News & Commentary

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California filed suit in federal court today against officials in charge of the National Park Service (NPS) to compel them to remove a large permanent cross from the Mojave National Preserve. The cross is located in San Bernardino County, California and is clearly visible from a road running through the park. An ACLU member brought the cross to the organization's attention. The ACLU/SC negotiated for many months with NPS officials and believed that the matter was closed after the organization received a letter in October of last year from National Park Service officials announcing their decision to remove it. On December 15, 2000, however, Congress passed HR 4577, which precludes the use of federal funds to remove the cross. The cross remains in place, a clear violation of the First Amendment's non-establishment of religion clause.

ANAHEIM - Yesterday evening, the Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD) approved a settlement agreement with plaintiffs represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California in a book-banning case at Orangeview Junior High School involving a biographical series about gay and lesbian people, "Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbians." The subjects of the books include tennis player Martina Navratilova, economist John Maynard Keynes, and writers Willa Cather and James Baldwin. The books were pulled from the library by district officials. The ACLU/SC represented two student plaintiffs, who charged that the censorship of the biographies violated their First Amendment rights and violated state nondiscrimination laws. The suit was filed on December 21, 2000, and sparked heated controversy in the District, including one demonstration outside of the school led by activists in support of returning the books. Today, the ACLU/SC and the District's lawyers will file a motion with the Federal District Court asking for approval of the settlement.

Today's revelations that Chief Parks refused to cooperate with the District Attorney's office in its Rampart investigation, then publicly misrepresented the Department's actions, constitute yet another piece of compelling evidence that the Chief is incapable of leading the Department through the reform process. The Department's tardy or incomplete information-sharing has already compromised the prosecution of some of the officers involved in the scandal, and it gives the lie to the Department's tale of the success of its internal clean-up effort. Once again, we encounter an inevitable truth: the LAPD cannot be trusted to police itself.

Civil rights are too often conceived as individual rights, but families and couples can be discriminated against as well, and these forms of discrimination are as insidious as any other. In 1967, when the Supreme Court overturned South Carolina's interracial marriage ban, it recognized that marriage was a right and that denying that right on the basis of the partners' respective races was a form of discrimination. When the state grants some families protections and rights, but denies them to an entire other class of families - just as it does in excluding gay and lesbian families from the protections of over 300 state laws and over 1000 federal laws - it both imperils and insults those families. The American Civil Liberties Union is strongly opposed to any such discrimination.

LOS ANGELES - Civil rights groups today heralded the introduction of AB 788 as a significant new piece of legislation that will move California forward in its effort to curb the pernicious practice of racial profiling in traffic stops, an issue that persists throughout California.

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gregory C. O'Brien, Jr. today dismissed a lawsuit filed against a local tenants' association and its members in retaliation for their free speech. The tenants and their association had been sued by the owner of Lincoln Place, a 795-unit apartment complex, for engaging in advocacy on behalf of low-income tenants. The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California defended the First Amendment rights of the tenants and their association.

LOS ANGELES - The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dealt a blow on Friday, February 16, to Mattel's efforts to block artist Tom Forsythe from using Barbie in his artwork. Forsythe used the image of Barbie in a variety of poses to critique the materialistic and gender-oppressive values he believes the doll embodies. Mattel, in keeping with its history of employing heavy-handed litigation to squelch free speech involving its iconic doll, sued Forsythe, alleging a variety of claims, including trademark and copyright infringement. The company sought a preliminary injunction against Forsythe, represented by the ACLU of Southern California and the private firm of Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin. A Federal District Court denied the motion, and the corporation appealed to the Court of Appeals to overturn that decision.

The firing of Police Commission President Gerald Chaleff by Mayor Riordan is an effort to shift the blame for the lack of police reform in Los Angeles. The Mayor himself is responsible for blocking progress on police reform and is now trying to make Commissioner Chaleff the fall guy.

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California filed suit today in federal court on behalf of residents of City Council District 13, who have been deprived by the City Council of representation on that body. The City Council on January 23rd refused to fill the seat formerly held by Jackie Goldberg, who vacated her City Council seat after the November 2000 election, in which she won a seat in the State Assembly. The ACLU of Southern California charges that the continued vacancy violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the City Charter, because it deprives the constituents of the 13th District of a voice on the City Council, even as the Council makes decisions which profoundly affect them.