News & Commentary

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The balance between the right of immigrants to equal protection and the duty of Los Angeles police officers to keep communities safe was upheld today when Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu granted summary judgment and dismissed a lawsuit aimed at getting rid of the LAPD's Special Order 40, which prohibits officers from using immigration status to initiate investigations.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Today the U.S. Supreme Court held in a 5 to 4 decision that the federal government cannot undermine the protections of the Constitution simply by choosing where to imprison suspects.

ORANGE, Calif. - One of the first things Sandra Hutchens will have to deal with in her new job as Sheriff of Orange County is a records request from the ACLU of Southern California seeking information about jail policies and procedures in the wake of the grand jury's report on the tragic death of John Derek Chamberlain in one of the county's jails.

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - More than a year ago, Gabino Olvera, a mentally impaired paraplegic homeless man, was left to drag himself on a downtown Los Angeles street after his discharge without a wheelchair from Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center.

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - People with disabilities face inhumane treatment and illegal discrimination in the Los Angeles County jail system because it routinely fails to accommodate their needs. Today, civil and disability rights attorneys are filing suit in U.S. District Court to stop the mistreatment.

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - People with disabilities face inhumane treatment and illegal discrimination in the Los Angeles County jail system because it routinely fails to accommodate their needs. Today, civil and disability rights attorneys are filing suit in U.S. District Court to stop the mistreatment.

Now that the reality of this victory for freedom to marry has settled in, there are questions to be answered. Here's what we know. The decision becomes final on June 14, 2008. Beginning then, the state must make sure revised marriage license applications are ready to be issued to same sex couples.

They signed their Christmas cards 'Michael and Diana Bijon.' But California authorities said his driver's license had to have his given name, Michael Buday. Today, the California man who tried for two years to take his wife's surname as his own got a new driver's license that made it official.

Michael Buday had no idea the State of California would take his simple request to get a new driver's license with his wife's surname and turn it into a two-year ordeal. But that's exactly what happened in this state where - until the ACLU of Southern California intervened - there was no state law guaranteeing the rights of both married couples and registered domestic partners to choose their own names. Today, Michael and Diana Bijon celebrated their happy ending at the Santa Monica office of the DMV. Read all about it. Photo courtesy of Brandon Wise, Santa Monica Daily Press.