State initiatives

Sign up here to join us to lobby your California legislators during their Spring Recess, the week of April 14-18. We will connect you with a team, help you schedule your meetings, and provide you with training and materials so you're well prepared to talk to your legislators. 

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Attend virtual Immigration Updates April 1 and May 6.

Past Projects

2024

• Election Education and Get-Out-The-Vote 2024

With an eye on the November 2024 election, our work focused on encouraging youth to pre-register to vote, getting out the vote for citizens 18 and older, educating about the importance of voting to protecting our civil liberties, and informing the public about several important civil rights-related initiatives that appeared on the ballot.

•  Youth Advisory Council  (Ongoing)

Composed of young people (high school - early thirties) who work on issues that are particularly relevant to youth in the community.

DEA&I project  (Ongoing)

We work to ensure that our meetings are accessible and inclusive and that our work furthers diversity, equity, and inclusion.

• Rapid Response (Ongoing)

We respond to and keep supporters informed of urgent local civil liberties issues as they arise. Recent response actions include lobbying for bills to decertify abusive law enforcement officers and to eliminate coercive probation practices for youth; promotion of a community partner’s advocacy for a local eviction moratorium; providing education about ballot propositions; and, sharing volunteer voter engagement opportunities in English and Spanish. 

2023

• Mental Health Project 

The committee worked with several community partners to successfully advocate for a non-armed response unit to address mental health calls.

2022

• Law Enforcement Accountability

We continued our advocacy efforts from prior years to hold the San Mateo County Sheriff accountable by encouraging the Board of Supervisors to enforce a law that ends cooperation with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and exploring the creation of a civilian oversight board. 

2021

• School Social Equity Policy

We offered local school districts tools, guidance, and support to empower students and allies to adopt policies to adequately address incidents of discrimination, hate speech, accessibility issues, and other improper conduct in an effort to foster safe and inclusive learning environments. 

Other past action we have taken includes:

• Advocating for curbs on police surveillance tools to protect residents' privacy rights.

• Engaging with multiple county leaders to demand COVID-19 protections for our incarcerated neighbors.

• Hosting a text bank event to bring attention to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s cooperation with ICE.

• Working with community partners to organize a car rally to protest jail conditions and the sheriff’s cooperation with ICE.

• Advocating for the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to reallocate funding to enhance social services and reduce the role of law enforcement agencies.

• Lobbying state legislators to expand paid family leave benefits.

• Lifting up community partners’ advocacy for an eviction moratorium in San Mateo County.

• In the wake of three Taser deaths of unarmed people of color in San Mateo County, implemented a multi-faceted campaign to demand police use of force reforms.

• Negotiated a major overhaul of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Use of Force Policy.

• Met with state legislators to demand passage of a groundbreaking law modernizing statewide police use of force standards, AB 392 (Victory! The law is now in force across the state). Read more here: https://www.aclunc.org/our-work/legislation/california-act-save-lives-ab-392 

• Sought the death penalty criteria of the San Mateo County District Attorney.

• Lobbied for legislation to restore voting rights to formerly incarcerated citizens. (Success! Voters passed Proposition 17 in November 2020. Read more here: https://www.aclunc.org/blog/voters-decisions-propositions-17-and-20-bring-hope-criminal-justice-reform-california. ).

• Initiated a multi-year, multi-dimensional effort to rid our communities of money bail, which puts poor people in jail solely for inability to pay.

• Pressed law makers to enact a law prohibiting law enforcement from using facial recognition technology (which is notoriously unreliable and racially biased) on body-worn cameras. (Passed!).

• Lobbied for legislation compelling law enforcement agencies to publicly release records of serious misconduct (resulting in numerous revelations of police misconduct that had been kept secret for decades).

•  Advocated to prohibit religious restrictions on the delivery of healthcare at Sequoia Hospital and the University of California medical system.