News & Commentary

Since a federal court ruled the NYPD’s practice of aggressively stopping and searching residents unconstitutional, New York Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio has been looking for someone to lead and reform the NYPD. He’s now tapped Bill Bratton, who steered the LAPD out from under a federal consent decree.

Brooks Allen has championed the rights of children for the past nine years, most recently as the ACLU of Southern California’s director of education advocacy. Today, he steps into a new role as deputy policy director and assistant legal counsel to the State Board of Education.

The transgender experience in the United States has been heavily misunderstood and stigmatized. Being transgender in this country has become a radical act of self-preservation in the face of a traditionally gendered society.

Solitary confinement can eat away at someone's mind, making mental illness worse and leaving many people depressed, suicidal, hopeless or hallucinating. It's no place for individuals with mental illness.

From revelations of widespread NSA spying to high profile data breaches, transparency about how personal information is collected, used and disclosed is more important than ever. 

"Veterans don't deserve special care, benefits or assistance." How many Americans hold this view? How many would vote for a politician who supported it? And yet this is the message that veterans like Greg Valentini hear every day.

This summer Californians celebrated a historic victory when Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law AB 1266 – the School Success and Opportunity Act.