LOS ANGELES - Attorney Deborah H. Karpatkin and the ACLU of Southern California today filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of a 26-year-old Army specialist being kept in the Army against his Buddhist-Taoist beliefs. The suit seeks to have the man, who enlisted only after being promised that military duties would not conflict with his religious beliefs, discharged as a conscientious objector.

Calvin Lee, currently assigned to the 58th Combat Engineer Company based at Ft. Irwin, joined the Army in 2004 after a zealous recruiter approached him at a civilian job fair in South San Francisco. Though he had learned English from brief stays in America and in school in Southeast Asia, he was unfamiliar with the tactics of military recruiters. When the recruiter told him his job would be repairing trucks and that he would never have to leave Fort Irwin or go to war, against his deeply held Buddhist-Taoist beliefs, Lee believed him and signed the three year contract.

Once training began, Lee realized he was being trained to kill along with his training as a mechanic. Even the trucks he repaired were helping to kill. He became uneasy but continued to work, turning down promotions in rank and salary as he felt his faith required.

By Nov. 2006, his personal turmoil was so great he applied to a temple in Southeast Asia to live as a monk at the end of his Army service in Sept. 2007. But to his dismay, in Dec. 2006 he was told that his term of service in the Army was being extended as part of the 'stop loss' policy and his unit would be deployed to Iraq in the summer of 2007. Lee applied for conscientious objector status.

'Every action of killing is so evil and wrong, I don't want to do any evil things and see any suffering happening right in front of my eyes,' Lee said. 'Killing brings negative karma and is prohibited in Buddhism and judged in Taoism.'

Though the officers, the chaplain and a mental health specialist who interviewed Lee as part of the Army's evaluation process all recommended that he be released as a conscientious objector, the Department of the Army rejected his application without explanation.

Federal law and Army regulations require discharge from military service of individuals who, after their service begins, show that they have become conscientiously opposed to war in any form, that their opposition is founded on religious training and belief, and that their position is sincere and deeply held.

'Calvin Lee's conscientious objector beliefs are based on his Buddhist Taoist beliefs, which are sincere and deeply held. His views about his participation in war developed as his experience in the Army developed,' said attorney Deborah Karpatkin of New York.

'Based on the record, the Army has no basis in fact and no good reason to refuse Calvin's application. As Calvin wrote in his CO application, he learned in the Army that America is about seeking religious freedom. That must include young men like Calvin, who because of conscience or religious belief no longer can participate in war in any form.'

Because the Army, wrongly, did not recognize him as a sincere conscientious objector, the ACLU is appealing that decision. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California.

LOS ANGELES - Many California middle- and high-school students drop out of school or fail to meet their career or college goals because they missed out on required courses or career-technical classes while in school. A bill signed into law Sunday will provide a missing ingredient in career and college success: one-on-one attention from a qualified counselor.

SB 405 reforms middle- and high-school counseling programs to ensure that students receive individualized review of their career goals, and are informed not only about high school graduation requirements, but also of college eligibility requirements and career technical opportunities in their schools. The law requires that:

' Middle and high school counselors meet individually with students and - if practicable - their parents or guardians to discuss with them eligibility requirements for four-year universities and the availability of career technical education in high school,

' students and parents be informed about the availability of financial aid for college and about the course eligibility prerequisites for four-year universities,

' middle and high schools distribute to parents lists of coursework required for admission eligibility at four-year universities.

The bill was authored by state Sen. Darrell Steinberg and sponsored by the ACLU of Southern California.

'Many of these students have no idea they are a few classes away from being college-eligible, or from starting a great career,' said ACLU/SC Racial Justice Director Catherine Lhamon. 'Getting good advice at the right time can be the difference between dropping out and going to college or beginning on a solid career path.'

These changes to the Middle and High School Supplemental Counseling Program address the state's dropout crisis by providing meaningful support to students in identifying and reaching their goals. Fewer than 70% of ninth-graders statewide graduate from high school, and in some districts the percentage is much lower. Along with SB 219, another Steinberg-authored bill that establishes tough accountability standards for schools to reduce their dropout rates, the new program will combat the conditions that lead students to lose hope and leave school early.

It will also increase access to college opportunity by ensuring students satisfy University of California and California State University admission standards. California sent a smaller percentage (23%) of students to four-year colleges in 2004 than any state other than Mississippi.

'In signing SB 405, Governor Schwarzenegger makes good on his commitment to California youth to provide a more level playing field and to support each public school student,' said Lhamon.

A breakthrough agreement between the ACLU/SC and top L.A. leaders will create 1,250 new permanent low-income housing units for the city. ACLU/SC Executive Director Ramona Ripston said it offers "real hope" for an end to homelessness in L.A.

The new housing comes as part of the final settlement of Jones vs. City of L.A., a case brought by the ACLU/SC and the law firm of Carol Sobel to stop police from arresting homeless in L.A.'s Skid Row for sitting or sleeping on the streets when they had nowhere else to go. The 9th Circuit Court ruled in our favor in April 2006, stating that "involuntary sitting, lying, or sleeping on public sidewalks ... is an unavoidable consequence of being human and homeless without shelter in the City of Los Angeles."

L.A.'s law barring people from sitting or sleeping on the streets 24 hours a day is the nation's harshest, and the city agreed not to enforce it at night until the new housing is built, which will take several years.

In addition to the ACLU/SC and Sobel, the settlement was signed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and representatives of the City Council, City Attorney, and L.A. Police Department. "This is a good first step in what should be a major effort by our city to provide affordable housing for all its residents," said Ripston.