vol. 43, no. 7

Volume XLII

Court

maintams

abortion funds

A challenge to the new state regu-

lations which would virtually ban Medi- .

Cal funding for abortions for indigent |

women was brought to the state Court

-of Appeal on September 18, after a San

Francisco Superior Court Judge denied

a request to stop the regulations from

being implemented on September 13.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge

Ira Brown, with no explanation, denied

the plaintiffs' request to maintain fund- |

ing for abortions until a full hearing

could be held on the complicated con-

stitutional questions raised by the legis-

lature's abrupt decision in July to cut

off Medi-Cal funds for most abortions.

Judge Brown also dissolved the

temporary restraining order which had

been in effect since August 10. Funds

were held in limbo for 24 hours, until

the next day when he reversed his

decision, and with the consent of the

defendant decided to keep the tempor-

ary restraining order in effect until

either the Court of Appeal reached a

decision or until September 29 -

continued on `page 2

Gctnber 1978

I totally support those students |

and teachers of Anderson High

School in Shasta County, California,

who wish to exercise their right of |

free speech as guaranteed to them by

the Constitution of the United States.

The Constitution is the spiritual and

legal foundation of our two-

hundred-year-old Republic, and it is

our duty as American citizens to

honor and defend it.

That. my books are the focus of |

`this case I think is purely arbitrary

and almost not relevant. What is at

stake here is the freedom of teachers

to teach and students to learn.

On our Apollo 17 mission to the

moon in December, 1972, the astro-

nauts named a crater after a charac-

ter from one of the books that is for-

bidden to be taught at Anderson

High School. I do not think it is the

policy of the United States Govern-

ment to name the geography of the

moon after a character from a dirty

book.

The crater is called Shorty.

The book is Trout Fishing in

America.

If Trout Fishing in America can get

to the moon, I think it should be able

to get to Anderson High School.

Richard Brautigan

San Francisco

September 14, 1978

McWilliams, Pipel to receive Warren awards

Carey McWilliams, an eminent

writer and former editor of The Nation,

and Harriet Pilpel, a leading attorney in

the field of reproductive freedom and a

member of the national board of the

ACLU will both receive the sixth annual

Earl Warren Civil Liberties Awards

highlighting the ACLU of Northern

California's Bill of Rights Day Cele-

bration on Sunday, December 10.

The two renown civil libertarians

were selected by the Board of Directors

to receive this year's awards because of

the distinguished contributions which

they both have made in carving out new

frontiers in the struggle for equal

rights.

Ramey elected -

chair

Drucilla S. Ramey, a long-time

ACLU activist and Board member, was

elected by the Board of Directors at its

September meeting to serve as the

Northern California affiliate's new

Chairperson.

Ramey is the first woman to lead the

_ACLU's policy-making body in the

affiliate's 52-year history. She succeeds

Warren Saltzman, who served as

continued on page 4

"Both Pilpel and McWilliams for

decades have inspired civil libertarians

to look towards tomorrow's civil liber- _

ties battles,' according to ACLU Board

member Frances Strauss who is, for the

sixth consecutive year, organizing the

Bill of Rights Day Celebration.

"McWilliams who has concerned

himself most with racism and social in-

justice in his prolific writing, and Pilpel

who has ardently led the legal battles on

behalf of womens' right to choose, are

fitting honorees at this year's cele-

bration which will focus on the struggle

for equal rights,'' Strauss said.

_continued on page 3

Drucilla S. Ramey

aclu news

No. 7

ok ban challenged

The banning of five of the best known

works of Richard Brautigan, a critically

acclaimed poet and author, by the

Anderson Union High School District

was challenged in a law-suit filed by

three students, two teachers, and a

publisher in the Shasta County Superior

Court on October 3.

The ACLU of Northern California is

representing the plaintiffs who are

seeking to restrain: the local school

board from continuing the

Brautigan's five most well-known works

have already been confiscated from the

classroom and the library.

A purchase order submitted last year

by V.I. Wexner, a plaintiff in the law

suit, who ordered a series of books for

- students in his Developmental Reading

class, sparked the controversy.

`"`Suspicion'"' arose, according to the

law-suit, when a discrepancy appeared

between the titles written on. the

purchase order and the full titles

printed on the receipts for books when

they were received by the chairperson of -

the school's reading program.

Wexner had shortened the title of

The Abortion: An Historical Romance,

and The Pill Versus the Springhill

Mine Disaster to An Historical Ro-

mance and The Springhill Mine

ban. .

Announcing the chailenge to the book

_ ban are (from left to right) Margaret C.

Crosby, ACLU staff counsel; Ann Brick,

ACLU cooperating attorney and plaintiff

V.1. Wexner, a reading teacher from An- .

derson Union High School.

Disaster.

Although The Abortion: An

Historical Romance had been available

for years in the school library, Wexner's

purchase order set off a chain of events

lasting for nearly a year, culminating i in

the current ban.

Wexner who had first claimed, "I will

not stand for the banning of books .

Never again without as big a fight as sI

can make,' was informed by the

Anderson High School Principal, J.D.

Leitaker, after the purchase-order

incident last January, that he found the

Brautigan -_ books _. "questionable"

continued on page a

Fishlow to leave ACLU

Northern California executive direc-

tor David M. Fishlow has announced

his intended resignation, having served

for more than three years as this affili-

ate's leader. He will remain in the posi-

tion until the Board of Directors

chooses a successor.

Fishlow leaves at a point when the

Northern California ACLU is one of the

country's most financially sound affili-

ates and with local membership growth

leading the nation. He will leave San

`Francisco to assume duties as the direc-

tor ad interim for a new organization

based in New York which will monitor

U.S. compliance with the Helsinki

human rights accords.

With Fishlow as the head of the staff,

the affiliate suffered probably fewer ad-

- yerse affects from the "Skokie Crisis''

than any other in the ACLU. He also

led the organization through its contro-

versial representation of the religious

freedom of members of the Unification

Church which generated strong media

attention in 1977.

As Fishlow prepares to leave, the

ACLU has become heavily involved in

the campaigns to defeat Propositions 6

and 7 and a sense of excitement and

_ action - meetings every night, jammed

David M. Fishlow

telephone lines, and a huge increase in

volunteers - pervades the ACLU's

offices at 814 Mission. Fishlow recently

hired the organization's first field

representative to coordinate these

campaign activities.

Affiliate development and business

were prime targets of Fishlow's admini-

stration. From August, 1977 to August,

1978, almost 3,000 new ACLU

members joined in Northern California.

Fishlow also added a new line to the

director's job description when he

began managing several large parcels of

pene which came to the affiliate as

continued on page 2

No On Prop. 6 7 Special Supplement Inside

October 1978.

aclu news

`Wiretap violators right of privacy

A` telephone company employee who

eavesdropped on a customer's phone

conversation and then disclosed the

contents of the conversation to the

police, violated California's statutory

and constitutional protections of the

right of privacy, according to a decision

of the California Supreme Court on

September 22. The Court ordered sup-

pression of evidence obtained through a.

search warrant based on the tip from

the phone company employee.

ACLU attorneys had entered the case

of Tavernetti v. the Superior Court of

San Diego to argue that the 1972 state

constitutional amendment that added

"privacy" to the list of `inalienable

rights'' represented a significant

expansion of the protections afforded to

Californians. Staff attorney Alan

Schlosser argued the matter before the

high court in June. Volunteer attorney

Glen Moss prepared the ACLU friend |

of the court brief.

Mr. Joseph Maco, a lineman for the

Pacific Telephone Company had been

testing a line for malfunctions in 1976

when he overheard a. conversation

which he alleged involved a drug trans-

action. He took this information to

local law enforcement authorities, and

a search warrant was issued based

solely on Maco's tip.

While the Court accepted the finding

that Maco's overhearing while doing

service was lawful, they held that the

disclosure to the police of the overheard

conversation violated the Invasion of |

Privacy Act (Penal Code 0x00A70x00A7630-637.2),

and thus required suppression of the

evidence seized under the search

warrant.

"By deciding for the first time that

disclosure of wiretap information is an

independent violation of law, even if the

wiretap itself is lawful, the Court has

closed a potentially dangerous loophole

in our privacy Protection," stated

Schlosser. "This is particularly impor-

tant because of the ready access that the

telephone company and its employees

have to our personal lives."'

Schlosser added that, "`the decision

was significant for the Court's explicit

reliance on the _ state's new

constitutional protection for privacy

rights to refute the prosecution argu-

ment that "good citizenry'

cooperation with the police. The Court

applied the constitutional right to the

actions of a private employee, and thus

indicated that the state constitution

provides protection for privacy beyond

that guaranteed by the United States

Constitution."

New staff member select ed

"The air is charged with vitality at

the ACLU," according to a new staff

member, Marci Gallo, who assumed

the position of Administrative Assistant

at the Northern California headquar-

ters in September. When she interviewed

for the position at a place designated as

"Room 301" she was pleased to find the

`room' was in fact a large suite actively

engaged in the civil liberties business -

from the legal department, to the acti-

vists staffing the No on 6 and 7 depart-

ments. She fit right in.

Gallo previously worked for five years

as the assistant to the director of a com-

munity-based drug rehabilitation

center in Pennsylvania which was pio-

neering techniques for women addicts.

Just one year ago she moved to Calif-

ornia where she worked for the State

Division of Substance abuse, then

headed by Josette Mondanaro.

Her new job and new home in San

- Francisco are well-suited to Marci

Gallo, who in the late '60's was awarded

a business school scholarship by the

Dupont Corporation in her home-town

of Wilmington, Delaware. "I found the

work-study job hard to reconcile. I

would spend my lunch-hour demon-

Marci Gallo

strating against the war and return to

my desk complete alienated."' Thus she

began seeking employment where she

- could make a contribution to the causes

to which she was committed.

The Administrative Assistant at the

ACLU coordinates ACLU speakers and

complaint desk volunteers, staffs the

ACLU Board of Directors meetings,

and provides assistance to the Executive

Director. Ms. Gallo's enthusiasm and

competency will undoubtedly further

_the work of the ACLU. We welcome her.

: aclu news

8 issues a year, monthly except bi-monthly in January-February, June-July,

August-September and November-December

Second Class Mail privileges authorized at San Francisco, California

Published by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

Drucilla Ramey, Chairperson David M. Fishlow, Executive Diear

a Ehrlich, Editor

Publication Number 018040

814 Mission St. - Ste. 301, San Francisco, California 94103 - 777-4545

Membership $20 and up, of which 50 cents is for a subscription to the aclu news

| and 50 cents is for the national ACLU bi-monthly publication, Civil Liberties.

requires (c)

Fishlow continued from page I

part of a bequest.

For the first time, a joint legislative

office in Sacramento shared by the

Northern and Southern California affil-

jates was created, shortly after Fishlow

became director. Further cooperation

between the north and south is also

evidenced by an increase in joint

litigation.

During Fishlow's tenure, the first

woman chair of the board of directors,

Drucilla Ramey (see story page 1) was

elected and the first woman staff

attorney, Margaret Crosby, was hired.

In a recent interview with the ACLU

News, Fishlow looked back on his three

years in Northern California. On the

Skokie case: You really get down to the

basic questions of good and evil. We re-

sponded properly, and we averted a real

financial crisis. With all the heat there

was a great deal of light and the ACLU

can be.proud. Our membership rallied

to support the First Amendment. Those

members who stayed were more gener-

ous and have kept the ACLU in

business.

Fishlow points to the 1977 fight

against religious deprogramming where

the ACLU represented the rights of

some members of the Unification

Church as his most rewarding experi-

ence.

There was an assortment of colorful

clients, the three-ring circus atmos-

phere in the courtroom, and the oppor-

tunity to work with our staff attorney

Margaret Crosby who always offered

such sound legal analysis.

The ACLU received enormous press

attention during the controversial case

and in the end we secured a ruling

which was a national precedent uphold-

ing religious freedom.

Fishlow says he is optimistic about

the union's future and points to a new

spirit in the ACLU's 15 grass-roots

chapters aiong with the addition of the

new staff person to work with these

volunteer groups.

"Above all the most satisfying aspect

of the job is having assembled the most

uniformly competent and refreshingly

dedicated staff of any ACLU affiliate

that I know of,'"' said Fishlow who per-

sonally hired all but two of the current

twelve-member staff.

Fishlow, 35, came to northern

California after serving three years with

the national ACLU staff starting as

Rocky Mountain field representative,

then becoming an impeachment cam- |

paign organizer, and next moving over

to direct the national ACLU develop-

- ment office.

After six years with the ACLU, Fish-

low says, "I'm ready to move on. It's

now time for a refresher where I can

_ broaden myself and my experience."

Fishlow worked for six years with the

United Farmworkers and the chicano

civil rights movement prior to joining

the ACLU staff. For several years he

`edited a Spanish language newspaper in

Texas.

An autobiographical piece which was

published in Fishlow's home-town

newspaper in 1972, with .a warning

that, "by 1977 I will probably retract all

of this,'' is perhaps still a fitting re-

flection upon his departure: from, the

ACLU .

When iL worked for Chavez, we used

to believe that as soon as the Guimarra

strike is over, they ll all fall into line.'

It didn't happen that way, but it will

happen, and though I show the univer-

sal sign of aging - a recognition that

`it' will take longer than `we' thought, I

intend to keep looking.

Abortion continued from page 1

- whichever comes first.

ACLU staff attorney Margaret

: Crosby, assisted by Donna Van Diepen,

worked feverishly to file the appeal to

_the higher court just five days after the

unexpected decision from the Superior

Court. According to the appeal, which

now asks the higher court to

temporarily stop the restrictions from

taking effect, each week more than

1500 women would be forced to carry

unwanted and possibly deformed

children, or turn in desperation to life-

threatening back-alley or self-induced

abortions, if the challenged law restric- .

ting abortion funding were to take

effect.

Those disastrous consequences,

according to the petition before the

Court of Appeal, would result from the

implementation of a law which has been

challenged as unconstitutional on ten

separate theories - any one of which -

if adopted - would be sufficient to

invalidate the restrictive legislation.

"It could take months before a full

hearing at the appellate level can be

held on the constitutional questions

which we have raised,'' according to

Margaret Crosby, co-counsel. "Thus,

we are asking the appellate court for

interim relief until the court has an op-

portunity to weigh the complex issues

before it."

"If the regulations were implemented

and were later deemed unconstitution-

al, it would be a hollow victory,'' Crosby

claimed. `"`For a woman who has borne

an unwanted and perhaps deformed

baby, and who has suffered - physical

injury by carrying her pregnancy to

term, the later news of her abstract

right to have avoided all this suffering

will be slender consolation. To the

young woman who has died, the

abstract legal vindication cannot even

~ be communicated."'

Under the regulations which were

scheduled for implementation on

August 15, only 5% of the approxi-

mately 100,000 abortions routinely paid

for by Medi-Cal would be funded

during the current budget year,

according to named defendant, . State

Health Services Director Beverlee (c)

Myers.

The law-suit contends that the pro-

posed statute is in violation of the U.S.

and state constitutional rights to

privacy, equal protection, due process,

and the First Amendment's prohibition

against state establishment of religion, (c)

and the right to free exercise of religion.

A further claim is that the statute

violates Title XIX of the federal Social

Security act which mandates states to

pay for all ea necessary treat-0x00B0

ment."

As the ACLU News goes to press the

California Court of Appeals has allowed |

Medi-Cal funding for abortions to be

maintained. The court's decision on

September 29 temporarily stayed Judge

Ira Brown's order, which had denied

the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary -

injunction. Oral arguments before the.

Court of Appeals on the request for a

further stay are scheduled for October 10.

October 1978

aclu news:

z Awards continued from page I

MeWilliams

Carey McWilliams, an historian, a lawyer and best

known as the editor of The Nation was described in

this capacity by Nicholas Von Hoffman as an editor

who "`doesn't cash in on trends, he makes them." It is

this style which brought McWilliams in 1932 to ex-

pose the plight of migrant farm workers in his first

book, Factories in the Field, to the forefront of the

fight against the internment of Japanese-Americans in

camps in the 40's, and later to become a relentless

fighter against Joe McCarthy in the 50's - at a time _

when it certainly wasn't "trendy" to do so. Articles

were found in The Nation recounting the experiences

of a former FBI agent, as early as the 60's - articles

which become routine copy in the 70's.

McWilliams received the coveted George Polk

award for journalism this year. The award says: "For

five productive and insistent decades . . .McWilliams

. has fought for the protection of our constitutional

freedoms, defined for us over and over the meaning of

morality in government and turned our conscience to

the plight of the oppressed and dislocated. However

ominous the political mood about him, his advocacy

of human rights - brilliantly articulated in an un-

ceasing flow of books and articles - has never

wavered for a moment."

Pilpel and McWilliams will join the ranks of

distinguished recipients of the Earl Warren Civil

Liberties Award who have all made major con-

tributions to the cause of freedom and justice.

Previous recipients are: ACLU attorney Francis

Heisler, Stanford University Professor Anthony G.

Amsterdam, former California Supreme Court Justice -

Roger J. Traynor, ACLU of Northern California

founders the late Helen Salz and Dr. Alexander

Meiklejohn, and Supreme Court Justice William O.

Does

Me Williams

Pipel

Pipel

Harriet Pilpel is no stranger to the ACLU. She has

served on the national Board of Directors since 1962

and is internationally known for her legal efforts 0x00B0

which established the constitutional right to birth

control information and the right to choose an

abortion. Se

Pilpel is also national counsel to Planned Parent-

hood, the Association for the Study of Abortion, and

the Association for Voluntary Sterilization.

Her other areas of achievement

leadership in the Copyright Bar and her service on

both President Johnson's and President Kennedy's

-Commissions on the Status of Women. She has

enriched the ACLU's efforts as an expert and leader

in a myriad of civil liberties areas: on behalf of First

Amendment freedoms, sex and the law, libel and

privacy, censorship and obscenity, birth control and

abortion, divorce, marriage and the family, as well as

on behalf of the rights of women.

A colleague on the national board claims that Pilpel

is "always ready to consider and work out new.

techniques to tackle today's frontier issues.

ancient liberties are facing new conditions, new

danger. We must keep alert, active, above all sensitive

to the necessities of the groups handicapped by race,

poverty, age, sex, and the like. Harriet understands

this and works to help these people with all the -

courage, acumen, tenderness and good sense with

which she is so richly endowed."'

Tickets to attend the celebration, at $5.00 each, will

be available at the ACLU offices. An invitation will

appear in the November issue of the ACLU News. The

program, which will include a cocktail party and

entertainment, is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. on

Sunde, December 10.

include her

Our |

Cranston rates 100%

Senator Alan Cranston (D-California) shined the

brightest in a recent ACLU survey which took a closer

look at civil liberties voting records in both the House

- and the Senate. Cranston supported ACLU's position

100% of the time on the issues covered in the recent

survey. He is the only Senator in the country to do so.

The August/September issue of the ACLU News re-

ported the box scores from the House of Representa-

tives. The Senate results appear below.

Key:

(+) indicates a vote in favor of the ACLU position

(-) indicates a vote contrary to the ACLU position

(N) Not voting (absent or abstaining)

CALIFORNIA 1234567 8 9

Cranston (D) ++ eee etettetet

Hayakawa (R) NN- - - - ++ +

Senate

1. Legal Services (S. 1303). Bartlett Amendment pro-

hibiting legal services attorneys from providing legal

assistance in litigation relating to the desegregation

of elementary or secondary schools.

Defeated 55-38. 7 Absent. Aye - No + October 12, 1977.

2. Legal Services Bill (S. 1303). Helms Amendment pro-

hibiting legal services attorneys from providing legal

assistance in litigation involving affirmative action quota

systems. |

Tabled 69-22. 9 Absent. Aye + No - October 12, 1977.

_ 3. Pregnancy Disability Bill (S. 995). Prohibiting em- |

ployers from denying pregnant women ais apully

benefits.

Passed 75-11. 14 Absent. Aye + No - Sept. 16, 1977.

4. Pregnancy Disability Bill (S. 995). Eagleton Amend-

ment permitting employers to deny disability benefits

to women having abortions.

Defeated 44-41. 15 Absent. Aye - No + Sept. 16, 1977.

5. Labor-HEW Appropriations Bill FY 78. Brooke

Amendment to strike provision prohibiting utilization

of funds for busing programs other than to schools

nearest to student's home; and for clustering and

pairing of schools for desegregation purposes.

Defeated 51-42. 6 Absent. Aye + No - June 28, 1977.

6. Labor-HEW Appropriations Bill FY 78. Helms-Haya-

kawa Amendment prohibiting use of federal funds

for affirmative action programs.

Defeated 64-31. 5 Absent. Aye - No + June 28, 1977.

_criminatory policies.

Major victory in sex discrimination case

A college district's policy against establishing child-

| care centers may violate both statutory and constitu-

| tional bans against sex discrimination in the school

system, ruled the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Cir-

cuit on September 13, 1978.

Six low-income mothers filed a class action suit

against the San Mateo Community College District in

1976, claiming that the District's officers had em-

barked on a course of sabotaging all efforts to estab-

lish childcare facilities.

The ACLU, in an amicus curiae brief, argued that

the Ninth Circuit should reject the opinion of another

federal appeals court that Title IX could be enforced

only by the Department of Health, Education and

Welfare (HEW), not individual women injured by dis-

Limiting enforcement to a

Washington-based agency unable to monitor discrim-

ination throughout the nation's school system would

have effectively repealed the law: in 1977, HEW's

chronically understaffed Department of Education

had a backlog of 300 sex discrimination cases, and es-

timated that it would take three years to read any new

complaint.

In its ruling the Court of Appeals agreed with all of

the mothers' contentions. The Court ruled that the

District's anti-childcare policy, if coupled with dis-

criminatory intent, violated both the statute and

constitution, and further ruled that individuals could

sue in federal court to redress violations of Title IX.

The court therefore returned the case to the trial court

_ to afford the mothers a chance to prove their claims.

The mothers were represented by the San Mateo

Legal Aid Society.

7. Criminal Code Reform Bill (S. 1437). A bill to revise

and recodify federal criminal law.

Passed 72-15. 12 Absent. Aye - No + Jan. 30, 1978.

8. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Bill (S. 1566). A

bill to require judicial warrant procedure for all foreign

intelligence wiretapping and to bar taps of Americans

not suspected of crime.

Passed 95-1. 4 Absent. Aye + No - April 20, 1978.

9. Labor-HEW Appropriations Bill FY 78. Packwood

Amendment deleting prohibition on use of federal

Medicaid funds for abortion.

Defeated 56-42. 2 Absent. Aye + No - June 29, 1977.

10. Labor-HEW Appropriations Bill FY 78. Brooke

~ Amendment permitting federal funding of abortions

when medically necessary or in case of rape or incest.

Adopted 56-39. 5 Absent. Aye + No - June 29, 1977.

U.S. Postal Service, Statement of Ownership, Management

and Circulation (Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685)

1. Title of Publication: ACLU News. 2. Date of Filing: Sep-

tember 19, 1978 3. Frequency of issue: Monthly, except bi-

monthly January-February, June-July, August-September,

November-December. 3a. No. of Issues Published Annually: 8.

3b. Annual Subscription Price: 50 cents. 4. Location of Known

Office of Publication: 814 Mission Street, Suite 301, San Fran-

cisco, CA 94103. 5. Location of the Headquarters or General

Business Offices of the Publishers: 814 Mission Street, Suite

301, San Francisco, CA 94103. 6. Names and Complete Address-

es of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: Publisher:

American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, 814

Mission Street, Suite 301, San Francisco, CA 94103; Editor:

Dorothy M. Ehrlich, 814 Mission Street, Suite 301, San Francisco,

CA 94103; Managing Editor: None. 7. Owner: American Civil

Liberties Union of Northern California, Inc. (no stock holders),

814 Mission Street, Suite 301, San Francisco,,CA 94103.

8. Known Bondholders, Mortgages, and Other Security Holders

Owning or Holding 1 percent or more of the Total Amount of

Bonds, Mortgages or Other Securities: None. 9. For completion

by Nonprofit Organizations Authorized to Mail at Special! Rates:

The purpose, function, and nonprofit status of this organization

and the exempt status for Federal income tax purposes have not

changed during preceding 12 months. 10. Extent and Nature of

Circulation:

12 month Aug.-Sept.

average - 1978

A. Total No. Copies Printed 16,125 15,000

B. Paid Circulation :

1. Sales through Dealers,

Carriers, Street Vendors and

Counter Sales NONE NONE

2. Mail Subscriptions 14,193 12,714

C. Total Paid Circulation 14,193 12,714

D. Free distribution by Mail,

Carrier or Other Means,

Samples, Complimentary, and

Other Free Copies 743 586

E. Total Distribution 14,936 13,300

F. Copies Not Distributed ; `

1. Office Use, Left-over, Unaccounted, Spoiled after

Printing e 1,189 1,700

2. Returns from News Agents NONE NONE

G. Total 16,125 15,000

11. | certify that the statements made by me above are correct

and complete.

Is/Dorothy Ehrlich

. October 1978 |

aclu news

San Francisco'

The San Francisco Chapter's fall

plans are focused on our annual meet-

ing, which will take place October 22

(see box below). Members should re-

ceive their invitations soon. Since

Proposition 6 is one of the main topics

of discussion, members of the Gay

Rights Chapter will be invited to attend

that meeting. Please note that while

there is a charge for the dinner,

members wishing to attend only the

program may do so for free.

Members should also check the infor-

mation in this issue of the Bulletin

about the upcoming November

election, . specifically the state

Propositions. In particular, the Board

appeals to San Francisco members to

write letters to editors,

acquaintances, and work in every way

to defeat Propositions 6 and 7. Voter

registration is one way individuals can

help. Any member who wishes to serve

as a voter registrar should contact

Michael Miller at the ACLU office

(777-4545). Speakers bureaus are also

being organized. If any member is

interested, please call Michael Miller.

The San Francisco Chapter along

with a number of other groups, has en-

dorsed a cultural event sponsored by

the Bay Area Rosenberg Commem-

orative Committee. The event, to be

held on October 27th at 7:30 p.m. at

Glide Church, commemorates the 25th

anniversary of the execution of the

Rosenbergs. Speakers will include

Michael Meeropol, Grantland Johnson,

Anita Reinthaler, and folksinger,

Ruthie Gordon. Donation requested.

educate

Gay Rights

The ACLU Gay Rights Chapter of

Northern California held a very exciting

membership meeting on September 13.

Representatives from groups working

against Proposition 6 spoke about their

campaigns, and how ACLU members

can fit in.

Michael Miller, the new field repre-

sentative for the ACLU, and Priscilla

Camp presented the ACLU outreach

program around Proposition 6. We will

_ be training speakers from our chapter,

other chapters, and the affiliate board

to speak to interested groups, in co-

ordination with other No on 6 groups.

Additionally, chapter members will be

participating in other phases of the

campaign, such as leafletting and

working in our chapter office. Volun-

teers are needed now for this very im-

portant work. Speaking engagements

also are being sought. Please call the

office to volunteer or request speakers

at 777-4545. Ask for Michael Miller.

The chapter also honored Paul

Newton, our Chapter President who

recently resigned. Paul worked actively

to organize a Gay Rights Chapter with-

in the ACLU and has served since its in-

ception as its President. His efforts are

greatly appreciated by the chapter.

Paul will continue to serve on the

chapter board and will represent the

- chapter on the affiliate's board of direc-

tors.

Zona Sage is the new Chapter Presi-

dent. Sage was the former chairperson

of the Chapter's legal committee and is

the Assistant Director of Legal Services

for the State Bar of California.

S.F. Meeting on Oct. 22

San Francisco and Gay Rights Chapter members are invited to the San

Francisco Chapter Annual Meeting, to be held Sunday, October 22, at the

Unitarian Church, 6pm.

Join us for dinner ($6.50) or join us at 7:30 for our program (free): hear

Sally Gearhart discuss Proposition 6 and Amitai Schwartz discuss Propo-

sition 7 and current ACLU issues.

Watch your mail for the invitation, or send a check and reservation now to

the ACLU office c/o San Francisco Chapter, 814 Mission Street, Suite 301,

~ San Francisco 94103. We hope to see you there.

Marin

The Marin Chapter Board of

Directors voted at its August meeting to

participate in the campaigns against

Propositions 6 and 7. To participate in

the campaigns please contact the

Committee. Coordinators: for Propo-

sition 6 - Gerry Ellersdorfer, 383-

1074; for Proposition 7 - Alan Cilman, -

457-1243.

Yolo |

The Yolo County Chapter of the Nor-

thern California ACLU has elected new

Board members for the 1978-79 year.

Serving on the Board are Larry

Gatrett, chair; David Rosenberg, vice-

chair; Marilyn Olmstead, secretary;

_ Hap Dunning, treasurer; Ken Levy,

legal affairs; Julius Young, legal

affairs; Karen Angel, ACLU-NC; Vince

Crockenberg, Rufino Diaz, Katherine

Domeny, Alan Katz, Gary McCurdy,

Dena McNamee, Nadine Noelting,

Frank Ochoa, Steve Sosnick, Linda

Thayer, Philemon Watts, Linda Yang.

Abortion funding was the subject of a

forum held for the public in Davis in

conjunction with the Yolo County

chapter annual meeting this summer.

No. Peninsula

How November ballot Propositions 6

and 7 relate to ACLU principles and to

First Amendment rights will be the

theme for the October 17 meeting of the

North Peninsula Chapter at the Bel-

mont Congregational Church, 751

Alameda de las Pulgas in Belmont,

beginning at 8 pm.

_ A three-member panel of speakers

will present various aspects of the

issues. Jerel McCrary, San Francisco

attorney who has had a long time in-

volvement in opposing Proposition 6,

will speak on that subject. Joan Marie

Shelley, a member of the Federation of

Teachers, will discuss teachers' con-

stitutional rights. Father John Kelley of

the Conference on Race, Religion and

Social Concerns will talk on the Death

Penalty Initiative, Proposition 7.

Andrea Tepper, chapter legal co-

ordinator, and Gretchen Smithey, vice

president are coordinating the meeting.

Mid-Peninsula

Two Big Events

The Mid-Peninsula Chapter will hold

its annual meeting at the Kresge Audi-

torium at the Law School on the Stan-

ford Campus on Thursday, October 19,

1978, at 8:00 pm. .The guest speaker

will be Ms. Mary Dunlap, staff counsel

for Equal Rights Advocates and

ACLUNC Board member. Everyone is

invited.

On Saturday, October 28, 1978, from

9:00 am until 4:00 pm the annual Mid-

Peninsula Chapter's Rummage Sale

will be held at 475 El Dorado Avenue,

Palo Alto. Members are encouraged to

donate items for the sale as well as to

attend the gala event.

Any questions regarding either

event? Call Len Edwards, 287-6193.

Bock oan

continued from page 1

because of the use of "slang ex-

pressions."'

Wexner's curriculum did not include

"assigned" reading, but instead -

allowed students to select from ap-

proximately 2,000 available books.

Approximately 300 of Wexner's

students enrolled in the Developmental

Reading class have read one or more of

Richard Brautigan's books.

Wexner supported the Anderson

School policy granting parents, ``final

authority over their children's reading,"'

claiming, "if the book meets the

family's approval, it meets my ap-

proval." :

Margaret Crosby, ACLU staff coun-

sel and Ann Brick, an ACLU volunteer

CHAPTERS

attorney who are both handling the

book-banning case claim that the Brau-

tigan incident is not the first time that

censorship and the confiscation of

books has been employed by the Ander-

son Union High School District.

In 1970 J.D. Salinger's The Catcher

in the Rye was banned. Over the past

two years at least six books have been

banned on either a temporary or

permanent basis because of their

alleged "unsuitability". Furthermore,

Crosby noted that similar incidents

have spurred ACLU litigation

throughout the country.

Ironically, at least one of the con-

fiscated books, Trout Fishing In Ameri-

ca has been called ``one of the most

original and pleasing books to appear

in the decade," by critics writing in

Book Week. Moreover, in 1975. the

`America Library Association included

Trout Fishing in a listing of books par-

ticularly suited to young people, called

Still Alive - The Best of the Best 1960-

1974. ae

The District's action in banning these

books was called a "`blatant violation of

First Amendment rights,' by Ann.

Brick at a press conference announcing

the law-suit on October 3. "We claim

the school district's action violates the

First Amendment rights of Anderson

High School students to read, and the

teachers' right to use discretion in

making a wide range of reading materi-

als available to students, and the pub-

lisher's right to disseminate informa-

tion free from government censorship.

"Schools should be a marketplace for

"ideas. But when school officials seek to

restrict ideas so the students see only

those that are `suitable,' the schools

cease to fulfill their function,' Brick

said.

eagerness

Ramey continued from page I

Chairperson during the last year.

A law professor at Golden Gate

University, Ms. Ramey sees the Board

participating much more actively with (c)

the staff-in effectuating the ACLU's

civil liberties programs. ``Our public

education program, in many ways, is in

its infancy. We've got to extend the

organization's outreach beyond the bay

area to educate people, especially young

people, women, and minorities, about

civil liberties and the ACLU's role in all

this."

The new chairperson believes that

she has taken the helm at a time when

civil libertarians `"`must hold the line''

against the wave of repression which

Senator Briggs and others are at-

tempting to foster. ``Anti-affirmative

action campaigns, anti-abortion

groups, and other repressive

movements are forcing us to defend

rights we had hoped were already

established. At the same time, we must

aggressively actuate the new priorities

set by the Board of Directors last July,

which include placing greater emphasis

on equal protection issues, while at the

same time maintaining our more

traditional First Amendment work."

The new chairperson attributes her

and confidence in- the

ACLU's ability to move effectively

against repression to the able job of the

current Executive Director, David

Fishlow, and the outgoing Chairperson,

Warren Saltzman, at

organization's

financial woes.

A `"dyed-in-the-wool civil liber-

solving the

administrative and

tarian," Ramey was raised by "what

used to be called a `career women', as

well as a `Jeffersonian' man," and

taught to keep her "`eye on the concerns

of the underdog, not the main chance."

Her civil liberties upbringing took her

from Yale Law School to serve as a law

clerk to the ACLU's Washington D.C.

office, and when she moved to San

Francisco, she was invited to serve on

the ACLU's newly-inaugurated

women's rights committee in 1972.

"That's where I met Nancy |

McDermid - the soul and conscience

of the ACLU,' an ACLU Board

member whose 7-year term of office just

expired. `Nancy taught me that if your

position is really valid, and if you work

hard to get it across, even an institution

as venerated as the ACLU is subject to

change. Now, they're the veteran in

women's rights.''.

"The composition of the Board has

changed. The old perception of a small

group of directors making decisions for

ACLU members and the staff is no

longer true;" she said. "The mem-

bership now elects the Board of

Directors and it is a much more

heterogeneous group with numerous

political points of view represented, and

with much greater participation of

women, gays, and racial minorities,

although we have a long way to go with

the minority community."

`"`We no longer have to battle to have

a different viewpoint heard; we are -

poised to reap the benefits from our

many different perspectives because

now we're all in it together."