Today the ACLU of Southern California filed a class-action lawsuit, Romero v. City of Montebello, to end the City of Montebello's discriminatory allotment of more park space and time for boys' baseball leagues than for a girls' softball league. The private firm Arnold & Porter joins the ACLU as pro bono co-counsel in the case.
The case is filed on behalf of eight girls who are members of the Montebello Ponytail Girls' Softball Association, including Stephanie Romero, 14, who has played pitcher and third base in the girls' league for seven seasons and who dreams of playing on the United States Olympic Team; Jesy Wrtaza, 9, shortstop and second and third base person for four seasons, who also dreams of a college, Olympic, and professional softball career; and six other named plaintiffs who represent the 450 other girls who participate in the league, as well as countless girls who will join the league in the future.
"For years, the Ponytail girls have been forced to play softball in a single, crowded diamond at a public park side-by-side a thriving boys' baseball league. Although the Ponytails have continued to grow, their access to public playing fields has remained frozen due to the City's grossly unequal allocation of field space to girls' sports programs. This is especially remarkable given City officials' express recognition of this gender-based disparity," noted Rocio Cordoba, ACLU of Southern California staff attorney.
The Montebello Ponytail Girls' Softball Association, an all-girls softball league and part of a nationwide network of girls' Ponytail leagues, has grown rapidly over the last two decades to over 450 members ages 5 to 18. The Ponytails share Grant Rae Park, a large public playing field, with the Montebello Baseball Association, a boys' baseball league. Despite near parity in terms of size, the two leagues have starkly different levels of access to playing facilities. The Ponytails use one full-size diamond for half a year and a small T-ball diamond for six early morning weekend hours per week. The boys' league has access to three regular diamonds and the prime hours for the T-ball diamond. Boys also have pre- and post-season access to the park, while girls do not. Outside of softball season, there are no girls' athletic programs at all utilizing the park.
This inequitable scheduling system forces the Ponytails to stack their games so closely together that the players have insufficient time to warm up and cool down, thus increasing their risk of injury; forces girls' teams to travel to other cities during the months of August to January in order to play post-season games; requires girls to play games at inconvenient times, and gives the Ponytails less access to a concession stand, which is an essential fund-raising mechanism.
"Space and time are fundamental resources for athletic teams," said Cordoba, "and the resources in Montebello are allocated in a completely lopsided way. This has a profound impact on the girls as players and, ultimately, on their development as young women. Research consistently shows that participation in athletics helps girls grow up strong and healthy, both physically and psychologically. The City of Montebello is sending a clear message to its girls. Its unequal system brands girls as inferior, second-class citizens and perpetuates gender-based stereotypes that girls' athletics are somehow less deserving than boys' athletics."
Numerous studies have demonstrated that young women who participate in sports have higher levels of self-esteem, do better in school, are less likely to become pregnant while teenagers, and have fewer problems with drug abuse and eating disorders.
A similar case filed against the City of Los Angeles in 1998 resulted in "Raise the Bar," a landmark citywide program to foster girls' equal access to city sports facilities and programs.
"We need to promote equality for girls' sports throughout the country," said Cordoba. "Schools have been dealing with gender equity issues for decades thanks to Title IX, but cities, outside the scope of Title IX, haven't, for the most part, dealt with these issues as thoroughly. Girls such as the courageous Ponytails players are stepping forward to challenge the disparities they encounter. By monitoring the access cities give to girls' athletics and challenging any inequities, we will help cities understand that they, too, are obligated to treat girls fairly."

Carlos Gonzalez, a Latino math teacher from East L.A., was driving his new red mustang convertible when police officers pulled him over, handcuffed him, questioned him, and detained him'all without asking for his ID or explaining what he had done. After 25 minutes of personal terror and public humiliation, Gonzalez received a ticket for speeding'the first point during the ordeal at which the officer mentioned a traffic violation. Gonzalez was shaken by the incident and no longer drives his red mustang, which he traded in for a car less likely to attract the attention of police.

Bishop Leon Ralph, an African American former member of the California Assembly, was pulled over in Long Beach. The officer who pulled him over did not recognize the special government plates on his car. She drew her gun on the former legislator and accused him of defacing his plates. He was not accused of any traffic violation and received no ticket. The police officer allowed him to proceed when she learned of the government plates.

Timothy Campbell, an African American realtor and building contractor, was pulled over by police in Los Angeles. He was first accused of stealing his car, next accused of spray-painting anti-police graffiti on a wall nearby, then accused of speeding. When a supervising officer finally arrived at the scene, the speeding ticket was voided. Throughout the stop, which lasted over an hour, police used abusive language and threats.

Campbell complained'and didn't receive a response from the police for over a year.

Rolando Cuervo and a friend were driving in Monterey Park to the 7-11 for coffee. Police saw the two young Latino men and immediately made a u-turn, following them closely for several blocks. Finally, they were pulled over, detained, and subjected to a bizarre interrogation, which included questions about their employment status, their radio equipment, and their sexual orientation. The officer seemed certain that the two college friends were criminals. Rolando has written a letter of complaint and is still awaiting a response.

Gonzalez, Ralph, Campbell, and Cuervo were among a crowd of over two hundred people from throughout the Los Angeles region who gathered at First A.M.E. Church in Los Angeles on Monday, April 17, to describe their experiences of being stopped by law enforcement officers because of their race.

A panel including LAPD Chief Parks, Los Angeles City Council Members Nate Holden, Rita Walters, and Jackie Goldberg, Assemblymember Gloria Romero, and representatives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the U.S. Department of Justice, listened for over two hours as town hall attendees told of being stopped because of their skin color. Speakers reported being held at gunpoint, being searched, being detained, and having their property searched against their will for no reason other than their race.

Dominique DiPrima of 92.3 The Beat was MC of the event, and attendees and panelists were asked to sign a letter of support for a racial profiling statistics bill, Senator Kevin Murray's SB 1389, which has twice passed the California Legislature, only to be vetoed first by Governor Wilson, then by Governor Davis.

The event was part of a series of statewide town halls focused on the issue of racial profiling in traffic stops, a statewide organizing effort which will include a lobby day to support SB 1389 on April 27, 2000.

The Los Angeles town hall was sponsored by the ACLU of Southern California, Los Angeles Urban League, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) , Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), Los Angeles NAACP, Project Islamic Hope, Black Women's Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, Coalition Against Police Abuse, Pilipino Workers Center, Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, Community Coalition, National Lawyer's Guild, Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, Gay and Lesbian Action Alliance, Southern California Criminal Justice Consortium.

The Police Commission has assembled a well-respected group of people to conduct a review of the Los Angeles Police Department. Still, this falls far short of a truly independent commission.

The mayor and the city council have to take responsibility for ensuring that a truly independent investigation into the LAPD is undertaken. The only possible means to regain vital public trust in the police department is to create a truly independent panel that is not under the aegis of the Police Commission, and does not have to clear its recommendations and report through the Commission.

To be considered truly independent, the panel's autonomy from the Police Commission must be guaranteed. That means its report must be released directly to the public. A reporting structure that is vetted by the present Police Commission and its police department is not independent.

Limiting the investigation to the LAPD also falls far short. The independent body that Angelenos need and deserve should have a broad mandate to examine the entire criminal justice system, including the district attorney's office, the city attorney's office,

and a court system that appears in many cases to have lost its devotion to impartiality and justice.

It is also critical to set procedures in place to ensure that the independent commission's recommendations are implemented.