LOS ANGELES - The California affiliates of the ACLU filed a class action lawsuit today stating that Proposition 69 is unconstitutional. The case challenges those portions of the law that require DNA testing of people who are arrested for a felony and never charged or later found innocent, and people who have been convicted of a felony but have already served their debt to society and are no longer under any supervision by the criminal justice system.

Because of Proposition 69, people who are arrested for felonies will be subjected to DNA testing under the law, even if they are found innocent of the crime. This includes victims of identity theft; political protestors; lawful medical marijuana users; victims of domestic violence, who are arrested for violence committed in self-defense and who either have the charges against them dropped or are subsequently acquitted; and people who were arrested for felony drug offenses and who upon successful completion of treatment programs, have had their convictions expunged under Proposition 36 or other state laws. Proposition 69 also mandates the sharing of DNA samples with law enforcement and private laboratories nationwide and globally.

"DNA reveals highly personal medical information like if a person is HIV-positive or predisposed to Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis or even certain forms of cancer," said ACLU Staff Attorney Ricardo Garcia. "It contains a wealth of intimate information, much more than a fingerprint."

"Collecting DNA through Prop. 69 is a direct violation of a person's Fourth Amendment and due process and privacy rights," added Garcia. "Californians should be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. It's our constitutional right to privacy of our personal medical and genetic information."

Reuben Rivas, a former legal observer for the 2000 Democratic National Convention, joined the lawsuit after being swept up while observing a protest and arrested for a felony that a judge determined there was no evidence to sustain. Under the law, Rivas will be required to be tested for his DNA.

"I was treated like a criminal and arrested for a crime that I didn't commit. And now under the passage of Proposition 69, I will be subject to have my civil rights violated again by having to submit my DNA to law enforcement, even though I was never convicted of any crime."

Proposition 69 was passed by California voters on Nov. 2, 2004 and is known as the California DNA Fingerprint, Unsolved Crime and Innocence Protection Act. Before passage of Prop. 69, California law provided for mandatory DNA testing only of individuals who had been convicted of serious and violent felony offenses and the inclusion of their DNA in a statewide database.

The suit, filed jointly with Covington & Burling in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, seeks a permanent injunction against DNA extraction and retention from Californians arrested but not convicted and those who have completed probation and parole.

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union told the Housing Authority of Santa Monica today to stop stalling and allow a gay man to live with his partner of 10 years.

"California and Santa Monica law make it very clear that you can't discriminate against gay people in housing," said Christine P. Sun, a staff attorney for the ACLU's Lesbian & Gay Rights Project. "Yet the Santa Monica Housing Authority keeps stalling and creating road blocks to keep this couple apart. It's time for the excuses to stop."

Gene Boccia and Brett Crowley recently celebrated 10 years together. Because both are disabled and forced to rely on public assistance, the couple has always been in fear of violating rules that would jeopardize their assistance. Boccia, disabled since a 1974 hate crime in which he was shot in the face, has been living in the same public housing complex since 1999. Crowley, a disabled veteran, rents a room from a friend with funds he receives from SSI. Though living apart has been a hardship, Crowley has always been supportive of Boccia, going with him to medical appointments, helping him with his grocery shopping, doing his laundry and cleaning his apartment.

Boccia recently learned from an unmarried, cohabitating heterosexual couple that he could apply to the Housing Authority to have Crowley share his apartment with him. Almost immediately, the couple submitted the necessary paperwork. The Housing Authority refused to act on the request, claiming instead that Boccia is in violation of his lease because Crowley was an "unauthorized tenant" in the apartment. The couple has repeatedly submitted paperwork, including a record from the Department of Motor Vehicles and a letter from Crowley's roommate, proving that Crowley lives elsewhere. (In the letter sent today, the ACLU provided a letter sent to Crowley at his home address from National Republican Senatorial Committee as additional proof of his separate residence.)

"The Housing Authority keeps making us jump through all these hoops and provide all this paperwork, but our straight friends' request to live together was approved almost immediately," said Boccia. "I'm about to undergo surgery and really need Brett to be able to look after me."

The ACLU first wrote to the Housing Authority on October 13, 2004 urging it to stop stalling on Boccia's application. The Housing Authority responded to that letter by again claiming that Boccia must first clear up the matter of Crowley living as an unauthorized tenant.

"Claiming that Boccia has violated his lease because Crowley was living in his apartment is nothing more than a smokescreen for discrimination," said Catherine Lhamon, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California. "They've provided ample proof that Crowley had his own apartment. Besides, the point is irrelevant since he is legally entitled to live there anyway."

Noting that both state and city law prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, today's ACLU letter demands that the Housing Authority immediately approve the couple's request to live together. The letter also highlights the extreme hardship caused by the Housing Authority's handling of the matter. Crowley is forced to spend hours on the bus so that he can take Boccia to his doctors' appointments. Boccia, who at 62 now faces multiple medical problems, is forced to live alone without Crowley by his side should he need emergency treatment.

The couple's struggle illustrates the difficulties same-sex couples on limited incomes face in trying to protect their relationships, the ACLU said. Because the couple has not been allowed to live together, they are prevented from registering as domestic partners with the City of Santa Monica. However, marriage in California, which carries greater protections than domestic partnership, does not require couples to live together.