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American Civil Liberties Union
VA unveils settlement to provide veterans housing on West L.A. campus
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced a legal settlement Wednesday that will transform its sprawling West Los Angeles campus into a center of permanent housing for homeless veterans and curtail the controversial practice of leasing VA facilities to corporations and other non-government entities. Under the agreement, the VA will appoint by October a national homelessness expert to develop a master plan for how best to use the 387-acre property. Options could include renovating existing VA buildings and constructing new facilities for transitional housing and permanent housing with drug treatment, mental health counseling and other supportive services. The VA and its legal...
Related "American Civil Liberties Union" Articles
VA unveils settlement to provide veterans housing on West L.A. campus
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced a legal settlement Wednesday that will transform its sprawling West Los Angeles campus into a center of permanent housing for homeless veterans and curtail the controversial practice of leasing VA...
Finally, housing for homeless vets at the West L.A. VA facility
The Veterans Administration's agreement, announced Wednesday, to house more homeless vets at its West Los Angeles facility is a stunning turnabout and a huge win for veterans' advocates, who have been trying for years to persuade the agency to provide...
Prop. 47 brings a shift to longer time spent behind bars
For decades, Los Angeles County jail inmates divided their sentences by five, 10 or 20 to calculate the time they would actually spend behind bars.
Because of overcrowding, they left after completing as little as 5% of their sentences.
Now, as...
U.S. settles suit over misuse of West L.A. veterans campus
The federal government has agreed to settle a lawsuit accusing the Department of Veterans Affairs of misusing its sprawling West Los Angeles health campus while veterans with brain injuries and mental impairment slept in the streets, people familiar...
Sorting out U.S. visas for crime victims
As a society, we want people to report crimes and help bring criminals to justice. Without the cooperation of victims, the criminal justice system doesn't work very well. One particular problem for police and prosecutors is that people living in the...
Obama's renewed push to close Guantanamo prison is seen as promising
President Obama has recharged his campaign for closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center with a strategy legal experts say holds out new hope of achieving that signature objective of his presidency.
After years of being thwarted by Congress from...
Al Bendich, lawyer who defended Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl,' dies at 85
In a San Francisco courthouse in 1957, a poem went on trial. It was Allen Ginsberg's "Howl," the incantatory, profanity-laced paean to self-expression that became the centerpiece of one of the most important obscenity cases of the last century....
Two years in prison is plenty for Bob McDonnell
Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday, a sentence much more lenient than the 10-plus years prosecutors had requested and a fraction of the 78- to 98-month sentence suggested by federal guidelines.
The sentence...
Women to participate for first time in Army Ranger course
About 60 women will be allowed to take the next Army Ranger course assessment, giving female soldiers their first opportunity in the all-male area of special operations forces — even though they will not become members of the regiment and will not serve...
Judge says Michigan must recognize 300 same-sex marriages
A federal judge ruled Thursday that Michigan must validate nearly 300 same-sex marriages, although the decision will not take effect until next month and could be appealed by the state.
U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith ruled that the state must...
Border drones are ineffective, badly managed, too expensive, official says
Drones patrolling the U.S. border are poorly managed and ineffective at stopping illegal immigration, and the government should abandon a $400-million plan to expand their use, according to an internal watchdog report released Tuesday.
The 8-year-old...
Supreme Court faced gay rights decision in 1958 over 'obscene' magazine
The road to gay rights at the U.S. Supreme Court began not in San Francisco or New York, but in a small downtown Los Angeles office, where volunteer writers and editors in 1953 launched a new "magazine for homosexuals."
ONE, as it was called,...
Federal judge orders veterans agency to stop Westside construction
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to stop building on its West Los Angeles campus, ruling that officials had acted "in excess of their authority" by authorizing construction of an amphitheater on the...
North Carolina abortion law struck down by federal appeals court
A federal appeals court Monday ruled that a North Carolina abortion law requiring doctors to perform ultrasounds and describe sonogram images to women is unconstitutional because it violates free speech rights.
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in...
Court halts amphitheater construction on West L.A. veterans campus
A federal appeals court on Monday ordered the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to halt construction of an amphitheater on its West Los Angeles campus.
A two-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the veterans agency should maintain...
Court-appointed panel to monitor use of force in L.A. County jails
A court-appointed panel will now be asked to monitor the use of force by sheriff's deputies in Los Angeles County jails, part of a far-reaching settlement to a lawsuit alleging brutal beatings of inmates.
Approved Tuesday by county supervisors, the...
L.A. will buy 7,000 body cameras for police officers
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Tuesday that the city would purchase 7,000 body cameras for police officers in an effort to increase transparency.
Body cameras for officers have become a major issue in the wake of the shooting of unarmed black...
Have a full and open debate on rules for LAPD body cameras
The Los Angeles Police Department has committed to outfitting all officers on patrol with body cameras starting next year. The effort was launched last year by Police Commission President Steve Soboroff, but it gained momentum after deadly encounters...
Arizona 'Dreamers' happy but wary of Supreme Court ruling on licenses
For now, Carla Chavarria plans to keep taking the bus. And Julio Zuniga will remain cautious every time he drives past a police car.
Although the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Arizona must offer driver’s licenses to young immigrants who entered...
Ferguson-area school district strips power from black voters, ACLU says
The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit against a school district that serves Ferguson, Mo., alleging that the district disenfranchises black voters.
The lawsuit, filed in conjunction with the Missouri NAACP, comes after...
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