LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California today sent a letter to Los Angeles Councilmember Jan Perry, an advocate of police sweeps in the downtown area, calling on her to end attempts to shift blame on the pressing issue of homelessness in Los Angeles and instead start to work towards a solution that is both humane and constitutional.

Last month, the ACLU/SC and the National Lawyers Guild filed suit against the LAPD and the City of Los Angeles for engaging in aggressive and unconstitutional police sweeps of the homeless population in the skid row area downtown. A federal judge recently ruled that the police sweeps were in violation of residents' constitutional rights and ordered a preliminary injunction on the controversial homeless sweeps.

"Instead of attempting to shift the responsibility of solving the problem of homelessness to civil rights advocates, Councilwoman Perry should get down to the business of addressing this most pressing issue," said Ramona Ripston, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California. "The ACLU/SC and the National Lawyers Guild filed suit to protect the constitutional rights of the homeless not to be subject to unreasonable searches without suspicion in violation of the Fourth Amendment."

"Sweeping people off the streets, taking people into jail for sitting on the sidewalk, illegally searching people at random, these are not productive approaches to the problem we have in Los Angeles," continued Ripston. "There are only 4,000 emergency shelter beds for the estimated 85,000 homeless persons in the area. People have no choice but to sleep on the streets; it makes no sense to pack the jails with people whose only crime is a lack of adequate shelter."

LOS ANGELES - In a victory for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and the National Lawyers Guild, a federal judge has ordered a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against certain practices employed by the LAPD during the so-called "probation sweeps" being conducted by police officers in the Skid Row area.

"We are very pleased with the court's ruling," said Carol Sobel, attorney with the National Lawyers Guild. "The police are on notice that, at least for the time being, they cannot trample on resident's Fourth Amendment rights - no matter where they may live."

The ACLU/SC and National Lawyers Guild filed suit in March of this year to enjoin the LAPD's practices of stopping and searching people without any reasonable suspicion that they were either on parole or probation or if they were on parole or probation, that they had violated the terms of that parole or probation during the so-called "probation sweeps" of homeless residents in the Skid Row area. The sweeps were first enacted in November of 2002, as part of Chief William Bratton's "broken windows" policy. Groups representing skid row residents maintain that the sweeps violated residents' Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure.

The ACLU/SC and National Lawyers Guild filed for a Temporary Restraining Order soon after filing the lawsuit.

Judge Nora M. Manella's order reads in part: "...the Court finds that there is a substantial likelihood that Plaintiffs will prevail on the merits of their claims that Defendants' policies, practices and customs have violated Plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures under the guise of conducting probation and parole sweeps, without reasonable suspicion to believe that the plaintiffs are 1) on parole or probation, or 2) have violated the terms of their parole or probation..."

"I think this ruling, for the time being, sends the message to the police that 'broken windows' is not a license to break the law," said Peter Eliasberg, managing attorney with the ACLU/SC. "We've said from the beginning that sweeps that violate the rights of residents, homeless or not, are not part of the solution."

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California together with the Muslim Public Affairs Council, Progressive Jewish Alliance, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, have announced the creation of a hotline for Iraqi-Americans seeking legal assistance with FBI interviews. The U.S. government has announced that they are seeking to interview over 10,000 Iraqis throughout the nation in an effort to gather information related to the Iraq conflict.

In the past, interviews conducted by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies have stirred unrest and fear among the Middle-Eastern communities. Complaints of harassment and improper or intrusive questions were commonplace.

"In setting up this hotline, the ACLU is continuing in its long tradition of helping those who need assistance during times of great national crisis," said Ramona Ripston, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California. "We want to make sure that people in the targeted communities are aware of the fact that they are entitled to have an attorney present during questioning. Together with volunteer attorneys we will work to make sure that those seeking legal assistance will not be left out in the cold."

Preliminary reports of the interviews currently taking place range from pleasant or courteous to rude and intimidating. Arab-American and Muslim-American organizations have repeatedly called on law enforcement officials to respect interview subjects' rights and refrain from treating the communities as suspects rather than partners in the war on terrorism.

"Guaranteeing and respecting the rights of those questioned, in keeping with constitutional standards, will help to enhance cooperation between American-Muslims and law enforcement," said Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.

"We have to work to ensure that all Americans remain safe and secure, both in terms of physical safety, and also in terms of safeguarding our civil rights and civil liberties," said Daniel Sokatch, executive director of the Progressive Jewish Alliance. "This is not a Muslim issue, a Jewish issue or an Arab issue, this is an American issue."

"We understand the governments' concern for public safety in this time of war, and also the American Muslim community's concerns about their civil rights," said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Southern California. "This hotline provides the necessary protections to allow people to feel secure in the conversations with law enforcement agencies."

The hotline will provide callers with legal assistance including attorney referrals and general legal advice. The Southern California hotline number is: 213/977-5289.