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ACLU/SC executive director Ramona Ripston issued the following statement about a video uploaded to the website YouTube:

The ACLU of Southern California shares in the disgust at the video footage of two Los Angeles Police Department officers beating a suspect on the side of the road posted to popular website YouTube.com.

Californians are entitled to more transparency than a chance video. YouTube is not an acceptable substitute for accountability.

The footage, which came to light today, depicts two officers restraining William Cardenas in August as one officer holds his knee on the man's neck and punches his face several times as Cardenas can be heard yelling for help and that he cannot breathe. Public confidence is eroded when we discover such incidents by chance.

The ACLU has long advocated for increased police accountability in order to enhance public safety. The fact that this incident only came to light after being posted on a popular website dramatically illustrates how far we are from that ideal and that police reform still languishes.

The tools to prevent this conduct from ever happening and to identify problem officers are no mystery. The department is years behind in implementing the TEAMS II computer system, something mandated by a federal consent decree implemented in the wake of the Rampart police scandal. This early warning system would identify officers with problem records and cannot be delayed any longer. The public must have access to records of discipline imposed on officers, something that present California law keeps confidential.

The officers involved in this incident should be removed from the field while a thorough investigation is conducted.

November 1929: The ACLU urged asylum for poet Salomon de la Selva and seven other Nicaraguans held on Angel Island in San Francisco. The eight were expelled from their country for protesting the presence of U.S. Marines there, but denied asylum here, the ACLU/SC's Open Forum noted. (U.S. troops were stationed in Nicaragua almost continuously from 1912 to 1933.) After the ACLU became involved, the State Department allowed De la Selva and four others to remain in the U.S.

The ACLU/SC continues to defend the rights of asylum seekers. The ACLU/SC challenged the indefinite detention of immigrants who are appealing their decisions, and a dozen immigration detainees have been released since 2004 as a result of ACLU/SC efforts.

Photo: U.S. Marines in Nicaragua, c. 1927-1929. Source: Library of Congress

Above: An ACLU/SC No on 85 house party last month.

California voters soundly rejected Proposition 85, which would have required parental notification of abortion for pregnant teens and put those in violent or abusive homes at risk of further injury. "Californians voted to protect all our daughters, not just those who live in safe homes with loving parents," said ACLU/SC executive director Ramona Ripston. "Laws don't mandate good family communication."

L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa joined the state's top medical groups, Planned Parenthood, and the ACLU/SC in opposing Proposition 85. ACLU/SC members held dozens of house parties to educate voters about Proposition 85, knocked on voters' doors, and raised money to support No on 85 ads and direct voter-to-voter contact.

For the second year in a row, Californians turned away a parental notification law that would have hurt teens and threatened choice. The percentage of those who opposed Proposition 85 actually grew from last year, when a virtually identical measure failed.

Studies from the 35 states that have parental-notification laws in effect show that they do not affect teen pregnancy or abortion rates. Instead, pregnant teens go out of state or delay seeking abortion services until they are 18, which increases medical risks. California's teen-pregnancy rate has fallen 40% since 1990, a result of comprehensive sexuality education, real-world contraception information, and support for family communication. For more information about the real solutions to teen pregnancy and the dangers of parental notification laws, visit the facts page of our No on 85 site.

L.A.'s Housing Hurdle: Los Angeles voters had a chance to give affordable housing a much-needed boost in one of the country's most-expensive cities. But Measure H came up 4 points short of a two-thirds majority. The ACLU/SC endorsed the plan to spend $1 billion for the homeless, battered spouses, and the city's working poor.

"Housing the homeless is one of the great challenges facing Los Angeles as it strives to be a city that takes care of all its residents, not just its wealthiest," said Ripston. The ACLU/SC has repeatedly called for a countywide effort to address the overcrowding of downtown's Skid Row. According to the county, some 50,000 homeless have no access to shelter of any kind, including 1,000 of the estimated 10,000 who live in Skid Row.

In recent years, the L.A. police have arrested people for sitting or sleeping on the street when there was no shelter available, a practice the Ninth Circuit Court ruled illegal. "You can't arrest your way out of homelessness," said ACLU/SC legal director Mark Rosenbaum. "The chief agrees with us, and so do the city attorney and the mayor."

Measure H also included $250 million to help first-time low-income home buyers. More than two-thirds of L.A. city residents can not afford to buy a median-priced home.

About ACLU/SC Endorsements: The ACLU is a nonpartisan organization and does not take positions endorsing candidates. The ACLU/SC endorses ballot measures selectively. In the Nov. 7 election, we supported measures to extend equal access to housing and education and opposed efforts to limit reproductive rights.