ONTARIO - The ACLU of Southern California will argue tomorrow in federal appeals court that a video camera hidden in an Ontario Police Department locker room violated police officers' right to privacy in the workplace. More than 100 officers were captured on videotape, and the ACLU/SC sued the department in 2004 on their behalf. In April 2006, U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips held that the videotaping violated the U.S. Constitution and California privacy laws.

According to the lawsuit, in 1996 a hidden surveillance camera was installed in the police officers' locker room as part of an investigation into the theft of an officer's flashlight. The camera, which was hidden in the ceiling, provided a view of the door and the adjacent lockers and dressing area and was connected to a videotape recorder located in a nearby office. It was discovered in 2003 when the Police Department began the process of moving to a new headquarters.

Judge Phillips held that Ontario Police Detective Brad Schneider, who arranged for the camera to be installed, violated his fellow officers' rights under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the state constitution's right to privacy. The Fourth Amendment bans this kind of video surveillance without probable cause and a court-issued warrant. The ACLU/SC is also seeking to have a jury find that then Chief of Police Lloyd Scharf authorized the surveillance, and that the City of Ontario is liable for the violation of the officers' rights.

The City of Ontario appealed the decision, and tomorrow a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena will hear arguments on February 6 in the case, Trujillo vs. Ontario.

'People demand that the police respect their right to privacy, and we demand no less for police officers from their own bosses, who are supposed to know better than anybody the constitutional limits on installing a hidden camera,' said Peter Eliasberg, Manheim Family Attorney for First Amendment Rights at the ACLU of Southern California.

'This case is about letting the people who run the police department know that they are not above the law,' said Sgt. Steven T. Trujillo, a 23-year veteran of the Ontario Police Department and one of the more than 100 officers involved in the case. 'We want to hold them to the same high standards that all police officers are held to every day.'

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.