The ACLU Foundation of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) has learned that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) violated its commitment, announced on January 10, 2014, that it would no longer conduct enforcement actions at Kern County courthouses.

Please attribute the following statement to Hector Villagra, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California: "Today’s federal indictments of Sheriff’s Deputies Joey Aguiar and Mariano Ramirez come as no surprise to us.

OAKLAND - The ACLU of California and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area (LCCR) today filed a lawsuit charging the state with unconstitutionally stripping tens of thousands of people of their right to vote.

LOS ANGELES - "We hope that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors' decision to appoint John Scott as temporary sheriff of Los Angeles County will serve to move this troubled department a step closer to real reform," said Hector Villagra, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California.

BAKERSFIELD - Today the ACLU of California and the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project applaud the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) decision to halt its troubling practice of arresting individuals at Kern County courthouses.

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California today announced David Sapp will serve as the director of education advocacy/legal counsel, a position designed to identify critical civil rights issues in California’s public schools and to help create comprehensive strategies for protecting students’ rights.

“Today’s not guilty verdict in the criminal trial of Fullerton police officers Jay Cicinelli and Manuel Ramos, who were charged in the beating death of Kelly Thomas, is disappointing and demonstrates the need for civilian police review boards in Fullerton and elsewhere in Orange County,” said Hector Villagra, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California.

SAN FRANCISCO – The Department of Education and Department of Justice today released federal guidance to assist schools in administering discipline in a nondiscriminatory way and to provide alternatives to overly punitive school discipline practices.