The ACLU of California issued the following statement in response to Attorney General Eric Holder’s speech today regarding major criminal law reforms.

FRESNO – Today, parents and physicians filed an update to lawsuit against Clovis Unified School District, seeking permission from the court to add new information about how the district’s revised sex education is still out of compliance with California law.

LOS ANGELES – Federal Judge Terry J. Hatter today issued a landmark permanent injunction requiring the government to give automatic bond hearings as soon as immigrant detainees have been held for six months to determine if they should continue being detained.

California spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year on felony drug possession convictions. Currently, possessing certain drugs for personal use is an automatic felony – no matter the amount or the circumstances.

LOS ANGELES – Today, Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC) — a national group working to end the isolation and abuse of people in immigration detention through visitation — and the ACLU of Southern California (ACLU SoCal), along with other legal service providers and advocates, sent two letters requesting that ICE reinstate community visitation programs immediately.

A key Assembly committee is considering approving a bill, SB 15, that would give law enforcement a blank check when it comes to using drones. Drones pose significant threats to privacy because they can easily be used for warrantless mass surveillance.

LOS ANGELES—A broad coalition of education and civil rights organizations sent a letter today to all California county and district superintendents and charter school administrators urging immediate action to direct additional resources to the state’s neediest children.

On Tuesday, July 16, Vanir Construction Management will present its analysis of the Los Angeles County Jail Plan and Alternatives to Incarceration to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors at their weekly meeting.

LOS ANGELES - The much anticipated review and report on the proposed Los Angeles County Jail Plan was released late Friday and raises several concerns about the direction of County policy and spending on incarceration. The report, developed by Vanir Construction Management, lists five options ranging in cost from $1.3 billion to over $1.6 billion. All of the plans center on the demolition and rebuilding of Men’s Central Jail over a 10-year period.