ever. Our new policy paper takes a close look at what we all can do to increase transparency and protect privacy today.

By Nicole A. Ozer

Data from Cell Phone