While congress fiddles with FISA, the California Assembly has the opportunity to add another layer of consumer protection to our phone records. Will they or won't they? Will the telecom lobbyists make sure Sacramento does their bidding, or can we pressure our members to do the right thing?
The board of directors of the ACLU of Southern California has passed a resolution calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for their abuses of basic civil liberties.
Today the ACLU of Southern California sent a letter to the Los Angeles Police Department's deputy chief commanding officer of LAPD's Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau, Michael P. Downing, to express its grave concerns about efforts by the LAPD to map Muslim communities in the Los Angeles area as part of its counter-terrorism program.
Join the ACLU of Southern California as it hosts former Nixon White House counsel and bestselling author John Dean for a lively and interesting conference call tomorrow, October 4 from 4-5pm PST (7-8pm EST).
It's not enough to shout at your computer or throw things at the television. Join the ACLU-SC for a live strategy session tomorrow with Dr. Drew Westen and then help us fight for our Constitutional liberties.
Health care reform may have stalled in California, but Governor Schwarzenegger still has a chance to make the state a leader in fixing a national problem: wrongful convictions. Three major criminal justice reform bills are now on the Governor's desk. The measures are designed to safeguard against wrongful convictions by making practical changes to eyewitness identification procedures, reforming the process by which confessions are attained, and regulating the use of jailhouse snitch testimony.
With more than 200 exonerations to date in California it is critical that measures are enacted before more mistakes are made. The governor has the ability to not only protect the innocent but enhance public safety and the integrity of California's law enforcement by signing these important bills into law, and setting a standard for the nation.
Today is Constitution Day. Calitics and the ACLU Southern California are partnering on a Campaign for Our Constitution. Today we'll hear from Glenn Greenwald and Cenk Ugyur of the radio program "The Young Turks" talking about the need to restore our Constitutional freedoms in the age of Bush. The details are here. You need to sign up for the call at OurConstitution.net.
Yesterday I managed to get myself to services for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The familiar rituals and rites of Judaism can be comforting but often lapse into rote recitation. But yesterday, the rabbi's sermon woke me up and put a new spin on the moral code that underpins all humanity, which is at the heart of not only Jewish teaching, but the foundational premises of our country, principles we are rapidly losing over the course of the Bush Presidency.
The rabbi talked about a little-remarked-upon section of the Old Testament. Leviticus is filled with a laundry list of commandments and guidelines for life in Biblical times. One section focuses on "just weights and measures."
35 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. 36 Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.
That's the phrase the LA Times uses to describe what happened to Pedro Guzman, a 29-year old developmentally disabled construction worker from Lancaster, CA (and American citizen) who was taken from his L.A. County jail cell on May 11 and dumped in Tijuana by the L.A. County Sheriff's Department. According to a lawsuit brought by the ACLU this week:
the Sheriff's Department identified him as a non-citizen, obtained his signature for voluntary removal from the United States and turned him over to federal authorities for deportation.
To this day his family doesn't know where he is or if he is even still alive.
We'll try to keep it national tonight, so feel free to chat debate or whatever else may strike your fancy (like, for example, the etymology of that saying).
It's been all over, but not here. Our thoughts and best wishes in a time of bereavement for the family, friends and colleagues of Senator Craig Thomas.
Virginia Tech will reopen Norris Hall, but it will not host classes. The healing process is long, but the best tribute is a well-lived life.
In Arizona, the Biosphere 2 has been sold to a home developer. The land will eventually hold 1,500 homes, but for now you can still tour the facility. Ahhh Biosphere 2. At least we'll always have Pauly Shore. (Btw, did you know Kylie Minogue, Rose McGowan and Jack Black were ALL in that movie? Liar.)
The ACLU, in response to a grotesquely botched execution, has filed suit in Ohio which, among other things, has sparked a debate over whether executioners should be anonymous.
And I hear there's a debate tonight. For so many symbolic reasons do I select this song and video. The Go! Team - Junior Kickstart
Today is May 1st, otherwise known as May Day, known both for the Pagan spring festival involving flowery doorbell ditching and dancing merrily around ribboned maypoles, and the International Labor Day that was spawned by America's own Haymarket Riot which began as a strike in support of the right to an 8 hour workday (and which was subsequently crushed by Chicago police) on May 1, 1886.
Last year, the widespread Immigrant Rights marches and boycotts on May 1st added another layer to this holiday palimpsest, and they're going for a repeat this year. The agenda of the marchers is based around ten points:
1) No to anti-immigrant legislation, and the criminalization of the immigrant communities.
2) No to militarization of the border.
3) No to the immigrant detention and deportation.
4) No to the guest worker program.
5) No to employer sanction and "no match" letters.
6) Yes to a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
7) Yes to speedy family reunification.
8) Yes to civil rights and humane immigration law.
9) Yes to labor rights and living wages for all workers.
10) Yes to the education and LGBT immigrant legislation.
