LOS ANGELES - The three California ACLU affiliates are filing Public Records Act requests today seeking information about the state Office of Homeland Security's (OHS) reported tracking of First Amendment activity.

On July 1, the Los Angeles Times reported several incidents involving OHS's spying on political protest throughout the state. The PRA requests were filed with the offices of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Attorney General Bill Locker on behalf of 100,000 members of the ACLU.

"We are concerned about the government spying on people throughout the state who have done nothing more than go to a rally," said Ramona Ripston, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California. 'We hope the Governor and the Attorney General will be accountable for their actions and fully cooperate with this request.'

The Los Angeles Times reported that an anti-war protest in Walnut Creek attended by U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), an animal rights rally in San Francisco and a Women's International League for Peace and Freedom anti-war rally in Santa Barbara were monitored by the Governor's Office of Homeland Security, according to documents obtained by the Times.

In the PRA request the ACLU thanks Bill Lockyer's "public statements supporting the right of the people to exercise their First Amendment rights without fear of government surveillance" but expresses concern about the possible lack of action taken by the AG's office in response to issues raised internally regarding the actions and authority of OHS. The PRA cites internal Justice Department documents as well as a whistleblower complaint lodged by Ed Manavian, former Bureau Chief of the Criminal Intelligence Division.

"The tracking of political protests by Homeland Security is invasive and inconsistent with the state constitutional right to privacy" said Mark Schlosberg, Police Practices Policy Director of the ACLU of Northern California."To get to the bottom of this, we are seeking all documents related to regulations, oversight, and actions taken by both offices with regard to the OHS. The right of Californians to voice their views on issues of public concern without fear of government monitoring must be vigorously protected."

The California Public Records Act requires a response within 10 working days of receipt of a request.

LOS ANGELES - A federal judge ruled today that a Palestinian man who came to the United States more than two decades ago seeking a better future should become a U.S. citizen.

The historic case, Barakat v. Arellano, was argued by David Cole for the Center for Constitutional Rights, Ahilan Arulanantham of the ACLU of Southern California, and Carol Sobel and Marc Van Der Hout for the National Lawyer's Guild.

Aiad Barakat, 45, was granted citizenship today after a federal trial in front of Judge Stephen Wilson that concluded today. Barakat is one of the 'L.A. 8,' a group of eight people who were targeted by the government nearly 20 years ago for engaging in political speech and supporting Palestinian right. None of the "Eight" was ever charged with a crime, and a federal court determined that their activity was protected by the First Amendment. But Barakat's application for citizenship was denied based on the same allegations that the government had failed to prove 20 years ago.

Barakat then appealed the government's decision to federal court. Judge Wilson issued his decision Friday.

'I am very pleased. I have waited for this day for almost 20 years,' Barakat said. 'I'm hopeful that the government will quickly issue me a passport so that I can travel back to the Middle East to visit my elderly mother, something I haven't been able to do since to this country.'

Barakat is the first of the 'L.A. 8" to become a citizen.

'This is an historic ruling,' Cole said. 'This case makes clear that the government cannot deny someone citizenship simply based on activity protected by the First Amendment.'

Van Der Hout added: 'We hope the government will not waste even more resources in appealing this important decision. This misguided prosecution has gone on long enough and it's time it ended.'

The government must now issue Barakat citizenship documents.

'We hope the government will take this opportunity to reassess the cases of the other seven people in the L.A. 8 and grant them citizenship as well,' Sobel said.

Barakat lives with his two children in Southern California and works as a contractor.

'Aiad Barakat did nothing more than attend social gatherings and distribute a Palestinian magazine in the mid-1980s, yet the government forced a federal trial to determine whether this father who has lived in L.A. for 20 years, could finally become a citizen and fully participate in our society,' Arulanatham said. 'The answer from the Court today was a big win for Aiad and everyone who supports freedom of speech.'

LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled against whistleblowers, which will silence public employees who have information about governmental misconduct.

"Public employees should be encouraged to report misconduct. This opinion does the opposite and can only cause government employees who are weighing whether or not to expose wrongdoing to decide to remain silent for fear of losing their jobs," said Peter Eliasberg, Manheim Family Attorney for First Amendment Rights at the ACLU of Southern California.

In October, the American Civil Liberties Union submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in the case Garcetti v. Ceballos on behalf of public employees' First Amendment rights to expose corruption on the job. Justices ruled against Ceballos in a 5-4 vote Tuesday.

In his dissent Justice David Souter wrote: 'Open speech by a private citizen on a matter of public importance lies at the heart of expression subject to protection by the First Amendment.'

The decision effectively bars public employees from reporting misconduct to their supervisors or within the chain of command, but does not keep them from reporting such incidents to the media, Eliasberg said.

The case was originally filed in federal court in Los Angeles in March 2000 and centers around an attempt by Richard Ceballos, a Deputy District Attorney in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, to expose police misconduct. While working on a criminal case, Ceballos wrote a memo to his supervisors saying that he believed a deputy sheriff had falsified an affidavit used to obtain a search warrant in the case. His superiors decided to proceed with the prosecution. After Ceballos informed the defense counsel about his findings, he was subpoenaed to testify at a hearing to dismiss the case. The judge denied the motion and Ceballos was removed from the prosecution's team.

Ceballos said his removal from the prosecution for reporting his concerns to his supervisors was the first of many acts of retaliation for his whistleblowing: He was denied a promotion, demoted to the rank of trial deputy and transferred from Pomona to the El Monte branch of the District Attorney's office.

"In an age of excessive government secrecy, the Court has made it easier to engage in a government cover-up by discouraging internal whistleblowing," said Steven Shapiro, ACLU National Legal Director.

Justice Samuel Alito cast the tie-breaking vote after the cased was argued twice, once before Sandra Day O'Connor and again after Alito joined the bench.