vol. 53 (1988), no. 5

aclu news

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Volume LIl

September/October 1988

No. 5

Fight AIDS-

Stop

Suit Wins Change of Ballot Title

two-pronged legal battle challeng-

Ax Proposition 102-the Danne-

meyer AIDS initiative which would

ban anonymous HIV testing-brought

mixed results in early August. The two law-

suits, litigated by the ACLU-NC, cooperat-

ing attorneys at Brobeck, Phleger and

Harrison, National Gay Rights Advocates

and the Lesbian Rights Project, failed to

remove the initiative from the November

ballot but succeeded in having the title and

summary changed to wording which reveals

the real impact of the measure.

On August 8, Sacramento Superior

Court Judge Roger Warren ruled that there

was no reason to remove the initiative from

the ballot. On behalf of the California Med-

ical Association, the California Nurses Asso-

ciation and San Francisco Public Health

Director Dr. David Werdegar, ACLU-NC

staff attorney Matthew Coles argued that

the measure should be removed as the peti-

tions used to obtain qualifying signatures for

the initiative were false and misleading.

"The petitions did not say that the passage

of this measure would eliminate anonymous

HIV testing," Coles explained. "The public

health community regards anonymous test-

ing as one of the most effective methods of

dealing with the AIDS epidemic. That is

why they brought this lawsuit."

In addition, the lawsuit charged that Pro-

position 102 violates the "single subject" rule

of the California Constitution. That rule

requires that a ballot initiative address only

one subject.

The proposition covers not only reported

probable HIV infection, but use of HIV tests

by insurance companies, employers' use of

so-called protective clothing by employees,

and sentence enhancement for HIV-positive

persons convicted of certain crimes, includ-

ing crimes in which transmission of the virus

is not possible.

Judge Warren stated, "Each of the four

provisions challenged is, in fact, logically

and reasonably germane" to the initiative's

purpose.

"Whether the means the initiative adopts

to accomplish its overall objective is proper

.. 1S not for this court to decide," Warren

ruled. "That is for the people to vote on in

November."

Two days later on August 10, however,

Judge James T. Ford of the same court,

approved an_ out-of-court settlement

between the ACLU-NC and the state Attor-

ney General's office, changing the wording

of the voting machine labels and the voters'

handbook title and summary of Proposition

Prop. 102

102 so that they better reflect the true impact

of the measure.

That settlement came out of a voter's

lawsuit, Warner v. Eu, litigated by the same

civil liberties organizations.

continued on p. 8

Why You Should Vote NO

by Matthew Coles

ACLU-NC Staff Attorney

In 1986, the ACLU provided assistance to

defeat Proposition 64-the LaRouche

AIDS Quarantine Initiative. In June of this

year, the ACLU was there again to defeat a

ridiculous attempt to pass the same law

again.

We all hoped we were through with

extremist threats to our efforts to stop

AIDS. But now, California voters are faced

_ with a ballot measure much more threaten-

ing than any that have come before-Propo-

sition 102. And this proposition has a very

real chance of passing.

A recent California Poll found strong sup-

port among voters for "reporting AIDS

cases." Although this is not what Proposition

102 would do, this is how its backers are

trying to sell it. The results were:

YES on reporting 12%

NO on reporting 22%

Undecided 62%

But a more recent poll shows that when

voters understand what Proposition 102

actually does, they oppose it by over 60%.

This measure can be defeated if we explain

it.

This is what Proposition 102 would do:

-require doctors to report everyone who

tests positive for the AIDS virus, and eve-

ryone who is "suspected" of being HIV-

positive to local health authorities,

-require researchers to report the names

of people suspected of being HIV-positive;

continued on p. 3

Rosa Parks

Civil Rights Pioneer

Keynote Speaker

john powell

ACLU National Legal Director

16th Annual

Presentation of

Earl Warren Civil

Liberties Award to:

Bill of Rights Day Celebration

Sunday, December 11, 5:00 PM

Refreshments and No Host Bar 4:00 PM

Sheraton Palace Hotel

New Montgomery and Market Streets

San Francisco

Tickets $12-Call 415/621-2498 or fill out the order form

| Celebration Ticket Order Form

Enclosed is my payment of $ for tickets.

Name

Address

City Zip

Please make checks payable to the ACLU Foundation of Northern California. Mail

to Bill of Rights Celebration, 1663 Mission St. #460, San Francisco 94103. Please

enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

aclu news

2 sept//oct. 1988

The Campaign, the Pledge, the ACLU

by Dorothy Ehrlich

ACLU-NC Executive Director

( Duka that Governor Michael

Dukakis is a "card carrying member

of the ACLU" have punctuated Vice

President George Bush's campaign for Pres-

ident of the United States. With California

Governor George Deukmejian falling into

line with his explanation at the August

Republican Convention that "the ACLU

stands for Allowing Criminals to Leave

Unsupervised," a visible campaign of ACLU

bashing has been a centerpiece of the early

weeks of the Republican presidential elec-

tion campaign.

This theme is not limited only to name

calling. The early dispute over whether the

flag salute should be a compulsory activity

in America's public schools triggered a sus-

tained and welcomed debate on an impor-

tant civil liberties issue.

Now a day hardly goes by without

another column or feature story being pub-

lished on this subject. The principle, settled

some 45 years ago by the U.S. Supreme

Court in the historic case of West Virginia v.

Barnette, is back on the front page and may

be as controversial today as it was when the

ACLU first filed its brief supporting the

essential right to dissent from the require-

ment of a mandatory oath.

One of the very first cases on the docket of

the ACLU of Northern California was a

challenge brought in 1936 on behalf of a

nine-year-old girl in a Sacramento public

school who refused, due to her religious

beliefs, to participate in the Pledge of

_ Allegiance.

The ACLU-NC won her case in Sacra-

mento Superior Court, but in 1940 the deci-

"If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it

is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be

orthodox, in politics, nationalism, religion or other matters of

opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith

therein."

U.S. Supreme Court decision

in West Virginia v. Barnette

New ACLU-NC Board Chair, Officers

sion was overturned when the U.S. Supreme

Court issued its original decision in the

Gobitis case which initially upheld the con-

stitutionality of mandatory pledges. That

decision was reversed three years later by the

same court in Barnette v. West Virginia

School Board.

Forty-three years later polls show that a

majority of Americans still do not share the

- Supreme Court's view that the right to speak

must surely guarantee the right not to be

compelled to speak.

In the heated jargon of a political cam-

paign, the question is wrongly characterized

as whether saluting the flag is "patriotic,"

not whether a compulsory flag salute is a

violation of the Bill of Rights protection of

the freedom of thought.

It is the freedom to dissent from this

mandatory oath, especially when the dissent

is obligated by religious belief, that is the

cherished American tradition.

Stigma?

Beyond the healthy and visible debate on -

these issues is still the chilling refrain, pulled

out of the attic of the McCarthy era, of "card

carrying" ACLU member.

And why would ACLU Tiemibershis stig-

matize a presidential candidate?

Vice President Bush cites ACLU's opposi-

tion to the death penalty, to prayer in the

school and to censorship to name just a few.

New Board Members of the "abhorrent" tenets of the

organization.

The long list of ACLU principles which

are being highlighted during this campaign

may portend a sustained period of ACLU

bashing. But the best defense for our organ-

ization is a strong offense. So, all of you

"card carrying ACLU members," wave those

cards proudly-it could be a long and nasty

season!

ard, Halterman, Pemberton, Marlene De

Lancie, Marshall Krause, Jack Londen,

Eileen Siedman, Fran Strauss and Beverly

Tucker.

The following members were elected to

serve on the ACLU-NC Board of Directors:

Marsha Berzon, James Blume, Ann Brick,

Richard Grosboll, Lee Halterman, Joanne

A. Lewis, Ethel Long-Scott, Alberto Salda-

mando, and Douglas R. Young

The new Board members will serve for a

three-year term. ;

A Will to give to the ACLU

Outgoing ACLU-NC Chair Nancy Pemberton and newly elected Chair Lee

Halterman (without chairs).

Nancy Pemberton, Chair of the

_ ACLU-NC Board of Directors for the last

four years, passed her gavel on to the new

Board Chair Lee Halterman at the Sep-

tember Board meeting.

Pemberton, the longest serving Chair of

the affiliate in recent history, was honored at

the meeting with a unanimous resolution for

her "commitment, dedication and leader-

ship" of the ACLU-NC.

The resolution stated, "Whereas you

dazzled us with your financial wizardry-

keeping us grounded in the fund balance

while spinning straw into gold for every

major gift campaign," and "as our chair for

four years, you deprived yourself of speech,

that most fundamental and personally cher-

ished right, so that the process of delibera-

tion could thrive ... we thank you for your

incomparable leadership, your friendship

and your kindness."

ACLU-NC Executive Director Dorothy

Ehrlich called Pemberton a "real hands-on

leader" who was a major force in every facet

of the organization. "Nancy had been

involved in substantive policy issues for

many years, and as chair, she was willing to

put some of that time aside to play a central

role in the organizational aspects of the

ACLU-NC."

Pemberton, a federal public defender, will

continue to serve on the ACLU-NC Board

of Directors and on its Executive

Committee.

New Board Chair Lee Halterman, a 1979

graduate of Boalt Hall Law School, has

served 18 years as District Counsel for U.S.

Representative Ronald Dellums. He is the

co-author, with Dellums and Congressman

George Miller, of Defense Sense: The Search

for a Rational Military Policy and served as

a legal intern with the International Com-

mission of Jurists in Geneva.

A veteran of the ACLU-NC Board of

Directors, Halterman. chaired the Ad Hoc

Committee on the Independence of the Judi-

ciary and the Ad Hoc Committee on the

Immigration Reform and Control Act. He

has also served on the Legislative and Exec-

utive Committees of the Board. His term is

one year.

Other new officers include the following

Vice Chairs who serve as Chairs of Board

Committees: Barbara Brenner (Legal), Dick

Grosboll (Field), Milton Estes (Develop-

ment) and Lori Bannai (Legislative). All of

the Vice-Chairs will serve on the Executive

Committee along with Treasurer Tom Lock-

For more than 50 years the ACLU of

Northern California has fought to defend

the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Through the pages of history - red-

baiting, vigilantes, WWII internment camps,

HUAC, the Free Speech Movement,

Vietnam, civil rights, the women's move-

ment, gay rights and more - the ACLU

has pioneered the fight for individual

liberties.

You can do something now to insure

that the ACLU will continue to fight - and

win - ten, twenty, and fifty years from

now, through a simple addition to your

will.

Every year thoughtful civil libertarians

have, through their bequests, provided

important support for the ACLU. In 1984,

interest income alone earned by these

bequests, contributed over $50,000.

Making a bequest is simple: you need

only specify a dollar gift or a portion of

your estate for the American Civil Liberties

Union Foundation of Northern California,

Inc.

lf you need information about writing

a will or want additional information,

consult your attorney or write:

Bequests, ACLU Foundation of |

Northern California,

1663 Mission Street,

San Francisco 94103.

Elaine Elinson, Editor

aclu news

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

August-September and November-December

Published by the American Civil I.iberties Union of Northern California

Nancy Pemberton, Chairperson Dorothy Ehrlich, Executive Director a

Marcia Gallo,

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 S0 cents is for the national ACLU-bi-monthly publication, Civil Liberties.

Chapter Page

aclu news

sept./oct. 1988 3

fter 92 unlawful arrests and several

Ae of marathon meetings, Mayor

Art Agnos agreed to try a new

approach rather than arresting members of

"Food Not Bombs" who are giving free food

to the homeless in Golden Gate Park.

After nine Food Not Bombs arrests on

August 15 and 29 on August 29, John Crew,

Director of the ACLU-NC Police Practices

Project, wrote a letter to the Mayor on

September | charging that the arrests were

unlawful and calling for a new policy

respectful of the constitutional rights of the

homeless and those who distribute food with

a political message.

The six-page letter stated, "When the

police are asked to battle a complicated

- social problem, such as homelessness, that is

not fundamentally criminal in nature, pre-

cious constitutional freedoms are usually

among the first casualties."

Crew explained that though some resi-

dents of the Haight claim that the Food Not

Bombs program allegedly attracts people

who will engage in criminal conduct, only

Gene Gaar

Gene Gaar

Distributing food and leaflets to the homeless at Golden Gate Park

.-.led to 91 arrests of Food Not Bombs participants.

Halt to Arrests of |

"Kood Not Bombs"

Activist

those who commit a crime should be

arrested, not those who participate in an

entirely lawful program. "That would be

analogous to halting Giants games when

certain fans are unruly," Crew charged.

The letter also noted that these arrests"

have a ripple effect on police actions against

the homeless which result in harassment of

innocent people, numerous false arrests and

mounting and unnecessary costs to the City.

"The immediate response to our letter

was 54 more arrests on September 5," said

Crew, "so we decided to release the letter to

the press to underscore our concerns."

The following day, Crew was called to

City Hall for a meeting with the Mayor.

Over the next three days, the ACLU met

for seven hours with the Mayor, along with

the City Attorney, Food Not Bombs repre-

sentatives, residents of the area, and the

police.

On the evening of September 9, the

Mayor called a press conference to

announce a new interim policy. The police

were ordered to stop arresting participants

in the Food Not Bombs program, and the

Food Not Bombs group was issued a six-

week temporary permit to distribute food

and leaflets to the homeless at the Park a

short distance away from their original site

(they had previously been denied a permit).

"In this atmosphere of de-escalation and

respect for constitutional rights, we are

hopeful that a more permanent solution is

being sought," said Crew of the new

agreement.

The ACLU-NC has sued the City three

times in the last 10 years over police "street

sweep" tactics. "We hope that this city

administration does not repeat the mistakes

of illegally using police against law-abiding

homeless people," Crew said.

No on 102

continued from p. 1

-allow insurance companies to use

AIDS tests to determine whether to provide

medical insurance;

_ -forbid confidential, anonymous AIDS

testing. Such testing allows people to deter-

mine their health status without the fear of

losing jobs, housing or insurance;

-cost the state and cities hundreds of

millions of dollars-severely threatening the

budget for AIDS education, treatment and

research.

The implications of this misguided legisla-

tion are clear. Programs that are working to

stop new AIDS infections and provide early

treatment for HIV-positive people will be

wiped out. AIDS research will be severely

curtailed. Thousands of Californians will

lose their jobs, homes and health insurance.

The ACLU has been heavily involved in

pre-election legal challenges to Proposition

102 which did not succeed in removing it

from the ballot. We did succeed in requiring

changes in the ballot title and summary for

the initiative which better represent the true

purpose of this law.

Now we are urging members statewide to

commit themselves to defeating Proposition

102 with money and time.

A_ statewide coalition, Californians

Against Proposition 102, is trying to raise $1

million for major media advertising. The

group has already published an excellent,

informative brochure and is organizing a

speakers bureau, educational forums and

other activities to defeat the measure.

This is a critical campaign to assure that

friends, family, lovers, and co-workers are

not placed at higher risk for AIDS, and to

uphold the rights of all Californians to be

safe from forced AIDS testing and

reporting.

If you can contribute your time and

energy, please contact Californians Against

Proposition 102, 10 United Nations Plaza,

Suite 410, San Francisco 94102 or call (415)

621-4450. If you live outside of San Fran-

cisco, please call Matt Coles at the ACLU,

(415) 621-2493, for information on organiz-

ing efforts in other cities.

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ACLU-NC Ballot Card

Proposition 95-Nutritional Assistance

YES

The ACLU-NC advocates the following votes on statewide propositions which

will be on your November ballot:

Proposition 80-Prison Construction NO

The ACLU first opposed this measure when it appeared as a bill, SB 468, in

1987. The ACLU is opposed to prison expansion unless the need has been

demonstrated after other alternatives to incarceration and lesser punishments

have been explored. Prison and jail construction should be authorized only as part

of a program to eliminate existing unconstitutional conditions.

Proposition 84-Housing and Homelessness YES

This measure would provide increased availability of low cost housing in

California, a state which is among the highest in cost of housing in the country. It

is essential that in addition to homeless shelters, funding is provided so that

indigent persons can move into low cost housing. The ACLU supported this

measure in the Legislature when it appeared as SB 1692 and SB 1693.

Proposition 89-Parole NO

This measure, which was first opposed by the ACLU when it appeared as

SCA 9 in the 1988 Legislature, would allow the Governor a period of 30 days to

review a decision made by the parole authority of California before the decision

becomes effective. The measure raises serious questions of due process and

equal protection and weakens the integrity of the criminal justice system by

allowing political and irrelevant concerns to override decisions by the parole board.

This measure will provide counties with additional funds to alleviate the

problems of hunger and homelessness. It will create the California Emergency

Housing and Nutrition Fund for persons in immediate need; the fund will be

financed by fines from violations of existing laws relating to housing and food

preparation. The ACLU supports the measure as services provided by this

initiative will help keep persons out of institutional settings and remove obstacles

to receiving public benefits for homeless persons.

Proposition 96-HIV Testing for Accused Persons NO

The Block initiative would require HIV tests for persons accused of certain

crimes, including crimes where the transmission of the virus could not possibly

occur. It states that any medical person working in any detention facility must report

to the head of the facility the name of anyone held in custody who the medical

person suspects is infected with the AIDS virus. It also provides that all inmates

who might come in contact with the inmate's bodily fluids must be notified and that

any person who is accused of interfering with a police officer, fire fighter or

emergency medical person can be required to take the HIV test.

Proposition 102-Elimination of Anonymous AIDS Tests NO

The initiative would require that all HIV tests be reported, thus eliminating

anonymous testing-one ofthe most important tools in fighting the AIDS epidemic.

It would also increase prison sentences for HIV-positive persons convicted of

certain crimes, require doctors to report anyone they "believe" has the AIDS virus,

allow insurance companies and employers to require HIV tests, and for employers

to require the use of protective clothing. (For more information, see page 7.)

aclu news

4G sept /oct. 1988

oday we have heard some dis-

turbing and painful testimony.

Disturbing because the issue of

economic inequality in our society is unfa-

miliar terrain, and disturbing because the

_~ACLU-NC's usual advocacy weapons and

our traditional civil liberties policies do not

always address these profound inequities.

"But as our speakers challenged us, the

ACLU must not only be the conservator of

traditional rights, but the creator of new

rights as well."

This summation by ACLU-NC Executive

Director Dorothy Ehrlich of the 1988

Annual Conference captured well the diffi-

cult issues that this year's conference

addressed: hunger, homelessness, AIDS,

racism and drugs.

The theme of this year's conference,

which was held on September 10 at the Lone

Mountain Conference Center in San Fran-

cisco, was "Growing Economic Inequality

`and its Impact on Civil Liberties."

Angela Blackwell, an attorney with the

Urban Strategies Council in Oakland,

opened with a keynote address. "Poverty in

the 1980's is intrusively disturbing," said

Blackwell, "but another face of poverty-its

persistence among certain sectors of the pop-

ulation-is not so easily seen or

understood."

Drawing from research compiled in her

recently published reports, A Chance for

Every Child and Changing the Odds, Black-

well painted a desolate picture of the many

millions "who are outside the loop, they are

caught in a web of poverty and they see no

way out."

She noted that in the 1980's there is an

increasing concentration of poverty in

neighborhoods where "everyone is poor,"

citing that in Oakland, there are a number of

neighborhoods where 60% of the families

live below the poverty level.

Blackwell stated that "our work in civil

rights and civil liberties has no meaning if

people are uneducated, in poor health and

with no access to opportunity."

ee

Blackwell's message was underscored in a

plenary entitled "The Poverty Line" where

advocates in the fields of homelessness,

hunger, health care and education laid the

foundation for understanding how desperate

the situation is.

Jed Emerson, who works with homeless

youth at the Larkin Street Center, said,

"Homelessness is not just a social welfare

issue-it is a housing issue, a human rights

issue, an economic justice issue and most of

all a political issue."

Emerson was joined on the panel by Steve

Graham of the S.E Mayor's Council on

Food and Hunger, Lois Salisbury, Chair of

the Health Access Coalition, Blackwell and

moderator Peggy Russell of the San Fran-

cisco ACLU Chapter.

_ The "Out of the Mainstream" plenary

focused on access to services for poor and

non-traditional families. Chaired by former

ACLU-NC staff attorney and Board

member Donna Hitchens, the panel was

opened with ACLU-NC Board member

Ethel Long-Scott of the Women's Economic

Agenda Project. Long-Scott noted that

when we look at the welfare system we are

looking at an area "boiling with human

rights violations. Charges of welfare fraud,"

she said, "criminalize the act of being poor."

She was followed by a moving presenta-

tion from Joanne Edell, a welfare mother

who said, "Welfare works well to shame you,

the program has destroyed my pride.

"Being on welfare means that they can

invade any aspect of my life anytime they

want," said Edell,

Many in the audience were brought to

tears when she concluded, "I feel like I'm

1988 ACLU-NC A}

Focus on Economic

Injustice and

Civil Liberties

being punished for trying to be a good mom.

But I think we have a right not to be so

scared all the time and for someone to be

there when we are told that we are

criminals."

Attorney Roberta Achtenberg of the Les-

bian Rights Project addressed the many

rights and benefits that gay and lesbian

families are denied because they are not

legally married.

Hitchens noted that because benefit pro- |

grams are structured to deny equal protec-

tion and equal opportunity and because

seeking or receiving such services always

involves the invasion of privacy of the recip-

ients, "we can clearly see how access to

services are civil liberties issues."

. Impact of AIDS

In the plenary "The Economics of AIDS,"

Mark Cloutier, legislative assistant to

Congresswoman Barbara Boxer, focused on

the national financial impact of the AIDS

epidemic. Charging that the government

response to the AIDS crisis "will be the most

significant policy failure of the Reagan

administration," Cloutier delineated the

ever-increasing direct costs (doctors, drugs,

hospitalization, nursing and home health

care) and indirect costs (loss of wages, taxes,

productivity) of the epidemic.

Dr. Tanis Dasher of the Bayview-Hunters

Point Foundation/Black Coalition on

AIDS and George Raya of the Latino

AIDS Project focused on the impact of

AIDS on minority communities in San

Francisco. Dr. Dasher pointed out that

while Blacks comprise only 12% of the pop-

ulation, they are 25% of HIV-positive per-

sons. "It is estimated that between 1% and

114% of Blacks are infected with the AIDS ~

virus," she said.

She noted that there were particular edu-

cational needs, based on_ psychological,

social and cultural distinctions in the Black

community, and delineated four groups of

_ people who were especially at risk and not

being reached by current educational mate-

rials: Black homosexual and bisexual men,

IV drug users, incarcerated prisoners, and

children born with HIV infection.

Raya described a similar situation in the

Latino community. Before his project began.

in 1985, he explained, "there was no bilin-

gual staff on the AIDS ward at San Fran-

cisco General Hospital." A poll that was

recently completed in San Francisco's Mis-

sin District revealed that 86% of the resi-

dents want AIDS educational materials in

Spanish.

Raya also drew out the special problems

of doing outreach, education and service

work for the undocumented.

Andree Walton, from People With AIDS,

is a teacher and mother who contracted the

aclu news

sept/oct. 1988 5

.nnual Conference

disease from a blood transfusion following:

kidney surgery. Walton, a passionate advo-

cate and a tireless researcher (she spent 1100

hours in a medical library researching the

disease and made long distance calls all over

the country to find statistics on units of

blood used in surgical transfusions), traced

her personal emotional, medical, legal and

social experiences. ~

Two well-attended Action Sessions-one

focusing on the November 1988 ballot mea-

sures on AIDS and homeless/ hunger issues

and the other dealing with federal legislation

on English Only and state legislation on

comprehensive health care-spurred

ACLU-NC members into mobilizing them-

selves and others on the issues they had dealt

with in the plenary sessions.

Drug wars

A controversial high point of the confer-

ence was the afternoon debate "Should

drugs be legalized?" The ACLU position-

that all victimless crimes, including those

involving drugs, should be decriminalized-

was put forward by ACLU-NC Chairperson

Lee Halterman.

Dr. Harry Edwards, UC Berkeley profes-

sor and sports sociologist, took the opposing

view. Stating that "the greatest terrorism in

the Black community is the drug trade,"

Edwards said that "legalizing drugs would

be to consign entire communities to a living

hell-no doubt, paved with good

intentions."

Halterman warned, "As with other wars,

the war on drugs makes its first claims on

civil liberties." He noted that the ACLU

policy of decriminalization was based on the

principle that private activity that does not

adversely impact another person should not

be illegal, that persons should not be crimi-

nally sanctioned for illness (such as drug

addiction), and that there are a panoply of

due process and equal protection problems

with current law enforcement actions

against drugs.

Both speakers also noted the parallels and

dissimilarities between legalizing illicit

drugs-such as heroin and crack cocaine-

and the legalization of the two drugs that are

responsible for most deaths in this country-

alcohol and tobacco. Questioning the

thought given to how drugs would be regu-

lated and distributed if they were legalized,

Edwards noted that without such considera-

tion, "a policy of legalizing drugs is like

diving off a high board and checking on the

way down to see if there is water in the pool."

A pre-dinner reception launched the

annual Bill of Rights Campaign. Campaign

Chair Marlene DeLancie and Co-Chair

Mike Mitchell made an enthusiastic pitch

for ACLU members to get involved in the

fundraising effort by signing up for Phone

Nights and becoming generous contributors

to the Campaign. Comedian Don Stevens

highlighted the "funny side" of raising

money for the ACLU-NC, and raffle prizes,

including the dramatic conference sweat-

shirt designed by artist Doug Minkler, were

awarded to early sign-ups.

Refugees

The dinner program, "No Human Being

Is Illegal," included a poetry reading by

Demetria Martinez. Martinez was the first

journalist indicted for sanctuary related

activities. She and her co-defendant, Reve-

rend Glen Remer-Thamert, were acquitted

on August 2 after a federal jury trial in

Albuquerque, New Mexico, and this was

her first appearance in the Bay Area.

Martinez' description of her indictment

and trial-in which her main defense was

the First Amendment freedom of the

press-was punctuated with her poignant

poetry. She began with a poem "Nativity,"

which she wrote after accompanying the

Lutheran minister on his trip to help two

pregnant Salvadoran women seek refuge in

4

the United States, which reads in part:

Your eyes, large as Canada, welcome this

stranger.

We meet in a Juarez train station where

you sat hours,

your offspring blooming in you like fruit,

dresses stained where breasts leak,

panties in purses tagged

"Hecho en El Salvador,"

your belts, like equators, mark North from

South

borders I cannot cross,

for 1 am a North American reporter,

pen and notebook, the tools

of my tribe, distance us.

The poem, she explained, turned up in the

U.S. Attorney's investigation files as

"discovery."

Martinez, who is the recipient of the 1988

National Hispanic Poetry Prize as well as a

journalist with the Albuquerque Journal

and the National Catholic Reporter, was -

followed by a presentation on the "No

Human Being Is Illegal Campaign" by

Carolina Castaneda, Director of the Central

American Refugee Center.

Castaneda, herself a Salvadoran refugee

who was persecuted, explained a massive,

national outreach campaign to explain to

the Salvadoran community, the public at

large, as well as Congress the needs and

rights of refugees in the United States. She

also called for intensifying support for the

Moakley-DeConcini bill, now pending in

the U.S. Senate, which would allow Salvad-

orans to remain in the U.S. while war and

- repression is still rampant in their homeland.

The Annual Conference, which drew 200

ACLU members and supporters, was co-

sponsored by the Gay Rights and San Fran-

cisco Chapters of the ACLU-NC. The Con-

ference was coordinated by ACLU-NC

Field Representative Marcia Gallo, who

was ably assisted by program intern Gillian

Smith. The Conference wac chaired by Dick

Grosboll, who also chaired the Conference

Planning Committee. The Committee,

which worked for months to produce a pro-

vocative and informative agenda, included:

Linda Baker, Kathy Cramer, Margot Garey,

Mary Hackenbracht, Lauren Leimbach,

Joanne Lewis, Enid Ng Lim, Mike Mitchell,

Tom Reilly, Tom Sarbaugh, Fran Strauss,

Beverly Tucker, Debby Turrietta and Mike

Williams. Turrietta also designed and pro-

duced the Conference logo and brochure.

The Conference Crew, who helped the

whole event run smoothly, was Gillian

Smith, Renel Sapiandante, Belinda Lee, Jes-

sica Coffin and Michele Hughes.

Conference Photos

1. Keynote speaker Angela Blackwell. 2. Conference Chair Dick Grosboll with Ethel Long-Scott,

panelist from the Women's Economic Agenda Project. 3. Conference Committee members (left

to right) Linda Baker, Kathy Cramer and Margot Garey with Doug Warner of the co-sponsoring

Gay Rights Chapter. 4. Panel on the Impact of AIDS featured (left to right) Andree Walton,

George Raya, Dr. Tanis Dasher and Mike Williams. 5. No on Proposition 102 Campaign

Director Dana Van Gorder and Enid Lim of the S.F. Chapter at the Action Session on AIDS

Initiatives. 6. Debater Dr. Harry Edwards with ACLU-NC Board member Beverly Tucker who

introduced the debate "Should Drugs Be Legalized?" 7. Acquitted journalist Demetria Martinez

read poetry inspired by her sanctuary trial. 8. Andy Grimstad of the co-sponsoring S.F. Chapter

hawked conference sweatshirts designed by artist Doug Minkler.

Conference photos by Elaine Elinson

ao

Shirt Sales

A limited number of sweatshirts, with an

original six-color silk Screen design by Bay 5

Area artist Doug Minkler, are still available.

Send your size, (XL, L or S only) and $20 to

Conference Sweatshirt, ACLU-NC, 1663

Mission Street #460, San Francisco, CA

94103.

aclu news

6 sept./oct. 1988

Anti-Porn Bill Goes to Governor

by Francisco Lobaco

ACLU Legislative Advocate

t the close of the legislative session

Ae Sacramento, the pornography

censorship crusade was revitalized,

and freedom to read may be its first victim.

In the last days of the session, despite intense

lobbying efforts by the ACLU and others,

the Legislature approved SB 5, a bill which

redefines California's obscenity laws.

Fortunately, SB 5, which is currently on

the Governor's desk awaiting his signature,

was passed in an amended version which

eliminated its most egregious feature-the

adoption of a "community standard" as

opposed to a "statewide standard" of

obscenity.

The bill, authored by Senator Wadie Ded-

deh (D-Chula Vista), broadens the defini-

tion of obscenity, going beyond California's

current definition which is more protective

of First Amendment rights.

As originally proposed, SB 5 applied a

community standard, as opposed to a state-

wide standard, in determining what is legally

obscene. The danger inherent in the adop-

tion of community standards is that restric-

tive communities would be empowered to

influence censorship decisions for the rest of

the state. What may be legal to read in San

Francisco may not be in Hawyard, Fresno

or any other community.

While proponents of the bill argued that

community standards and other modifica-

tions would make it easier to prosecute por-

nographers, thereby changing what they see

as California's standing as the "smut" capital

of the country, the ACLU argued that those

changes would have had a serious chilling

effect on creative output.

In other states, for example, prosecutors

have viewed similar standards as license to

harass bookstores and movie theaters. Even

in cases where the obscenity conviction is

eventually overturned, the threat and

expense of litigation has had a severe impact

on film and book distributors.

As approved by the Legislature, the mea-

sure conforms California's standard to the

one adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court in

Miller y. California. While California's cur-

rent definition of obscenity is already vague

and overbroad, it nevertheless is narrower

than the Miller standard and. therefore more

protective of the First Amendment.

No educational value

SB 5 now eliminates the educational

component from the current law which

requires that material must "lack literary,

artistic, political, scientific or educational

value." The elimination of the educational

element could result in such materials as

educational sex manuals being deemed

obscene.

The bill moved through the Legislature

with an inordinate amount of political fan-

fare and grandstanding. When the bill was

first voted in the Assembly on August 4,

Senator H.L. Richardson led a rally of thou-

sands of anti-porn crusaders on the Capitol

steps.

On August 24, the Senate Rules Commit-

tee held a widely publicized hearing at which

representatives of the movie industry, news-

NCAA Cant' Test Stanford Athletes

hen Stanford women's diving

captain Simone LeVant refused

to submit to an NCAA drug test

two years ago, she dove into a controversy of

national dimensions. When she finished her

laps, she emerged with a championship rul-

ing on privacy rights for student athletes.

On August 11, in the suit started by

LeVant, her fellow athletes represented by

the ACLU-NC won a ruling that could affect -

tens of thousands of college athletes. Santa

Clara County Superior Court Judge Con--

_ rad Rushing issued a permanent injunction

prohibiting the NCAA (National Collegiate

Athletic Association) from requiring Stan-

ford students to submit to drug testing in

order to enter NCAA competitions.

"The NCAA's monitored taking of urine

samples for drug testing is clearly an inva-

sion of the right to privacy," Rushing stated.

The NCAA began requiring college ath-

letes to submit to drug testing in 1986.

Stanford students LeVant, women's soccer

captain Jennifer Hill and football linebacker

Barry McKeever were the first in California

to challenge the rule as an invasion of the

constitutionally protected right to privacy.

In November 1987, ACLU-NC staff attor-

ney Ed Chen and cooperating attorneys

Robert Van Nest and Susan Harriman of

Keker and Brockett succeeded in winning a

preliminary injunction banning drug testing

for most of Stanford's 600 student athletes.

However, the preliminary injunction

excluded football players and men's basket-

ball players, allowing those athletes to be

tested for four substances: steroids, cocaine,

heroin and amphetamines.

Judge Rushing's permanent injunction,

following a five-week trial replete with med-

ical, drug and athletic experts, bars testing in

those sports as well. "It appears the evidence

is wholly insufficient to support the NCAA

program of drug testing in any sport," the

judge ruled.

Rushing stated that mandatory drug tests

invade an athlete's right to privacy because

"urinating under the watchful eye of an

NCAA monitor is degrading and embar-

rassing to both men and women."

He also noted that because such tests

-could reveal whether a woman athlete was

_ taking birth control pills, there was a further

invasion of privacy.

Furthermore, Judge Rushing agreed with

ACLU-NC arguments that the tests are

"fatally overbroad," because literally thou-

sands of drugs and their "related com-

pounds" are banned.

Judge Rushing, in his 28-page opinion,

stated that because some over-the-counter

medicines are prohibited substances

detected by the NCAA tests, he was con-

cerned that some athletes may avoid taking

needed medication for fear of failing a drug

test.

He also faulted the NCAA for spending

only $200,000 on drug education over a ten-

year period, while pouring $1 million into

the drug testing program in one year alone.

"Drug education is certaintly a viable alter-

native to drug testing which has not been

adequately attempted by the NCAA," Rush-

ing said.

"It's a complete victory," said cooperating

attorney Harriman. "Maybe at this point

somebody at the NCAA will sit back and

think of something they can do with all that

time and money spent on this."

The NCAA competitions involve 250,000

college athletes across the country.

Attorneys for Stanford University, who

intervened in the case during the course of

the lawsuit, also lauded the decision.

paper publishers, book sellers and other

First Amendment advocates strongly

objected to the adoption of the community

standard. That same day, the Rules Commi-

tee with a 3-2 vote recommended that the

statewide standard not be replaced with the

community standard.

A joint Assembly-Senate Conference

Committee on August 25 came up with the

final version of the bill, again rejecting the

community standard.

That version of the bill was passed by the

full Senate on August 30 and the full Assem-

bly on August 31, the final day of the session.

Governor Deukmejian is expected to sign

the bill into law.

The ACLU continues to oppose the bill as

it is still overbroad, vaguely defined and

eliminates exceptions for educational value.

Vending machines

_ Asecond measure, AB 2093, authored by

Assemblyman Gil Fergeson (R-Newport

Beach), also passed by the Legislature, bans

the sale of "harmful matter" in vending

machines located in any public place, except

those where minors are excluded. The bill

also criminalizes the sale of print materials

which contain sexual representations, but

are not legally obscene. The ACLU argued

that the bill denies adults their constitutional

right to purchase the materials in question.

Harmful covers

The Assembly passed AB 2093 by a vote

of 61 to 11 in January; it was subsequently

amended in the Senate to affect only vend-

ing machine sales of publications which dis-

play "harmful" matters on their covers.

Courts have generally held that if "harmful"

books or magazines do not carry anything

offensive on their covers, restrictions on their

sale are unconstitutional.

The Senate passed the amended version

of SB 2093 on August 25 and it is now on the

Governor's desk. He is also expected to sign

this measure into law.

"With so many crucial public policy ques-

tions on the agenda, it is absurd that the

Legislature wasted so much time on this

legislation," said ACLU lobbyist Marjorie

Swartz. "Judging from the rallies, the name

calling-one opposing Senator was called a

`porno king'-and the thousands of compu-

ter printout letters from anti-porn crusaders

that besieged legislators during these final

votes, it is obvious that the focus on this

legislation was aimed at forcing a `Moral

Majority' standard on the people of Califor-

nia," she added.

VA Workers Win

he ACLU-NC and the Employment

Law Center scored a victory July 22

when U.S. District Court Judge Robert P.

Aguilar enjoined the Veterans Administra-

tion from using urinalysis for random testing

of its Western States employees.

The "Drug-Free Federal Workplace" pro-

gram, established by President Reagan's

1986 Executive Order, mandated testing

employees of federal executive agencies. The

class action suit was brought by five non-

union VA hospital employees.

The case was argued by staff attorneys Ed

Chen and Matthew Coles of the ACLU-NC,

John True of the Employment Law Center,

and cooperating attorneys Barry Levin,

continued on p. 8

Message T-Shirt

Sales Barred from

City Streets

S= Francisco wouldn't be the same with-

out message T-shirts. They display ever-

ything from events to jokes to points of view.

Few disagree that they are a popular forum

for expression, but, according to the city of

San Francisco, T-shirts with the messages

"Free Nuclear Weapons; Stop Star Wars"

and "Save the Whales" are forms of speech

which do not belong in certain parts of the

city.

On August 4 the ACLU-NC filed an ami-

cus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals chal-

lenging a San Francisco ordinance which

prohibits the sale of advocacy T-shirts by

non-profit organizations on San Francisco

streets. The ordinance is a "blunderbuss,"

said ACLU-NC staff attorney Margaret

Crosby, and it violates the First

~ Amendment.

In January 1986, the city adopted an

ordinance which placed restrictions on sales

by non-profit groups on the sidewalks in

Fisherman's Wharf and Union Square.

When merchants and commercial street

vendors complained that the ordinance was

not tough enough, the city added amend-

ments which essentially barred non-profit

groups from sidewalk sales.

Immediately, complaints from the non-

profits regarding the violation of First

Amendment rights began flowing in. Bow-

ing to pressure from those asserting such

rights, city attorneys admitted in court that

they could not constitutionally ban the sale

of books, bumper stickers and buttons by

the non-profits, and once again the ordi-

nance was amended. The sale of T-shirts,

however, was still prohibited.

U.S. District Court Judge William

Schwarzer enjoined the city from banning.

sale of T-shirts with messages related to the

work of the advocacy group. He ruled that

slogan-bearing apparel was a form of pro-

tected speech. The city has appealed that

decision.

"The city essentially claims that a state-

ment is constitutionally protected if printed

on paper [books, bumper stickers] or metal

[buttons], but unprotected if printed on

cloth," said Crosby.

While the city argued that the non-profits

which displayed items containing political

messages threatened the aesthetic beauty

and caused congestion in the area, the

ACLU-NC maintains that such an interest

does "not support the broad proscription on

charitable sales."

The city allows peddlers and street artists

to erect stands in Fisherman's Wharf. The

ACLU-NC contends that the government

can limit the number of all stands, but it

cannot prefer commercial activity to politi-

cal advocacy. .

Political landscape

Banning the advocacy T-shirts from sales

tables, Crosby asserted, also shrinks the -

expanse of the "marketplace of ideas,"

depriving the public of their constitutional

right to exposure to other views. Those

views are carried by advocacy T-shirts,

which are, in Crosby's words, a "lively recent

addition to America's political landscape."

T-shirts are also a means of free expres-

sion, the ACLU-NC explained. "By pur-

chasing a message-bearing T-shirt from a

non-profit organization, an individual sup-

ports its cause financially and by carrying its

message throughout the day," Crosby added.

- Suzanne Samuel

aclu news

sept/oct. 1988 7

$100,000 Goal for

Bill of Rights Campaign

ith a goal of $100,000 the Bill of

Rights Campaign kicked off its

annual fundraising drive on September 19

with the first of many "Phone Nights."

Campaign chair Marlene De Lancie

explained that this year's goal represents

nearly 20% of the total fundraising effort of

the ACLU-NC Foundation. "These dona-

tions are crucial for the legal, educational

and outreach programs of the Foundation,"

De Lancie said.

The Bill of Rights Campaign is a crucial

component of the ACLU-NC Foundation

budget. Each year, through personal letters

and phone calls, ACLU-NC members are

asked to give a special, tax-deductible con-

tribution aside from their membership.

"These contributions determine directly

how many cases we can handle and how

much education and outreach we can under-

take in Northern California," De Lancie

said.

The Campaign relies on the generous

donation of time and energy of ACLU-NC

chapter activists and volunteers. The Cam-

paign Committee, chaired by De Lancie -

(North Peninsula) and co-chaired by Mike

Mitchell (Mid-Peninsula), includes:

Deborah Doctor (Marin), Audrey Guerin

(North Peninsula), Larry Jensen (Santa

Clara), Jeff Perkins (Gay Rights), Louise

Rothman-Riemer (Earl Warren), Andrew

Rudiak (Mt. Diablo), Peggy Russell (San

Francisco), Tom Sarbaugh (B-A-R-K), and

Doris Thomson (Sacramento).

The Committee has already scheduled a

dozen Phone Nights (see schedule below) for

volunteers to call ACLU-NC members to

ask them to pledge a special gift to the

Foundation. Each Phone Night includes

DeGrand, New Fiscal Manager

Susan DeGrand

Su DeGrand, the new Fiscal Man-

ager, is not unfamiliar with the ACLU.

In her home state of Tennessee, where the

ACLU is viewed as "lefter than left," her

parents have been members for years.

DeGrand received a B.A. in Creative

Writing from Antioch University in San

Francisco and went on to take courses in

accounting at Golden Gate University

before holding bookkeeping and fiscal man-

agement positions. DeGrand has devoted

her career to sharing her financial skills with

non-profit organizations.

"I prefer to work at a place that's activist,"

she explains, "and a place trying to do

something to effect positive change." The

groups she has worked with include the Fort

Mason Foundation, the Alvarado Arts

Workshop, Scroungers Center for Reusable

Union Maid Photos

g

=

QY

3

s

S

=

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Bill of Rights Campaign Co-chair Mike

Mitchell and Chair Marlene DeLancie

recruit fund raising volunteers for Phone

Nights.

volunteer training and dinner, and, accord-

ing to Development Associate Sandy

Holmes who is staffing the Campaign, "the

challenge and pleasure of working with

other volunteers to help build the resources

of the ACLU."

If you want to volunteer for a Bill of

Rights Campaign Phone Night, check the

schedule on this page and call Sandy

Holmes at (415) 621-2493. More Phone

Nights will be scheduled, so call for an

`update. All are welcome.

1988 Bill of Rights Campaign

~ Phone Night Schedule

OCTOBER

Monday, October 3

Tuesday, October 4

Tuesday, October 11

Wednesday, October 12

Monday, October 17

Wednesday, October 19

NOVEMBER

Monday, November 14

Saturday, November 19

The Mount Diablo, Sacramento and Yolo Chapters will be scheduling phone

nights in the next few weeks.

If you are interested in volunteering for a phone night, or you would like

more information about the time and location of any specific phone

night, please call Sandy Holmes at the ACLU Office, (415) 621-2493.

B-A-R-K and Earl Warren Chapters

(Oakland location)

Marin Chapter

(Larkspur location)

Santa Clara Valley Chapter

(Campbell location)

San Francisco and Gay Rights Chapters

(ACLU Office, San Francisco)

Mid-Peninsula Chapter

(Palo Alto location)

*"Baseball Night**

(ACLU Office, San Francisco-

a very special phone night for sports fans!

Here's your night to cheer on your favorite

team during the playoffs.)

North Peninsula Chapter

(San Mateo location)

10am - 2pm

(ACLU Office, San Francisco)

Arts Parts (SCRAP), Friends of Support

Services for the Arts and Central City Hos-

pitality House.

Before coming to the ACLU-NC,

DeGrand served as Fiscal Manager for Cen-

tral City Hospital House, a Tenderloin

agency which provides the homeless and

low-income Tenderloin residents with servi-

ces including a shelter, an art program, a

youth program and a peer counseling center.

Working at Hospitality House, she says,

"was an experience such as I've never had

before in my life. It was important for me in

that the homeless are now individuals, not a

faceless mass. It's given me a completely

different perspective in terms of what is

necessary in the world and what is superfi-

cial. It redefined my values tremendously."

Before coming to Hospitality House,

DeGrand worked at Harrah's in Reno-a

place which she considers to be similar to the

Tenderloin. "In both places," she explains,

"there is an anonymity to the amount of

transience, and there is the false glitter that

your ship is going to come in suddenly. You

could also say that life in the Tenderloin is

like a gamble."

ACLU, (c)

As Fiscal Manager at the

DeGrand is in charge of the accounting and

fiscal management for both the affiliate and

the ACLU-NC Foundation. DeGrand

appreciates the way in which the ACLU

addresses issues using a long continuum.

"The ACLU has a historical stability," she

notes, "that I have never experienced before

`in anon-profit. It's a sense of history-of the

past and the future."

DeGrand's financial expertise has already

been an asset to the ACLU-NC. The com--

bined operating budget of both the Founda-

tion and the affiliate is over $1 million.

According to ACLU-NC executive direc-

tor Dorothy Ehrlich, "Susan jumped into

our painstaking annual budget process as

soon as she was hired. Within six weeks she

had prepared a budget of over $1 million.

Her arrival also coincided with a major

The ACLU-NC mourns the passing of

Jan Criley, a veteran ACLU activist and a

central figure in the Monterey Chapter of

the ACLU, who died on September 2 follow-

ing a lengthy illness.

Criley was a board member of the Monte-

rey Chapter and a mainstay of the Chapter's

Complaint Hotline. In that capacity, she

took hundreds of calls from individuals who

turned to the ACLU because they felt their

rights had been violated. "Jan took on one of

the most difficult jobs of the ACLU-trying

to find a recourse for people who had been

wronged-and she did this wearing task

with unflinching warmth, sensitivity and

compassion," said ACLU-NC Executive

Director Dorothy Ehrlich.

"Jan lived her life in complete consonance

with her principles," said Ehrlich. "Her pas-

sionate involvement in peace and justice

issues is an inspiration to all of us."

Criley's activism was not limited to the

Jan Criley

budget crisis-yet she was able to organize

our accounts thoroughly so that the Board

could make difficult decisions with the most

organized and comprehensive figures

possible."

She also aims to revise the ACLU-NC

accounting system and streamline the finan-

cial records by using a sophisticated compu-

ter system to bring the whole system in-

house.

ACLU. She was recording secretary of the

United Nations Association, and a member

of the Monterey County SANE/ Freeze,

Monterey County Sanctuary, El Refugio,

Medical Aid to El Salvador and the Repro-

ductive Rights Coalition. She was also an

umbrella-carrying member of the Star Wars

Drill Team, a memorable part of numerous

peace and disarmament demonstrations.

At a September 9 memorial meeting at

the Unitarian Church of Monterey Penin-

sula, family, friends and fellow activists from

her many areas of work paid tribute to her

energy, intelligence and commitment.

She is survived by her husband, Dick

Criley, executive director of the Monterey

ACLU-NC Chapter, her mother, her sister,.

two brothers, her daughter and _ her

granddaughter.

The family requests that any memorial

contributions be sent to the Monterey Chap-

ter of the ACLU or the Monterey County

SANE/ Freeze.

aclu news

8 sept./oct. 1988

OCC Makes "Giant Strides"

Practices Project, the once sleepy

watchdog of the San Francisco Police

Department has made giant strides in the

past year.

Under previous directors, the Office of

Citizens Complaints (OCC) had developed a

reputation as a "lap dog" of the police. The

agency sustained few complaints, snubbed

community groups, and even squandered its

scarce resources on promoting the police

department.

That began to change last year, when

rising controversy and scathing reports

from the ACLU-NC, the San Francisco Bar

Association and even the City Auditor

forced Director Frank Schober to resign. In

November, San Francisco voters removed a

spending cap on the OCC's budget. And

after receiving more than 200 applications in

a nationwide search for a new director, the

Police Commission selected Michael

Langer, former chief of detectives of the

Skokie, Illinois, Police Department.

Since then the agency has added two

investigators despite the severe citywide

budget crunch, obtained a Police Commis-

sion order that all officers cooperate with the

OCC investigators, stopped document

shredding and established closer relations

with community groups of all types. Langer

is also working with the San Francisco Bar

Association to set up a pro bono panel of

hearing officers.

Of the complaints filed in 1987 that hav

been completed to date, 98 of the allegations

made against San Francisco police officers

were found to have merit, almost triple the

amount from the previous year. The total

number of complaints was about 1,500 in

both years.

The ACLU-NC's Police Practices Project

aided the OCC's revival by keeping a steady

drumbeat against the OCC's lax practices

and working closely with Langer since he

took office last November. The Project has

Qi by the ACLU-NC's Police

Title Changed (c)

continued from p. I

The agreement changes the title appear-

ing in the voter handbook and on the ballot

from "Acquired Immune Deficiency Syn-

drome Reporting" to "Reporting Exposure

to AIDS Virus." In addition, the words

"requires reporting AIDS cases" in the old

voting machine label were substituted with

"requires reporting persons exposed to

AIDS virus."

"Having AIDS and carrying the AIDS

virus are not the same thing," Coles said.

"The title and summary originally assigned

to Proposition 102 was misleading because

there are far fewer AIDs cases in California

than people who have been exposed to the

virus," he added.

At the August 10 hearing, Paul Gann, a

supporter of the initiative, showed up with a

pre-packaged press release claiming that his

opponents had been defeated a second time

by not having the initiative removed from

the ballot. Once the settlement hearing was

completed, and the point of the lawsuit-

change the wording of ballot materials-

made clear, reporters left Gann's release in

the circular file.

Attorneys who litigated both cases are

Coles, ACLU-NC cooperating attorneys

George Cumming and Tom Peterson of Bro-

beck, Phleger and Harrison, Benjamin Schatz

of National Gay Rights Advocates and

Roberta Achtenberg of the Lesbian Rights

Project.

also played a key role in blocking legal

efforts: by police officers to undercut the

OCC's authority.

In one case, Police Practices Project direc-

tor John Crew and ACLU cooperating

attorney Maria Astengo of Pillsbury, Madi-

son and Sutro helped a woman defeat a defa-

mation suit filed by an officer who had

arrested her. The woman, a transsexual

arrested for "obstructing the sidewalk" by

two officers who assumed she was a prosti-

tute, filed a brutality complaint against the

officers in May 1987. In December, minutes

before a hearing on the complaint was slated

to be held in OCC offices, the woman was

presented with a small claims complaint by

one of the officers.

"Clearly the motivation was to intimidate

the complainant from testifying-to scare

her off," said Crew.

The small claims court judge upheld the

officer's complaint and ordered the woman

to pay damages. But the ACLU-NC Project

took up the woman's cause and won a rever-

sal on appeal. The OCC also sustained new

charges against the officers for failing to

cooperate with the complaint process.

In another case, the ACLU-NC filed a

friend of the court brief wtih the state Court

of Appeal in a police union suit challenging

the OCC's hearing procedure. The Police

Officers Association (POA) contended that

OCC hearings were personnel hearings, and

that allowing complainants to participate

violated an officer's right to privacy. The

court quashed the POA suit, ruling that the

. primary purpose of OCC hearings is fact

gathering.

In one of the OCC's most dramatic cases

to date, it upheld complaints by gay rights

groups that police were lax in investigating

the stabbing death of a gay man.

Crew helped the Stonewall Gay Demo-

cratic Club and the Alice B. Toklas Lesbian

and Gay Democratic Club in preparing and

filing the complaints. The OCC conducted a

two-month investigation and concluded that

police-conducted interviews and evidence

collection at the crime scene were inade-

quate. They also found that the laughter

heard emanating from the victim's home

shortly after the police arrived was improper.

Most significantly, the OCC also con-

cluded that the shoddy investigation was

caused in part by the victim's status as a gay

man and this constituted official misconduct

on the part of the officers responsible for the

case. A disciplinary trial before the Police

Commission is scheduled for later this year.

The Police Commission has supported

the reinvigorated agency by warning all

officers that they must cooperate fully with

the OCC or face "the most severe forms of

discipline, including termination."

In July the Commission slapped an

officer with a 90-day suspension without

pay, the stiffest penalty yet given to an

officer resulting from an OCC investigation.

The OCC had determined that the officer,

six-year veteran John Haggett, had pistol-

whipped a minor while arresting him.

According to Crew, "While there is still a

long way to go, we are very pleased with the

progress being made in the OCC. The last

year has brought more improvements in the

agency than the previous five years

combined.

"With continuing reforms, maybe San

Francisco will finally get the effective and

credible police watchdog agency it voted for

six long years ago," Crew added.

-Kent Miller

B-A-R-K (Berkeley area) CHAPTER

MEETING: (Usually fourth Thursday) Come

to Bill of Rights Phone Nights (jointly with

Earl Warren Chapter) on Monday, September

26 and Monday, October 3. Both will be held at

171 12th Street, Oakland, at 6:30 p.m.; call

835-8870 for details. Contact Julie Houck,

415/848-4752.

EARL WARREN (Oakland/ Alameda

County) CHAPTER MEETING: (Usually

third Wednesday) See B-A-R-K Calendar for

joint Bill of Rights Phone Night dates.

October meeting set for third Wednesday, Oct.

19, 7:30 p.m. Contact Paul Bernstein, 415 /534-

ACLU or Lauren Leimbach, 415/655-7339

(eve).

FRESNO CHAPTER MEETING: (Usually

third Tuesday) For September and October

209/486-7735 (eve).

GAY RIGHTS CHAPTER MEETING:

(Usually first Wednesday) Wednesday,

October 5, 7:00 p.m., Chapter Phone Night for

the Bill of Rights Campaign. ACLU-NC

office, 1663 Mission St., San Francisco. Con-

tact Doug Warner, 415/621-3900.

MARIN CHAPTER MEETING: (Usually

third Monday) Monday, October 17, 7:30 p.m.,

Citicorp Bank, 130 Throckmorton Avenue,

Mill Valley. We will be establishing a Marin

Hotline, watch quarterly newsletter for details!

Contact Eileen Siedman, 415/383-0848.

MID-PENINSULA (Palo Alto area) CHAP-

TER MEETING: (Usually fourth Wednes-

day) Wednesday, September 28, 8:00 p.m., All

Saints Episcopal Church, 555 Waverly, Room

15, Palo Alto. Special Event in October featur-

ing guest speakers: Chris Durkin, Chief of

Police of Palo, and John Crew, ACLU attor-

ney. Thursday, October 27, 8:00 p.m. at Mit-

chell Park. Contact Harry Anisgard, 415/

856-9186.

MONTEREY CHAPTER MEETING: Usu-

ally fourth Tuesday ) Tuesday, September 27,

7:30 p.m., Monterey Library, Pacific and Jef-

ferson Streets, Monterey. Annual Ralph

Atkinson Civil Liberties Award Banquet

honoring Edith Alt. October 30, 3:30 to 5:00

p.m. at the Santa Catalina School. Contact

Richard Criley, 408/624-7562.

VA Workers

continued from p. 6

Melanie Gold, Andrea Adam and Gabriel

Bassan of Heller, Ehrman, White and

McAuliffe.

The court agreed with the plaintiffs who

argued that Reagan's drug testing plan vio-

lated employees' Fourth Amendment rights.

Judge Aguilar found testing without "reaso-

nable suspicion" of on the job drug impair-

ment and

unconstitutional.

In explaining why such a program does

not create a drug-free environment, plain-

tiffs' attorneys cited the high levels of false

positive and false negative test results

obtained from urinalysis, and the program's

failure to test for alcohol or prescription drug

"post-accident" _ testing

abuse which constitute a greater problem in ~

the workplace than illicit drug use.

Moreover, urinalysis drug tests, unlike

blood-alcohol tests, do not measure impair-

ment; they only indicate prior exposure to

drugs, days or even weeks before.

The ruling in this case came on the heels

of two other recent victories in drug testing

cases in which the ACLU has participated.

In a case brought by the American Federa-

meeting details please contact Mindy Rose,

Chapter Meetings

MT. DIABLO (Contra Costa County)

CHAPTER MEETING: (Usually fourth

Tuesday or Wednesday) Wednesday, Sep-.

tember 28, at 7:30 p.m. -Date for October

meeting to be set at that time. Contact Beverly

Bortin, 934-1927.

NORTH PENINSULA (San Mateo area)

CHAPTER MEETING: (NOTE CHANGE:

Now third Monday) Monday, October 17, 7:30

p.m. Bank of America, Third and El Camino,

San Mateo. Contact Bob Delzell, 415/

343-7339.

SACRAMENTO VALLEY CHAPTER

MEETING: (Usually second Wednesday)

Wednesday, October 12, 7:30 p.m., County

Administration Building, 7th/I Streets, Sacra-

mento. Annual Membership Meeting Friday,

October 21, Auditorium of the Almond Grow-

ers Exchange, 1701 C Street. Contact Eric

Andrus, 916/441-2552 or Joe Gunterman, 916 /

447-8053.

SAN FRANCISCO CHAPTER MEET-

ING: (Usually fourth Tuesday) Next meeting

will be Tuesday, October 27, 6:00 p.m. ACLU

office, 1663. Mission Street, San Francisco.

Contact Marion Standish, 415/863-3520.

SANTA CLARA CHAPTER MEETING:

(Usually first Tuesday of the month) Next

meeting Tuesday, October 4. Contact Christine

Beraldo, 408/554-9478.

SANTA CRUZ CHAPTER MEETING:

Contact Kathleen Tranchina, 408/438-6094.

SONOMA CHAPTER MEETING: (Usually |

third Thursday) Thursday, October 27. Con-

tact June Swan, 707/546-7711.

YOLO COUNTY CHAPTER MEETING:

(Usually third Wednesday) Wednesday,

October 19. Contact Casey McKeever, 916/

442-0753.

Field Committee

Meetings

Field Committee: Priority setting meeting to

be held on Saturday, November 12, from 10:30

a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Contact Marcia Gallo,

ACLU-NC office, 415/621-2493.

tion of Government Employees (AFGE), in

which the ACLU-NC filed an amicus brief;

a May ruling held the drug testing of Bureau

of Prisons employees to be unconstitutional.

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Con-

nor denied the Government's request to stay

that injunction pending appeal.

AFGE also sued the Veterans Adminis-

tration on behalf of its members nationwide.

On August 8, Judge William Ingram ruled

that he agreed with Judge Aguilar's order

and stated that Judge Aguilar's preliminary

injunction protected AFGE members as

well.

In a suit brought by the ACLU national

office in Washington, D.C., testing of Justice

Department attorneys was also deemed ille-

gal in a decision handed down in late July.

"The preliminary injunction against the

Veterans Administration is an important

victory," said Chen. "Not only will it pre-

serve the constitutional rights of thousands

of innocent, law-abiding employees until

trial, it, together with the preliminary

injunctions issued against drug testing of

Bureau of Prisons employees and Justice

Department attorneys, represents a major

setback to the Reagan Executive Order

which calls for testing of over two million

federal employees." '