News & Commentary

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – With California’s 650,000 farm workers facing a daily risk of death and illness from toiling in stifling summer heat, the ACLU affiliates of Southern California and San Diego and Imperial Counties, and the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, filed a landmark lawsuit today against the state and its Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Cal/OSHA) for failing to live up to their constitutional and statutory duties to protect the safety of farm workers

“A Broken System” is based on 18,000 Pages of Previously Confidential ICE, ABA and UNHCR Reviews of Detention Centers

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – A U.S. citizen standing trial on vague terrorism-related charges was denied an open proceeding today when a United Arab Emirates judge closed the courtroom to international observers and the media. The move raises further questions about whether Naji Hamdan, who has been imprisoned for 11 months in the U. A.E. and has been charged based on evidence obtained from him through torture, will receive a fair trial.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The ACLU of Southern California has released the followingstatements on the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feess to end the LAPD consent decree:

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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The ACLU of Southern California filed a lawsuit today against the city of Santa Barbara for intentionally violating the constitutional rights of disabled homeless people by criminalizing them through enforcement of its “anti-sleeping ordinance,” while giving them no reasonable alternative to sleeping on the streets. The lawsuit – on behalf of certain homeless residents -- was filed in federal district court in Los Angeles.

Dear

Unlike Proposition 8 in 2008, any upcoming electoral campaign for marriage equality would be one of choice, not one of necessity in fending off an attack from religious-right foes. Timing is ours to determine. Going back to the ballot to remove the voter-imposed ban on same-sex marriage from the state constitution in 2010 would be rushed and risky. We should proceed with a costly, demanding, and high-stakes electoral campaign of this sort only when we are confident we can win. We should choose to Prepare to Prevail.