News & Commentary

By Ahilan Arulanantham Director of Immigrants' Rights & National Security for the ACLU of Southern California.

NEW YORK – In response to the California Supreme Court decision allowing Prop 8 to stand, four LGBT legal organizations and five other leading national LGBT groups are reminding the LGBT community that ill-timed lawsuits could set the fight for marriage back.  The groups released a new publication, “Why the ballot box and not the courts should be the next step on marriage in California.”  This publication discourages people from bringing premature lawsuits based on the federal Constitution because, without more groundwork, the U.S. Supreme Court likely is not yet ready to rule that same-sex couples cannot be barred from marriage.  The groups also revised “Make Change, Not Lawsuits,” which was released after the California Supreme Court decision ending the ban on marriage for same-sex couples in California.  This publication encourages couples who have legally married to ask friends, neighbors and institutions to honor their marriages, but discourages people from bringing lawsuits.

Advocacy Groups Vow to Return to Polls to Restore Marriage for Same-sex Couples

ACLU/SC Pushes Anew for Release of Detained American as New Document Shows U.A.E. Cooperated in U.S. Rendition Program

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – In response to information provided at a press conference held by the El Monte Police Department today, the ACLU of Southern California is releasing the following statement from Executive Director Ramona Ripston:

SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County District Attorney's Office dismissed the case against five clients of the ACLU of Southern California on Thursday after a Superior Court judge refused to include them on a preliminary basis under the provisions of a sweeping gang injunction. The case against 57 other individuals named in the injunction was likewise dismissed.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The ACLU of Southern California is calling for the immediate suspension of the El Monte police officer who was caught on videotape today as he brutally kicked a suspect who was prone on the ground, and then high-fived a fellow officer. The ACLU/SC also urges the Los Angeles County District Attorney to conduct a full and swift investigation into the actions of the police officer in this incident.

Hello, my name is Ramona Ripston and I am the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. I am here to lend the support of 40,000 ACLU members to passing the Employee Free Choice Act. Our roots are in the labor movement. The ACLU of Southern California was founded by Upton Sinclair after he was arrested for participating in a longshoremen's rally.

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A Superior Court judge today rejected an attempt by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office to subject a 22-year-old Orange resident and three others to the provisions of an overreaching, preliminary gang injunction that criminalizes ordinary daily activities.