The firing of Police Commission President Gerald Chaleff by Mayor Riordan is an effort to shift the blame for the lack of police reform in Los Angeles. The Mayor himself is responsible for blocking progress on police reform and is now trying to make Commissioner Chaleff the fall guy.

This is particularly reprehensible and ironic, because Commissioner Chaleff is a leading proponent of reform. In his tenure as Police Commissioner and President of the Commission, he has been unafraid to take a hard, clear look at the bad news of a police department that is corrupt and abusive, and he has been a reliable messenger for the need for reform, despite opposition from the Mayor's office and from the police department's leadership.

This leader in advocating for reform will now be cut out of the reform process, will not have a role in selecting the consent decree monitor, and will be unable to bring his commitment to real change to the ongoing project of seeing that the consent decree is enforced.

The Mayor made a grave mistake today.

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California filed suit today in federal court on behalf of residents of City Council District 13, who have been deprived by the City Council of representation on that body. The City Council on January 23rd refused to fill the seat formerly held by Jackie Goldberg, who vacated her City Council seat after the November 2000 election, in which she won a seat in the State Assembly. The ACLU of Southern California charges that the continued vacancy violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the City Charter, because it deprives the constituents of the 13th District of a voice on the City Council, even as the Council makes decisions which profoundly affect them.

Section 409 of the new City Charter, which went into effect on July 1, 2000, states that: "Vacancies in the offices of Mayor, City Attorney, controller, and members of the City Council shall be filled by either appointment or election in the manner set forth in this section." Subsections 409 (a) and 409 (b) spell out that the Council shall either appoint a replacement or schedule a special election for a replacement prior to the next election.

"Our nation was founded on the principle that taxation without representation is unjust," said Dan Tokaji, staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California. "But that's exactly what's happening to over 250,000 residents of this city, who have no voice and no vote on the City Council. All of the Councilmembers know how important their work is to the people who live in their districts, and how important it is for constituents and their interests to be represented vigorously. There is no excuse to continue disenfranchising the people in District 13."

"Whether the issue is police reform, paramedic services, park land, or budget allocations," said Tokaji, "the Council's decisions shape the lives of Los Angeles residents. Public policy and resource allocation matter to individual districts and are shaped by the interests of different neighborhoods and communities. Those interests will not be represented by Councilmembers from other districts."

At the meeting on the 23rd, over a hundred residents of District 13 referred to the Boston Tea Party by waving tea bags to symbolize their lack of a voice in their own government. Some City Council members have proposed extending the vacancy through the runoff election on June 5.

Professor Erwin Chemerinsky and City Attorney James Hahn have both urged the City Council to act swiftly to fill the vacancy to ensure that the City Council does not operate in violation of its own charter.

LOS ANGELES - On behalf of its 28,000 members, the ACLU of Southern California called on Senator Dianne Feinstein to oppose the nomination of John Ashcroft as Attorney General of the United States, citing the nominee's appalling record on civil liberties and civil rights during his tenure in elected office in Missouri and in the United States Senate.

Noting that the Attorney General is responsible for setting Justice Department policy on such vital issues as voting rights, civil rights, affirmative action, school prayer, vouchers, reproductive rights, habeas corpus reform and the execution of federal prisoners, the ACLU/SC decried President George W. Bush's attempt to fill the position with a nominee who has actively sought to roll back protections in these critical areas.

"As Senator, John Ashcroft carried out a radical anti-civil rights and civil liberties agenda," said Ramona Ripston, Executive Director of the ACLU/SC. "He attacked privacy rights, reproductive rights, lesbian and gay rights, immigrant rights and the expansion of habeas corpus rights. He systematically opposed affirmative action programs and anti-discrimination protections. In short, Senator Ashcroft has dedicated his long political career to reversing the very laws he would be expected to prosecute as Attorney General. There is a fundamental conflict of interest here that cannot be resolved through a confirmation hearing conversion."

The ACLU-SC also observed that, if confirmed, the nominee would have ample opportunity to shape a judiciary hostile to civil rights and civil liberties, since the Attorney General wields great influence on nominations to the Supreme Court and lower federal courts.

"Bear in mind that John Ashcroft led the fight against the nomination of Justice Ronnie White, the first African-American to serve on the Missouri Supreme Court, as federal district court judge," noted Ripston. "In the process, he willfully misrepresented Justice White's record. What you have here is a right-wing ideologue who will stop at nothing to achieve a judiciary that shares his agenda."

"The Attorney General is the nation's principal enforcer of federal civil rights laws," Ripston added. "The power of this office is enormous, and should not rest in the hands of a man who has shown himself in every other context to be hostile to civil rights and civil liberties."

Because the American Civil Liberties Union policy prohibits it from either supporting or opposing candidates for public office, with the possible exception of the U.S. Supreme Court, the National ACLU has refrained from taking a position on this cabinet appointment. However, the Southern California affiliate views the nomination of Senator Ashcroft to the position of Attorney General to be such an extreme threat to the cause of civil rights and civil liberties as to warrant calling on Senator Feinstein to oppose it. In taking this position, the ACLU of Southern California represents only itself and not the National ACLU or any other ACLU affiliate.