News & Commentary

LOS ANGELES - On the thirtieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade, over twenty-five reproductive rights and civil rights organizations in California are calling upon women's advocates in the state's Congressional delegation to ensure that the Bush Administration does not dismantle the protections enshrined in Roe v. Wade.

LOS ANGELES - Today, a coalition of civil liberties and advocacy groups including the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, Iranian American Lawyers Association, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Muslim Public Affairs Council, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Asian Pacific Legal Center, the Progressive Jewish Alliance, People For the American Way, and the Japanese American Citizen's League called on the Department of Justice to scrap the flawed and misguided INS Special Call-In Registration program or, at the very least, to extend the deadlines for registration so that the regulations in the program can be corrected.

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and the National Center for Lesbian Rights today filed suit on behalf of Ashly Massey, an eighth grader in Banning, California who was forced to sit in the principal's office during physical education class after the gym teacher heard that she was a lesbian.

LOS ANGELES - The United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments today in Chavez v. Martinez, a case that raises the crucial question of whether the Miranda decision - perhaps the court's best known criminal justice ruling - truly guarantees the 'right to remain silent.'

LOS ANGELES - A federal district judge today sided with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and other civil rights groups in granting a preliminary injunction that would allow qualified, noncitizen airport screeners to remain on the job or be considered for jobs they lost as a result of a federal law that would require all airport screeners to be United States citizens. No such requirement exists for airline pilots, flight attendants, airline mechanics, or even members of the U.S. armed forces or National Guard.

LOS ANGELES - A federal district judge has sided with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and a coalition of civil rights groups by ruling that their constitutional challenge to the government's exclusion of qualified non-citizen baggage screeners from eligibility for federal screener posts may go forward. Non-citizens - including legal permanent residents and United States nationals - were categorically barred from new federal screener posts as part of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, even though no such requirement exists for members of the U.S. military, airline pilots, baggage handlers, flight attendants, cargo loaders, mechanics, guards, airplane cleaners and members of the National Guard. The ACLU/SC, together with other civil rights groups, filed suit on behalf of nine airline screeners at LAX and SFO airports who have been excluded from consideration for the new posts.

LOS ANGELES - In arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California is urging the Justices to invalidate a California man's life sentence under the state's harsh 'three strikes' law for stealing $153 worth of children's videotapes, including Snow White and Free Willy.

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California today called on Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo to respect the First Amendment rights of Valley secession supporters to distribute information on Proposition F, the upcoming ballot measure that would grant the Valley autonomy. Secession supporters were prevented from handing out literature at a Los Angeles Neighborhood Council meeting at the Los Angeles Convention Center, while opponents of Proposition F were allowed to sit at a table outside the Council meeting and hand out 'No on Proposition F' materials.

LOS ANGELES - A federal district judge has denied a motion to dismiss a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging that United Airlines discriminated against a passenger. The suit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California on behalf of Assem Bayaa, an American citizen of Middle Eastern descent, after Mr. Bayaa was ejected from a United Airlines flight last December after a crew member reported feeling "uncomfortable" with him on board.