LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California today applauded the Supreme Court's decisions upholding the principle that public universities may continue to use affirmative action to ensure a diverse student body. In two landmark rulings, the Supreme Court upheld the race-conscious admissions policies of the University of Michigan's law school while rejecting as unconstitutional the undergraduate school's 'point system.'

'The Court's decision today makes clear that there is still a strong need for race to be considered as one of many factors in higher education admissions,' said Ramona Ripston, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California. 'This is a victory for higher education and for those who believe that our country will enjoy a brighter future when we increase our understanding of one another rather than reinstate some of the barriers that have kept us apart for so many generations.'

'Here in California, over a million public school students attend overcrowded schools that lack adequate bathroom facilities, textbooks and qualified teachers,' continued Ripston. 'To tell these children that the playing field has been leveled and that there is no longer a need to consider race as a factor would be dishonest to say the least.'

The ACLU and its Michigan affiliate were co-counsel on behalf of a group of minority students in the challenge to the University's undergraduate admissions affirmative action policy, Gratz v. Bollinger, 02-51, and joined a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the University's law school admissions policy in Grutter v. Bollinger, 02-241.0

Hundreds of groups and individuals filed briefs with the Supreme Court in support of the University of Michigan's admissions policies and race-conscious affirmative action programs. Notables include former military leaders General Norman Schwarzkopf and General John M. Shalikashvili; business executives from General Motors, 3M, Pfizer and Northrop Grumman; and West Point military academy.

LOS ANGELES - A Novato parent's group and a Los Angeles-based children's theater company filed a motion today in federal court to intervene as defendants in the case Citizens for Parental Rights v. Novato Unified School District. The ACLU of Southern California, ACLU of Northern California, and National Center for Lesbian Rights and the National ACLU Lesbian & Gay Rights Project are representing a local coalition of parents, students and organizations concerned with equality, United for Safe Schools Novato; and the educational theater company, Fringe Benefits.

The lawsuit attacked the Novato school district for presenting the theater company's shows in two elementary schools. The show, entitled "Cootie Shots: Theatrical Inoculations Against Bigotry," is a series of plays, poems and songs illustrating the hurtful effects of name-calling and strategies for coping with intolerance in a school setting. In one entertaining alternative to a traditional fairy tale, a tomboy encounters Rapunzel in her tower and persuades her to play outside instead of waiting for her prince.

"The lawsuit has no legal merit," said Martha Matthews, Bohnett Attorney at the ACLU of Southern California. "Our concern is that it may deter other California schools from engaging in diversity education. In a state as diverse as California, these programs are urgently needed to make our schools safe and fair for all students."

Students, parents, and educators throughout California and in other states have enthusiastically received the "Cootie Shots" show, but a small group of Novato parents objected to the show, claiming that they had a right to prevent their children from seeing it. United for Safe Schools Novato and Fringe Benefits decided to intervene and help the school district defend the lawsuit and its right to educate children about the values of diversity and acceptance.

National Center for Lesbian Rights joins the ACLU in representing the theater group and United for Safe Schools Novato. NCLR is the only national public interest law center dedicated to achieving full civil and human rights fo all lesbians through a program of litigation, public policy, advocacy, community education, and free legal advice and counseling. "As strong advocates for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and transgender individuals, NCLR strongly supports the Novato school district's efforts to increase tolerance on campus through creative programs like 'Cootie Shots,'" said NCLR lawyer Courtney Joslin.

"Schools have an obligation to try to prevent harassment and promote diversity," said Tamara Lange, staff attorney with the ACLU's Lesbian and Gay Rights Project. "Courts shouldn't allow private organizations to stop schools from using valuable tools to protect kids."

The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

LOS ANGELES - In a letter sent today to California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, the American Civil Liberties Union expressed utter dismay over revelations reported in Sunday's Oakland Tribune that the California Anti-Terrorism Information Center (CATIC) since 'day one' has been used to gather and analyze information on activists and protest activity and is being used to compile dossiers on a wide range of organizations. CATIC is a state intelligence agency that was established shortly after September 11 to analyze and disseminate information about terrorist threats

"This is civil liberties 101," said Ramona Ripston, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California. "We cannot allow political dissent to be equated with terrorism, not here in this country and certainly not in California. The state attorney general was given ample notice of the possibility that this would occur and we would like some answers."

In the letter, the ACLU calls upon the Attorney General to:

--Immediately direct CATIC to cease collecting information on individuals and organizations engaging in non-violent protest activity and order CATIC systems to be purged of such information.

--Immediately develop guidelines to ensure that CATIC is used only for disseminating information on true terrorist activity. The CATIC website states that only "reliable information that meets stringent guidelines for intelligence gathering and civil rights protections will be made available only to authorized local, state and federal law enforcement personnel as necessary to protect the health and safety of Californians and others at risk from criminal terrorist activity." As evidenced in news accounts, this clearly is not the case. Guidelines that must be implemented include a definition of terrorism that is narrowly drawn and not so expansive as to include any activity that has an economic impact, as well as clear regulations stating that political and social affiliations or beliefs not be considered in determining who is to be input into the CATIC system.

--Immediately issue guidance to state and local law enforcement agencies (as has been requested on three previous occasions) stating clearly that, pursuant to California's constitutional right to privacy, law enforcement agents may not surveil or monitor individuals or organizations engaged in peaceful protest activity in the absence of reasonable suspicion.

In a series of letters to the Attorney General, the ACLU has been calling upon the state's top law enforcement officer to ensure that Californians' right to privacy is protected. More than thirty years ago, Californians explicitly adopted by referendum a constitutional right to privacy specifically to stop the "proliferation of government snooping and data collecting [that] is threatening to destroy our traditional freedoms." White v. Davis (1975) 13 Cal.3d 757, 774 (quoting the ballot argument in favor of the initiative).

"Now, it appears that right is being sacrificed, not only by the federal government, but at the state level as well. We call on you to ensure that Californians? rights to free speech, assembly, and privacy are protected from state sponsored intrusions," concludes the ACLU in the letter. The letter was signed by the ACLU of Northern California and ACLU of Southern California.