News & Commentary

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California today sent a letter to Los Angeles Councilmember Jan Perry, an advocate of police sweeps in the downtown area, calling on her to end attempts to shift blame on the pressing issue of homelessness in Los Angeles and instead start to work towards a solution that is both humane and constitutional.

LOS ANGELES - In a victory for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and the National Lawyers Guild, a federal judge has ordered a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against certain practices employed by the LAPD during the so-called "probation sweeps" being conducted by police officers in the Skid Row area.

LOS ANGELES - In one of the first challenges to LAPD Chief William Bratton's "broken windows" policy, the ACL Union and the National Lawyers Guild filed a lawsuit in federal court today challenging the legality of the so-called "probation sweeps" that have been implemented in the skid row area.

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has announced the settlement of a lawsuit alleging inadequate mental health services for dependent children in Los Angeles County's child-welfare system.

LOS ANGELES - In a press conference today, Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California announced the filing of a lawsuit to enjoin the closure of Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center and the reduction of close to 100 beds at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

LOS ANGELES - In two separate rulings today, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to overturn the sentences of two non-violent repeat offenders who were sentenced to unusually long prison terms for petty theft offenses.

The ACLU of Southern California joins the Council on American-Islamic Relations in calling for a full FBI investigation of the heinous attack on Rashid Alam, an 18 year old Arab-American from Yorba Linda beaten by a mob who shouted anti-Arab and anti-Muslim epithets.

LOS ANGELES ' At a news conference held in front of the LAPD's Central Area location in the heart of skid row, the ACLU of Southern California together with Las Familias Del Pueblo, a longtime Los Angeles based advocacy group, and the Catholic Workers announced the filing of a class action lawsuit challenging the City's enforcement of a Los Angeles' ordinance that bars sleeping, sitting or lying on public sidewalks against homeless people who have no where else to go.

LOS ANGELES - In votes last night, two Southern California city councils passed resolutions upholding the human rights and civil liberties of all residents and opposing provisions of the USA-PATRIOT Act that infringe on residents' rights and liberties. The cities of Santa Monica and Claremont become the second and third localities in Southern California and thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth localities in the country to oppose portions of the USA-PATRIOT Act.