Our primary areas of involvement cover the broad range of First Amendment issues, as well as focusing on the guarantees of privacy, equal protection, and due process of law. Our priority areas include discrimination against racial and language minorities, lesbian and gay rights, AIDS, immigrants’ rights, criminal justice, and student issues. We review the cases and determine whether they have civil liberties issues what actions should be taken and can be handled by our chapter.
The ACLU generally uses the following criteria for evaluating a complaint:
Our office accepts complaints regarding incidents that occurred within our chapter's area: Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga, and Sunnyvale.
Attorneys represent ACLU clients free of charge. ACLU staff counsel litigates our cases. Our attorneys sometimes work together with attorneys in private practice who volunteer their time for ACLU cases.
Unfortunately, there are many cases that involve unfairness and injustice that the ACLU is simply unable to handle. We receive thousands of requests for help a year at this office alone. Therefore, we cannot accept each case that may fall within the guidelines discussed above. If we do not accept your case that does not mean it does not have merit, and you may still want to consider pursuing it with a private attorney or another legal organization.
If we do not accept your case, the ACLU is generally unable to provide legal advice, answer legal questions, or to conduct legal research to assist you in your case. However, we may be able to refer you to an organization that will be better able to help you with your complaint.
All legal claims have deadlines. These deadlines may be different depending on who violated your rights and which rights were violated. For some violations, you may need to file a claim with a government agency before you can sue, and these agencies have their own deadlines. If you do not comply with the applicable statute of limitations, you may be legally prohibited from pursuing your legal claim in court. Contacting the ACLU to describe your problem does not mean the ACLU will represent you, and will not stop the statute of limitations from running. The ACLU cannot give you advice about the deadlines that apply to your particular case. To protect your rights, you might consider contacting an attorney to find out what deadlines may apply.
Once you submit the following complaint form to our office, we will review your information. We will contact you ONLY if we decide that your complaint fits within our mission and that we have the resources to help you If you do not hear from us, it does not necessarily mean that you do not have a valid constitutional concern. Because we are a small organization with limited resources, we often have to make difficult decisions when choosing the types of issues that we can adequately address. On our website, we have listed contact information for a number of legal service organizations that may be better able to address your particular grievance
In order to expedite our intake process, we ask that you do not attach any additional information or pages to the complaint form. Also, we are not responsible for any original documents that you choose to send to us. If you already have an attorney, please have your attorney contact us directly if they feel they would like our assistance. We have a policy of not interfering with the work of other attorneys.
Please note that by accepting this complaint, the ACLU of Santa Clara Valley is not undertaking your legal representation and is not responsible for meeting any statute of limitations restrictions in your case. Also, the ACLU of Santa Clara Valley simply cannot provide emergency assistance or legal consultation.
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Name:
Street address:
City/State/Zip:
Phone(s):
E-mail:
My complaint is against the following agency, institution, or person(s):
Name:
Street address:
City/State/Zip:
Phone:
Fax:
Briefly describe the incident that led you to file a complaint with our office. Please include dates, places, and names of those directly involved:
Were you given an explanation for why this happened?
Yes / No
If so, what was the reason?
Have you taken any steps to resolve this issue? (Have you filed a grievance, contacted another agency for help, or gone through an appeals process?)
Yes / No
If so, what was the result?
I certify that I have read all of the information contained on this complaint form, and that all information I have given is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge. I understand that by accepting this complaint, the ACLU of Santa Clara Valley is not undertaking my legal representation and is not responsible for ensuring that any statute of limitations restriction is met in my case. I authorize the ACLU of Santa Clara Valley to use this information in any manner that it deems necessary.
Yes / No
Print and mail to:
Legal Screening Committee
ACLU Santa Clara Valley Chapter
P.O. Box 5303
San Jose, CA 95150-5303
Or e-mail to: legal@acluscv.org