A Santa Cruz County judge ruled to narrow the scope of a search warrant that had given UC Santa Cruz police extensive access to years of our client’s cellphone data following her participation in an on-campus protest. The warrant had permitted campus police to search through privileged communications between the student and her attorneys about the very litigation that she had brought against the school for police misconduct. “When officers can seize phones and read through attorney-client communications about an active civil rights case, it creates a chilling effect that undermines access to justice,” said Rachel Lederman, Senior Counsel with the Center for Protest Law & Litigation. We successfully argued against the warrant’s broad scope, emphasizing that modern phones contain extensive personal information, from medical records to privileged client-attorney communications. Follow link-in-bio to learn more about this case. (fb)

This week we’re on Capitol Hill urging Congress to fund common-sense safety solutions. This comes as the Trump administration continues to slash funding for essential services that prevent crime and make communities safer — like programs that provide mentorship to children, reduce violence, help people find housing, create employment opportunities, and provide addiction treatment and mental healthcare. Recent polling conducted by the ACLU in partnership with YouGov shows Americans want elected leaders to focus on prevention to make communities safer, with 79 percent of voters across the political spectrum saying that addressing poverty, economic despair, and lack of opportunities would help improve safety in communities a lot or some. 60 percent are concerned that President Trump is going too far in cutting the federal government, eliminating important programs and critical services that many Americans rely on. (fb)