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Top Stories From the ACLU of Southern California
Seth’s Law Passes Key Legislative Committee
On April 13, 2011, the California Assembly Education Committee passed Seth’s Law in a 7-3 vote. AB 9, also known as Seth’s Law, is a comprehensive bill that addresses school bullying by providing California schools with specific tools to prevent and address the pervasive problem in order to create a safe school environment for all students. The bill is named “Seth’s Law” in memory of Seth Walsh, a 13 year-old gay student from Tehachapi, California, who took his life in September 2010, after facing years of relentless anti-gay harassment at school.
Court Rules In Support Of Greater Due Process Protections For Detainee Held For Four Years By Immigration Authorities
A federal court issued a ruling to ensure greater due process protections for individuals held in detention while they seek judicial review of their deportation orders. The court held that the government could not detain Vijendra Singh, who was held for nearly four years while the courts considered his challenge to his deportation order, without “clear and convincing evidence” that his detention was necessary.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Rules that Lawsuit by Muslim Woman Forced to Remove Religious Headscarf Will Move Forward
LOS ANGELES – An en banc panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today ruled unanimously that a lawsuit by a Muslim woman forced by Orange County Sheriff’s Department officials to remove her headscarf in front of strangers is headed back to court.
“We are immensely pleased with today’s result because this means that Souhair Khatib will finally have her day in court and the County will have to explain why it had no alternative but to force her to violate her deeply held religious beliefs,” said Mark Rosenbaum, Chief Counsel for the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, who argued the case before the en banc panel.
“Seth’s Law” Proposed to Make a Safer School Environment
Today, California Assemblymember Tom Ammiano will introduce a comprehensive bill that tackles school bullying by providing California schools with specific tools to prevent and address the pervasive problem in order to create a safe school environment for all students.
AB 9, also known as “Seth’s Law,” would ensure that every school in California implements updated anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies and programs that include actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, as well as race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, disability, and religion. It would also empower students and parents to know what their rights are, and how to advocate for them.
Bill Introduced In House and Senate To Protect LGBT Students Against Discrimination
WASHINGTON – An important bill was introduced simultaneously in the House and Senate today that would protect students from discrimination, including harassment “based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity” in public elementary and secondary schools. The Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) would help to end entrenched biases towards lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students in our public education system. Today’s bills were introduced by Senator Al Franken (D-MN) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO). The American Civil Liberties Union strongly supports these bills and urges swift action by both chambers.
Fighting Illegal Spying (Again)
On Feb. 23, 2011, we filed a federal class action law suit against the Federal Bureau of Investigations for infiltrating mainstream mosques in Southern California and targeting Muslim Americans for surveillance solely because of their religion.
“The FBI gathered information on hundreds of innocent Americans simply because they worship at a mosque. It’s hard to imagine a more blatant violation of the First Amendment’s guarantees against religious discrimination,” said Peter Bibring, staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California.
Top photo: Ameena Mirza Qazi, deputy executive director and staff attorney, CAIR-LA, with Imam Yassir Fazaga (left), and Hussam Ayloush, executive director, CAIR-LA. They, along with the law firm Hadsell Stormer Keeny Richardson & Renick LLP, are our partners in this effort.
We Demand Accountability For The Latest Savage Beating Of An LA County Jails Inmate
The ACLU of Southern California (ACLU/SC) and the National American Civil Liberties Union today called on the United States Attorney’s Office to launch an independent criminal investigation into last month’s brutal beating by two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) deputies of an inmate at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, part of the Los Angeles County Jail system.
The savage attack Jan. 24 on James Parker, detained on a non-violent marijuana charge, was witnessed by ACLU/SC’s Jails Project Coordinator Esther Lim, who is assigned to monitor all county jails, and another inmate. Both observed the two deputies beating and repeatedly tasering Parker for about two minutes while he was lying on the ground limp, motionless and not resisting the deputies in any way.
“It is crucial that the federal government launch an independent investigation immediately,” said Peter Eliasberg, ACLU/SC managing attorney. “A criminal investigation from an impartial outside agency will not only help the inmates but will also help all those deputies who work hard to do their job properly and who should not be painted with the same brush as those who may have violated the law by beating a non-resisting inmate.”
Fighting on Behalf of Homeless Veterans
On Feb. 15, the ACLU of Southern California continued its efforts on behalf of homeless veterans with a letter to Secretary Eric Shinseki, head of the Department of Veterans Affairs Department, the United States Department of Justice, and Kamala Harris, the new California Attorney General, calling for an investigation into the use of VA land located in West Los Angeles.
The property is supposed to be used for housing of homeless veterans, who are in desperate need. Instead, the VA has allowed portions of those lands to be leased to a private school for use as tennis courts and other portions of VA property to be leased for use as theaters.
Special Reception Honoring Ramona Ripston
Please join us for Passing the Torch: Celebrating the Life and Work of Ramona Ripston from 2-4:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 20, 2011, as we are joined by celebrities and civic leaders to thank our outgoing executive director and welcome Hector Villagra, our new executive director.
Eyewitness to Brutal Jail Beating
On. Jan. 24, an ACLU of Southern California employee witnessed a violent attack on James Parker, a detainee at the Twin Towers Correctional facility being held on a non-violent marijuana charge, by two Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies.
“We believe Mr. Parker’s beating is not an isolated incident,” said Hector Villagra, incoming executive director of the ACLU/SC. “Rather, it highlights the rampant violence that continues to plague the county’s jails, and demands court intervention to protect detainees from brutal attacks and retaliation. That the ACLU/SC monitor witnessed a brutal attack in plain sight is alarming and can only lead us to conclude detainees are subject to even greater cruelty when no one is watching.”
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Criminal Justice
Sentencing Reform: Balance Our Priorities
Disability Rights
Veterans’ Attorneys Respond to VA Master Plan
Educational Equality
Revised LAPD Protocol to Reduce Curfew Tickets
Freedom of Speech
VA Violated Free Speech Rights of Veteran
Immigrant Rights
ACLU/SC Sues ICE Over Failure to Grant Fee Waiver for FOIA Request
Jails Project
LGBT Equality
Seth Walsh Student Rights Project Home
Privacy Rights
Court Affirms Right to Privacy for HIV-Positive Adult Film Performer
Religious Liberty
FBI Targets American Muslims Solely for Practicing Religion
