By The Vanguard Staff
SACRAMENTO, CA – The ACLU California Action Monday released it legislative scorecard, naming the winners and losers, according to how they voted here at the State Capitol for “vitally important legal protections for all Californians (for) the civil rights and civil liberties of the most marginalized communities in our state.”
“We weigh in on hundreds of bills a year, ranging from criminal justice to privacy to voting rights. Our ‘champions’ are legislators who score 100 percent on bills officially sponsored by ACLU California Action,” the ACLU explained.
The progressive lobby noted, “The progress we seek can only be achieved in partnership with state legislators who carry our sponsored bills and vote with us on the bills we sponsor. Not all lawmakers share our vision for a more equitable, and more just California. We keep score to hold them accountable to our shared vision and values.”
“We ensured protections for pregnant people and their medical providers from criminalization for pregnancy outcomes like stillbirths. We enhanced voting rights for people with disabilities and for people at risk of being mistakenly removed from voter rolls,” said the ACLU of its legislative work.
The ACLU added, “We fought to repeal loitering laws that have enabled discriminatory policing of communities of color, including trans women of color; to allow prior racist convictions and sentences to be overturned; and to establish a process for eliminating racially offensive place names.”
Not surprisingly, the “Champions” (100 percent score) and “Advocates” (90 percent) per the ACLU in the State Senate were Democrats with 12 “Champions” and four “Advocates.
The lowest Democratic Party Senator score was 15 percent for Sen. Melissa Hurtado (Sanger, District 14).
Not one Republican lawmaker was designated a “Champion” or “Advocate,” and GOP Senators scored only 58 percent or lower. The worst score for the GOP senators was just five percent for Sen. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (Yucaipa, District 23).
On the Assembly side, 20 Dems received the “Champions” designation, and one was named an “Advocate.”
All GOP Assembly members scored 25 percent or lower, and Democrat Adam Gray (Merced, District 21) scored just 25 percent. The lowest score in the Assembly went to Republican Kelly Seyarto (Murrieta, District 67).
The full scorecard can be found here.
