News & Commentary

Chief Bratton's resignation is a great loss for the city of Los Angeles. He believes in community policing, and he restored the confidence of the community in the LAPD. I watched three prior police chiefs run the LAPD, and the reality is that progress was not made until Chief Bratton became chief and imposed his will and values on the department.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – With California’s 650,000 farm workers facing a daily risk of death and illness from toiling in stifling summer heat, the ACLU affiliates of Southern California and San Diego and Imperial Counties, and the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, filed a landmark lawsuit today against the state and its Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (Cal/OSHA) for failing to live up to their constitutional and statutory duties to protect the safety of farm workers

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – A U.S. citizen standing trial on vague terrorism-related charges was denied an open proceeding today when a United Arab Emirates judge closed the courtroom to international observers and the media. The move raises further questions about whether Naji Hamdan, who has been imprisoned for 11 months in the U. A.E. and has been charged based on evidence obtained from him through torture, will receive a fair trial.

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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The ACLU of Southern California filed a lawsuit today against the city of Santa Barbara for intentionally violating the constitutional rights of disabled homeless people by criminalizing them through enforcement of its “anti-sleeping ordinance,” while giving them no reasonable alternative to sleeping on the streets. The lawsuit – on behalf of certain homeless residents -- was filed in federal district court in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Alarmed at the prospect of further overcrowding and violence in Los Angeles County’s jails, the American Civil Liberties Union today asked a judge to prevent the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department from closing a 1,600-bed jail facility without first preparing a detailed plan to cope with the potential for a serious worsening of conditions in other jails.

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SANTA ANA, Calif. – A team of legal organizations applauded the city of Laguna Beach today for agreeing to settle a lawsuit over its treatment of disabled homeless people. The settlement agreement marks a significant shift away from the criminalization of homeless people and toward recognition of their membership in the community.