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ACLU/SC Sues to Guarantee Inmates’ Right to In-Person Parole Hearings

The ACLU/SC has filed suit on behalf of two federal inmates to force the United States State Parole Commission to comply with federal law. The Parole Act, passed in 1976, guarantees inmates the right to attend their parole hearings in person, but the commission has required inmates to have hearings by video conference. The suit was filed in federal court in the Central District of California.

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Public Education Remains Free for All Children in California

The California ACLU affiliates won a major victory in Los Angeles Superior Court. Judge Carl West denied motions by the State and the State Board of Education, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, and California Department of Education to dismiss Doe v. State of California, which challenges the state’s failure to prevent school districts from charging fees that are prohibited by the California Constitution.

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ACLU Lawsuit Charges LA County Sheriff Baca and Top Department Brass with Condoning Pattern of Savage Deputy-on-Inmate Violence

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Southern California (ACLU/SC) and attorneys from Paul Hastings, LLP filed a federal class action lawsuit charging Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and his top command staff with condoning a long-standing, widespread pattern of violence by deputies against inmates in the Los Angeles County Jails.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two named plaintiffs, Alex Rosas and Jonathan Goodwin, who were savagely beaten and threatened with violence by deputies of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (L.A.S.D.) while they were pretrial detainees in the jail. As detailed in the complaint, the treatment of Rosas and Goodwin is not isolated – there are dozens of reports of similar brutality in the jails. The lawsuit seeks both injunctive and declaratory relief on behalf of all present and future inmates of the jails.

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Do the Rights Thing.

Olivia Wilde recounts decades of cutting-edge civil rights advocacy by the ACLU of Southern California.

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This is the web site of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and the ACLU Foundation of Southern California.
Learn more about the distinction between these two components of the ACLU. Copyright 2007 The ACLU of Southern California.