LOS ANGELES - The board of directors of the ACLU of Southern California has passed a resolution calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for their abuses of basic civil liberties.

'President Bush has violated his oath of office to 'protect, preserve, and defend the Constitution,' has subverted the system and structure of democratic government, and has otherwise engaged in a course of conduct that warrants removal from office,' the board's resolution states.

The ACLU/SC board urges the House of Representatives to investigate impeachable offenses by the President and Vice President, including:

' Manipulating intelligence before the Iraq War and deceiving the American people about imminent threats they faced.

' Authorizing the torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and other military prisons and handing over suspects to other nations who tortured them (a practice known as "extraordinary rendition").

' Authorizing the firing of federal prosecutors for political reasons and obstructing justice by defying Congressional subpoenas investigating the firing.

' Authorizing wiretaps on U.S. citizens without warrants and in violation of the Constitution, and concealing the program from Congress and the public.

' Conspiring to disclose the name of Valerie Plame, a covert agent in the Central Intelligence Agency. This action risked her life and the lives of her intelligence contacts.

"This White House has broken American law and deceived the American people, not just once but again and again," said ACLU/SC board president Alan Toy. "Congress has a duty to hold President Bush and Vice President Cheney responsible for their actions, and history certainly will."

The ACLU of Southern California is one of the nation's largest ACLU affiliates, with more than 50,000 members. The ACLU board of directors guides the ACLU's work to safeguard civil liberties and civil rights for residents in the seven-county Southern California area.

The ACLU of Southern California's board of directors has elected actor and activist Alan Toy as its next president. He is the first disabled person to lead the ACLU/SC's board of directors, and he has been a strong advocate for disability rights within the ACLU as a member of its national board of directors.

Toy, who contracted polio when he was three, is a longtime leader in changing media images of people with disabilities. As an activist in the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and as the president of the Media Access Office in Hollywood from 1984 to 1989, he pushed entertainment industry leaders to create characters, storylines and images that resisted age-old negative stereotypes of people with disabilities.

"Alan has faced great challenges in his life, and he shares the ACLU's vision of fair play and equal rights for all," said ACLU of Southern California Executive Director Ramona Ripston. "His creativity, energy, and vision display the best of what Southern California represents to the world, and he is a fantastic choice to lead our board of directors."

As an actor, Alan has worked in dozens television shows and major motion pictures, including "In the Line of Fire," "Born on the Fourth of July," Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator," "Beverly Hills: 90210" and most recently a small role on the ABC hit "Brothers and Sisters."

His advocacy in mass media not only paved the way for many other disabled performers to have successful careers, but also gave viewers around the world a new way of seeing people with disabilities on television and in films. Toy is currently associate director of the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge.

Toy, a member of the ACLU's board of directors since 1995, takes over for Isabelle Gunning, a professor at Southwestern Law School who has been president of the board of directors since 2005. Gunning will remain on the board of directors.

"Isabelle has championed our constitutional values through an extremely difficult period for our nation and region, and we have been lucky to have her leadership," said Ripston.

Also elected at the board of directors' Jan. 16 meeting:

- Shelan Joseph, a Los Angeles County Public Defender for more than 10 years, will be Vice President.

- Anne Richardson, a partner at the law firm of Hadsell & Stormer focusing on civil rights litigation, will be Secretary.

- Carrie Hempel, a clinical professor at USC Law School's Post Conviction Project, will be Treasurer.

- James Gilliam, Jr., a longtime activist for gay and lesbian rights and an associate at Paul, Hastings, Janofskly & Walker, will be affirmative action officer.

- David Cruz, a USC Law School professor who teaches constitutional law, will be the affiliate representative on the ACLU's national board of directors.

The ACLU of Southern California is one of the nation's largest ACLU affiliates, with more than 50,000 members. The ACLU board of directors guides the ACLU's work to safeguard civil liberties and civil rights for residents in the seven-county Southern California area.

A paraplegic man has sued the hospital that dumped him in a Skid Row gutter without his wheelchair.

Gabino Olvera, a 42-year-old man with a history of mental illness, was treated and discharged from Hollywood Presbyterian in February 2007, transported by van across town, and deposited on the side of a street with no wheelchair and wearing a soiled hospital gown. Witnesses at the scene observed Mr. Olvera dragging himself on the ground with his papers clenched in his teeth.

Attorneys for Public Counsel, the ACLU of Southern California, and the law firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. have filed a lawsuit against Hollywood Presbyterian on behalf of Olvera.

The lawsuit is the second against a major hospital for dumping patients in downtown L.A. In 2006, the ACLU/SC and Public Counsel filed a lawsuit against Kaiser Foundation Hospitals for the unlawful dumping of Carol Reyes, a 64-year-old, mentally ill woman captured on videotape in her Kaiser hospital gown and socks wandering along the streets of Skid Row after being dropped off by taxi. That case led Kaiser to change its policies to address the issue of homeless patient discharge.

"Hospitals have an obligation to treat all their patients with dignity and respect," said ACLU/SC Legal Director Mark Rosenbaum. "In this case, Hollywood Presbyterian left a paraplegic man literally in the gutter without his wheelchair to drag himself to safety as best he could. It was like they lit a match to the Hippocratic oath."