vol. 49, no. 6

aclu news

Volume XLIX

August-September 1984

No. 6

Paul Winternitz

The

`Convention,

the Cops,

the

Demonstrators

-.. and

the ACLU

Story and Photos

pp. 4-5

| Administration Chops Away at Voting Rights

o select elected officials to represent our views in government is the most direct

way we have as a society to make major decisions that affect our lives and

welfare, and ultimately that decide our course as a nation. Thus, it is a fundamental

principle of democracy that all Americans of voting age should have equal and

unimpeded access to the ballot. This Administration, however, has set itself squarely

against that principle by taking a number of steps to shore up historic barriers to

equal political participation.

The above statement, by national ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser, takes on

added weight in this crucial election year. Just as millions of new minority voters,

outraged by the attack on civil rights and liberties from the Reagan Administration

and mobilized largely by Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition, are entering the elec-

toral registers, others are encountering new impediments to voter eligibility.

Below, Glasser and national ACLU Program Director Noel Salinger explain the

historical framework in the fight to make the right to vote a real - as opposed to a

paper - promise for hundreds of thousands of disenfranchised Americans and

outlines the pivotal role of the ACLU in this battle under the current Administration.

The ACLU-NC is also making the voting rights issue a central point on our af-

filiate agenda. The fight to save bilingual election services in San Francisco and

throughout the state and our lawsuit challenging the post office's prohibition on

voter registration by partisan groups are two key examples of our recognition that the

basic right to vote must be constantly protected, and not assumed.

T0x00B0 right to vote is perhaps our single most powerful political right. The power

t

| by Ira Glasser and Noel Salinger

For nearly a century, until passage of

the Voting Rights Act of 1965, various

techniques were used to prevent blacks

and new European immigrants from

registering to vote: poll taxes, literacy

tests, landholding requirements and the

like. The Voting Rights Act outlawed

most overt barriers to electoral participa-

tion, and established a federal voting

rights enforcement structure to make

sure that new barriers weren't erected.

continued on p. 2.

Bilingual Ballots -

: Changing the Rules

Following widespread protest by

minority and civil rights groups and the

threat of a lawsuit by the ACLU-NC,

California Secretary of State "March

Fong Eu has agreed to continue to pro-

duce trilingual election material for use

by Spanish and Chinese voters in the

State.

In addition, the San Francisco city at-

torney determined that the registrar of

voters must print and distribute trilingual

ballot materials despite a federal move to

drop them.

The twin victories were greeted as "`a

step in the right direction,'' by ACLU-

NC Board member Jim Morales who

spearheaded the campaign to retain tri-

lingual election materials and _ services

following the July announcement that

they would be discontinued. `The

pressure on local government officials to

strip minorities of the civil rights gains of

the recent past is obviously great,"

Morales said. ``Under the Reagan Ad-

ministration, affirmative action, social

welfare programs and bilingual

assistance are being undermined in the

name of efficiency and `majority' rights.

`San Francisco, as a place where

many diverse cultures and people inter-

act, has long placed a high value on pro-

tecting the rights of minorities. The

voting rights of San Francisco residents

must no be diluted,'' he added.

The shocking announcement that bi-

lingual election materials would no

longer be available for most California

counties came from the Secretary of

State's office early in July. According to

a new federal standard, Secretary Eu

stated, dozens of counties, including San

Francisco, Alameda, Santa Clara, and

Los Angeles, did not have enough

language minorities to trigger the multi-

lingual requirements of the Voting

Rights Act.

"`This decision,'' Morales said, ``com-

ing in an election year in which minori-

ties have greatly increased their par-

continued on p. 2

9 aclu news

aug-sept. 1984

Protect -and Use-Your Right to Vote

Post Office Bar on Registration Challenged

Administration

continued from p. 1

When key sections of the Act were due

to expire in 1982, civil rights supporters,

despite the Administration's opposition,

succeeded in passing a version of the Act

that contained stronger enforcement

provisions than ever. Since then, the

Reagan Justice department has filed a

paltry number of voter rights enforce-

ment cases, while taking litigation posi-

tions designed to undercut Congress' in-

tentions in strengthening the act.

Private civil rights litigants have thus

been forced to bear much more of the

burden of ensuring equal access to the

ballot. The ACLU's Voting Rights Pro-

ject is now handling an estimated 80 per-

cent of this private voting rights enforce-

ment litigation. As a result of the Pro-

ject's efforts just in the last year, blacks

have been elected to county commissions

and town councils in Georgia and South

Carolina for the first time in over a cen-

tury.

Major efforts are now underway

- around the country to bring significant

(Check one) { iam |

( prefer election moterials

in - FAM...

D PX RMT

(CD English

0 Espoo! -

numbers of new voters into the political

process through Massive voter registra-

tion campaigns. Substantial gains have

been made, but there remain a large

number of people - especially

minorities, the poor, women and youth

- yet to be registered. One of the prin-

cipal reasons is that voter registration

groups have run into legal roadblocks

from state and local government of-

ficials.

Since early 1984, the ACLU has work-

ed closely with other legal organizations

and national voter registration groups to

eliminate legal impediments to voter

registration in time for the 1984 registra-

tion campaigns.

One problem is the refusal of local of

ficials, relying on provision of a federal

welfare law, to permit volunteer voter

registrars to utilize the public waiting

areas of federal welfare, unemployment

and food distribution centers. Since such

centers contain large numbers of

unregistered poor people, free access is

critical. The ACLU requested that the

Department of Health and Human Ser-

vices issue regulations clarifying that the

federal law governing these programs

does not prohibit voter registration at

these sites. HHS refused, and we are

now preparing a lawsuit to seek a court -

order compelling them to do so.

- A second obstacle to voter registration

is the refusal of state and local election

Officials to appoint sufficient voter

registrars, or deputy registrars, to ac-

commodate the mass of unregistered

voters. The ACLU is preparing lawsuits

to be filed in as many as fifteen different'

states challenging this reluctance as an

unconstitutional interference with the

right to vote.

excerpted from Civil Liberties,

Summer 1984

As millions of new voters are being

registered across the country in prepara-

tion for the November election, a new

U.S. Postal Service regulation pro-

hibiting voter registration by partisan

groups on postal properties is being

challenged by the ACLU-NC in federal

COUEt.

At a hearing on August 24 in U.S.

District Court in San Francisco ACLU

staff attorney Donna Hitchens argued

that members of the Monterey County

Democratic Central Committee should

be allowed to register voters on the

sidewalk in front of the Carmel Valley

Village Post Office and that the regula-

tion barring them from doms so is un-

constitutional.

On July 13, 4. member~ of. the

Democratic Committee sought permis- -

sion from the Carmel Valley Postmaster

to set up a voter registration area outside

the local post office, explaining that

there would be no distribution of cam-

paign literature or solicitation of money

and that anyone - not just Democrats

- could register.

The postmaster denied the Commit-

tee's request citing a U.S. Postal Service

regulation issued last December that pro-

hibits voter registration activities by

organizations that participate in political

campaigns. The regulation reads: ``A

postmaster may approve voter registra-

tion requests providing all the following

conditions are met: the registration must

be conducted by government agencies or

Bilingual Ballots

_ continued from p. 1

ticipation in the electoral process, is a

slap in the face of those minority activists

who have worked to strengthen the vote

of traditionally underrepresented

groups."'

Immediately, a broad coalition of

groups, including Chinese for Affirma-

tive Action, the Latino Democratic

Club, the ACLU-NC and others who

had worked in opposition to Supervisor

Quentin Kopp's Proposition O last

spring, joined to protest the elimination

of bilingual ballots.

In separate letters to San Francisco

Mayor Dianne Feinstein and Registrar of

Voters Jay Patterson the groups asserted

that ``the City and County of San Fran-

cisco must continue to provide trilingual

election materials and services to those

Latino and Asian voters who request

them."'

The letter to the Mayor thanked her

for her support for the continuation of

trilingual ballots in San Francisco, but

asked her to ``do more in the effort to

preserve the means by which thousands

of Latinos and Asians effectively exercise -

their right to vote."'

In other northern California counties

as well, coalitions came together to pro-

test the move.

Statewide Action

""As the Secretary of State prepares

statwide ballot pamphlets, statewide ac-

tion was imperative,'' explained ACLU-

NC staff counsel Amitai Schwartz. `"We

began negotiations with the Secretary of

State and were preparing a lawsuit to en-

sure that Spanish and Chinese language

nonprofit civic leagues or organizations

that operate for the promotion of social

welfare but do not participate or in-

tervene in any political campaign on

behalf of any candidate for public

office."

Democratic Committee member

Charles Tillinghast protested. ``The Post

Office is a particularly important place

to conduct voter registration in Carmel

Valley. Being a rural community, many

people receive their mail through post

boxes. It is the place in the Village that

attracts the most pedestrian traffic, the

greatest number and most diverse cross-

section of people.

"This seems to be the first time

anyone was refused permission for any

kind of activity in front of the post office

- and we were upset,"' Tillinghast add-

ed. :

``Here we have people who are seeking

to further a right fundamental to our

political system - the right to vote,"'

argued Hitchens. ``Voter registration is

clearly the kind of conduct that must be

accorded the highest degree of protection

under the First Amendment. _

`"`Moreover, the sidewalk is considered

among the most traditional of public

forums where expressive activities are

conducted,'' Hitchens said.

The ACLU is also arguing that the

- postal service regulation is content-based

and therefore unconstitutional. ``Under

the new regulation only partisan groups

and postal employees are excluded from

materials pertaining to national and state

cautioned.

made in each county to ensure that they

the right to register voters on public pro-

perty,'' Hitchens explained. `"The only

plausible justification for excluding

politically active groups from engaging

in this protected First Amendment activi-

ty might be the avoidance of an ap-

pearance of government partisanship.

"But,'' Hitchens added, ``it is in-

conceivable that post office patrons and

passersby will infer government partisan-

ship because a politically active group is

registering voters on the sidewalk."'

Finally, the ACLU suit argues,

because the postal regulation only pro-

hibits political groups and _ postal

employees from registering voters on

postal property, it violates the equal pro-

tection guarantees of the Constitution.

The registration deadline for the elec-

tions is quickly approaching,'' Hitchens

said, ``and each day that passes results in

a loss of potential registrants. The Com-

mittee has an immediate need to begin

registering voters. .

`*An injunction by the court can only

benefit the. public interest and assist the

citizens of this country in the exercise of

_ their most basic freedom - the right to,

-,vote,"' Hitchens concluded.

NEWS FLASH!

Just as the ACLU News was going

to press, Hitchens returned from court

with an injunction ordering the Carmel

Valley postmaster to allow the Demo-

cratic Party Committee to register

voters at the post office.

`Special efforts must be

elections would be available to all who

requested them,'' Schwartz said.

On August 3, the Secretary of State

complied with the demand. In a letter to

Henry Der, Executive Director of

Chinese for affirmative Action,

Secretary Eu wrote ``in order to ensure

that all of our citizens are able to fully

participate in the political process,'' the

state will continue to provide trilingual

election materials.

The Secretary of State agreed to: con-

tinue to provide voter registration cards

to San Francisco in three languages;

translate and distribute the California

Ballot Pamphlet in Spanish; provide to

San Francisco and other counties on re-

quest copies of the pamphlet in Chinese;

and direct counties to comply with the

state law which requires bilingual oral

assistance and the posting of translated

facsimile ballots in appropriate polling

places.

"*It is still up to the counties to request

and distribute the materials,' Schwartz

do so. In addition, most counties are on

their own with respect to translating local

election materials.''

San Francisco is the only county in the

state to issue trilingual voting materials.

The 1975 amendments to the 1965

Voting Rights Act required multilingual

voting materials be provided for any

non-English speaking group that com-

prised more than 5% of the population.

For San Francisco, that means pro-

viding both Spanish and Chinese

materials.

Following a Justice Department

lawsuit, San Francisco signed-a consent

decree in 1980 which stipulated that it

would continue to provide the multi-

lingual ballots and voting materials and

also institute voter registration drives and

outreach programs in the Latino and _

Chinese communities for each election

through August 1985.

In 1982 the Voting Rights Act was

continued on p. 3

Elaine Elinson, Editor

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

Davis Riemer, Chairperson Dorothy Ehrlich, Executive Director

Marcia Gallo, Chapter Page p

ACLU NEWS (USPS 018-040)

1663 Mission St., 4th floor, San Francisco, California 94103. (415) 621-2488

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.

aclu news 3

: aug sept. 1984

Medi-Cal Abortion Fund Victory (Round VID

Less than two weeks after the ACLU

filed a lawsuit challenging the

Legislature's cut off of Medi-Cal abor-

tion funds, the state Court of Appeal on

July 11 ordered state health officials to

continue the payments.

The ACLU lawsuit, Committee to De-

fend Reproductive Rights (CDRR) v.

Rank II filed on July 2 by staff attorney

Margaret Crosby, was the seventh con-

secutive suit that the ACLU has filed on

behalf of a coalition of civil rights

groups, women's organizations, health

care providers and taxpayers since the

Legislature first cut off Medi-Cal fund-

ing for abortion in 1978. Despite court

rulings in the previous cases which deter-

mined that the cuts were unconstitu-

tional, the Legislature has persisted in at-

tempting to eliminate the vital public

funding for abortion services in the state.

According to Crosby, `"`It has been

clear since 1981 - when the California

Supreme court decided CDRR v. Myers

- that the Medi-Cal system must in-

clude public funding for abortion for

women and adolescents in California.

Nevertheless, year after year, California

legislators defy the courts, violate their

oaths of office, and insert unconstitu-

tional provisions in the Budget Act."

If enforced, this year's restrictions

would have denied Medi-Cal abortions

to 95% of the 90,000. impoverished

women who need them every year.

"`The Legislature's annual charade

would be comical if it did not jeopardize

the health of poor women and girls, the

constitutional guarantees of privacy and

equal protection and the continuing

vitality of a constitutional system of

government,"' Crosby said.

This year's Budget Act restrictions on

abortion mirror last year's provisions.

Once again, the Legislature attempted to

set up a ``special financing account'' for

abortion services, separate from the

general fund for Medi-Cal benefits [the

Health Care Deposit Fund], with an in-

adequate amount of money to fund all

abortions needed by poor women with

stringent eligibility requirements.

`"`"A few months ago,'' explained

Crosby, ``the Court of Appeal brusquely

rejected the `special fund' device as a

transparent and futile effort to frustrate

the court's authority to protect the con-

stitutional rights of California women.

In January, the Court ruled that its

authority included the striking out of un-

constitutional restrictions and made both

the general fund and the special financ-

ing account available for Medi-Cal abor-

tions.

``Moreover,'' Crosby explained, ``the

court ordered the Department of Health

Services to certify all claims for Medi-Cal

abortions."'

The Court's July 11 order, signed by

Justice J. Anthony Kline, responded to

the ACLU's urging to ``act as swiftly as

possible'' to restrain the Department of

Health Services from mailing out a

notification of restrictions on abortion

funding. ``Even notification of the pro-

posed cutback on Medi-Cal funds would

inflict suffering,'' Crosby explained, ``as

many recipients who receive the state's

official notice may never learn of a stay

order from the court and would not ob-

tain abortions to which they are

entitled."'

The Court order. prohibits the state

from implementing any of the Budget

Act restrictions on abortion funding and

from mailing out any notification of the

proposed cutbacks.

In addition, to avoid a repeat perfor-

mance of last year's attempt by Health

Services Director Peter Rank to circum-

vent the order by refusing to certify

claims once the special abortion fund

was depleted, the Court ordered all state

health officials to comply with the duties

of their offices and certify all claims for

abortion services-and perform any task

necessary to ensure continued Medi-Cal

coverage of abortions.

This order will remain in effect until

the final decision is made in the case so

that there will be no disruption in the

flow of Medi-Cal funding for abortion.

Oakland School's Keep The Color Purple

In the ACLU-NC's latest scuffle over

book censorship in local schools, the

Oakland Board of Education decided

not to ban Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize

winning novel Zhe Color Purple from

high school classes. The decision fol-

lowed a school board ordered hearing by

a select committee of literary experts

which rejected a parent's request that the

book be barred from classroom use in

Oakland's high schools.

Leonard Weiler, chairperson of

ACLU's Earl Warren Chapter, argued on

behalf of the ACLU at the June 21 hear-

`ing that students should have free access

to the book.

`If it were a poor quality book from a

literary standpoint, and a parent com-

plained, it might be proper for the school

to cancel its use in the curriculum,''

Weiler testified, `but when a parent's

objection is based on the book's content,

to ban that book could only be a viola-

tion of the teachers' and students' free

speech rights."'

The panel of six literature experts, five

chosen from local universities and one

from a theater company, were very en-

thusiastic about the book, unanimously

ruling that it was appropriate for study

by high school students.

Weiler also praised the panel's atten-

tion to First Amendment concerns,

which ``provides not only for the expres-

sion of ideas but for access to them."'

That he and the objecting parent were

the only people to testify at the hear-

ing underscores the importance of the

ACLU's role in opposing censorhsip in

schools.

The hearing was the Oakland School

Board's response to the complaints of

Donna Green whose daughter had been

- assigned the reading in her 10th grade

Honors Composition Course at Far

West High School. The school board ar-

ranged for the hearing in accordance

with a system it had already established

for just such controversies. While the

hearing was pending, the class continued

to study The Color Purple, but Green's

daughter was provided with alternate

reading material and writing topics.

The Color Purpleis the story of a

black woman's experiences in fighting

for dignity in the segregated, poverty-

stricken rural south during the early part

of this century. Walker, a leading Bay

Area writer, won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize

and the American Book Award for fic-

tion for the novel which has sold close to

a million copies.

"We are pleased that the Oakland

School Board followed established pro-

cedures to deal with the question of con-

tinuing the use of the book,'' said

ACLU-NC staff attorney Margaret

Crosby who has participated in suc-

cessful challenges to other local school

boards' bans on Ms. magazine and the

works of Richard Brautigan. ``Too

often, there are no established pro-

cedures and school boards quickly cave

in to parental or community pressure

to remove books from classroom or li--

brary use."'

Crosby also praised the school board

for continuing to use the novel while the

hearings were under way. ``In the case of

Ms. magazine, the periodical was

whisked off the library shelves in the Mt.

Diablo high schools. It took a

lengthy legal battle to get the magazine

reinstated - and although our lawsuit

was successful in the end, high school

students had no access to Ms. for several

years.""

When the ACLU first learned of the

controversy through press reports,

Crosby wrote to Oakland School

Superintendent David Bowick. `"The

ACLU believes that every effort to

restrict or prevent student access to

books in the public schools raises pro-

found First Amendment issues,'' Crosby

wrote in her request to the school board

for an ACLU presence at the Board

hearings on the book.

Defendants in the lawsuit are Peter

Rank, Director of Health Services, Con-

troller Ken Cory and state Treasurer

Jesse Unruh.

The petitioners are: Committee to De-

fend Reproductive Rights, California -

Coalition for the. Medical Rights of

Women, Bay Area Welfare Rights

Organization, Asian Women's Health

Center, Dr. Sadja Greenwood, Dr. Alan

Margolis, Dr. Bernard Gore and tax-

payer Christine Motley.

Bilingual Ballots

continued from p. 2

altered through a (then hardly noticed)

technical amendment from counting the

number of citizens in a language group

to a new, vague standard of considering

how many people of a given group could

not speak English well enough to vote.

Supposedly based on the results of the

1980 Census, new status reports on

citizens eligible for language assistance

were given to each state by the Director

of the Census on June 25. Based on that

new status report from the Census Direc-

tor, Secretary Eu made her initial an-_

nouncement to California counties about

the elimination of bilingual materials.

Although language minority voters in

California were hardest hit by the Census

Director's determination, citizens

throughout the country are affected by

the new directive. Schwartz said that

Washington D.C. lobbyists from the

ACLU, MALDEF, and other organiza-

tions, with the assistance of Represen-

tative Don Edwards, are meeting with

the Director of the Census to seek

clarification of the new standards and to

propose Congressional hearings on the

national impact of the Census deter-

minations and the 1982 technical amend-

ment to the Voting Rights Act.

Anti-Draft Activists Meet

Beverly Ramsay

ACLU National Legislative Counsel Barry Lynn (r.) and Michael Gaffney, an at-

torney with the NLG Military Law Task Force in Washington, D.C. were among the

featured speakers at the National Conference on Registration and the Draft held at

U.C. Berkeley on July 14 and 15.

`Over 300 anti-draft activists came from all over the country,'' said Judy

Newman, ACLU Board member and a member of the Conference steering commit-

tee. ``We committed ourselves to seeing the end of draft registration through such

means as the courts and Congress."'

The ACLU-NC was among the 31 anti-draft, counseling, peace and civil rights

groups sponsoring the national event. The Conference featured workshops on pend-

ing draft legislation, Third World perspectives on militarism and the draft, and the

Solomon Amendment, a measure recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court which

denies federal education and job funds to those young men who cannot prove that

they have registered.

aclu news

A aug-sept. 1984

On the Free Speech Hotline

During the Democratic

National Convention

Rally permits... .Picketing...

Leaflets . .. Lobbying . . . Legal ad-

vice... . Banners... Arrests... . Po-

lice violence ... . Network news...

. All of the above kept members of the

ACLU-NC's Democratic National Con-

vention Project working around the

clock when the Democrats, the

demonstrators and the national press

came to San Francisco in July.

_ The Project was set up several months

before the July 16-19 Convention with

the twin goals of educating people

about their First Amendment rights -

and ensuring that those rights were pro-

tected during the Convention. With a

generous grant from the CS Fund, the

Project, coordinated by attorney John

Crew, grew to involve almost all depart-

ments of the ACLU-NC and hundreds

of volunteers.

`"`We anticipated that with 10,000

Conventioneers, 35 planned demonstra-

tions involving hundreds of thousands of

activists, and 15,000 accredited press

representatives coming to town there

would be a great deal of First Amend-

ment activities: Moreover, we were

aware that dozens of local, federal and

DNC officials were planning for months

about security arrangements,'' said

Crew.

``We knew that the ACLU had to take

responsibility to ensure that people's

rights were protected,'' he added.

Weeks before the Convention San

Francisco Deputy Police Chief Kevin

Mullen, chief of convention planning,

announced that the city was putting

1,000 police officers on overtime and

that the department had set up a special

command post in an old firehouse a few

blocks from the Moscone Convention

Center where local, state and federal

agencies would be linked by phone to

operatives in the field.

Moreover, Captain Charles Beene of

the police convention planning unit an-

nounced that special arrest teams,

specially trained in crowd control tactics,

would be at every large gathering to

``book demonstrators at a protest site

and speed them into custody.'' Beene

told the press that law enforcement agen-

cies arranged for a ``secret'' site to hold

demonstrators if the jails began to

overflow.

The ACLU Project started off its ef-

forts with a massive education pro-

gram. A two-sided question-and-answer

street sheet, ``Your Rights to Free

Speech During the Democratic Conven-

tion,'' was produced in English and

Spanish and widely distributed to all

groups planning events. Fifteen thou-

sand English and 3,000 Spanish street

sheets gave demonstrators a quick lesson

in the First Amendment, outlining rights

and prohibitions on marches, rallies,

leafleting, heckling, police abuse and

more. In addition, more than 10,000 of

the ACLU pocket-sized Rights on Arrest

cards were also readied for distribution

with the special Demonstrators Hotline

number stamped on them.

In conjunction with the National

Lawyers Guild, the ACLU set up the

Demonstrators Hotline - at another

`"`secret`` location a stone's throw from

the Moscone Center. More than 100

volunteers were recruited to staff the

Hotline, including dozens of criminal

defense attorneys who were prepared to

stand by day and night to respond to ar-

rests. The ACLU Complaint Desk was

also beefed up-in order to handle an

overload of calls.

On June 30, Crew and ACLU Field

Representative Marcia Gallo organized a

First Amendment Rights Seminar to arm

activists with their legal rights.

More than 200 people - from the

solidarity movement, the immigrants

rights campaign, the gay community, the

Rainbow Coalition, the women's move-

ment - crowded into the expanded

ACLU office to hear ACLU experts

speak about the right to dissent. The

Seminar also served as a training session

for Hotline staffers and for the more

than 100 volunteers who had been

recruited to serve as Legal Observers for

the DNC events.

Protest planners came with scores of

questions: Can we march without a per-

mit? Are we allowed in the lobbies of the

delegates' hotels? How about burning an

effigy? - which staff attorney and First

Amendment expert Alan Schlosser field-

ed almost without pause.

When the ACLU turned out to be the

only place in town with an overview of

all outside events (except perhaps, the

police, but they weren't talking) in-

cluding a calendar of planned marches

and rallies, the press began to pay close

attention to the effort. Profiles on the

DNC Project and Hotline were done by

the San Francisco Chronicle, the

Oakland Tribune, the L.A. Daily Jour-

nal; the Peninsula Times Tribune

headlined their story ``ACLU to be Con-

vention Watchdog: Civil Liberties

Groups want to Protect Demonstrators."

A listing in the official media guide to

the DNC put the ACLU on the agendas

of the national press corps which started

streaming into town after the July 4

weekend looking for an interesting angle

on-the DNC. Daily, press calls came in

from TV stations in Detroit and Dallas,

newspapers from Philidelphia to Miami

- and by the week before the opening

DNC ceremonies ACLU staff had been

interviewed by ABC, NBC, CBS, RKO

and CNN national news networks. By

the end of convention week, the ACLU

staff had responded to almost 200 press

inquiries.

Pre-Convention Action

Our first open tangle with the police

occurred over the question of a Permit for .

the Vote Peace in 84 rally scheduled for

the first night of the Convention. A

broad coalition for peace and justice,

with over 350 endorsing organizations,

Vote Peace was seeking a permit for

50,000 rally participants in front of the

Moscone Center. The Police balked,

claiming that a permit for ten thousand

would suffice; they also proposed mov-

ing the rally away from the DNC to the

Civic Center. Lengthy negotiations be-

tween the police, DNC officials, Vote

Peace organizers and the ACLU failed to

resolve the issue until the ACLU

threatened suit.

At a June 26 press conference, ACLU

staff attorney Alan Schlosser and Vote

Peace organizers Supervisor Harry

Britt, Reverend Cecil Williams and rally

coordinator Michaela Terrazino an-

nounced that the police had agreed to the

requested permit and to enlarging the

Special Events Area in front of Moscone

Center to accommodate the crowd. ``Prox-

strators' Hotline.

imity to the Convention is a constitu-

tionally protected right of the

demonstrators,'' said Schlosser. `"The

First Amendment includes a right to

engage in free speech activities at a loca-

tion where they will reach the targeted

audience."'

Crew also testified on behalf of the

San Francisco Hospitality Coalition

which was seeking a permit to set up an

encampment for 5-10,000 people at

Golden Gate Park from the Parks and

Recreation Department. The Coalition

was offered - and rejected - the in-

hospitable windswept parking lot of

Candlestick Park. They ended up camp-

ing, peacefully but permitless, at Golden

Gate Park. :

The Hotline phones began ringing

even before the Convention itself began.

On July 12, the Moral Majority opened

its Family Forum III at the Union

Square Holiday Inn and were met by

thousands of demonstrators protesting

Jerry Fallwell's and Phyllis Schlafly's

Photos by Pa

pre arcia Gallo and DN

aclu news 5

aug-sept. 1984

anti-gay, anti-woman and anti-abortion

platform. Though earlier negotiations

with the police by the ACLU attorneys

had secured the right of leafleters to

distribute materials on the sidewalk in

front of the hotel, police on horseback

attacked the non-violent demonstrators

injuring several, including a Peoples'

Medics nurse who was administering

first aid.

The following day, the ACLU was

called upon to protect the right of the

Childrens Rights Group to carry their

peace message to the DNC delegates.

The Group had hung a large, colorful

banner outside -their office facing the

Convention center which read

`Childrens Campaign for Peace

Without Fear.'' On the morning of July

13, with only fifteen minutes warning,

officials of the San Francisco Redevelop-

ment Agercy, the Group's landlord, cut

down the banner and threatened the ten-

year tenant with immediate eviction. As

ACLU staff attorneys Amitai-Schwartz

and Donna Hitchens prepared a lawsuit,

Childrens Rights Group staff members

put up a new, larger banner reading ``Do

We Fear Our Enemies More than We

Love Our Children?''

The lawsuit became unnecessary as -

just as mysteriously as they had come -

the Redevelopment officials retreated,

and the peace banner remained for all to

see for the duration of the Convention.

tion.

The two largest rallies of the Conven-

oy Paul Winternitz

tion - labor's ``We Can Do It,'' and the

National March for Lesbian and Gay

Rights - both drawing 100,000 people

on July 15 went off without a hitch. But

at Monday night's Vote Peace rally,

ACLU attorneys had to argue on the

spot with police officers who delayed

opening up Mission Street for the

massive crowd, despite the earlier

negotiations and agreements.

ACLU activists participated in all

three of those events, and not just as

legal observers. ACLU members joined

the lesbian and gay march and the labor

rally distributing information opposing

the pending Simpson-Mazzoli immigra-

tion legislation. An ACLU contingent

also participated in the Bay Area Com-

mittee Against Simpson-Mazzoli

(BACASM) feeder march to the Vote

Peace rally on July 16 with literature and

a huge banner so that everyone would be

aware of the civil liberties dangers in-

herent in the immigration bill. The San

Francisco ACLU Chapter had a well-

stocked and well-attended table at the

Vote Peace rally and hundreds of rally

participants went home with ACLU

literature on numerous civil liberties

issues.

But it was events later in the week at

which the police began making mass and

often violent arrests that put the Hotline

into full swing and kept its volunteers

working through the night shift. On July

16, over 80 participants in the Corporate

War Chest Tours were arrested; and an-

other 88 Tour participants were arrested

on the 19th. The protesters were pointing

out the involvement of San Francisco

corporations in war profiteering and

those corporations' support for the

Democratic Party.

Those arrested on the 16th were charg-

ed with the fe/ony crime of conspiracy to

block traffic. ``The police overcharged

those arrested in an attempt to keep them

in jail and off the streets for the duration

of the Convention,'' Crew explained.

The arrests meant emergency extra

staffing for the Hotline and all night

schedules for a number of volunteer at-

torneys. Witnesses said that the police

choked one woman unconscious and

clubbed a demonstrator so severely that

he needed stitches to close the gash in his

head. Several protesters complained of

arm and back strains incurred during the

arrests. Most of those arrested were

bound with plastic handcuffs; one man

was so tightly bound that ``his hands

literally turned blue'"' and a sheriff's

deputy had to cut him free.

ACLU staff attorney Schwartz said,

``The conspiracy charges smacked of

preventive detention. The police

response to the protests reeked of the

type of tactics that were used during the ~

late '60's."'

The worst police violence occurred on

the last night of the Convention.

Although the police had initially said

that those arrested in the Thursday after-

noon War Chest Tours would be releas-

ed by 6 p.m., no one was let out of jail.

"Our lawyers who were in the Hall of

Justice were not even allowed in to see

the arrestees in their cells until

midnight,'' said Crew. In protest, several

hundred participants at the evening Rock

Against Reagan concert decided to

march from Moscone Center to the Hall

of Justice seeking the release of the de-

tainees.

`"When the marchers reached the Hall

of Justice they found that the streets

were already blocked off and the Tac

Squad was in place with full riot gear,''

said Crew. ``About 100 demonstrators

sat down in front of the building to call

for the release of those inside - and then

the police attack began."'

After chasing media photographers

away the police began a massive street

sweep. Many who were trying to leave

the area were pursued and arrested. An

ACLU legal observer was arested and all

his notes (including badge numbers and

documentation of police behavior) were

confiscated -- and never returned.

ACLU News volunteer photographer

Paul Winternitz was arrested as were

more than 280 others.

"The scale of the injuries was very~

severe that night,' Crew added. `"Three

teenagers who were sitting in the road

were kicked by the police horses and one

young woman ended up in the hospital

with a fractured skull."'

About a third of those arrested that

night were taken to the `"`secret'' police

facility which turned out to be the

Potrero Hill Middle School. The City, as

it turned out, had spent $10,000 to turn

the school into a jail capable of holding

500 inmates. According to a San Fran-

cisco Progress reporter who took a tour

of the underused temporary jail, ``The

student commissary was set up as a

booking desk. Gun lockers lined the ad-

ministration office. Everywhere were

phones. And above each phone was.

posted the number of the American Civil

Liberties Union `hotline' set up

specifically for arrested demonstrators."'

As volunteer attorneys worked around

the clock the 282 arrestees from the Hall

of Justice sweep were slowly released

from the school and the jail throughout

the night and into the wee hours of the

morning. The Hall of Justice arrestees,

who were initially charged with rioting

and failure to disperse on unlawful

assembly (although most demonstrators

never heard a dispersal order) had the

charges reduced to the infraction charge

of blocking the sidwalks.

In the aftermath of the Convention,

the scaled-down Project staff is

documenting arrest procedures and

police violence. ``We are troubled by the

way the San Francisco police handled

some of the demonstrations,'' said at-

torney Schwartz, ``Presently, we are

analyzing the information we gathered

through the Hotline with the intention to

seek remedial measures which will pro-

tect against police excesses in the

future."'

~ aclu news

aug-sept. 1984

Francis Heisler - Civil Rights Champion

CLU Board member Francis

A cee an activist lawyer who

A spent more than half a century in

the forefront of the civil liberties battle,

died in Carmel Valley on July 5 at the

age of 89.

``Francis' contributions have made an

indelible mark on our constitutional

history and on the lives of thousands he

defended,'' said Richard Criley, ex-

ecutive director of the Monterey ACLU

Chapter in which he and Heisler had

worked together for decades. ``He was

unshakeable in his ideal and commit-

ment to human freedom even when he

stood almost alone against the stream,"'

Criley added.

In 1977, Heisler was awarded the

highest honor of the ACLU-NC, the

Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award, He

-was lauded on that occasion by friends

and clients whose lives reflected a unique

and spirited dedication to the fight for

freedom and especially the right to dis-

sent: folksinger and peace activist Joan

Baez, labor leader Leonard Levy,

authors Milton Mayer and Jessica Mit-

ford, Judge Richard Silver and human

rights advocates Ava and Linus Pauling.

`Such a remarkable array of fans could

- only be gathered by someone of the.

stature and talent of Francis Heisler,''

noted ACLU-NC Chair Davis Riemer.

Born in Hungary in 1895, Heisler

began his career in engineering. He left

his. job at an clectricity firme im

Berlin in 1924 after a fight with his

employer over his union activities and

came to the U.S. - where he has been

fighting ever since.

Admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1930,

he spent the Depression defending poor

people in their fights with banks, land- |

lords, and _ utility companies and

represented workers in union disputes.

He said he considered his award for ser-

vice as national counsel of the Workers

Defense League as one of his ``most im-

portant pieces of paper."' "

During World War II Heisler, a

lifelong pacifist who said that as far as he

knew he and his wife Dr. Friedy Heisler

were the only members of the University

of Chicago academic community who |

opposed American participation in the

war, defended an estimated 2000 con-

scientious objectors of diverse

backgrounds and beliefs. They included

- religious objectors, students of Frank

Lloyd Wright and Japanese Americans

in California's Stanislaus County.

In 1948, Heisler successfully argued a

landmark First Amendment case before

the U.S. Supreme Court, 7erminiello v.

Chicago. The lawsuit, defending the

rights of a right-wing Catholic priest to

express his anti-Semitic and fascist views,

brought the famous William O. Douglas

decision on the right to dissent: ``A func-

tion of free speech under our system of

government is to invite dispute. It may

indeed serve its highest purpose when it

induces a condition of unrest, creates

dissatisfaction with conditions as they

are, Of even stirs people to

anger.... There is no room in our

Constitution for a more restrictive

view."'

Heisler's firm belief in racial equality

and free expression made him a leader in

the civil rights movement and the fight

against McCarthyism. When the Four-

teenth Amendment's promise of equal

protection was breached by `"`restrictive

covenants,'' prohibiting racially in-

tegrated housing, Heisler moved to strike

them down. When the witch hunts of the

McCarthy era hacked away at fun-

damental political rights through in-

timidation and imprisonment, Heisler

was an outspoken defender of its

victims.

A creative wielder of the law, Heisler

filed legal challenges to the testing of

nuclear weapons in the '50's and to the

controversial oil depletion allowance tax

breaks in the '70's. Claiming that his

body and that of his wife were also

*`depleting natural resources,'' he argued

_ that they, too, like the oil companies,

deserved a' tax break. Although he was

not vindicated by the courts, his well

publicized case served to dramatize the

tax law inequities.

Heisler, who opened his Carmel law

office in 1948, was an active member of

the Monterey Chapter and the Northern

California affiliate boards for decades.

"`We were incredibly fortunate that

Francis' talents, interests and

geographical location coincided so close-

ly with our own,'' said ACLU-NC Chair

Riemer. ``As a member of our board of |

directors for many years until his death,

Francis played an irreplaceable role: dar-

ing us to be bold in our advocacy and

chiding us for any apprehension in the

face of attacks on civil liberties."'

Last year, the Monterey ACLU

Chapter instituted the Francis Heisler

Award to be given to those who best ex-

emplify his spirit and commitment to

civil liberties. `"This award, and Heisler's

legacy of struggle for-the rights of all will

inspire all of us to continue with the

work that has been so deftly carved out

by this civil liberties pioneer,'' Riemer

said.

Pandora's Box

Proposition on ConCon

by Paul Dawson

The ACLU affiliates of both Northern

and Southern California, along with 15

labor, ethnic, and religious groups, filed

a petition in the California Supreme

Court in an effort to remove Proposition

35, the so-called ``Balanced Federal

Budget Initiative,'' from the November 6

statewide ballot.

In an effort to thwart a potential

threat to civil rights and liberties, the 17

petitioning groups have asked the

California Supreme Court to disqualify

the initiative because it is unconstitu-

tional. Marsha Berzon, of the San Fran-

cisco law firm of Altshuler and Berzon

presented the case before the court on

August 21.

The state Supreme Court normally

does not hear cases in August, but on Ju-

ly 27, the Court agreed to call a special

session because of the upcoming dead-

lines for the printing of election

materials.

Proposition 35 would require that the

California Legislature join the 32 other

states requesting that a constitutional

convention be called to draft an amend-

ment requiring balanced federal budgets.

The proposition also demands that the

legislators be docked their salaries unless

they call for a convention within 20 days

of the initiative's: passage.

Article V of the U.S. Constitution -

states that ``Congress...on the ap-

plication of the legislatures of two thirds

of the several states, shall call a conven-

tion for proposing amendments."' At

this time, only two more states' requests

are needed to require that a constitu-

tional convention take place.

The lack of direction from the Con

stitution concerning the workings of a

convention - assurances of fair

representation and strict limitations on

power - is at the core of the petitioners'

opposition to Proposition 35.

ACLU staff attorney Margaret

Crosby explained: the ACLU's reasons

for opposing the constitutional conven-

tion, ``The U.S. Constitution does not

require that a constitutional convention

called for a single purpose be confined to

that one purpose. The entire Constitu-

tion, including the Bill of Rights'

guarantees of individual liberty, could be

modified or eliminated.

SSS

hs FEDERA .

men ) (2

A tng] Ni RY

y SS

stitutional convention in this country, a

wholesale revision is precisely what oc-

cured: a convention to modify the Ar-

ticles of Confederation led to the pro-

posal and adoption of an entirely new

Constitution. The fear of a runaway

convention is-thus very real,'' Crosby

said, ``particularly when there exist

strong pressure groups seeking, for ex-

ample, constitutional revisions to

eliminate the right to abortion or to

bring back prayer in public schools.

`Since there are no constitutional

guidelines regarding the selection of

delegates, it is unclear who would seize

control of a constitutional convention,"'

Crosby warned.

At a national level, the ACLU has

worked with a coalition of organizations

to defeat the effort to convene a con-

stitutional convention.

The petition, however, does not ask

the state Supreme Court to evaluate the

convention's threat to civil liberties, nor

to pass on the merits of a constitutional

requirement of a balanced budget.

Rather, the petition attacks the pro-

cedures through which the proponents of

the measure seek to force the calling of a

convention. The initiative's legality is

most vulnerable when its procedures for

forcing a convention call out of

Sacramento are compared to constitu-

tional rules that define the authority and

the rights of the state legislature. |

`This proceeding concerns the ques-

tion whether the potential for crisis in the

history of our Republic. ..may be

precipitated through means which

squarely violate both the federal and

state constitutions,'' said attorney Ber-

zon.

_ Berzon, who is also a member of the

ACLU-NC Legal Committee, argued

that the proponents of Proposition 35

seek to intimidate lawmakers to coerce

_an action out of Sacramento.

A judgment is expected from the state

high court in the immediate future in

order to determine whether: the con-

troversial Proposition 35 appears on the

November ballot or not.

Paul Dawson is a U.C. Berkeley

biology and dance major who is intern-

ing in the Public Information Depart-

_ ment.

Zora Gross

The ACLU-NC lost a longtime

friend and activist when Zora Cheever

Gross died in June on her beloved

Shaw Island off the coast of

Washington.

Gross joined the ACLU-NC Board

of Directors in 1956 and served on the

Board for more than a decade. ``She

was an outgoing, forthright person,"'

said Ernest Besig, ACLU-NC Ex-

ecutive Director from 1936 until 1971.

`Zora was interested in all aspects of

ACLU work. She was an outspoken

member of the Board and would also

come down to the office for our

monthly sessions of hand addressing

the ACLU News,'' Besig said.

`She was a woman of strong opi-

nions, but if she disagreed with the

outcome of a Board decision, she

would never be an obstructionist, she

would go along with the

organization,'' said Besig whose

friendship with Gross spanned several

decades.

Gross headed up the affiliate's

spring membership campaigns in the

1950's, successfully adding hundreds

of new members each year.

An activist throughout her life,

Gross played a leading role in a

number of other Bay Area organiza-

tions as well. When she came to the

ACLU-NC, she was the executive

vice-president of the San Francisco

chapter of the United World Federal-

ists and on the boards of the.

Volunteers Bureau and the League of

Women Voters. She also served on

the boards of the San Francisco

Junior League, the Association for

the United Nations, the Interfaith ~

Council for Peace and the Actors

Workshop.

aclu news 7

aug-sept. 1984

SS

Annual Conference, 1984

he Reagan Administration's brutal assault on civil rights, im-

"@ 0x00B0 migrants' rights, the right to dissent, reproductive freedom, and ~

_ affirmative action was the stark focus of the 1984 Annual |

-ACLU-NC Conference. More than 200 ACLU members gathered at

the Asilomar Conference Center near Monterey on August 18-20 to

_hear national and local ACLU leaders speak about the steady erosion

of civil liberties under the Reagan Administration and to plan

strategies for protecting our rights during this crucial election year.

Keynote speaker Muriel Morisey Spence of the ACLU Washington Legislative Of- -

fice spoke of the uphill battle to gain approval in the Senate for the Civil Rights Act

of 1984. Spence, the author of Jn Contempt of Congress and the Courts: The Reagan

Civil Rights Record, charged ``The federal government is subsidizing

discrimination.'' Keynoter Eva Jefferson Paterson, Vice-Chair of the national

ACLU, echoed Spence's critique of the U.S. Justice Department's attempts to

destroy affirmative action, claiming ``They want to take us back to the 50s - and I

mean the 1850s, not the 1950s!"'

On a panel on Reagan's War on Terrorism/Dissent, ACLU-NC Vice-Chair

Richard Criley warned of the near arrival of ``American fascism,'' explaining that its

component parts - ideological justification, censorship and misinformation, and

surveillance and stifling of dissenters - were already being put into place. Panelists

on immigrant rights, the domestic consequences of U.S. foreign policy, poverty in

the U.S., and reproductive rights emphasized that in each of these arenas, a strong

battle must be waged just to. win back freedoms lost in the past four years.

There was not unanimity on every question, however and policy debates on the

treatment of pregnancy-related disability and draft opposition drew large and

argumentative audiences. Alan Berube's slide presentation ``Marching to a Different

Drummer'"' on lesbians and gay men during World War II drew rave reviews for

revealing this hidden history, Organizing sessions, led by National Field Director Julie

Steiner, provided the tools for activists to utilize in the civil liberties battles ahead.

The presentation of ACLU-NC's Moscone Award for Distinguished Legislative

Service to Congressman Don Edwards was a highlight of the conference, as was Ed-

ward's keynote address on Civil Liberties in a Critical Election Year. "`I am proud to

call the ACLU of Northern California my `home base,' '' Edwards said, ``you area

shining star in the constellation of the ACLU. It is your hard. work that enables the

northern California delegation in Congress to be a vanguard for civil liberties, to take

the swords in our hands to challenge the dragons of intolerance and government in-

trusion."'

Much appreciation was expressed to those who organized and staffed the con-

ference, including Field Representative Marcia Gallo; Conference Planning Commit-

tee members Bernice Biggs, Dick Criley, Sarita Cordell, Patsy Fulcher, Margot

Garey, Anne Jennings, Andrea Learned, Judy Newman, Bob O'Neil and Fran

Strauss; and Conference Crew Doug Warner, Linda Baker, Cindy Forster, and Jim

Gormley.

ACLU sweatshirts with a surfing Ms. Liberty logo (pictured above) designed by

Paul Dawson were snapped up by conference participants for long walks in

Asilomar's woods and seashores. Even if you missed the conference, you can still buy =~

a sweatshirt ($13 adults; $10 kids) from the ACLU-NC office. Conference Photos by Paul Winternitz

Photos: Clockwise from bottom left.

1. National ACLU Field Organizer Julie Steiner. leads workshop in grassroots lobby-

ing. 2. Eva Paterson - ``Affirmative action is a desegregation tool - and we must

fight to preserve it.''? 3. ACLU Board members plan fall fundraising campaigns.

4. Our youngest member, Jill Ehrlich Sowards, in the arms of Executive Director

Dorothy Ehrlich; Baby Jill, who was born on June 26, donned an ``ACLU Baby''

t-shirt for her conference debut. 5. Geline Avila (1.) of the Coalition Against the Mar-

cos Dictatorship and Dissent Committee chair Sarita Cordell at the panel on

Reagan's War on ``Terrorism''/Dissent. 6. Muriel Morisey Spence fighting for the

Civil Rights Act of 1984 against filibustering Strom Thurmond and cohorts.

7. Representative Don Edwards receives ACLU Moscone Award. 8. Bill Wapepah of

the International Indian Treaty Council joined Jessica Govea of the Women's

Delegation to Central America and others in the plenary on Domestic Consequences

of U.S. Foreign Policy. 9. Outgoing Board Chair Davis Riemer (r.) is thanked and

congratulated for his outstanding leadership by Vice-Chair Dick Criley on behalf of a

grateful Board, staff and membership.

8 aclu news

aug-sept. 1984

|

Immigration Bill Battle Still Rages :

Stop Simpson- Mazzoli

by Cynthia Forster _

On August 8 the Senate appointed

conference committee members for the

bitterly controversial Simpson-Mazzoli

Bill, setting in motion the process

necessary to pass the bill. Opponents of

Simpson-Mazzoli, who believe the bill

rides roughshod over civil liberties, state

that this development requires a fierce

new lobbying campaign.

The appointment of Senate conferees

follows President Reagan's recent an-

nouncement that he would veto any bill

that guaranteed federal funds for

employer sanctions. On the face of it

such a move would halt the bill's passage

since its proponents are deeply commit-

ted to sanctions.

Yet according to Wade Henderson,

ACLU lobbyist in Washington, D.C.,

"`We interpret Reagan's move to mean

that he will throw his weight behind the

more repressive Senate version.

"`We must adamantly oppose any bill

coming out of the conference committee

because given the House and Senate ver-

sions, it cannot possibly be good,'' said

Henderson. ``Republicans and Demo-

. crats must receive masses of mailgrams

and phone calls against the bill. Right

now we are targeting the White House

and the Reagan-Bush headquarters at the

Republican Convention."'

`It would be a terrible mistake to

think that Simpson-Mazzoli has been

successfully deadlocked,'' said Marcia

Gallo, ACLU-NC Field Representative.

B.A.R.K.

BOARD MEETING: (Usually fourth

`Thursday each month.) No meeting in ~

August. Next Board Meeting September

27. Contact Joe Dorst, 415/654-4163.

EARL WARREN

ANNUAL POTLUCK: Saturday, Sep-

tember 22. :

BOARD MEETING: (Third Wednesday

each month.) No August Board Meeting.

Next Board Meeting, Wednesday,

September 19, 7:30 p.m. at Sumitomo

Bank, 20th and Franklin Streets, Oakland.

Contact: Len Weiler, 415/763-2336.

FRESNO

BOARD MEETING: (Third Wednesday

each month.) Next meeting Wednesday,

September 19, at 6:30 p.m. Contact: Scott

Williams: 209/442-0410. :

MEMBERSHIP MEETING: Tentative

for mid-October - keep your calendars

open.

GAY RIGHTS

BOARD MEETING: (First Tuesday each (c)

month.) 7:00 p.m. at ACLU, 1663 Mission

Street, Fourth Floor, S.F. Contact: Doug

Warner, 415/621-2493.

MARIN COUNTY

BOARD MEETING: (Third Monday

each month.) Monday, September 17 at

8:00 p.m. at City Corp. Savings, Mill

Valley. -Coniaclh. Leslie

Paul,

Similarly, Bill Tamayo of the Bay

Area Committee Against Simpson-

Mazzoli (BACASM) states that `The

closeness of the House vote on June 20

can be traced to a massive grassroots

campaign arising from minority, civil

rights and immigrant communities.

`Faced with tremendous public ig-

norance of the issues,'' Tamayo said,

``we have succeeded in alerting broad

sectors of the public and many legislators

to the dangers of this bill.

""At the Democratic Convention we

witnessed how the grassroots efforts of

thousands of individuals created a

powerful and vocal immigrants rights

movement,'' stated BACASM's Lillian

Galedo. :

"It was an historic occasion for im-

migrants rights,'' Galedo said. ``Opposi-

tion to Simpson-Mazzoli was the single

issue considered for a first ballot

boycott, and the resultant controversy

forced Mondale to publicly take a stand

against the bill."'

Anti-Simpson-Mazzoli forces were

present in strength at every major rally

of the Democratic National Convention.

Members of the ACLU's Immigration

working Group including Miriam Roths-

child, Bill Schneider, Dick Grosboll,

Cheri Pierce, Kathy Gillespie, and Linda

Baker passed out leaflets at the July 15

Labor Rally, and carried banners and

jogged alongside delegates at a Sunday

MID-PENINSULA

BOARD MEETING: (Usually last Wed-

nesday each month.) No August Board

Meeting. Next Board Meeting, Wednes-

day, September 5, 8:00 p.m. at All Saints

Episcopal Church in Palo Alto. Contact:

Harry Anisgard, 415/856-9186.

MONTEREY

BOARD MEETING: (Fourth Tuesday

each month.) Tuesday, August 28 and

September 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the Monterey

Library, Pacific and Jefferson, Monterey.

Contact: Richard Criley, 408/624-7562.

RALPH ATKINSON AWARD: Satur-

day, October 20 from 1:30 - 5:00 p.m. at

' the Santa Catalina School, Monterey.

"OUR ENDANGERED RIGHTS'':

Series of six radio programs on KAZU

every Wednesday night from 7:00 - 8:00

p.m., September 12 - October 17.

MT. DIABLO

ANNUAL BOARD MEETING: Satur--

day, August 25 at 5:00 p.m. POTLUCK!

Please RSVP to Helen Grinstead at

934-7424. Next regular board meeting

September 27, Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at

the Bortin residence. Contact: Barbara

Eaton, 415/947-1338 (days).

NORTH

PENINSULA

BOARD MEETING: (Second Monday

each month.) Monday, August 13 at 8:00

p.m. at Sears Savings Bank, San Mateo.

Contact: Richard Keyes, 415/367-8800

Calendar

morning run in Golden Gate Park.

With the Bay Area Committee

Against Simpson-Mazzoli they helped

organize the largest of all the feeder

marches into the Vote Peace Rally,

where hundreds of immigrants rights

supporters walked 20 blocks through San

Francisco's Latino Mission district.

The working group, chaired by An-

drea Learned, has worked feverishly since

May, lobbying against Simpson-Maz-

zoli's passage and actively participating

in the organization of three press con-

ferences and as many rallies.

In the week before the convention the

Immigration Working Group launched

another letter campaign, sending 500 let-

ters to Mondale asking that he rally sup-

port against simpson-Mazzoli on the

SACRAMENTO

Contact: Mary Gill, 916/457-4088 (eves.)

SAN FRANCISCO-

BOARD MEETING: (Usually fourth

Tuesday each Month.) Tuesday,

September 25, at the ACLU, 1663 Mission

Street, 4th Floor, San Francisco. Contact:

Chandler Visher, 415/626-5978.

SANTA CLARA

BOARD MEETING: (First Tuesday of

each month.) September 4 at 7:30 p.m. at

the Community Bank Building Con-

ference Room, 111 West St. John Street,

Second Floor, San Jose. Contact: Steve

Alpers, 415/792-5110 (days).

SANTA CRUZ

BOARD MEETING: Wednesday,

September 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the Louden

Nelson Center. Contact: Keith Lesar,

408/688-1666.

SONOMA

BOARD MEETING: (Third Thursday

each month.) No August meeting. Next

meeting Thursday, September 20 at 7:30

p.m. at the Center For Employment

Training, 3753 Santa Rosa Avenue, Santa

Rosa. Contact: Andrea Learned,

Board Election

The following candidates were

elcted to the ACLU-NC Board of

Directors. The new Board members

will begin their term in September and

will serve for three years. (Incumbents

are marked with an asterisk.)

Bernice Biggs*

Gordon S. Brownell*

Patsy G. Fulcher*

Sylvan Heumann*

Oliver Jones*

Len Karpman

Judy Newman*

Nancy Pemberton*

Steven L. Swig*

floor of the convention. Telegrams

alerted Jesse Jackson, Senators Gary

Hart and Edward Kennedy, and Con-

gressman Don Edwards, that Mondale

was receiving this flood of mail. All the

chairs of the state delegations received

an urgent message to act against

Simpson-Mazzoli, while press alerts and

letters to the editor advised the media of

these appeals.

`*We must now redouble our efforts to

defeat the bill. The struggle is being

waged in the House and Senate and it is

there we must focus and magnify our ef-

forts,'' Gallo stated.

Cynthia Forster is a work-study stu-

dent at the ACLU-NC and an active

member of the Bay Area Committee

Against Simpson-Mazzoli.

STOCKTON

BOARD MEETING: (Third Thursday

each month.) No meeting in August.

Thursday, September 20. Contact: Bart

Harloe, 209/946-2431 (days).

YOLO COUNTY

-~ BOARD MEETING: Thursday,

September 20 at 6:30 p.m. at Ira Clark's,

West Sacramento. Reviewing recapture

campaign, regular chapter newsletter and

newspaper articles. Contact: Larry Gar-

rett, 916/427-4256.

FIELD

COMMITTEE

MEETINGS.

- PRO-CHOICE TASK FORCE: Wednes-

day, September 5, 6:00 p.m. - all pro-

choice supporters and friends welcome.

Contact: Dick Grosboll, 415/387-0575

(evenings).

RIGHT TO DISSENT SUBCOMMIT-

TEE: Wednesday, September 5, 7:30 p.m.

Contact: Marcia Gallo at ACLU-NC,

415/621-2493.

DRAFT OPPOSITION NETWORK:

Wednesday, September 5, 7:30 p.m. at the

ACLU-NC office in San Francisco, 1663

Mission Street. Contact: Judy Newman,

415/567-1527.

IMMIGRATION WORKING GROUP:

Wednesday, September 5, `6:00 p.m..,,

ACLU office in San Francisco, 1663 Mis-

sion Street. Contact: Cindy Forster at

415/381-1088. (days). 707/544-6911. 415/621-2493.