ACLU Still Considers the Big Picture

Re “Amid the Grandstanding, Real Rights Issues Languish,” Commentary, July 22: The ACLU of Southern California has never considered the replacement of the cross on the Los Angeles County seal a “titanic 1st Amendment struggle,” nor is it our most important priority.

It is not the ACLU that has placed this issue on par with the county’s crumbling jails, its troubled child-welfare system and its collapsing indigent healthcare safety net -- issues to which the ACLU and other community groups have devoted years of hard work and litigation.

David A. Lehrer and Joe R. Hicks also mention the troubling racial disparities that continue to plague our public schools -- and that is exactly why we filed suit, together with other community groups, against the state of California for failing to provide minority students with the basic necessities needed to learn.

We have lobbied against money going to faith-based institutions and criticized how religion is intruding into government ceremonies. We would welcome Lehrer and Hicks joining us in these struggles.

Ramona Ripston

Executive Director

ACLU of Southern California