News & Commentary

LOS ANGELES - The ACLU of Southern California announced a settlement today in Lifestyles Organization (LSO) v. Stroh, a case involving an erotic arts exhibition in Palm Springs in late July and early August of 1997. The Department of Alcoholic Beverages Control (ABC) threatened to yank the alcohol license of the host convention center. With the help of the ACLU of Southern California, LSO sought and received a temporary restraining order, and the erotic arts exhibition proceeded as planned, drawing 2,000 attendees. LSO pressed the case, seeking damages, attorney's fees, and a guarantee that ABC would not enforce the regulations against LSO in the future. Earlier this year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling that made it clear that the Department's enforcement of the regulations was unconstitutional. Since that time, the parties in the case have been working towards a settlement. A settlement was announced to the District Court yesterday.

LOS ANGELES - Federal Judge Ronald Lew firmly signaled to Mattel today that its efforts to quash an artist's free speech rights through litigation will most likely not succeed. In denying Mattel's request for preliminary injunction against artist Tom Forsythe on copyright and trademark grounds for his artistic use of Barbie dolls, Judge Lew stated that Mattel had not demonstrated it was likely to succeed on the merits.

LOS ANGELES The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld a preliminary injunction that stops the City of Los Angeles from enforcing its unconstitutional "aggressive solicitation" ban. When the city passed the ordinance, Municipal Code ﾌ_ 41.59, in July 1997, the ACLU of Southern California filed suit challenging the ordinance on First Amendment grounds; a preliminary injunction was granted, and the city appealed.

LOS ANGELES - The effect of California's welfare reform policies will be less punitive and capricious as a result of a settlement approved by the court yesterday in Nickols v. Saenz, a lawsuit filed by civil rights groups on behalf of poor women and children statewide. The lawsuit challenged the state's application of a "family cap" policy, called the Maximum Family Grant rule, to welfare families without giving them proper advance notice.

LOS ANGELES - Civil rights groups filed a motion today to require that the State of California ascertain whether public school students have textbooks to use in class and at home in each of their core subjects. The motion asks the California Superior Court to appoint a neutral expert to design and carry out a survey of California teachers asking them about the availability of textbooks in their classes. In its response to requests for information in the ACLU's landmark education case, Williams v. California, the State of California stated that it does not know whether public school students in California have books to study and claimed that it has no responsibility for ensuring that they do.

LOS ANGELES ? On August 24, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted asylum to Geovani Hernandez-Montiel. After being expelled from school, beaten by a mob and sexually assaulted by police in his Mexican homeland, the 21-year-old gay man sought asylum in the United States. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) rejected Hernandez-Montiel's asylum claim, stating that he was persecuted for his effeminate appearance and characteristics, not his sexual orientation. The ACLU of Southern California and other civil rights groups filed an amicus brief on the Hernandez-Montiel's behalf.

LOS ANGELES - The ACLU of Southern California filed suit in federal court today against the Los Angeles Police Department for its attacks last Monday, August 14, on members of the media during their coverage of protests at the Democratic National Convention.

LOS ANGELES - The ACLU of Southern California intends to file suit�_ in federal court today against the Los Angeles Police Department for its attacks Monday night on members of the media. After shutting down the concert in the protest zone across from the Staples Center, police attacked the frightened crowd with batons, pepper spray, and nonlethal bullets. Members of the media reported that police officers singled them out for attack.

LOS ANGELES Today civil rights groups filed in the Superior Court of the State of California to expand Williams v. State of California, the landmark education lawsuit to ensure that all public education students in the state be provided with the bare minimum tools necessary for educational success. Since the lawsuit was filed in May, on the 46th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education , the ACLU has fielded hundreds of calls from parents, teachers, and students interested in getting involved in the case. Plaintiffs representing 28 new schools spanning the state from Watsonville to Long Beach have joined the case, bringing the total number of schools represented by named plaintiffs to 46.