News & Commentary

The American Civil Liberties Union and its three California affiliates today sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), arguing that there would be no legal basis for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to sue to overturn Proposition 19 should it be approved next month by California voters, and urging the Justice Department to not change its current law enforcement focus on major criminal activity in favor of new enforcement activities against California marijuana users.

We should all thank Christine O'Donnell for asking the innocent question – “That’s in the First Amendment?” – because it provides us an opportunity to review and discuss first principles in our constitutional democracy.

Earlier this month, Attorney General Jerry Brown filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against one of the largest carwash owners in California. The lawsuit is seeking $6.6 million dollars in penalties and unpaid wages for carwash workers employed at 8 carwashes throughout California.

Earlier this month, Attorney General Jerry Brown filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against one of the largest carwash owners in California. The lawsuit is seeking $6.6 million dollars in penalties and unpaid wages for carwash workers employed at 8 carwashes throughout California.

(Los Angeles) The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California today called on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to vote “no” on renewing the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s (LASD) fundamentally-flawed 287(g) agreement with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency – originally adopted in 2005.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – In response to multiple reports of continued retaliation by guards at the Men’s Central Jail against detainees who report wrongdoing, the ACLU and the ACLU of Southern California, together with Disability Rights California and the law firm of Bingham McCutchen, today filed a motion in U.S. District Court seeking a protective order for inmates detained there.

Mayo

Mayor Villaraigosa today thanked the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education for their approval of a settlement agreement in Reed v. State of California, a class action suit that claimed the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights to a quality education was being violated by the disproportionate impact of teacher layoff at their schools. The agreement marks a departure from the LAUSD’s long-standing “last hired, first fired” policy that determines layoffs solely by seniority.

LOS ANGELES -- On Oct. 5, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California sent a letter to Sheriff Bob Brooks of Ventura County condemning his practice of forbidding inmates from sending non-legal mail by letter.