Press

ACLU lawyers and advocates are among the nation's leading experts on civil liberties and constitutional freedoms. They are regularly sought out by leading broadcast, print and online media to lend an essential voice to the conversation about some of the most important issues facing the nation.

Please contact the ACLU SoCal Media Line at (213) 977-5252 or e-mail communications@aclusocal.org.

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ACLU Report Spotlights Overuse of Toxic Chemical Spray in Juvenile Facilities

LOS ANGELES — The chemical agent known as pepper spray is so toxic that it's classified in California law as a tear gas weapon.

May 22, 2019

ACLU Files Sexual Harassment Charges on Behalf of McDonald's Workers

LOS ANGELES — Emmanuel Flores has been working as a cashier at a McDonald's in the San Gabriel Valley since 2015 and was told by a supervisor that he was one of the most valuable employees. He worked close to 40 hours a week.

May 20, 2019

ACLU to Honor ‘When They See Us’ About Central Park Attack

LOS ANGELES — The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California will honor at its annual awards luncheon five men who as teenagers were wrongly accused of the rape of a jogger in Central Park in New York in 1989. These men endured years of racially and politically charged betrayals by the

May 10, 2019

Robert Mitchell, Unlawfully Jailed by Bakersfield Police, Wins Settlement

BAKERSFIELD — Robert Mitchell, a Black man, refused to answer questions from Bakersfield Police Department officers when they stopped the car he was riding in on the pretense that air fresheners were hanging from the rear-view mirror. Mitchell knew he was well within his rights not to answer. Still

May 6, 2019

ACLU Statement on Ninth Circuit Ruling on Child Immigrants’ Right to Counsel

LOS ANGELES – Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling on C.J.L.G. v. Whitaker, a lawsuit that addresses whether immigrant children facing deportation should have the right to a court-appointed attorney. The court found that our client, known as C.J., did not receive a fair hearing.

May 3, 2019

ACLU Sues to Stop ICE From Transferring Jailed Immigrants Out of State

SANTA ANA — Immigrants jailed by the federal government while their deportation cases remain ongoing, sometimes for years, have two vital links to the outside world — their families and their attorneys — both of which are crucial to build cases that can lead to asylum or other legal status. But U.S.

May 2, 2019