News & Commentary

SAN FRANCISCO — Today, the California affiliates of the American Civil Liberties Union partnered with Wendy Walsh, mother of 13 year-old Seth Walsh who recently took his own life after enduring years of anti-gay harassment at school, to send an important message to schools about anti-gay bullying. California law, in particular, requires schools to take specific steps to protect students from harassment based on sexual orientation.

Sandra Benson Brantley, Counsel to the General Assembly, Office of the Attorney General:

Sometimes, the wrong thing is going on in broad daylight, but you don't notice it, really, because that's just the way things have always been. A message left from a parent on our legal intake line expressing concern about the costs of attending public school got us curious. We took a cursory glance at school websites throughout the state, and found a stunning laundry list of fees levied at public schools for everything from textbooks to lab supplies, even though the California Supreme Court made clear more than 20 years ago that such fees violated the state constitution. Digging deeper, we heard heartbreaking tales from parents and students of humiliating public shaming by school administrators and teachers trying to force payment. That's not only illegal; it's also just plain wrong.  So, we got to work.

In the latest episode in one of the more bizarre story arcs of America’s death penalty, on Monday the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation revealed (under court order) that the source of their mysterious supply of lethal injection drugs was Archimedes Pharma, the same British firm that supplied the drugs Arizona used to execute Jeffrey Landrigan.

LOS ANGELES-The California affiliates of the American Civil Liberties Union announced a settlement today with the State of California that will establish a comprehensive monitoring and enforcement system to ensure school districts do not unlawfully charge fees to students for educational activities.

The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act – more commonly known as the DREAM Act – is once again in the national spotlight. Introduced in 2001 and again in 2007, the DREAM Act provides a path to citizenship for undocumented students who complete two years of college or military service. It is a sensible, humane proposal that has long enjoyed bi-partisan support, but hasn’t quite passed into law despite the obvious enhancements it would provide to our economy and national security.We bring you the voices of three California youth holding out for their DREAM.

  On a cold October morning, hundreds of high school students from the Central Valley crowded into the Fresno Court of Appeals for "outreach day," an event designed to increase public understanding of the court system. For many of them this wasn't just another field trip. That morning, the California Supreme Court was scheduled to hear oral arguments for Martinez v. UC Regents, an effort by anti-immigrant forces to deny undocumented youth access to in-state college tuition rates. I was there with members of the Orange County DREAM Team, sitting behind the defense table in full view of all nine justices, anxiously watching the nation's all-too virulent immigration battle try to claim a new beachhead, that of college campuses.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California strongly urges Congress to take action and vote to pass the DREAM Act.

LOS ANGELES-The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California today announced Brooks Allen will serve as the new Director of Education Advocacy, a position designed to identify critical civil rights issues in California’s public schools and help create comprehensive strategies for protecting students’ rights.