We're back with another issue of The Brief, the monthly email newsletter of the ACLU of Northern California. We appreciate everyone who sent encouraging feedback on the first edition. These are scary times, but we have power when we stand up and fight back together. We hope you'll join us.

Justice delayed is justice denied in Alameda County

The right to counsel is a pillar of the American legal system, and for those who can't afford an attorney, public defenders are a lifeline. While you've probably heard about underfunded and overburdened public defenders, there's another aspect to California's public defense crisis.

When the public defender's office has a conflict of interest – for instance, if multiple people are charged with the same crime – the county must provide access to an outside attorney. While Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties have alternate defender offices, most counties contract private attorneys to handle these cases. Due to a shortage of court-appointed lawyers, poor defendants in Alameda County, who are disproportionately Black and Latino, are languishing in jail for weeks awaiting a bail hearing. We're calling on the Alameda County Superior Court to promptly assign defense counsel. The right to due process depends on it.

Back to school: Campus Protests 101

Given the Trump administration's ongoing attacks on free speech and academic freedom, California college campuses may be a hotbed of protest this fall. Students, faculty, and staff should brush up on their rights before joining an on-campus demonstration.

Recently, we scored key victories – for privacy and the right to protest – against UC Santa Cruz, which had punished members of the campus community who protested the war in Gaza. And that was before the federal government began using student activism as a pretext to slash research funding and demand changes to admissions and hiring policies. With the looming threat of financial and legal retaliation from the government, colleges and universities may preemptively suppress protected speech. Rest assured, we'll be there to defend this core civil liberty.

(Photo Credit: samcomen.com)

Video: Humanitarian Protection Under Attack

We're still fighting to preserve humanitarian protection for residents from Venezuela, Haiti, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Honduras. Learn more.

Stop voter suppression

It's not hyperbole to say the fate of our democracy may rest on the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections. The stakes are so high that states are jockeying for electoral advantage with mid-decade redistricting. Meanwhile, Trump has threatened to require voter ID and end mail-in voting, which he unequivocally does not have the power to do because the Constitution grants states authority to set their election rules.

Trump's relentless campaign against mail-in voting is in line with the voter suppression tactics conservatives have pushed in other states for years. Now, a lawsuit seeking to stop California from counting mail ballots that arrive after Election Day could disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters. With the California League of Women Voters, we're fighting to block this blatantly partisan attack on voting rights.

A bullhorn, not a dog whistle

Early in his second term, Trump turned up the dial on the racist rhetoric he spewed during the campaign. And just in case anyone missed the seething bigotry behind his attacks on Black and Brown immigrants and refugees, he made it plain when he welcomed white Afrikaners from South Africa to the US with open arms.

In an essay, ACLU NorCal Communications Director Candice Francis recounts her grandfather's lessons about the evils of apartheid and asks how racial justice advocates will confront the white supremacy at the heart of the administration's policies.

Final thoughts:

• Recent Border Patrol raids in Sacramento violated the preliminary injunction in our Kern immigration case. We've asked the court to enforce it. Watch this video. (Please note: This link will take you to a third-party website, youtube.com.)
• Senior Staff Attorney Chessie Thacher talks about how the First Amendment protects our right to protest on the Past Forward podcast. (Please note: This link will take you to a third-party website, pastforward.org.)
• What we're reading: James, by Percival Everett. A retelling of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from Jim's perspective, Everett's Pulitzer Prize winning novel is a timely reminder of the unimaginable horrors of American slavery and the humanity of enslaved people. (Please note: This link will take you to a third-party website, nytimes.com.)

Thanks for reading The Brief! We'll see you back here next month.