Issues
This page is about current civil rights issues. The ACLU does not take a stand on individual politicians. The ACLU has a stand on five of the propositions on this November's ballot:
Prop 4: Parental Notification for Teen
Abortions
Vote NO
California voters have voted this proposition down two times before. Supporters with deep pockets keep putting it back on the ballot.
Prop. 5: Common Sense
Solutions for Prisons
Vote YES
This criminal justice reform measure saves taxpayers billions of dollars by common sense solutions to prison crowding.
Prop. 6: Harsher Penalties for
Gang Violence
Vote NO
America already imprisons four times more people per capita than any other developed country. We can't afford more money to imprison even more people.
Prop 8: Forbidding Same Sex
Marriage
Vote NO
This is about the legal meaning of marriage, not the religious meaning. Our country has a tradition of separation of church and state. Legally married people receive state-supported benefits that single people do not.
Prop 9: Compensation for
Crime "Victims"
Vote NO
This well-meaning measure would erode our due-process protections. It would give broad rights to anyone who claims to be a victim, without any standards or proof they were harmed. It would also increase spending on prisons.
The ACLU does not take a position on the other propositions.
For more information, go to:
Amendment 4
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures , shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.