LOS ANGELES - Like Nightline anchor Ted Koppel's choice to honor soldiers who died while fighting the war in Iraq by reading hundreds of names, two Santa Barbara brothers chose to read soldiers' names on Veteran's Day last year in the city's shopping district.

Like Koppel, the brothers came under fire for their actions.

While peacefully reading the names last November, police approached Michael and George Tocher and arrested Michael. The ACLU of Southern California filed a claim today with the City of Santa Barbara seeking damages for Michael for the violation of his First Amendment rights.

The brothers had read about 400 of the 1,200 names of soldiers who died when police arrived in response to a citizen complaint. They then wrongly accused Michael of disturbing the peace, yelled at him, demanded identification and promptly arrested him. George was not cited.

"The right of free expression is one of our most fundamental rights," said Ricardo Garcia, criminal justice director for the ACLU of Southern California. "Neither Michael nor George were doing anything that is not protected by the First Amendment. Free speech does not stop at the city limits."

The claim was received by the city Friday morning and if the claim is denied, the ACLU of Southern California will file a complaint with federal district court in the central district of California for violations of Michael's First and Fourth Amendment rights.

"My brother and I felt like we had to do something to remember the hundreds of soldiers who died in Iraq," said George Tocher, a social worker in Los Angeles. "We felt it was a very reasonable and non-offensive way of protesting the war. We didn't want to do anything negative, but rather bring awareness on Veteran's Day."

The Tochers, two of five brothers, are Santa Barbara natives. Michael lives in Nipomo and George in Los Angeles.

"If we were to do it all again, I would do it without hesitation," said Michael Tocher, electrical engineer and father of two. "It is our duty as people in this great country to speak out, be heard and engage the freedoms that we claim as our own. It is so important that everyone have a chance to speak out without fear of retribution."

LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Senate is expected this week to affirm the anti-privacy, anti-asylum, anti-property rights bill known as Real ID attached to an appropriations measure to fund the war in Iraq and tsunami relief. The ACLU of Southern California soundly opposes Real ID.

The House of Representatives approved the controversial measure last week. By all accounts its passage in the Senate is imminent and the Real ID Act will likely be enacted without being scrutinized in any hearings or debate.

"It is a terribly disappointing measure and a blow to all of our rights," said Ramona Ripston, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California. "This sweeping legislation rolls back asylum laws, attacks immigrants and sets the stage for a national ID. Congress is remiss in its duty to slip such major changes to immigration laws into a funding bill for the military without debate or discussion."

Real ID denies the persecuted safe haven and places undue burdens on permanent residents and citizens alike. Because the House sent the Real ID Act to the Senate as part of a "must pass" appropriations measure for the war in Iraq and tsunami relief, Congress failed to carefully consider and review its provisions.

The act violates the spirit of international law by allowing government officials to demand asylum seekers to obtain written "corroboration" from the very governments or militant groups who persecuted them.

"The Real ID Act will unnecessarily harm immigrants," said Ranjana Natarajan, staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California. "Refugees will be sent home to face persecution and torture because of this law. In some cases the act would even eliminate the right of people facing deportation to have the court review their case."

Real ID will also standardize the information collected by all 50 states for driver's licenses and requires states to link their databases together for the mutual sharing of data from IDs. This will create a single national database, which has its own inherent security risks, and transforms licenses into national identity documents. The unfunded legislation will also make roads less safe by barring undocumented immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses, something 11 states have allowed in the name of public safety.

"Despite deep public opposition over the years to a national identity card, and Congress's unwillingness to even consider the idea directly, our security agencies have now gotten what they want as proponents have succeeded in pushing through Congress a thinly disguised national ID," Ripston said.

Because religious freedom is one of the most basic principles protected by our Constitution religion flourishes here in America.

In fact, more than 85 percent of Americans identify with a religion (according to a 2002 Pew Research Council Poll), and more than half of Americans of an extraordinarily wide range of faiths regularly attend services. America is home to more than 1,300 religions and more than 360,000 churches, synagogues and mosques.

The ACLU has defended the right of evangelical preachers to pass out literature on the Strip in Las Vegas and to preach on Washington state sidewalks. We have defended a Nebraskan church facing eviction by the city of Lincoln. We have defended the right of those who want to perform baptisms in a public park. We have defended the right to include religious yearbook messages on behalf of a Christian high school valedictorian. We have defended the rights of students to distribute candy canes with religious messages.

We have defended religious freedom innumerable times, but when a city or a county puts a religious emblem on its seal, it is violating this country's principles of religious freedom. And, it sends a disquieting message that the government favors one religion.

The founders of this country knew what they were doing. They knew that religion would thrive if they made sure government wasn't allowed to interfere by establishing or promoting one single state religion especially since this country has been a haven for many who have come here to escape governments with one state-sponsored religion.

Many groups and individuals fight daily to protect these important civil rights and civil liberties issues. The American Legion's call to change the Civil Rights Attorney Fees Act, 42 U.S.C. Section 1988 is a retaliatory measure based on misinformation aimed at hobbling a number of non-profit organizations, including the ACLU, that protect all people's civil rights and civil liberties. Attorney fees go to the prevailing party and without funding, the rights of all Americans would be severely curtailed.

We encourage and stand up for freedom of expression including healthy debate, but the Constitution is clear. It protects individuals from any and all attempts by the majority to curtail the liberties and rights of individuals. The ACLU exists to defend and secure those rights.