News & Commentary

Sometimes, the wrong thing is going on in broad daylight, but you don't notice it, really, because that's just the way things have always been. A message left from a parent on our legal intake line expressing concern about the costs of attending public school got us curious. We took a cursory glance at school websites throughout the state, and found a stunning laundry list of fees levied at public schools for everything from textbooks to lab supplies, even though the California Supreme Court made clear more than 20 years ago that such fees violated the state constitution. Digging deeper, we heard heartbreaking tales from parents and students of humiliating public shaming by school administrators and teachers trying to force payment. That's not only illegal; it's also just plain wrong.  So, we got to work.

LOS ANGELES-The California affiliates of the American Civil Liberties Union announced a settlement today with the State of California that will establish a comprehensive monitoring and enforcement system to ensure school districts do not unlawfully charge fees to students for educational activities.

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act – more commonly known as the DREAM Act – is once again in the national spotlight. Introduced in 2001 and again in 2007, the DREAM Act provides a path to citizenship for undocumented students who complete two years of college or military service. It is a sensible, humane proposal that has long enjoyed bi-partisan support, but hasn’t quite passed into law despite the obvious enhancements it would provide to our economy and national security.We bring you the voices of three California youth holding out for their DREAM.

  On a cold October morning, hundreds of high school students from the Central Valley crowded into the Fresno Court of Appeals for "outreach day," an event designed to increase public understanding of the court system. For many of them this wasn't just another field trip. That morning, the California Supreme Court was scheduled to hear oral arguments for Martinez v. UC Regents, an effort by anti-immigrant forces to deny undocumented youth access to in-state college tuition rates. I was there with members of the Orange County DREAM Team, sitting behind the defense table in full view of all nine justices, anxiously watching the nation's all-too virulent immigration battle try to claim a new beachhead, that of college campuses.

LOS ANGELES-The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California today announced Brooks Allen will serve as the new Director of Education Advocacy, a position designed to identify critical civil rights issues in California’s public schools and help create comprehensive strategies for protecting students’ rights.

SACRAMENTO – Today the California Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Assembly Bill 540 which allows students who attend at least three years of high school in California and who graduate from a California high school (or receive their GED) to qualify for in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities, regardless of their immigration status. The Court found that federal law did not bar California from offering in-state tuition to all students who meet these requirements.

The parties today announced the settlement of a landmark class action lawsuit filed against Los Angeles County agencies alleging the failure to provide a constitutionally adequate education to youth detained at Camp Challenger, the County’s largest juvenile detention facility.

With the election less than a week away, I keep finding myself in discussions about the ACLU's support for Proposition 19--a proposition on California's November ballot that would, among other things, decriminalize personal use and possession of marijuana. When I explain that one of the primary reasons we support Prop 19 derives from our aim to end the disparate impact marijuana laws have on African-Americans and Latinos, people suggest that the recent passage of S.B. 1449 in California - which reduced simple possession of marijuana from a misdemeanor to an infraction - should quelch our concerns about the impact the failed War on Drugs has had on communities of color. As a result, time and again I'm asked whether S.B. 1449 makes Prop. 19 unnecessary.

Mayo