Aclu Foundation of Southern California

On behalf of people impacted by civil liberties and civil rights issues, the Aclu Foundation of Southern California provided legal services and litigated dozens of cases, including unlawful immigration enforcement, arrest, and detention practices; over-policing in schools; lgbtq and gender discrimination in the workplace, healthcare, public accommodations, jails and prisons; abortion access; restrictions of first amendment rights and access to government meetings; unlawful and discriminatory practices in the criminal legal system and police practices; unlawful and unsafe jail conditions; discrimination and criminalization of unhoused people and people living in poverty. This year, among things, we secured court orders and settlements requiring significant reduction of populations and covid safety requirements in county jails and ice detention facilities; requiring a person's socio-economic status and inability to pay to be considered in ice detention and bond decisions; stopping gender discrimination in the workplace; stopping lgbtq discrimination in public services; stopping racial profiling by ice; requiring the public release of state and federal government records and increased government transparency; stopping government fees and processes that needlessly keep people in poverty and deprive them of due process; and argued two cases before the supreme court, fazaga v. fbi, a long-running, landmark case defending religious freedoms and challenging the fbi for illegally spying on the muslim community in orange county; and garland vs. gonzalez, a case arguing for bond hearings for immigrants who face long detention before their claims are resolved.

Aclu Foundation of Southern California has an agreement with the national office whereby certain revenues are shared according to set formulas for program services throughout the nation.