By: Brittany Stonesifer @ACLU_NorCal and Christina Fletes @ChristinaFletes
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The ACLU of California filed suit Monday against Secretary of State Alex Padilla challenging two statutes that prohibit voters from sharing ballot selfies.
There's a lot at stake in this election. Besides electing our future leaders, Californians will vote on statewide initiatives that will strongly impact our civil liberties and civil rights. While the American Civil Liberties Union is nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates, we do weigh in on ballot measures that affect our civil rights and civil liberties.
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Low-level marijuana possession was reduced from a misdemeanor to an infraction in California in 2011, but marijuana law enforcement still results in thousands of arrests each year. In 2011-14, according to the California Department of Justice, law enforcement agencies made 60,000 marijuana arrests statewide. In 2014, young people under the age of 20 accounted for 73 percent of all misdemeanor marijuana arrests in the state. Nearly 70 percent of all marijuana arrests were of people of color. A recent analysis of infraction data from Fresno and Los Angeles Police Departments found racial disparities in marijuana enforcement remain even at the lowest level.
“The disastrous war on marijuana in California continues to ensnare thousands of people – particularly young people of color – in the criminal justice system every year,” said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, criminal justice and drug policy director with the ACLU of California. “It is time to move from prohibition to regulation. AUMA will establish a controlled and regulated market for adults, sig
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