vol. 46, no. 4

Volume XLVI

May 1981

No. 4

Loyalty Oath Void - Again

The MeCarthy era loyalty oath re-

quired of teachers and all employees by

the Richmond Unified School District

is "repugnant to both the U.S. and

California Constitutions" and may no

longer be used ruled Contra Costa Sup-

erior Court Judge Martin J. Rothenberg

on April 24.

The summary judgment came in res-

ponse to an ACLU lawsuit filed in De-

cember 1980 on behalf of Marvin Sch-

mid who objected to signing the oath

when she applied for a teaching po-

sition in the Richmond School District.

The Richmond oath reads, "`I,

do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am

not knowingly a member of the

Communist Party."

The oath derives from Sections 7001,

7003 and 7006 of the California Edu-

cation Code. Judge Rothenberg de-

clared that all three sections are "`un-

constitutional and invalid."'

In addition to enjoining the Rich-

mond School District from admini-

stering or enforcing the oath, the Court

also enjoined defendant Wilson Riles

and the State Board of Education to

"notify all school districts and com-

munity college districts in the State of

California that Education Code Sec-

tions 7001, 7003 and 7006 are invalid.

The injunction requires the State Board

of Education to adopt regulations for-.

bidding the administration and en-

forcement of the offensive sections.

Break-In at ACLU

Police Files Rifled

When staff attorney Margaret Crosby

. came into the ACLU office on Sunday

morning April 11 to finish an extensive

brief, she was shocked to find the front

door lock smashed and all the lights

burning.

Crosby's surprise was only slightly

mitigated by the fact the office had

been burgled three times since January,

with three expensive IBM typewriters

missing each time.

Staff atoriey Ami Schwartz examines

_ ACLU files on police surveillance tactics

which were rifled by an unknown intruder in -

April.

As she walked through the silent

office, however, the fact that this break-

in was of a different nature became

evident.

No. typewriters were missing - but.

the files of staff attorney Amitai Sch-

wartz who specializes in police practices

were strewn around his office.

Further investigation revealed that

selected files dealing with the activities

of the San Francisco Police Department

had been systematically rifled.

Schwartz is the head of the Northern

California Police Practices Project and

the chief attorney in an ACLU lawsuit

aimed at forcing the state Department

of Justice to make public its criminal

intelligence files (ACLU v. Deuk-

mejian.) He said that his office would be

the logical place for a political burgler

to look for some of the ACLU's most

sensitive - and controversial - in-

formation.

"It's somewhat ironic,'' Schwartz

said, `"The ACLU has been involved in

so many cases where intelligence agen-

cies or political groups have burglarized

organizations to intimidate them from

exercising their constitutionally pro-

tected right to free association and poli-

tical action.

"This is the first time it has ever

happened to us," he noted.

Among the materials that were

removed were documents about former

Police Chief Charles Gain, Judith Ci-

anni, a member of the city's police com-

mission in the 1970's, and Joseph Fre- -

itas, San Francisco's former aout

attorney.

Also disturbed were files with infor-

mation about and from the White Pan-

ther Party, a left wing political group

that has had several clashes with the

police, and the file on the San Francisco

Police Intelligence Bureau.

Most of the materials date back to

1976-1978 and include police com-

mission policy papers, notes of tele-

phone conversations about police sur-

veillance of political organizations,

and copies of correspondence and notes

about alleged instances of police mis-

conduct including search procedures.

Schwartz and the Police Practices

Project were recently in the news when

the U.S. Supreme Court upheld their

award of $25,000 in attorney's fees as a

result of a challenge to illegal stop-and-

search tactics used by the city police in

the 1974 `Zebra'? murder case (see

ACLU News, April 1981.)

more page 4

Schmid, who is currently a Hicclog:

student in Berkeley, said, ``I am posi-

tively delighted. Ways of thinking are

always changing - people may not

-appreciate this right now, but I am sure

it will be worthwhile for some time in

the future."

According to ACLU-NC staff counsel

Amitai Schwartz who handled the case,

"Our Berkeley-Albany-Kensington-

chapter was very alert and took action

`on this case as soon as it was called to

their attention through the chapter

complaint line. It is a good example of

why vigilance is necessary to protect 0 our

liberties.

"Despite several court decisions

saying these oaths are unconstitutional,

they still crop up in practice,' Schwartz

said.

When the case, Schmid v. Lovette,

was originally filed there was a great

deal of surprise and disbelief that such

~ an oath was still being used. Even well-

informed civil libertarians assumed that

after the Caiifornia Supreme Court

struck down the Levering Oath in 1967,

such McCarthy-style loyalty oaths were

no longer on the books.

Schwartz explained, "The problem is

that the Legislature passes laws which

are not repealed even though they are

not constitutional. Most eighth graders

know that the Constitution of the U.S.

is the supreme law of the land, but the

Richmond School Board decided that

an old state statute still on the books

somehow takes precedence over the

Constitution." :

Schwartz also noted that in doing

research for the case, ACLU-NC staff

learned through-a random sampling,

that the oath was being used in several

school districts around the state in-

cluding Turlock, Ceres, and Hacienda

La Puente.

Eyebrows were also raised when the (c)

Richmond School District decided to

defend the use of the oath by hiring a

private attorney, in contrast to the state

Board of Education which responded to

the case by agreeing that the oath was

unconstitutional.

Richmond School Board member

James Shattuck said at the time, "If the

law is improper, why didn't the Legis-

lature change it?

"Tm not sure it's all that bad either

. I don't necessarily think we need

anybody who is an avowed Communist

teaching schooi. They have a captive

audience,'' Shattuck said.

Judge Rothenberg's order means that

_ the oath will no longer be used as a con-

dition of employment in any school dis-

trict in the state. In addition, state Sen-

ator Nicholas Petris has introduced

legislation in Sacramento, SB 1084, to

remove the oath from the state

Education Code.

We're on the Move

The ACLU's mission on

`Mission Street remains the

same, but our' number is

going up. :

New address as_ of

June 1, 1981:

American Civil

Liberties Union of

Northern California

1663 Mission St.

4th floor

San Francisco

California

94103

Carpenter David Uribe on top of what will be

a wall in the new ACLU-NC offices at 1663

Mission St. Uribe is part of a crew that is

converting the former garment warehouse

into a suitable homebase for the civil liber-

ties battles ahead.

aclu news

May 1981

Letter from

Sacramento.

Beth Meador, ACLU-NC Legislative

Advocate, reports on the _ strange

goings-on at the Senate Judiciary Com-

mittee, where respect for privacy rights

seem to be in order - PDD: when it

comes to women.

Early this month, the Senate Judi-

ciary Committee passed the Abortion

Reporting bill authored by former LA

Police Chief, Senator Ed Davis. This

bill, SB 946, requires that for each and

every abortion performed in this state,

the attending physician must submit to

the state Health Department a form

which, among other items, includes the

age, race, ethnicity, marital status and

reproductive history of the patient,

month and year of the abortion, loca-

tion of the facility, name of the attend-

ing physician, and age of fetus.

Not only does the bill provide that

this information is a matter of public

record, but also that if a doctor fails to

submit the form, or omits any of the

required information, she or he is

subject to a misdeameanor.

Telephone Surveillance

On the same evening that the Abor-

tion Reporting bill was passed, the

Judiciary Committee heard testimony

on a bill promoted by the state Attorney

General. This bill would have allowed

officials from the Department of Justice

to obtain a search warrant and place a

device called a pen register on tele-

phones of suspected individuals.

"Privacy

A pen register records all telephone

- numbers dialed from the telephone to

which it is attached.

_ When this bill was presented, most of

the committee members, and _partic-

ularly Committee Chair Omer Rains,

expressed grave concern. They worried

that our rights to privacy would be seri-

ously eroded by such legislation.

When the Attorney General's repre- |

sentative replied that this device would

furnish law enforcement with one of the

most viable tools for investigating and

solving certain major crimes, Senator

Rains replied that he was not prepared

to pay the price in potential abuse.

Rains likened the legislation to the first

step in inviting "Big Brother" into our

homes.

Fortunately, most of the committee

members agreed with him and the bill

failed miserably.

One hour later

Not an hour had passed when

`Senator Davis presented his Abortion

Reporting bill. This bill would require

furnishing intimate medical infor-

mation to a third party, and would

make the information available to the

public.

Davis stated that the purpose of his

bill was to aid in providing quality

maternal health care - however, he

could not explain exactly how this was

So.

The true motives of the proponents of

this legislation were revealed a few days

Letters

Klan Rights Debate

It only goes to show that the ACLU

doesn't learn from its own past history

and intends to repeat it. Your recent

resolution regarding the protection of

the KKK and the Nazis (see ACLU

News, April 1981) is a repudiation of

the most fundamental of ACLU doc-

trines. Surely you can't mean that cer-

tain groups warrant protection of their

basic rights more than others, just

because we happen to find their philo-

sophy repugnant.

The greatest danger to civil liberties

in northern California right now seems

to be the Executive Board of the ACLU-

NC. Is it possible that there is no one on

our board who protested this horror of a

_ resolution. Please send me their names,

so I can vote to retain them in the future

and vote against the rest.

~ Ted Oakes, M.D.

San Francisco

Although the minutes of ACLU-NC

board meetings are available to mem-

bers, there is no recording of votes on

any particular motion by board

members.

Sex Reporting Bill

Re: "Sex Reporting Law Chal-

lenged" (4CLU-NC News, March 1981)

- I was shocked and outraged to

read about this law. Every teenage girl

who is suspected of consensual sexual

activity (or who confides in any person)

is to have a police record! It smells of

"gestapo."'

Besides violating the federal and

state privacy acts, it discriminates

`against teenage girls. Anyone initiating

this measure must hate women - ex-

pecially pune women.

Can you inform me who sponsored

The bill SB 781 and who voted for it. If

my assembly representative or state

senator voted for it I would like to write

a scalding letter.

R.A.

San Francisco

We are happy to report that SB 322

by senator Omar Rains repealing the

offensive sections of SB 781 passed the

Legislature and was signed by the

Governor on May 7. The act will go into

effect immediately so that teen-age

women can now feel confident that their

" privacy will be protected when seeking

advice on sexual matters from doctors

and other adults.

It was

respondent and other ACLU members

let their legislators know of this objec-

tionable bill - your letters helped

insure this speedy rectification. Ed.

Abortion Fight

Thank you so much for the article on

the Pleasant Hill "Informed Consent"

Ordinance (ACLU News, March 1981.)

However, although the city council (c)

voted not to consider such an ordi-

_ hance, the fight is not over yet. Neigh-

bors United to Fight Abortion (NUFA)

is presently trying to get a referendum

on the November ballot. The proposed

referendum is different from the ordi-

nance imthat a woman would not have

to be counseled on fetal development.

In addition, the waiting period has been

cut from 48 hours to 2 hours. These

deletions from the original ordinance

were implemented so that the refer-

endum will be more acceptable to the

general public.

We are working on our own cam-

paign to defeat the proposed `Informed .

important that this cor--

For Men Only?

later, however, Wy See John Sch-

mitz introduced a similar Abortion

Reporting bill in the Senate Health

Committee. .

`Identify the Killers"

When members of the committee

questioned Schmitz closely as to the use

of his legislation, Schmitz replied that

the information would be used to

"identify the killers'? and "establish

boycotts of doctors."

He also testified that many of the

bills he was introducing to limit abor-

tion were simply forerunners to his pro-

posed constitutional amendment which

would ban all abortions.

Thus, this legislation that is touted as

a tool for preserving maternal health is

actually nothing more than a tool to be

employed in a witch hunt against

women attempting to exercise control.

over their own bodies and doctors who

may assist them.

Double Standard

The all-male Senate Judiciary Com-

mittee which was so appalled at the

prospect of Big Brother peering into

their telephone calls had no problem

with inviting Big Brother to invade the

privacy of their wives, sisters, daugh-

ters, or nieces.

It becomes painfully apparent that :

women are not yet liberated from the

short-sighted double standard even as it

applies to something as fundamental as

doctor-patient confidentiality. Should

this vote signify a trend, women could

be faced with further attempts to erode

the rights for which we fought so hard

to win.

Consent'? referendum in conjunction

with individuals and community

groups. If anyone would like to lend

their support, please contact Every-

woman's Clinic at 825-7900.

Lisa Kimball

Everywoman's Clinic

Pleasant Hill

HUAC Revival

I recently sent a letter to Senator

Cranston urging him to block funding

for the Senate Sub-Committee on Un-

American Activities. The danger this -

committee presents to our civil liberties

is well-know to the ACLU.

I would ask you to urge all ACLU

members to alert their representatives

of the nature of this committee. The

threat of facism in this country is too

close for comfort.

Ted W. Petully -

San Francisco

The new Senate Judiciary Com-

mittee has established a Subcommittee

on Security and Terrorism, chaired by

freshman Senator Jeremiah Denton (R-

Alabama). See more on this committee

and other dangers to civil liberties

emerging in Washington on p. 4.

_ ACLU News file photo

Founder Dies

The first chairperson of the ACLU-

NC, Dr. Charles A. Hogan, died in New

York City on April 23. Dr. Hogan was

74.

Dr. Charles A. Hogan, pictured when he

was the first chair of the ACLU-NC.

A native Californian, Dr. Hogan was

appointed Chair of the Northern Cali-

fornia Branch of the ACLU when it was

reorganized in 1934.

That year, as a result of vicious police

and National Guard attacks on trade

unionists during the San Francisco

dockworkers' strike, the national AC-

LU (then 14 years old and based in New

York) sent two organizers, Ernest Besig

and Chester Williams, to combat the

wholesale violation of workers rights.

Williams recruited the first Executive

Committee for the local ACLU, in-

cluding Dr. Hogan.

Besig, who was the affiliate's Exe-

cutive Director until 1971, told the

ACLU News, "Dr. Hogan was a man of

courage. He was an advocate and de-

fender of civil liberties when it was not

_ popular to be a civil libertarian."'

He noted vigilante attacks on trade

union organizers, local ordinances

which prohibited assemblages of three

or more persons, the fight for the right

of labor unions to picket, distribute (c)

literature and hold public meetings, as

well as the anti-Okie laws and the pre-

war hysteria aimed at Japanese in Cali-

fornia as the major civil liberties battles

during Dr. Hogan's time.

A 1926 graduate of the University of

California at Berkeley, Dr. Hogan was a

staff member of the School of Social

Studies, founded by Dr. Alexander

Meiklejohn, another member of the

first ACLU Executive Committee.

Dr. Hogan left the Bay Area in 1939.

and worked at the U.S. Embassy in

London during World War II. He

served at the United Nations for 25

years, becoming chief of sections' on

freedom of information and the press

and non-governmental organizations.

Following his retirement, Dr. Hogan

moved back to the Bay Area and main-

tained an active interest in the work of

the ACLU-NC.

Elaine Elinson, Editor

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 Dorothy Ehrlich, Executive Director -

Michael Miller, Chapter Page

ACLU NEWS (USPS 018- -040)

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.

2

aclu news

May 1981:

Subscribers List Demanded Only Your Hair. Neeative Reaction

The court-ordered disclosure of the

names and addresses of S000 sub-

_ scribers to The Republican newspaper

to the Alameda County District At-

torney would be an "intrusion on the

constitutional rights of privacy and

freedom of association of innocent |

bystanders who have been accused of no

wrongdoing" according to an ACLU

amicus brief challenging the order.

Cooperating attorney Mary K. Mc-

Eachron presented the ACLU argu-

ments before the state Court of Appeal

on April 28. McEachron and Steven A.

Brick, both of the San Francisco law

firm of Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe

are handling the case, Vail v. Superior

Court, for the ACLU-NC.

The Republican, published by

Wanda Vail, was originally the organ of

the local Republican Party in Alameda

but became an independent newspaper

after a dispute between Vail and the

Party several years ago. Although the

paper carries the disclaimer that is not

an official organ of the Republican

Party prominently on its masthead

every issue, the Alameda DA is invest-_

igating the paper for consumer fraud on

the grounds that those who subscribe

and donate to the paper may misguid-

edly think they are contributing to the

Party itself.

In pursuit of the consumer fraud

case, the Alameda DA asked for and.

obtained from the Alameda County

Superior Court an order requiring the

disclosure of all 5000 subscribers to The

Republican.

The ACLU amicus brief argues that

this disclosure would be in violation of

the state and federal guarantees of

privacy. .

According to cooperating attorney

McEachron, "`Subscribers to a partisan

political newspaper, such as The

Republican, have a constitutionally

protected right of privacy. The First

Amendment precludes the government

from discovering whether an individual

subscribes to political or ideological

publications.

"Moreover, Article I, section 1 of the

California Constitution also precludes

governmental inquiry into an_ indi-

vidual's

added.

Cooperating attorney Brick added,

"Whether an individual citizen chooses

to read obscene literature, Communist

propaganda or conservative Republican

tracts, he should not need to fear that

the government will discover his

choice."

Citing an earlier U.S. Supreme Court

decision in a similar case, Brick added,

"Once an individual is no longer

assured of anonymity in his reading

habits, `the spectre of a government

agent will look over the shoulder of

everyone who reads.' "'

_ As the DA has advanced no state

interest sufficiently compelling to over-

come the privacy rights of 5000 readers,

the ACLU is asking that the lower court

order requiring disclosure of the sub-

scribers' names and addresses be

declared unconstitutional and vacated.

SCA 7: Lowering Standards

A proposal that would allow evidence

gathered in violation of the California

Constitution - including its

declaration of rights - is dangerously

close to passing the state Legislature.

The measure, SCA 7, would repeal

the state's "exclusionary rule' - a

device to deter police misconduct by

suppressing evidence that is not ob-

tained legally. It would amend the state _

constitution to provide that no evidence

may be excluded from a criminal

proceeding unless exclusion is required

by the narrower provisions of the

federal constitution. (c)

ACLU lobbyist. Beth Meador charac-

terized the change. "`By diluting the

civil liberties advances embodied in the

California Constitution, SCA 7 is to

searches and _ confessions what

Proposition 1 was to desegregation,"

Meador said.

SCA 7 passed the Senate floor this

month and is on the agenda of the

Assembly Criminal Justice Committee

for June 1.

In an attempt to arrest this stampede

of repressive legislation, the ACLU-NC,

together with the State Bar of

California, the State Public Defenders

Office, California Attorneys for

Criminal Justice and other groups, is

testifying, lobbying, letter-writing and

publicizing its opposition to SCA 7.

you

Law enforcement officials who

advocate the measure claim that it will

stop crime by "`closing the legal

loopholes enabling criminals to escape

the consequences of their crime."

"However," Meador told the ACLU

News, "`this illusion quickly fades when

examine the unavoidable

deleterious impact of SCA 7 in several

major areas."

These areas include: (c)

e Traffic searches: The police will be

empowered to conduct a complete

search of anyone arrested under the

traffic laws, be it for a faulty muffler or

anything else. Under current California

law, the police do not have automatic

grounds to search the driver of a car or

the car simply because he or she has

been cited for a traffic offense.

e Bank records: SCA 7 would

remove any constitutional restraint on

police searches of personal bank

records. Police will: be able to review .

anyone's bank records without

notifying the person whose records they

are inspecting - contrary to current

California law which holds that the

expectation of privacy incompasses

bank records.

e News reporters notes and records:

Although SCA 7 does not expressly

repeal the California law forbidding the

use of a search warrant on a news

reporter, or materials, notes or in- -

reading preferences,' she |

dresser Knows

By Marcia Galio

A call from a Contra Costa beautic-

ian to the ACLU Complaint Desk ques-

tioning the state's requirement of the

public posting of her home address

spurred ACLU action resulting in a

speedy revision of the policy.

The beautician told the ACLU that

regulations adopted by the State Board

of Cosmetology in 1980 required that

operators' licenses, which must be

"prominently displayed' at salon work

stations, include the licencee's home

address. She objected to this provision

as an invasion of privacy.

ACLU staff counsel Alan Schlosser,

assisted by law intern Sarai Obermeyer,

took the complaint to the state Depart-

ment of Consumer Affairs.

Schlosser noted the amendment of

California's Constitution in 1972 to in-

clude the specific right of privacy, and

quoted the California Supreme Court

on the subject: "Fundamental to our

privacy is the ability to control circula-

tion of personal information."

"This beautician,'' Schlosser wrote,

"is a single woman who is living alone,

and she fears that the free dissemina-

tion of her home address poses a threat

to her personal safety."'

Adding that there seemed to be no

necessity to include the operator's home

`address on the license, Schlosser re-

quested copies of the regulations gov-

erning the practice and a response to

the beautician's complaint.

Consumer Affairs Director Richard

Spohn replied three weeks later. He

wrote that the State Board of Cosmetol-

ogy "essentially agrees'' with the

ACLU's defense of the privacy rights in

this issue and that actions had been

taken to inform all operators that they

could ink out or tape over the addresses

on their licenses. :

Moreover, Spohn reported, ``The

Board's staff has designed a new license

form to be used during the next renewal

process in 1982 that will not display to

the public the licensees' address."'

Marcia Gallo is a full-time Admini-

strative Assistant at the ACLU-NC and

a journalism student at S.F. State Uni-

versity.

formation developed by a reporter

(including the name of a news source), if

a law enforcement officer ignores the

prohibition, nothing will preclude the

use of that evidence, exposure of the

reporter's source of information, nor

require return of the information

unlawfully obtained.

e Lawyer-client and doctor-patient

records: If, under federal law, it is legal

to subject newsrooms to unannounced

searches to secure evidence, even

though it was specifically protected by

the First Amendment, then neither

lawyer-client, physician-patient, nor

clergyman-penitent privileges would

bar them. Though government agents

are required to proceed by special

master, no practical sanction would

exist even if this requirement were

openly flaunted.

_ @ Gay rights: If SCA 7 is adopted,

the homosexual community would find

pervasive police surveillance of bath

houses, public restrooms, etc. rein-

troduced into their lives. more page 4

A little publicized proposal by Con-

gressman Paul McCloskey is being

publicly condemned by the ACLU-NC

as a serious threat to affirmative action

in federal contract programs.

Currently, Executive Order 11246,

executed. on September 25, 1965 by

President Lyndon Johnson, requires

nondiscrimination whenever employees

are hired by government contractors or

sub-contractors. The Office of Federal

Contract Compliance Programs (OF-

CCP) oversees the federal affirmative

action program and has the authority to

investigate and enforce the Executive

Order.

MY GROUP HAS PROS-

ATI

McCloskey's_ proposal would eli-

minate the OFCCP or severely reduce

its effectiveness by taking away its mus-

cle - greatly restricting the agency's

authority to process, investigate and

evaluate claims against alleged discrim-

inatory policies or to remedy noncom-

pliance with equal employment laws

and regulations. -

According to `ACLU-NC staff at-

torney Margaret Crosby, who has

handled a number of successful affirm-

ative action cases for the ACLU,

TO HELL wtH

oul A

"Thousands. of employers in this

country are government contractors.

For example, everyone who supplies

goods such as cornflakes and camera

film to the military is subject to the pre-

sent order. Thus, the effect of McClos-

key's measure would be to remove stan-

dards for nondiscrimination in thou-

sands of employment situations."'

- The ACLU noted that a particular

danger of McCloskey's proposal is that

it comes in the form of a re-draft of an

Executive Order, which means that it

does not have to be debated or ap-

proved by Congress.

The ACLU is urging its members and

all constituents who support affirmative

action to contact Congressman Mc-

Closkey to express their disapproval of

his attempts to dismantle affirmative

action by redrafting the Executive

Order.

BUT HAT aRe

COONS ?

aclunews __

3 May 1981

id Photos

Expert Tells on Secrets

Morton Halperin, the Director of the

ACLU's Center for National Security

Studies, was in San Francisco this

month directing a seminar on litigation

under the Freedom of Information Act

and speaking on Bay Area radio and

TV about the threat to civil liberties

under the Reagan administration.

A former Deputy Assistant Secretary

of Defense and a staff member of the

National Security. Council under

Kissinger, Halperin sued the federal

government when he discovered that his

Morton Halperin, Director of the Center for

National Security Studies, warned of threats

to civil liberties under Reagan.

home telephone had been tapped. The

D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that the

surveillance was unconstitutional and

that Kissinger, Richard Nixon, H.R.

Haldeman and John Mitchell may be

liable for damages.

`Subcommittee

Halperin, a leading expert on

protecting civil liberties from govern-

ment abuses which come under the

guise of `"`national security" encouraged

ACLU members to be _ extremely

vigilant about current incursions

"which could very rapidly erode many

of the rights we consider secure."'

Halperin cited the recent Presidential

`pardon of former FBI officials Felt and

Miller as a signal for an increase in

unconstitutional methods of sur-

veillance of the a s pe

opponents.

He also noted that the Senate's new

on Security and

Terrorism and the House's proposed

Internal Security Committee are a

revival of McCarthy era tactics on

Capitol Hill. "There will be an attempt

to discredit all opposition as tools of

foreign intelligence,'' he told the ACLU

News.

"There are many moves afoot to cut

back the Freedom of Information Act,

as well," Halperin noted. `The CIA is

seeking exemption from the FOIA and

so is the Nuclear Regulatory Com-

mission.

"Soon the only agency that will

relinquish information under the FOIA |

will be the Department of Agriculture,"

he joked.

_ However, the day Halperin left San _

Francisco, Attorney General William

French Smith announced new

guidelines for the FOIA that will make

data harder to obtain.

Generous Gray Reque

By Michael Miller

The ACLU Foundation of Northern

California has received a bequest of

$75,000 from the estate of long-time

ACLU friend Gretchen Gray, Executive

Director Dorothy Ehrlich announced

earlier this month.

Gray died at her home in San Rafael

last fall at the age of 75. She was an ac-

tive member of the Marin Chapter

board and helped organize recent

annual ACLU-NC Chapter Confer-

ences.

The sum felis from the sale of .

Gray's home which she bequeathed to

- the ACLU. Because the sale was hand-

led by another dedicated ACLU mem-

ber, Esther Dutton, the estate's execu-

tor, the ACLU paid no real estate com-

mission.

"With this generous effort, Esther

Dutton made a substantial contribution

to the ACLU herself,"' Ehrlich said. _

The Gray bequest will go into the

ACLU Foundation's Special Gifts Fund

which endows a portion of the ACLU =

legal program.

According to Ehrlich, the Founda-

tion receives about two bequests each

99

year. "`However,'' she noted, "`many

members and friends probably do not

consider helping the ACLU in this way.

A gift to the ACLU in an individual's

will is one of the finest possible ways to

express her concern that constitutional

rights be protected for future genera-

tions.

"Bequests we have received over the

last several years now support an im-

portant part of our on-going legal dock-

et - a docket with over 50 active cases

at any one time. Because our Special

Gifts Fund functions as an endowment,

the bequests we receive keep working

for the ACLU year after year.

"Being able to depend on this consis-

tent support provides a great source of

financial security for the ACLU," Ehr-

lich added.

Asked about the size of bequests,

Ehrlich pointed out that `Bequests are

not reserved for wealthy individuals

alone. Modest donations are essential

to the growth and strength of the organ-

ization.'

Bequests to the ACLU Foundation of

Northern California are tax-exempt and

are very simple to add to an already ex- _

isting will.

For information on how to make a

bequest to the ACLU Foundation of

Northern California, call or write Doro-

thy Ehrlich, Executive Director, ACLU

Foundation, 1663 Mission St., San

_ Francisco, 94103.

Michael Miller is the Associate Di-

rector of the ACLU-NC with responsi-

bilities for fundraising.

Help Wanted

The ACLU-NC is anxiously

looking for a legal secretary with

excellent skills to assist 2 staff attor-

| neys for three months beginning July (c)

1, 1981. Legal experience necessary.

The job will include secretarial work

plus your own responsibilities in a

friendly but hectic atmosphere.

For job description and appli-

# cation call Donna Van Diepen at

(415) 777-4880 as soon as possible.

California citizens,

| Danger: SCA 7 From oes

There are several other important

areas where California law is far more

protective of our individual privacy

than U.S. law. Both individual statutes

and case law in our state provide far

greater protection in the area of

electronic surveillance, telephone

conversations divulged by telephone

employees to government agencies, and

disclosure of such personal data as

hotel registrations. SCA 7 would have

an unavoidable impact in these areas as

well.

According to Meador, "This is why

SCA 7 has profound effects which are

not perceivable on first impression, and

which bear disasterous effects which

businesses,

professions will be discovering to their

horror for years to come."

SCA 7 has passed the Senate. Gover-

nor Brown has announced his support

for this repressive legislation. If we are

to defeat this ominous proposal, our

voices must be heard immediately.

Write a letter today to your state

Assembly member opposing SCA 7.

Send a copy to Assemblyman Terry

Goggin, Chair of the Assembly

Committee on Criminal Justice.

All letters should be addressed to the

Assembly Member at the State Capitol,

Sacramento, CA 95814. Write today!

Break-In from page 1

Schwartz noted an additional irony.

- "This suspicious break-in at the ACLU

occurred only a few days before

President Reagan's pardon of two FBI

officials convicted of illegal intrusion

and surveillance of political activists in

the `60's,'"' he commented.

Schwartz said that he had contacted

the U.S. Attorney for northern Cali-

fornia, William Hunter, about the

break-in but that Hunter refused to

look into the matter.

A San Francisco police officer in-

spected the scene of the break-in and

filled out a report, but nothing has

come of his investigation either, Sch-

wartz added.

ACLU-NC_ Executive Director

Dorothy Ehrlich said, `"We are taking

extra security precautions at the office

and pursuing our own investigation of

the burglary.

"Our greatest defense, though, is to

continue to do our work of challenging

police and government surveillance and

other attempts to intimidate or sup-

press the exercise of First Amendment

rights,' Ehrlich concluded.

and ~

-- Calendar-

san Francisco

ANNUAL MEETING and

BRUNCH: Sunday, June 7, Iron

Platter Restaurant, 3300 Geary

-Blvd., brunch at 11 a.m.; program

at 12:45. Rabbi Joseph Asher of

Temple Emanu-El speaks on

"Religion and Politics" and ACLU-

NC legislative advocate Beth Meador

reports on current state legislation.

Tickets are $6.00; call Peggy

Sarasohn at 415-621-0837 for ad-

vance reservations by Wednesday,

June BE

B-A-K

BOARD NOMINATIONS: The

chapter is seeking nominations for

chapter board members. Call Jim

tener at 763-7381. yy

Court Martial Upheld

An appeal by the ACLU on behalf of

a former U.S. Army lieutenant seeking

a declaration that his court martial

conviction for sodomy and subsequent

dishonorable discharge from the mili-

tary was unconstitutional was rejected

by the U.S. Court of Appeals on April

20.

In affirming the District Court's

decision to uphold the court martial -

conviction, the Court of Appeals held

that "selecting those who engage in

homosexual acts for prosecution under

the Uniform Code of Military Justice

making it a crime for a service person to

engage in `unnatural carnal copulation

with another person of the same or

opposite sex' does not violate equal pro-

tection."

The judgment also stated that ``the

article under which the serviceman was

convicted was not unconstitutional as

violative of the serviceman's right to

personal autonomy."

According to staff counsel Alan

Schlosser, `"`The ACLU position on the

constitutionality of the conviction still

stands and we are planning to petition

the Court for a re-hearing."'

rertryt tftt?

a

At the May Executive Board

Meeting, the Nominating Committee

announced their slate of candidates

for the 1981-1982 ACLU-NC Board

and reminded all members that they

can still nominate at-large candi-

dates by petition.

To nominate a candidate, a mem-

ber must submit a petition with the

signatures of 15 current ACLU

members. Petitions for nominations,

which should also include qualifi-

cations, must be submitted to the

Board of Directors by May 27, 1981

(20 days after the May Board

meeting.)

(Current ACLU members are

those who have renewed their mem-

bership during the last 12 months.

Board N ominations

Only current members are eligible to

submit nominations, sign petitions

and vote.)

ACLU members will elect Board "

members from the slate of candi-

dates nominated by petition and by

the Nominating Committee. Details

of the candidates and the ballots will

appear in the June-July issue of the

ACLU News.

The Nominating Committee's

slate includes the following incum-

bents: Marlene De Lancie, Jerome

B. Falk, Jr., Sylvan Heumann,

Charles C. Marson and Nancy Pem-

berton; the new nominees are: Ber-

nice Biggs, Gordon Brownell, Elea-

nor Friedman, Oliver Jones and

`Wayne Nishioka. :