The ACLU of Southern California is pleased to announce that Staff Attorney David Sapp has been awarded Stanford Law School’s 2012 Miles L. Rubin Public Interest Award.  The award is presented annually to a Stanford alumnus whose outstanding work has advanced justice and social change in the lives of vulnerable populations on a community, national, or international level. In particular, the Rubin Award is intended to highlight concrete and sustainable approaches and solutions to a societal problem.

WASHINGTON -- Young people are held in solitary confinement in jails and prisons across the United States, often for weeks or months at a time.

In response to requests to support marriage equality efforts currently underway in the state of Washington, The Center Long Beach and ACLU of Southern California have partnered with Washington United for Marriage (WUM) and Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA) to host weekly phone banks to reach undecided voters and urge them to support marriage equality in the state.

ACLU-SC and partner organizations have issued a sign-on letter requesting commitments to Fair Drug Enforcement, Strong Support for Rehabilitation, and True Justice for Juveniles from whoever becomes Los Angeles County’s new elected District Attorney.

In response to a statement by LAPD Chief Charlie Beck that the department will no longer turn over to federal immigration authorities immigrants arrested for minor offenses, Jennie Pasquarella, staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California, issued the following statement:

by Peter Eliasberg, Legal Director The announcement this week by Sheriff Lee Baca that he agrees with and intends to implement all 63 recommendations laid out in a new report by the Citizen’s Commission on Jail Violence is welcome news. At a press conference Wednesday, Baca said of the recommendations, “I couldn’t have written them better myself,” continuing that by implementing them, “we will be a stronger and safer jail.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California announced the hire of Melissa Goodman as a senior staff attorney, whose advocacy will focus primarily on LGBT rights, as well as reproductive rights and gender equality.

In response to a statement by Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca that he accepts and will make reforms based on last week’s report released by the Citizen’s Commission on Jails Violence, Peter Eliasberg, legal director of the ACLU of Southern California, issued the following statement: