WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Supreme Court today agreed to hear a challenge to a congressional law allowing an eight-foot-tall Latin cross to remain in the Mojave National Preserve by transferring ownership of an acre of land within the preserve to the local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which is now defunct. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California that this transfer of federal land did not eliminate the government's endorsement of religion, and thus did not solve the Establishment Clause violation that the lower courts had already found. The government appealed that decision.

The following should be attributed to Peter Eliasberg, managing attorney with the ACLU of Southern California:

'We are disappointed that the Supreme Court agreed to review this case, but not surprised given that it challenges a congressional statute. The appeals court rightly found that the statute did not solve the Establishment Clause problem created by a large cross in the midst of a National Preserve; in fact, it compounded the problem by continuing to favor this one religious symbol that had already been granted unique access to federal property. We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will affirm the appeals court's decision and send a clear message that the federal government must not endorse one religion over another.'

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California called today for an independent investigation into the Pasadena Police Department's fatal shooting of Leroy Barnes Jr. during a Feb. 19 traffic stop.

The fatal shooting of the Pasadena resident -- and the shifting accounts provided by police following the incident -- raises troubling questions about whether the officers involved in the incident purposely provided false information.

Police initially reported that Barnes exited the vehicle and fired at officers, but those accounts were later conflicted by Pasadena Police Chief Bernard Melekian, who stated Barnes never left the vehicle and was actually in the back seat of the car when he was shot by at least one officer. Melekian also stated that Barnes did not shoot at officers, though he was armed and assaulted an officer.

The ACLU/SC is also concerned about disturbing reports from witnesses who allege that officers continued to shoot Barnes after he fell still on the street. News accounts of the incident further state that police fired their weapons into the air as crowds gathered around the scene of the shooting.

'The Pasadena Police Department has issued conflicting and, at best, incomplete information about the circumstances of this tragic shooting. This will raise doubts and questions in the minds of many people, and it should,' said Ramona Ripston, ACLU/SC executive director. 'Because of that, the department should stand aside and allow an independent investigation to take place that can focus on getting out the truth about this incident.'

Added Peter Bibring, ACLU/SC staff attorney: 'It's troubling that the Pasadena Police Department is changing its story; that raises questions as to why they gave out erroneous information to begin with, and whether officers initially lied about what happened. The residents of Pasadena must be given a clear account of what led to the shooting, and why the police initially made incorrect reports that the victim fired on them.'

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Finding that federal agents illegally detained and arrested dozens of people during a work site raid in Van Nuys last year, an immigration judge terminated orders to deport Gregorio Perez Cruz in a ruling this week. The ruling is likely to influence the outcome of dozens of the remaining cases arising out of the same raid.

In a 19-page ruling, Los Angeles Immigration Judge A. Ashley Tabaddor found that on Feb. 7, 2008, armed immigration agents blocked exits at Micro Solutions Enterprise and forcefully ordered dozens of workers to stop working. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents then illegally detained and questioned Perez Cruz and dozens of others without reasonable suspicion that the workers were in the country unlawfully. ICE agents also denied food and water to Perez Cruz, along with dozens of other workers, for over 18 hours prior to interrogating him. He was never advised of his right to an attorney or told that his statements could be used against him.

The judge also found it critical that ICE agents indiscriminately arrested everyone at the factory, including dozens of citizens.

'We are pleased that the judge recognized the coercive and illegal tactics immigration officials used in carrying out this work site raid,' said Ahilan Arulanantham, director of immigrants' rights and national security for the ACLU/SC. 'The decision sends a strong message to immigration officials that they must not violate their own policy governing the rights of detainees, and that they cannot use intimidation and other illegal tactics when conducting enforcement operations.'

More than 150 workers, including pregnant women, were detained on suspicion of immigration violations during the raid of Micro Solutions Enterprise, a toner and ink manufacturing company. The agents had no arrest warrants for most of the workers and never individually established suspicion that those arrested were immigration violators. ICE agents subsequently barred attorneys from accompanying those detained during interviews in the days following the raid.

A coalition of groups -- including the National Lawyers Guild, National Immigration Law Center and the ACLU/SC -- immediately filed a lawsuit against ICE for repeatedly preventing attorneys from accompanying their clients at interviews with federal agents. That case was settled last March with an agreement that ICE would permit attorneys to accompany their clients.

'The U.S. government spent endless hours and an untold amount of taxpayer dollars to arrest hard-working people, almost all who had no criminal history. And in Gregorio's case, they accomplished nothing. The Van Nuys work site raid is one more example of how a zealous focus on deportation-only measures can run amok,' said Xiomara Corpe�o, director of community organizing at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.

Represented by the ACLU/SC and the Law Offices of Noemi Ramirez, Perez Cruz was the first of the dozens of those arrested to challenge ICE's arrest before an immigration judge. Tabaddor's ruling will provide an influential finding for other immigration judges dealing with cases from this raid, Arulanantham noted.

The workers detained at the raid have been assisted by a large coalition of private attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild, the American Immigration Lawyers' Association and several immigrants' rights organizations, including the Coalition for Humane Immigrants' Rights of Los Angeles, the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, the National Immigration Law Center, and the Central American Resource Center.

'This was an incredible moment in my life. I was afraid I would be torn away from my young son and family and they would lose my support,' Perez Cruz said. 'I am so thankful that I can continue to provide for them.'