California students march for Chavez, immigrant legalization

LOS ANGELES -- Hispanic students and others staged small marches in California on Friday to demand that the birthday of the late United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez become a national holiday and that Congress pass a legalization program for the nation's estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants.

About 100 students walked out of classes in Los Angeles and a similar number marched in Sacramento. Another 50 demonstrated in Oakland.

As they walked in Los Angeles, teens chanted "Si se puede!" or "Yes we can!"

"If the government won't do it, we have to come out here and force them to," said Roberto Vera, 14. "Everybody is equal. It doesn't matter where you were born."

Cynthia Gomez, 16, agreed.

"Just like Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez is a hero to all Latinos," he said. "We should honor him in the same way."

The demonstrations came a year after rallies on immigration issues were staged throughout California. This time, however, the number was a fraction of the thousands who turned out in 2006.

In Sacramento, roughly 100 students trailed by police marched from Hiram Johnson High School to the state Capitol, wearing brown ribbons representing Mexican culture and solidarity. About 200 students from other schools were expected to join the walkout.

"He marched for us, now we march for him!!!" read one of the signs expressing support for establishing a holiday in Chavez's honor.

"We deserve to take it (the day) off. My family has been farmworkers, and Cesar Chavez has meant a lot for our family -- with the union, better health care and better wages," said student Leticia Sanchez-Mata, 16./AP

Oakland sued for alleged public strip searchs by police officers

OAKLAND -- Seven men alleging police officers publicly strip-searched them have filed a $5 million federal civil rights suit against the city of Oakland.

The suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, brings to 15 the total number of men who have made such claims against Oakland.

The plaintiffs in the most recent case said police officers pulled down their pants along major thoroughfares, exposing their genitals and buttocks in public.

"This practice causes great psychological harm," said Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris, who along with attorney Michael Haddad has filed five similar suits. "It's a form of street justice, designed to intimidate and humiliate people."

Erica Harrold, a spokeswoman for Oakland City Attorney John Russo, called the allegations "very serious." She declined to comment further until after city officials have examined the suit.

The searches detailed in the suit took place between 2005 and 2007 and were witnessed by passers-by, according to the plaintiffs' lawyers. In one case, the search took place in front of the suspect's family. All but one of the plaintiffs is black.

The Oakland Police Department's policy states that an officer may strip search a suspect in public only when there's a reasonable belief the person is hiding a weapon or evidence, such as illegal drugs. But the search must be conducted out of public view, the policy emphasizes./AP