We Must Strive Towards Justice

[news]

[news]

The following remarks were delivered at the ACLU of Southern California annual Bill of Rights Dinner, November 8, 2015, Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Beverly Hills, CA.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

These are the most powerful and important words in American history. These words matter because for 239 years people have done their damnedest to make America lives up to their meaning.

This same spirit drives us at the ACLU and pushes us to work -- no matter what -- to guarantee everyone's rights.

Fellow ACLU members and most welcome guests, we've experienced so much success this year here in the Southland, across California, and throughout the nation.

The ACLU convinced L.A. County to stop jailing thousands of people with mental illness and treat them in community health settings that are more effective and humane.*

The ACLU lobbied California into the digital age. State privacy laws predated the internet and offered no protection for emails or text messages. Thanks to the ACLU, California now has the nation's best digital privacy law.*

And as you heard the ACLU, our honorees, and our partners fought a long, 44-year battle to establish marriage equality!*

But there's still so much work to be done.

We've lived through deeply wounding days when it comes to police violence. And this is what I'd like to talk about tonight.

So far this year, police in the U.S. have killed