Welcome to the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union!

A Few San Jose Police Used Force Repeatedly in Arrest Cases
bayarea.blogs.nytimes.com
A small number of San Jose police officers have used force repeatedly in cases in which resisting arrest is the primary charge, according to an investigative article by the San Jose Mercury News.

Santa Clara Valley ACLU Chapter Newsletter
Internet filtering at San Jose Libraries - Santa Clara County coalition to abolish the death penalty
Obama Scorecard - Leslie Bulbuk of BAYMEC to receive chapter’s Don Edwards Civil Liberties Award

California Places Lethal Injection Protocol on Fast Track
The CA Department of Corrections has released a new protocol for administering lethal injections. If this protocol is approved by Judge Jeremy Fogel, in San Jose, the state can go ahead with executions.
To view protocols: CDCR Link
We do not have very much time to make public comments as the window will close on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 5PM. A public hearing has been scheduled for June 30, 2009 from 9AM-3PM at the Auditorium of the Department of Health Services, 1500 Capitol Ave. Sacramento.
Related Articles: Mercury News | Sacramento Bee | ACLU

Unchecked Government Surveillance
Over the last few years, the federal government has returned to the bad old days of unchecked spying on ordinary Americans, as part of a broad pattern of executive abuses that use "national security" as an excuse for encroaching on our privacy and free speech rights without adequate - or any - judicial oversight.

Under A Watchful Eye
Under the Watchful Eye: The Proliferation of Video Surveillance Systems in California, Executive Summary

Our Mission:
The ACLU works to preserve and guarantee the Bill of Rights for all, through litigation, public education, organizing, lobbying and legislation. Protecting freedom of expression, the right to privacy, and the right to be free of discrimination are fundamental goals of the ACLU.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

The American system of government is founded on two counterbalancing principles: that the majority of the people governs, through democratically elected representatives; and that the power even of a democratic majority must be limited, to ensure individual rights.

The ACLU and its members are deeply engaged in protecting our fundamental freedoms, from building momentum for Patriot Act reform, to leading the charge on free speech, reproductive rights, accountability for government-sanctioned torture, and religious liberty, including challenges to "intelligent design" in our children's classrooms.

As a visitor to our website, you are already interested in the battles we are fighting and winning. Today, we face unprecedented challenges, and our 500,000 members are more important than ever in helping to preserve the liberties we all hold dear.