News & Commentary

By Diego Rojas

This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.

Yesterday, the ACLU filed Public Records Act lawsuits against the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department and the Anaheim Police Department to uncover details about their use of a cell phone tracking device known as the “StingRay.”

Today, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) and Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles are appearing before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to enforce the rights of U.S. citizen Naji Hamdan, a Muslim-American man from Southern California, to find out whether the U.S. government was involved in the torture that he experienced in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.).

This month, the Obama administration was expected to launch a program that would have extended temporary relief from deportation to thousands of parents of U.S. citizens and green card holders.That program, known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), is now on hold after a federal judge in Texas blocked the government from taking applications. The government is appealing that ruling but it is unclear what comes next.

Three months after Adelanto city officials arbitrarily denied a permit to a community group organizing a small political protest at City Hall because they couldn't afford a million-dollar insurance policy for the event, officials moved this month to fix the city's misguided permitting scheme.

Less than a year after the ACLU released a pressing report on the dangerous militarization of American police, law enforcement agencies in California—including school police—continue to use military-grade equipment against the communities they are supposed to protect.