Press Releases from the ACLU of Northern California

School Officials Retract Punishment of Student Suspended for Facebook Posting

Free speech rights restored after ACLU provides civics lesson

For immediate release: January 28, 2011
Contact: Laura Saponara, ACLU-NC

San Francisco – In December, officials at a Sacramento-area high school suspended a student for posting to Facebook a message describing one of his teachers as a “fat ass who should stop eating fast food, and is a douche bag.” But this week, officials at the school moved quickly to expunge the suspension after a lawyer from the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California put forth this civics lesson: the First Amendment bars schools from disciplining students for speech unless the speech creates a significant disruption to the school environment.

According to the student’s mother, Kristina Dunlap, officials at the school originally asked that the student, Donny, apologize and remove the posting. Donny did so. But later the same day, school administrators were apparently instructed by the school district to suspend Donny for “cyber-bulling.” Donny and his mother were shocked by the notice of suspension.

ACLU v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
November 17, 2010

On November 17, 2010, the ACLU-NC filed a suit under the California Public Records Act to demand records from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) about its recent acquisition of sodium thiopental, a controlled substance used as part of California’s lethal injection protocol for executing death row inmates.

In late September, the CDCR asked the courts to allow it to conduct an execution before the end of the month because its supply of sodium thiopental was about to expire and it would be unable to obtain any more of the drug before 2011. Then, on October 6, the CDCR suddenly announced it had obtained a new supply but did not explain how it had done so.

This one is a few weeks old, but it is important, so I am posting it now.

Political Signs = Free Speech for Condominium Residents

A week before the election, ACLU announces settlement with homeowners' association

For Immediate Release: October 27, 2010

San Francisco - The ACLU has reached a settlement on behalf of a San Francisco condo resident who challenged an attempt by a homeowner's association to force him to remove political signs from his windows.

"What good are rights if they're only on paper? What good is a law if it's going to be ignored? I want people to be aware of my story so that they know they're free to exercise their rights," said Dr. Elliot Greg Kamin, a local optometrist whom the ACLU represented.

California Marriage Ban Struck Down

ACLU Hails Historic Decision and Urges Efforts in Other States to Ensure Success on Appeal

For Immediate Release: August 4, 2010
Copyright Michael B. Woolsey

SAN FRANCISCO -- In a landmark decision today, a federal judge ruled that Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative that excluded same-sex couples from marriage in the state, violates the United States Constitution. The American Civil Liberties Union, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and Lambda Legal filed two friend-of-the-court briefs in the case supporting the argument that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

"Today's decision is a huge victory for the LGBT people of America. For the first time, a federal court has conducted a trial and found that there is absolutely no reason to deny same-sex couples the fairness and dignity of marriage," said James Esseks, Director of the ACLU Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project. "At the same time, we know that this is not the end. In order to give this case the best possible chance of success as it moves through the appeals courts, we need to show that America is ready for same-sex couples to marry by continuing to seek marriage and other relationship protections in states across the country. It's simply not fair, and not legal, to continue to exclude committed same-sex couples from marriage.'

California Declares Marriage Equality for All
Maya Harris - Executive Director, ACLU of Northern California
Statement on In re Marriage Cases Decision
May 15, 2008

Today is the day we’ve been working for—a watershed for basic fairness and human dignity. The California Supreme Court has recognized that equality means that everyone must be free to marry the person they love.

Profound social change starts in California, and does not end here. It influences the rest of the nation. Today’s decision means that Californians will extend the franchise of fairness to gay and lesbian couples who enter into the committed, loving relationship we call “marriage.” And this decision will take its rightful historic place alongside those that have formally recognized what we, as Americans, have always aspired to: a more perfect, more egalitarian union of free people, free to choose our destiny, including whom to marry.

Californians consider bans on interracial marriage an embarrassing relic of bigotry—and so does the rest of the country. But in 1948, when the California Supreme Court struck down the state law barring interracial marriage, it blazed a brave new path for California and the nation. That decision changed California, and then it changed America.

ACLU, Lawyers’ Committee and S.F. City Attorney Agree To Removal Process from Gang Injunction Lists

Civil rights attorneys will monitor City Attorney’s implementation of the opt-out process

For Immediate Release: March 24, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO – A new process that allows people who have been placed on a gang injunction enforcement list to petition to have themselves removed by showing that they are no longer active gang members is a positive step, say ACLU of Northern California and LCCR attorneys, who today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the San Francisco City Attorney. The agreement follows months of negotiation.

“We continue to have serious concerns with gang injunctions,” said ACLU-NC Legal Director Alan Schlosser. “They pose the danger of sweeping too broadly, and historically in California have had a disparate and stigmatizing impact on people and communities of color. However, since San Francisco has chosen to use gang injunctions, it is important to have a clear and transparent opt out process to provide hope to targeted individuals that these restrictions will not become a lifetime sentence.”

ACLU And EFF File To Intervene In Internet Free Speech Lawsuit
For Immediate Release: February 27, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO - The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Northern California and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) last night filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit that led a federal district judge to order the domain name Wikileaks.org shut down. The motion is on behalf of organizations and individuals that have accessed and used documents on the Wikileaks.org website in their work and want to continue to be able to do so.

“The court’s order shuts down and locks up the domain name Wikileaks.org permanently, effectively interfering with the public’s ability to access the materials on the website as easily as possible,” said Aden Fine, senior staff attorney with the ACLU First Amendment Working Group. “The public has a right to receive information and ideas, especially ones concerning the public interest. This injunction ignores that vital First Amendment principle.”