Research & Publications

California District Attorneys (DAs) have historically used their legal discretion to prioritize aggressive “tough-on-crime” prosecution, which has caused incarceration rates to skyrocket and destroyed lives Even though they are elected officials, DAs are often not held accountable for these practices, in part, because their role is not well understood, and much of their work is hidden from the public. As part of the ACLU’s broader efforts to decrease incarceration and hold DAs accountable across California, this report highlights the current policies and practices of the Riverside County District Attorney’s office and makes recommendations for urgent changes.

The plight of people who are unhoused has reached horrific proportions in California, but instead of embarking on a resurgence of affordable housing, communities have instead instituted policies and regulations that target unhoused people by harassing, citing, segregating, banishing, and even imprisoning them.

California district attorneys (DAs) have historically played a central role in driving incarceration. Although they are elected officials, DAs have not typically been held accountable by the public for policies and practices that perpetuate racial disparities and criminalize poverty, mental illness, and other social issues. This 2021 report outlines the policies and practices of the Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer’s office and makes recommendations for urgent changes to reduce the harms the office is perpetuating.

In this issue: UC Regents anti-discrimination vote a leap forward, ACLU launches Gold Chains podcast, exploring California's historic fight against housing discrimination, and more.

Over the past few decades, police have become a dominant fixture in California schools. Their presence has devastating and discriminatory impacts on tens of thousands of California students.

A disturbing trend has emerged in California—police officers are stationed in schools and are replacing educators as disciplinarians for minor offenses and student behavior issues. Further, on-campus policing often results in over-criminalizing students—mostly low-income students of color—and pushes affected students out of the educational environment and into the school-to-prison pipeline. This increased policing in schools harms school climate and undermines students’ self-esteem by making them feel like suspects and criminals.

In this issue: Holding prosecutors accountable, pushing back against police abuse, ensuring equitable distance learning, and more.

Redistricting is the process of redrawing the district maps used by political jurisdictions to elect public officials. This process takes place every ten years following each decennial census and affects all government bodies that use district elections including the U.S. House of Representatives, state legislatures, county boards of supervisors, city councils, and school boards. This year, hundreds of government bodies throughout the state will begin the process of redrawing their lines ahead of the 2022 elections.