LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union announced today that it would no longer pursue legal action against an Orange County-based adoption agency after the agency signed a binding agreement with the state that it would no longer discriminate against applicants based on sexual orientation.

"There are 500,000 children in foster care in the U.S., many in temporary emergency facilities awaiting foster families or adoption. By denying us placement solely because we are lesbians, Olive Crest was ignoring the needs of the children the state had placed in their care," said Shannon Rose, M.D., a pediatrician and fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics who brought the lawsuit along with her partner Jane Brooks, a lawyer specializing in family law. "We are pleased that our lawsuit has helped to force Olive Crest to abandon its discriminatory policy."

The ACLU brought a discrimination lawsuit against Olive Crest Foster Family and Adoption Agency on May 1, 2003 on behalf of Rose and Brooks. They applied to Olive Crest to become foster parents in July 2002. Shortly thereafter they were told by a social worker at the agency that they were 'pre-certified' for placement. But in September 2002, they were notified by the agency that their application had been suspended and were informed of a new recruitment policy that gave preferential treatment to "nuclear families." Rose and Brooks were further informed by their social worker - who quit her job over Olive Crest's handling of their case - that this policy was implemented to discriminate against lesbian and gay applicants.

"Decisions about adoption and foster care placement should be based on what's best for the children, not on discriminatory policies that bar placements with lesbian and gay people," said Christine Sun, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California. "Decades of research have found that gay people are just as capable of being good parents as straight people and their children are just as well adjusted."

The discriminatory treatment of Rose and Brooks by Olive Crest motivated the state to pursue its own legal action against the agency. In April 2005, Olive Crest entered into a settlement agreement with the state that it would strike its policy of favoring "nuclear families" and no longer discriminate based on sexual orientation. The agreement puts the agency on probation for two years. If Olive Crest is found to have violated the agreement during the probationary period, the agency's license will be automatically revoked.

"Now that Olive Crest appears to have ended its discriminatory practices, there's no need to continue this lawsuit. If, however, we find they are not living up to their end of the bargain, you can bet we'll be notifying the state," added Sun.

Attorneys Jilana Miller, Connie Tcheng and Jessie Sisgold from the San Diego office of the Heller Ehrman White and McAuliffe assisted the ACLU with the case.

LOS ANGELES - Today Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 849, an important bill that would end the discriminatory exclusion of gay and lesbian couples from marriage in California.

Schwarzenegger has said "gay couples are entitled to full protection under the law." But without the protections provided in the Religious Freedom & Civil Marriage Protection Act, Schwarzenegger has unfairly denied hundreds of thousands of people in California the dignity and protections of marriage.

The Governor can't have it both ways. Instead of perpetuating discrimination and cowering to the special interests of a few extremist groups, the Governor should ensure that all Californians are treated fairly and work to strengthen the freedoms and liberties of everyone.

LOS ANGELES - The ACLU of Southern California along with a Santa Barbara man filed suit today against the City of Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara Police Department for violating his free speech.

Last November while reading the names of soldiers who died in Iraq during a peaceful commemoration of Veteran's Day on Santa Barbara's busy State Street, local police approached Michael and George Tocher, wrongly accused Michael of disturbing the peace, demanded identification and promptly arrested him.

'Our Constitution gives us the freedom to speak our minds and protects us from the Government's silencing of our political voice,' said Ricardo Garcia, ACLU/SC Criminal Justice Director. 'We remain concerned that the city condones its officers' conduct and that other community members may be risking arrest if they too choose to voice their political views.'

The lawsuit was filed today in federal district court in the central district of California for violations of Michael's First and Fourth Amendment rights. The ACLU of Southern California originally filed a claim in May with the City of Santa Barbara seeking damages for the two for the violation of their First Amendment rights, but the city denied the claim even though the Santa Barbara County District Attorney dismissed the charges against Michael Tocher.

'I would read the soldiers names again this Veteran's Day without hesitation, but I am filing this lawsuit because I hope that I or anyone else who wants to spark discussion and thought will not have to think twice before saying something,' said Michael Tocher, electrical engineer and father of two. 'I don't take lawsuits lightly, but it is our duty as people in this great country to speak out without fear of retribution.'

The Tochers, two of five brothers, are Santa Barbara natives. Michael lives in Nipomo and George in North Hollywood. They had read about 400 of the 1,200 names of soldiers when police arrived in response to a citizen complaint. George was not cited.

'My brother and I felt like we had to do something to remember the hundreds of soldiers who died in Iraq,' said George Tocher, a social worker in Los Angeles. 'We felt it was a very reasonable and non-offensive way of protesting the war. We didn't want to do anything negative, but rather bring awareness on Veteran's Day. Now we are concerned that other people may choose not to speak out in Santa Barbara for fear they'll be arrested.'