SAN FRANCISCO -- Transgender students, and their parents, educators and friends today are both relieved and concerned that while the California School Success and Opportunity Act (AB 1266) -- which helps schools better understand how to provide a fair opportunity for transgender students to participate and succeed -- failed to qualify for a referendum based on a random count of signatures, it may still qualify depending on the outcome of a full count of the signatures. 

ANAHEIM — The ACLU Foundation of Southern California (ACLU SoCal), Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian and Ho and the Law Offices of Robert Rubin announced a settlement of a lawsuit against the City of Anaheim regarding how Anaheim voters elect their city council representatives. 

"The ACLU of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) welcomes Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca’s decision to resign after 48 years of service," said Hector Villagra, ACLU SoCal executive director. "In so doing, Sheriff Baca has done what is best for his deputies, the department, and the residents of the county."

SAN FRANCISCO -- Transgender students and their families are celebrating California’s new School Success and Opportunity Act, which ensures that schools across the state understand their obligation to provide a fair opportunity for transgender students to participate in all school programs and to graduate with their peers. The law went into effect on January 1st.

The ACLU has been litigating abuses in the Los Angeles County Jails since the mid 1970s. In 1985, it was appointed monitor of the facilities that comprise the Los Angeles County Jails system. In January 2012, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Sheriff Lee Baca and his top brass for condoning a longstanding, widespread pattern of violence by deputies against inmates in the Los Angeles County jails.

“’I didn’t know’ is Sheriff Lee Baca’s refrain to every disturbing incident that comes to light. That stock answer is unacceptable,” said Hector Villagra, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California.

SAN BERNARDINO—The ACLU Foundation of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) sued the County of San Bernardino today for violating the free speech rights of Efren Montiel Jimenez, a local artist.

LOS ANGELES - Today the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that police and prosecutors violated the Constitution by enforcing a gang injunction against residents of Orange County before giving them a meaningful opportunity to contest the allegation that they were gang members.

LOS ANGELES - Today, the ACLU of Southern California (ACLU SoCal) and a concerned taxpayer, Eric Preven, filed a lawsuit demanding that Los Angeles County and the Office of the County Counsel release invoices detailing the amounts of money billed by private law firms in lawsuits filed against the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) and its personnel.