History, both remote and recent, both of our Country and our County, teaches us that we citizens can never assume that the “forces of order” will always themselves follow the law. Since its inception, the ACLU has always striven to bring to account any public body or officer that falls short in observing and protecting all laws, civil liberties and rights.
The Sonoma Chapter of the ACLU of Northern California has been actively supporting the Sonoma County IOLERO (see separate page on this website) in its auditing of the Sheriff’s Office, and we are currently involved in studying its surveillance policies (see separate page on Government Surveillance).
Sensible to the significant power and latitude of activity possessed by county district attorneys, the ACLU of Northern California established, leading up to the 2018 elections, its “DA Watch” program. While the Sonoma County chapter was not able to participate in that project, we are fully committed to carefully observing the ongoing activities of the DA’s Office and will participate in the DA Watch in the next elections (in 2022). Several of our members are working on procedures for ensuring that the policies of our current DA, Jill Ravitch, are in line with the convictions of the Sonoma County community, which, at the moment, they are not.
Links to relevant websites:
DA Watch: www.Vote4da.org and www.Meetyourda.org.
If you have any questions about these issues or would like to assist the Sonoma County ACLU Chapter’s activities in this area, please contact us at….
Page last updated: December 6th, 2019