News & Commentary

LOS ANGELES - The 20-year effort to deport two men over their alleged political support of Palestinian self-determination officially came to an end today when the nation's highest administrative body overseeing immigration cases dismissed all charges against Khader Hamide and Michel Shehadeh, members of a group of Palestinian student activists arrested in January 1987, who became known as the LA8.

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LOS ANGELES - Attorney Deborah H. Karpatkin and the ACLU of Southern California today filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of a 26-year-old Army specialist being kept in the Army against his Buddhist-Taoist beliefs. The suit seeks to have the man, who enlisted only after being promised that military duties would not conflict with his religious beliefs, discharged as a conscientious objector.

LOS ANGELES - Many California middle- and high-school students drop out of school or fail to meet their career or college goals because they missed out on required courses or career-technical classes while in school. A bill signed into law Sunday will provide a missing ingredient in career and college success: one-on-one attention from a qualified counselor.

A breakthrough agreement between the ACLU/SC and top L.A. leaders will create 1,250 new permanent low-income housing units for the city. ACLU/SC Executive Director Ramona Ripston said it offers "real hope" for an end to homelessness in L.A.