LOS ANGELES - In a press conference today, Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California announced the filing of a lawsuit to enjoin the closure of Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center and the reduction of close to 100 beds at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

"The Board of Supervisors' recent vote to close Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center and reduce the number of hospital beds at the County's major trauma care provider, LAC-USC Medical Center, both endangers these patients' lives and violates their rights under state law," said Yolanda Vera, staff attorney with Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles. "Even before these cuts, the County's facilities were operating far beyond capacity, with severely ill patients often waiting for months or even years for treatment."

In the Fall of 2002, the County Board of Supervisors eliminated approximately one half million clinic visits per year for poor persons when it closed eleven health centers and cut vital services provided by free and low cost clinics. Community organizations and public interest groups submitted over 2,500 pages of testimony, letters, studies and reports to the County showing the dramatic impact the cuts would have on the quality of medical care in Los Angeles County. Then, in January of 2003, the Board announced even further reductions, voting to close Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center and to reduce the number of hospital beds at County's largest trauma care provider, LA County-USC Medical Center.

"Health care is the most fundamental of all the County's obligations," said Sandra Robinson, spokesperson with the Los Angeles Legal Aid Foundation. "It is not a question of politics or ideology or even economics, it's a question of suffering - and how to end suffering. The medical needs of our community will not go away just because the services are cut."

Just days after voting to make these closures, the County received $250 million dollars in state and federal relief - $100 million more than it had expected. This effectively gave the County a surplus through the 2005/2006 fiscal year.

"I believe it is shortsighted and misguided to cut access to health care for the working poor and uninsured because the resulting affect of such cuts will affect everyone who lives in Los Angeles," said Dr. Daniel Higgins, Director of Emergency Medical Services at St. Francis Medical Center, a private non-profit hospital in Lynwood. "The impact of the Board's recent decision to close various County health facilities is already readily evident, endangering everyone's health care, regardless of economic status."

Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center is the largest safety net provider in one of the most densely populated areas of the County. County-USC serves close to 50,000 inpatients and 750,000 outpatients a year.

Rancho Los Amigos is recognized as one of the best rehabilitation hospitals in the country. The hospital is currently a 207 bed facility with staff specializing in rehabilitation and the acute needs of patients with chronic diseases.

"I went to Rancho Los Amigos with the hope that they could help me learn how to walk again," said Garry Harris, 47, who was the victim of a drive-by shooting that left him paralyzed. "Eventually with the help of the staff I was able to get some mobility with crutches. I no longer have to use a wheelchair."

"For too many years now, Los Angeles County's health care system has been crisis driven, culminating in these cuts," said Mark Rosenbaum, legal director for the ACLU of Southern California. "Because no countywide system for the delivery of health care can function without these services, the reductions will only make true reform more difficult. As it stands, two of the largest facilities - LAC-USC and MLK - do not even accept emergency patients 75% and 80% of the time respectively. Closing another 100 beds at County-USC is like trying to get out of a hole by digging deeper."

"I guess to most people who haven't used the services there at Rancho, it just seems like any other hospital or clinic," said Garry Harris, who is also a plaintiff in the suit. "But the fact is that Rancho is unique. I don't know where else I could have got the type of therapy that they provided and I don't know where I'll go if it closes down."

LOS ANGELES - In two separate rulings today, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to overturn the sentences of two non-violent repeat offenders who were sentenced to unusually long prison terms for petty theft offenses.

"Today's ruling makes clear that California voters, rather than our politicians or courts, will have to take responsibility for fixing our Three Strikes law, which is the broadest and harshest in the nation. Californians never intended to give petty, non-violent offenders the same sentences we apply to people who commit murder, rape, and other violent crimes," said Ramona Ripston, Executive Director of the ACLU/SC.

"Our Three Strikes law has too many unintended consequences: it's profoundly unjust; it's costing us a fortune, and it's tearing families and communities apart," said Ripston. "Voters are beginning to understand what an unjust and wasteful law this is."

In fact, a public opinion poll conducted in 2002 by the firm of Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates on behalf of Families to Amend California's Three Strikes (FACTS) found that 65% of likely general election voters in California would favor amending the three strikes law so that it applies only in cases of violent or serious felonies such as rape, robbery or murder.

The ACLU of Southern California is working closely with FACTS, Human Rights Watch, and other groups to fight for Three Strikes reform at the ballot box. California Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg has also introduced legislation, AB 112, that would place on the ballot an initiative to limit the application of the three strikes law to violent offenders.

The American Civil Liberties Union was co-counsel in one of the two cases, California v. Andrade. Andrade was convicted of stealing $154 worth of videotapes and is currently serving a 50 year sentence. California's three strikes law was first enacted in 1994.

The ACLU of Southern California joins the Council on American-Islamic Relations in calling for a full FBI investigation of the heinous attack on Rashid Alam, an 18 year old Arab-American from Yorba Linda beaten by a mob who shouted anti-Arab and anti-Muslim epithets.

The Administration has repeatedly expressed its condemnation of hate crimes, and the Justice Department has repeatedly said it will aggressively enforce federal laws against hate crimes. Our government must keep its promises. We call on the FBI to live up to its responsibilities to the Muslim, Arab-American, South Asian and Sikh communities and, ultimately, to each one of us.

In the first few months after 9/11, in L.A. County alone, there were more than 180 reports of hate crimes against people who were, or were perceived to be, Muslim or Middle Eastern. We must send a clear message that these acts will not be tolerated. Prejudice against Arab-Americans, Muslims and South Asians undermines one of the cornerstones of our American democracy -- the fundamental principle of equality of all peoples.

Southern California is one of the most diverse regions in this nation. Truly, our strength lies in our diversity. When one of us is attacked, it is an attack on us all.