News & Commentary

Despite overwhelming proof that our system of law enforcement is inherently unequal, we’ve nevertheless let this racist institution into our most sacred public space—the schoolhouse.

Last week brought us more tragic, maddening, horrific news of Black people and Latino people being shot to death by police officers inside and outside California.

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.

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.

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.

In 2015, the CA Dept. of Corrections and Rehab. published proposed regulations for a new execution protocol. This triggered an important public comment period in accordance with CA law. The ACLU had previously submitted a Public Records Act request, in order to shed light on the proposed regulations and enhance the public's ability to comment meaningfully on them. After withholding records for months, the department was ordered to turn over more than 800 documents to the ACLU.

The #Frisco5 are putting their lives on the line to end rampant racism and abuses of power by San Francisco police. The public wants accountability.

We owe an apology to our community, and especially to the family and friends of Alex Nieto and Idriss Stelley. In our January letter to the US Department of Justice, we mischaracterized the shooting deaths of Alex Nieto and Idriss Stelley. We included language regarding Alex Nieto that was in published reports, but was both disputed by the family, and not relevant to the police shooting. And, we did not provide details that would be important in understanding the circumstances in which Alex Nieto and Idriss Stelley were killed.