LOS ANGELES - In a letter written to the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California on January 5, Deputy City Attorney Deborah Sanchez notified the organization that the City had revised Municipal Code �_ 41.59, which restricts individuals' rights to solicit in a variety of places and contexts. Two of the primary passages of the ordinance that the ACLU objected to, one dealing with a ban on solicitation near restaurants, and another dealing with a ban near bus stops, bans which, together would have effectively placed much of the City off limits as a forum for any kind of solicitation, have been deleted. The repeal comes after the ACLU won a series of legal victories in its challenge to the ordinance, most recently, when the 9th Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction issued by a lower court that prohibited the City from enforcing the ordinance.

"The most egregious portions of the solicitation ban are where they ought to be," said Peter Eliasberg, staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California, "in the dustbin of local history. This ordinance tried to turn Los Angeles into a place where only the privileged are free to speak, and where speaking the urgent truth about one's need would be a punishable crime."

Eliasberg noted that the ordinance would also have barred groups such as the Busriders' Union from soliciting for new members at the most logical place for such solicitation: near transit stops.

"It may have served the interests of some to stifle the political organizing and growth of grassroots organizations that seek to reach those who use public transportation," said Eliasberg, "but such activities are clearly protected by the First Amendment and are fundamental to our freedom."

Sanchez declared that the City would stand behind the revised ordinance.

"Please know," she wrote in the January 5 letter, "that the City is prepared to defend the ordinance, as amended, in the District Court."

The ACLU and its clients are reviewing the revisions.

"This is an extraordinary victory," said Carol Sobel, ACLU cooperating attorney. "And we're talking to our clients about whether this satisfies all of their concerns. But the revisions to the ordinance go to the heart of our claims and essentially protect free speech on public sidewalks, whether that speech comes from the Salvation Army, the Girl Scouts, or anyone else who uses public places to solicit the public for support."

LOS ANGELES - In a reversal of position in response to an ACLU of Southern California lawsuit, Beltran v. UC Regents, the University of California late yesterday announced that it will admit students who qualify academically but whose schools failed to fill out the paperwork for the ELC ("Eligibility in a Local Context") admissions program, which guarantees admission to UC for the top 4% of each graduating class. The ACLU of Southern California filed suit in California State Superior Court on December 20, 2000, challenging the University's violation of the students' due process rights.

"Just in time for Christmas, the University checked its list twice and took back the lumps of coal it left in the stockings of high-achieving students whose schools failed to do the paperwork for the ELC program," said Mark Rosenbaum, Legal Director of the ACLU of Southern California. "These students deserve admission without question. They earned it. The University's decision yesterday will change the lives of thousands of students. It's the right decision, and we're very pleased to see the students' interests placed ahead of everything else."

"We're delighted by the University's announcement, and we commend the University of California for acting so quickly in the best interests of deserving students," said Rocio Cordoba, staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California. "We look forward to learning the details of the University's proposal to remedy the problems in its ELC program. We are very pleased that the Regents recognized that these were deserving students who had been unfairly punished by an admissions policy that did not function properly, but we hope that the University will take this one step further and institute a system which does not fail in one of six schools in California next year. In any case, no student should ever again be put in the position of having qualified academically but being disqualified through someone else's omission."

"Before we decide whether this fully satisfies the requirements of fairness, however," said Cordoba, "we will need to evaluate the details of the University's response."

Students and attorneys can be reached on Saturday, December 23, by leaving a message for Christopher Calhoun at 213/977-5252; he will be checking messages and will reply with contact numbers for interested reporters.

The ACLU of Southern California filed a federal lawsuit today on behalf of two students at Orangeview Junior High School whose free-speech rights are being violated by censorship of school library books by the Anaheim Union High School District.Ten books were removed by District officials from the Orangeview library in early September 2000, and have been kept in the District's offices ever since, despite the efforts of Orangeview's librarians to get the books back. The books are a series of biographies, written for youth 14 years old and up, entitled "Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbians." The subjects of the books include tennis player Martina Navratilova, economist John Maynard Keynes, and writers Willa Cather and James Baldwin."We all know why these books have been banned," said Martha Matthews, ACLU of Southern California's Bohnett Attorney, a staff attorney position funded by Internet innovator and philanthropist David Bohnett to advance lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights.
"The books were banned because the words gay and lesbian appear on the front cover. The books were banned because they had a positive statement to make to kids about gay and lesbian people, because gay or lesbian people, in the eyes of some, cannot possibly be role models or heroes. The books were banned, in short, because of deep- seated prejudice."
"This is a very clear case of viewpoint-based censorship, which is unconstitutional," said Matthews. "At its core, this kind of suppression is anti-democratic and antithetical to the mission of a school and, particularly, of a school library, which is to encourage inquiry and broaden minds. This kind of censorship is offensive, cowardly, and damaging to students."
The Orangeview library has over fifteen other series of biographies, profiling the lives and achievements of other groups such as African-Americans, Latinos and Latinas, Asian-Americans, women, and persons with disabilities. Only the books about famous gay and lesbian persons were removed from the library and singled out for scrutiny by District officials.
"I have an older brother in high school, who is gay, said plaintiff Daniel Doe [a pseudonym], "I think that having books in the library about famous people who are gay or lesbian would help me and other students learn that gay people can be successful in life, and learn not to be prejudiced."
Public school students have rights under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the California Constitution. Schools can ensure that library books are age- appropriate and have educational value. But they cannot ban books because of disapproval of the viewpoints or ideas expressed in the books " such as the idea that gay and lesbian persons have made important contributions to the arts, sciences, and literature.
Also, under California law, schools cannot discriminate against students, or tolerate student-on-student harassment, on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation. Removing books that provide positive gay and lesbian role models ? even though the library has many books about famous people from other minority groups ? also violates this anti-discrimination law.
"Unfortunately," said Orangeview librarian Chris Enterline. "I have heard Orangeview students using epithets such as 'faggot' as insults and using the expression, 'that's so gay,' to imply that an idea or action is foolish or ridiculous. Books such as the series, 'Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbians,' can play an important role in helping to create a school environment in which homophobia, like racism and other biases, is addressed and challenged."
Gay- and lesbian-themed books frequently inspire censors. According to the American Library Association, two books for children about gay and lesbian families are among the top ten books banned in the United States. In 1999, there were about 500 attempts to remove books from libraries on the grounds that they 'promoted homosexuality.'