[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 153 (Thursday, September 25, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1905-E1906]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




A TRIBUTE TO RAMONA RIPSTON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE ACLU OF SOUTHERN 
 CALIFORNIA, ON THE OCCASION OF THE DEDICATION OF ITS NEW HEADQUARTERS 
                           NAMED IN HER HONOR

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 24, 2008

  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and its executive 
director, Ramona Ripston, on the occasion of the dedication of the 
organization's new headquarters building in Los Angeles. Located in my 
congressional district at 1313 West 8th Street, the new facility is 
aptly being named the Ramona Ripston Center for Civil Liberties and 
Civil Rights in honor of this remarkable woman who has graced the 
organization's helm for 36 years.
  As the festivities get underway to commemorate the ACLU of Southern 
California's proud 85 years of hard work enforcing the

[[Page E1906]]

promise and vision of our nation's Constitution in Los Angeles and 
throughout Southern California, it comes as no surprise that the focus 
of this grand occasion is also upon Ramona Ripston.
  During her lengthy tenure as executive director of the ACLU of 
Southern California, Ramona Ripston has earned a distinguished record 
of achievement.
  Ms. Ripston was named the executive director of the ACLU of Southern 
California and the ACLU Foundation of Southern California on September 
1, 1972, becoming the first woman to direct the activities of a major 
ACLU affiliate. She is responsible for all phases of the organization's 
programs, including litigation, lobbying and education.
  During her tenure as executive director, Ms. Ripston has steered the 
ACLU/SC to regional and national prominence. Under her leadership, the 
affiliate's staff has expanded from six to nearly 60, and its annual 
budget has grown to $6 million. She helped foster ties between the 
affiliate and some of Hollywood's most prominent figures, including 
Burt Lancaster, Barbara Streisand, Rob Reiner, Norman Lear, James 
Whitmore, Camryn Manheim and Rick Nicita. Meanwhile, the ACLU/SC has 
become a respected voice on crucial issues ranging from freedom of 
speech and racial equality to immigration, homelessness and abuses by 
law enforcement.
  In August 2006, the Los Angeles Times named Ms. Ripston as one of the 
100 Most Powerful People in Southern California. For six years, she 
served as a member of the California Commission on Judicial 
Performance. She has been a visiting lecturer for the UCLA Political 
Science Department, hosted a talk radio program for KABC, and served on 
the board of directors of the First Amendment Foundation and the Office 
of the Americas. In 2005 Ms. Ripston was appointed to the Los Angeles 
Homeless Services Authority Commission by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. 
She also serves as a member of the national ACLU's Pension Committee 
and the Endowment Policy Committee.
  Ms. Ripston was a founding member of Death Penalty Focus, and was 
honored with that group's Abolition Award for 2003. In 2006, she 
received the Rosa Parks Social Justice Award from the Martin Luther 
King Legacy Association. She was awarded the William J. Brennan, Jr. 
Civil Liberties Award in 1991 by the Center for Human Rights and 
Constitutional Law. The Western Society of Criminology presented her 
with the 1980-81 June Morrison Founder's Award, given yearly to a 
noncriminologist who makes an outstanding contribution to justice in 
the criminal justice system. Ms. Ripston also has been honored by a 
number of other organizations and entities, including Women in 
Communication, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the 
People's College of Law and the Los Angeles City Council.
  She has written and spoken extensively on the rights of women--
including reproductive freedom--as well as the Voting Rights Act, the 
rights of the accused, poverty, homelessness, national security, civil 
liberties, police, the Constitution and the First Amendment, including 
censorship. She has lectured at a number of law schools, including 
Harvard, Yale and UCLA.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to please join me in 
congratulating Ramona Ripston on her three decades of outstanding 
service to the community as head of the American Civil Liberties Union 
of Southern California. As we celebrate the opening of its new 
headquarters building, I extend to her, and everyone at the 
organization, my very best wishes for many more years of success ahead 
protecting the cherished freedoms we all enjoy in our great Nation.

                          ____________________