News & Commentary

LOS ANGELES - County Supervisors and Sheriffs officials must ensure inmates in the seven jail facilities in Los Angeles have access to a bed, timely medical attention, clean clothes and showers in order to control the ongoing outbreak of a virulent form of staph infection. They must also employ an epidemiologist to monitor the bacteria immediately, say ACLU jails monitors.

Los Angeles - A UC Irvine junior studying in France, and hundreds of her current and future classmates, can now participate in demonstrations abroad without risking disciplinary action.

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union and the State of California reached a settlement agreement in the class action education lawsuit Williams v. California in August 2004. The Williams lawsuit was originally filed in May 2000 by the ACLU, the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Public Advocates, Inc., and other groups on behalf of California students who attended substandard schools in California, and charged the state with reneging on its constitutional obligation to provide students with the bare essentials necessary for education: sufficient instructional materials, adequate learning facilities, qualified teachers, etc.

LOS ANGELES - The California affiliates of the ACLU filed a class action lawsuit today stating that Proposition 69 is unconstitutional. The case challenges those portions of the law that require DNA testing of people who are arrested for a felony and never charged or later found innocent, and people who have been convicted of a felony but have already served their debt to society and are no longer under any supervision by the criminal justice system.

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, along with the law firms of Lackie & Dammeier LLP, and Bahan & Associates, today announced the filing of a lawsuit on behalf of City of Ontario police officers who were illegally videotaped while in the Ontario Police Department men's locker room.

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California announced today the launching of a media campaign to inform ex-offenders of their voting rights and encourage civic participation among persons who have served their sentences and parole after being convicted of a felony.

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California will host the Los Angeles premiere of "Unconstitutional," the latest groundbreaking documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Robert Greenwald, at Laemmle's Music Hall 3 on Thursday, September 23, 2004 at 7:00 PM.

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California today sent a letter to the Beverly Hills City Council and Mayor asking that the City respect the rights of petition gatherers engaged in a campaign to bring a referendum on a luxury hotel project before the City's voters.

SAN FRANCISCO - Today the California Supreme Court ruled that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom did not have the authority to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and declared the licenses issued to thousands of same-sex couples invalid. The ruling does not address whether same-sex couples must be allowed to marry under the California Constitution. That issue is being litigated in a separate lawsuit brought by the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal and the ACLU. Legal briefs are being filed in that lawsuit in the next few weeks, and the case is expected to move quickly in state court.