News & Commentary

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.

California's death penalty has always been a bit of a head-scratcher, but the news over the last two weeks may have the record for furrowed brows and rolled eyes. The legal drama that has unfolded as the state tries to execute Albert Brown has shocked legal experts, but just confused everyone else.

We have no budget, no money for child care centers and college students, and no hope that these problems will be solved anytime soon. But take heart California, what we do have is a state-of-the-art death chamber. And soon we will have the best and brightest death row housing facility. Can anyone in Sacramento say '''priorities'?

SAN FRANCISCO - For almost five years, the State of California has engaged in a protracted legal battle over its method of execution: lethal injection. During this time period, executions in California have been on hold. Now, the state is rushing to carry out an execution next week, even though none of the legal questions have been answered.