vol. 55, no. 6 (November)

aclu news

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Volume LV

n Sunday, December 15 - the

QO 200th birthday of the Bill of

Rights - the ACLU-NC will

honor two people who have made those

rights come alive for millions of

Americans, United States Supreme Court

Justices William Brennan and Thurgood

~ Marshall. The Justices will be granted the

Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award at the

ACLU-NC's 19th annual Bill of Rights

Day Celebration.

The Celebration will feature a "Tribute

to Freedom of Expression" _ starring

renowned artists from various fields

including poets Lawrence Ferlinghetti and

June Jordan, jazz musician Jon Jang, mod-

em dancer June Watanabe, comedienne

Marga Gomez, and the Oakland Interfaith

Gospel Choir. The keynote speaker will be

the eloquent criminal defense attorney

Tony Serra.

As Justices Brennan and Marshall will

not be able to attend the Celebration, the

entire program will be videotaped and

delivered to them with their awards.

The event, which also represents the

culmination of the ACLU-NC

Foundation's annual fundraising cam-

paigns, will be held at the St. Francis Hotel

on Union Square at 5:00 PM. (For ticket

information, see below.)

Earl Warren Award

Each year for the past eighteen years,

the Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award has

been presented to a person or persons who

have distinguished themselves as champi-

ons in the battle to preserve and expand

civil liberties.

"Justices Marshall and Brennan are sin-

gularly appropriate recipients of the

Award, for they shared not only the spirit,

but the Supreme Court bench, with Chief

Justice Earl Warren, for whom the award

is named," said ACLU-NC Chair Milton

November 1991

Tribute to Freedom of Expression

Justices Brennan and Marshall to be Honored

Justice William Brennan (I.) and Justice Thurgood Marshall

National Geographic Society

Estes.

Justices Marshall and William

Brennan sat on the United States Supreme

Court for a combined fifty-six years.

"During that time they consistently voted

to defend civil liberties, creating a body of

law that made the Supreme Court a refuge

for all Americans seeking to exercise their

rights. In honor of their tireless efforts to

enforce the letter and spirit of the Bill of

Rights, the ACLU-NC is proud to grant

these two courageous justices the Earl

Warren Civil Liberties Award in this

Bicentennial Year of the Bill of Rights,"

Estes added.

Brennan joined the Court in 1956 in

the turbulent years just following the

Brown v. Board of Education school

desegregation case. At that time, the U.S.

Constitution was not being interpreted to

protect individual privacy in issues such

Minors' Rights to

Abortion on Trial

na courtroom crowded with reporters

I and spectators, the most significant

reproductive rights trial in California

opened on October 1 before San Francisco

Superior Court Judge Maxine Chesney in

the case challenging the 1987 law requir-

ing adolescents to obtain parental consent

or a court order to obtain abortion services.

The law restricting teenagers' access to

abortion has never gone into effect

because of the lawsuit, American Academy

of Pediatrics v. Lungren, filed by ACLU-

NC staff attorney Margaret Crosby,

Abigail English of the National Center for

Youth Law, and cooperating attorneys

Linda Shostak, Lori Schechter, Annette

Carnegie and Monique van Yzerlooy of

Morrison and Foerster.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are organiza-

tions and doctors concerned with adoles-

cent health: the American Academy of

Pediatrics (District IX); the California

Medical Association; the American

College of Obstetricians and

Gynecologists (District IX); Planned

Parenthood of Alameda/San Francisco;

and Philip Darney, M.D., Director of

Family Planning, San Francisco General

Hospital.

The case challenges the restrictive law

as violating the explicit right to privacy

(Article I, Sectiont1) in the California

Constitution. The suit argues that the law

infringes teenagers' right to reproductive

choice, requires the unnecessary disclo-

sure of intimate facts, and violates the

government's obligation of neutrality

between childbirth and abortion by bur-

dening only the disfavored reproductive

option of abortion.

Major risk

Shostak, who is the lead trial attorney,

told the court in her opening statement, "It

is a good thing in most cases for a teen-

ager to talk to her parents. But to compel

family harmony is not a good thing. It puts

some teens at a major risk...because not

every family is a happy family."

Shostak asked for a permanent injunc-

tion blocking enforcement of the law,

reminding the court that the Court of

Appeal had placed the burden of proof on

the state to justify the statute's infringe-

ment of fundamental privacy rights.

In October 1989, the state Court of

Appeal upheld a lower court ruling block-

ing the law until its constitutionality could

be determined. The appellate court reaf-

firmed the California Constitution's strong

protection for the right to choose abortion,

Continued on page 4

| as abortion or contraception. The First

Amendment had been weakened first by

the war years and still further by the era of

McCarthyism. The rights of the accused

were poorly formulated, and constitutional

restraints were rarely applied to the con-

duct of the government at the state and

local levels. Justice Brennan did not con-

fine himself to narrow opinions, but formu-

A Celebration

of the Bicentennial

of the Bill of Rights

Venu]

Justices Thurgood Marshall

e William Brennan

with the Earl Warren

Civil Liberties Award

(in absentia)

American Civil Liberties Union

of Northern California

1991 Bill of Rights Day

Sunday, December 15, 199] at 5pm

Refreshments e? No-Hovt Bar at 4pm

Weutin St. Francis Hotel

No. 6

lated broad tests that closely scrutinized

any restrictions on constitutional rights.

Justice Marshall joined in 1967,

appointed by President Lyndon Johnson

three years before Chief Justice Warren

retired. As the first African American to

serve on the nation's highest court, he com-

bined a valuable perspective with an out-

standing record of legal experience to

advance the civil rights of all Americans.

"Tt is a credit to the current day defend-

ers of civil liberties to have these two legal

giants as leaders of the struggle. Together,

they fulfilled the purpose of the

Constitution which is, in Brennan's words

of 1987, `the protection of the dignity of

the human being and the recognition that

every individual has fundamental rights

which government cannot deny him,"

Estes added.

Artists' Tribute

"We are especially pleased that so

many exciting artists have accepted our

invitation to pay tribute to the Justices and

to freedom of expression," said ACLU-NC

Executive Director Dorothy Ehrlich.

"These northern California artists have

helped created the rich and diverse fabric

that reflect the artistic and social values of

our community."

Poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, whose

Continued on page 3

T 3

BILL. OFF

RIGHTS

1. 2 9 1

G9 9 1

Union Square

Featuring

A Tribute to

Freedom of Expression with

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

poet

Marga Gomez

(waif (

See 0)

compodel, Ata td Ts

Palitas ra

poet, essayist, political activist

Oakland eet, Gospel Choir

TROTTER

Criminal Defense Attorney

June Watanabe

modern dancer

aclu news

nov 1991

Federal Judge Rules Anti-Begging Law is Unconstitutional

Amendment, U.S. District Court

Judge William Orrick ruled on

September 25 that begging is protected

speech in the ACLU-NC case of Blair v.

Shanahan.

The decision held that the state law

which was used by San Francisco police

officers to arrest a homeless man who was

asking for help on the streets was uncon-

Stitutional. The law, California Penal

Code Section 647(c), violates the First

Amendment by prohibiting protected

speech in a public forum. The law also

violates the right to equal protection, the

court ruled, because it does not bar all who

approach others - for example, to ask the

time or directions - only those who

I nN a major victory for the First

approach to ask for help.

- "Begging can promote the very speech

values that entitle charitable appeals to

constitutional protection," Orrick wrote in

a 31-page opinion. "A request for alms

clearly conveys information regarding the

speaker's plight. Begging gives the

speaker the opportunity to spread his

views and ideas on, among other things,

the way our society treats its poor or dis-

enfranchised. And in some cases, a beg-

gar's request can change the way a listener

sees his or her relationship with and obli-

gations to the poor."

The landmark ruling was hailed by

ACLU-NC cooperating attorneys Michael

Hallerud and Robert Keyes of Pettit and

Martin and staff attorney Margaret

Crosby, who represented Celestus Blair in

the lawsuit. Blair, a formerly homeless

man, was arrested five times in 1988 and

1989 for asking people for money in San

Francisco's downtown streets. On each

occasion, the District Attorney declined to

press charges. Blair is no longer homeless

and currently works as a Muni bus driver.

"The ruling is a great victory for Mr.

Blair and for everyone who cherishes lib-

erty and cares for the needy," said Keyes.

Judge Orrick rejected the city's claim

that the law is necessary to protect the

public from intrusive conduct that is

threatening and coercive. "City streets are

a public forum, one of the few remaining

democratic spaces where the convention-

eer, the gawking tourist, the eager consu-

mer, the city resident and the needy may

mingle freely," he wrote. "The speech of

the needy around us may well be subjec-

tively felt as an unwelcome intrusion by

some, but the expressive freedom guaran-

teed by the Constitution has never been

costless."

Attorney Crosby noted that the ruling

was "a strong and principled decision that

protects the constitutional rights of the

most vulnerable people in California."

"Judge Orrick recognized that when

the homeless seek alms, they convey a

message that extreme poverty exists in the

midst of affluence; that society finds it a

disturbing message is not a justification

for silencing the poor," Crosby added.

Union City Police Stop Storing HIV Data

In response to protests from the

ACLU-NC, AIDS activists and

: public' health specialists, the

Union City Police Department has stopped

storing and disseminating information

about HIV infected persons in their com-

munity.

Police Chief Al Guzman announced

the decision after an August meeting with

ACLU-NC staff attommey Matthew Coles,

Jill Jacobs of the AIDS Project of the East

Bay, Susan Black, Director of public pol-

icy on HIV and AIDS for the Alameda

County Public Health Department and oth-

ers. "The bottom line is that they don't

need that data and we're not going to keep

that data again," Guzman said at the end of

the meeting, adding that local police offi-

cers and firefighters agreed with his deci-

sion.

Coles praised the decision and noted

that there has been a "very positive out-

come from an inauspicious beginning,"

because now the Union City police and

AIDS rights groups are working together

to make sure health authorities understand

the specific kinds of exposures the police

and firefighters face. "In addition, we are

- planning to to jointly devise policies which

will protect public safety officers from

HIV infection while also protecting the

privacy of HIV infected people," he added.

Coles noted that there is virtually no

risk of HIV transmission to a public safety

officer in the course of duty. "During this

entire epidemic, with over a million indi-

viduals infected with HIV, there has not

been a single documented case of a police

officer or other public safety officer

becoming infected with HIV on the job,"

he said.

"Moreover, by telling officers the

names of a small portion of those who are

HIV infected, rather than following the

`universal precautions' prescribed by the

U.S. Centers for Disease Control, a police

department runs the risk that the officers

will assume that they need be concerned

only about those who are identified, and

will use the precautions selectively,"

Coles added.

Coles charged that gathering the names

in police computers and broadcasting them

to officers - a practice which has cropped

up in a number of cities throughout the

United States - is a violation of the con-

stitutional right to privacy.

Public health authorities throughout

California have complained for years that

the greatest single obstacle to stopping the

spread of AIDS is the fear HIV infected

people have that the government will keep

files on them and tell others about their

condition. "The policy of gathering and

disseminating the names of HIV infected

individuals is a disservice to the officers

and to the public health," Coles charged.

The fact that the Union City police

were gathering and keeping data on HIV

infected persons came to light when a

reporter from the Fremont Argus over-

heard the information about an individual

on a police scanner. The Argus reporter

wrote that when patrol cars are dispatched,

the computer is checked, and if it shows

that an individual at the location to which

the car is being dispatched has HIV, the

officers are so informed.

In a strongly worded letter to Police

Chief Guzman, Coles had called the prac-

tice "misguided and dangerous," and

demanded that it be halted. In response to

Coles's letter, Guzman temporarily halted

the practice and set up the August meeting.

Estes Elected Board Chair

r. Milton Estes, a family physi-

D cian in Marin County who has a

long history of activism on

women's health and AIDS issues, was

elected as the new Chair of the ACLU-NC

Board of Directors. Estes, who is the first

openly gay person to be elected to this

post, has been on the Board since 1985

and previously served as the Vice-Chair.

Estes has played a key role as Chair of

the Development Committee of the

ACLU-NC. "Milton has provided out-

standing leadership to our organization

and played a major role in securing the

resources that we need to fight the current

attacks on civil liberties. He has signifi-

cantly strengthened our ability to meet the

major challenges to reproductive rights,

discrimination against people with HIV

and civil rights that we face today," said

ACLU-NC Executive Director Dorothy

Ehrlich.

Estes has a long history of serving the

ACLUers Honored

Bill Tamayo

ACLU-NC Board member Bill

Tamayo, an attomey with the Asian Law

Caucus, was honored on September 13 by

Asian Americans for Community

Involvement at their Fifth Annual

Freedom Awards Banquet.

Tamayo is chairperson of the National

Network for Immigrant and Refugee

Rights and also serves on the board of the

Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee

Rights and Services. He was honored for

his leadership work in immigrant and refu-

gee rights and his continuing efforts in the

civil rights arena.

Michael Laurence

Attorney Michael Laurence, Director

of the ACLU-NC Death Penalty Project,

was honored at the first annual awards din-

ner of Death Penalty Focus on October 19

in Los Angeles.

Laurence was honored by the statewide

abolitionist group along with Charles

Sevilla and Michael McCabe as "the legal

team whose valiant efforts have thus far

prevented the execution of Robert Harris

in San Quentin's gas chamber."

Actor Mike Farrell, a well-known acti-

vist and star of the TV series M*A*S*H,

was also awarded for his successful efforts

to prevent the execution of Virginia death

row inmate and recognized legal scholar

Joe Giarratano. The keynote speaker of

the evening was Sam Reese Sheppard, the

son of Dr. Sam Sheppard who was wrong-

fully convicted and subsequently exoner-

ated of his wife's murder, who is active in

SOLACE, an organization that provides

support to the families of murder victims.

Death Penalty Focus was formed in

1988 as a nonprofit organization dedicated

to the abolition of capital punishment.

Among the members of its Advisory

Committee are former California Supreme

Court Justice Joseph Grodin, former

Govemor Pat Brown, actor Danny Glover

and Joan Baez.

affiliate in many capacities. He has been

the Chair of the Marin County Chapter,

Chair of the Nominating Committee and

the Officer Nominating Committee. He

also served on the committee to develop

the ACLU-NC AIDS policy, the Staff

Salaries and Benefits Committee, and

numerous ad hoc policy and organizational

committees.

Estes, a family practitioner in Mill

Valley and an Associate Professor of

Obstetrics and Gynecology at _ the

University of.California, has an extensive

history of activism around the issues of

allocation of health resources and women's

health issues. He is the primary provider

for HIV positive patients in Marin County

and has helped develop both the AIDS

Response Plan and a publicly funded clinic

for HIV positive patients in Marin.

Estes was named Physician of the Year

in 1989 by the Marin Medical Society and

honored by the Marin Chapter of the

ACLU with its Benjamin Dreyfus Award.

He also serves as Chair of the Marin

Medical Society AIDS Committee, as a

member of the editorial board of BIRTH -

Issues in Perinatal Care and Education,

Bay Area Physicians for Human Rights,

Physicians for Social Responsibility, and

the Community Consortium, a Bay Area

organization of health care providers for

HIV infected people.

A 1968 graduate of the University of

Chicago Medical School, Estes was the

Medical Director of the Orange Cove

Family Health Center, a federally funded

clinic serving farmworkers in_ rural

California.

Other newly elected Board officers

include U.C. Santa Clara law professor

Margaret Russell, Chair of the Legal

Committee; Fran. Strauss, Chair of the

Development Committee; Joanne Lewis,

Chair. of the Field Committee; Anne

Jennings, Chair of the Legislative

Committee; and Tom Lockard, Treasurer.

Estes replaces former Board Chir H.

Lee Halterman, counsel to Representative

Ron Dellums, who will continue as a

Board member.

aclu news

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

September and October/November.

Published by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

H. Lee Halterman, Chairperson

Dorothy Ehrlich, Executive Director

Elaine Elinson, Editor

Marcia Gallo, Field Page

ZesTop Publishing, Design and Production

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 theaclu news and 50

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

Seip

oan strates

Ge x

aclu news

nov 1991 3

Freedom of Expression ...

Continued from page I

book of poetry A Coney Island of the

Mind has sold almost a million copies and

influenced generations of Americans, is

also co-founder of San Francisco's

City Lights Books and continues to be

its principal owner and editor. Long .

associated with the :

San. .--s"erraicisco

Renaissance and the

"Beat Generation,"

Ferlinghetti is com

mitted as both poet and citizen to the

vision of American community that was

Walt Whitman's.

Jazz musician Jon Jang is the com-

poser of "Reparations Now!" which is fea-

tured on the Pan Asian Arkestra's debut

recording Never Give Up. His current

work, "Tienanmen" will feature guest art-

ist Liu Qi Chao and will premiere in June

1992 for the third anniversary of the

Tienanmen massacre. Jang, whose works

have been commissioned by the National

Endowment for the Arts, the Ford

Foundation and Max Roach, is also a sub-

ject of KQED-TV's "Creative Mind" doc-

umentary series.

June Jordan, a poet, essayist, play-

wright and political activist, has been

called "one of the world's most articulate

and essential voices." The author of 19

books, she is the most published African-

American writer in history. Her latest,

Naming Our Destiny, appeared to critical

and popular acclaim in 1989. Her work

has been anthologized in virtually every

major anthology of contemporary poetry

and her articles have appeared in publica-

tions ranging from Mademoiselle and

Essence to The New York Times. She is

currently a Professor of

African American

Studies and Women's

Studies at the University of

California at Berkeley.

The Oakland Interfaith

Gospel Choir, directed by

Terrance Kelly, is an award-

winning choir. The 55-

member, multi-racial, multi-

cultural group has sung

throughout the United

States.

Modem dancer,

teacher and choreogra-

pher June Watanabe is

the artistic director of

her own company

and a professor of

dance at Mills

College. An award-

winning dancer, who

Dancer June Watanabe

Arne Folkdal

has also been the

subject of KQED-

TV's "Creative

Mind" series, Wata-

nabe's solo and epic

works, intuitive and

personal, reflect the

Japanese American cul-

ture and themes of wom-

anhood.

Marga Gomez, comic,

actress and writer, was

voted the Entertainer of the

Year at the San Francisco

Cable Car Awards in 1989 and

1990. She has appeared on public

television's Comedy Tonight and

numerous comedy clubs; her one

woman show "Memory Tricks", the

story of her showgirl mom, received

wide acclaim when it debuted in 1991.

The Bill of Rights Day Celebration

will be held at the St. Francis Hotel on

Union Square in San Francisco on

Sunday, December 15. The program

will begin at 5:00 PM with a no-host bar

and reception at 4:00 PM. The hotel is

wheelchair accessible and ASL sign

interpretation will be provided. Tickets

are $15.00 and .$8.00 (for low-income/ |

seniors/students).

To order tickets, please send a check

and a self-addressed stamped envelope

to:

Bill of Rights Day Celebration

ACLU-NC

1663 Mission Street, #460

San Francisco 94103 or

call Field Representative Nancy Otto

at 415/621-2493.

English Only Workplace Rule Struck Down

by Ahsan Janoo

District Court Judge Robert Schnacke

ruled on October 4 that a San

Francisco meat processing company's rule

requiring its employees to speak only

English at work violates federal law. The

first decision by a federal judge concern-

- ing English-only rules in the workplace,

this ruling arrives amidst a proliferation of

such rules at worksites in California and

around the country.

I a ground-breaking decision, U.S.

The lawsuit (Garcia v. Spun Steak)

was filed on behalf of two Spanish-

speaking women workers at the Spun

Steak Company of South San Francisco

by Ed. Chen of the- ACEU-NC

Christopher Ho of the Employment Law

Center of the Legal Aid Society of San

Francisco and cooperating attorneys

William Orrick and Ruben Iniguez of the

San Francisco law firm of Coblentz,

Cahen, McCabe and Breyer.

Judge Schnacke declared that the com-

pany had violated Title VII of the Civil

Rights Act of 1964 by forcing its employ-

ees to speak English only at work. Title

VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits

discrimination in employment on the basis

of national origin, race, sex, color and

religion.

The court's decision was preceded by a

similar rendering from the Equal

Employment Opportunity Commission

(EEOC), responsible for enforcing Title

VII, when it investigated a complaint filed

by the attorneys on behalf of the two

Latino workers, Maricela Buitrago and

Priscilla Garcia, against the company. The

workers had been disciplined by a super-

visor for speaking Spanish on the job.

The company, however, did not

rescind its English-only policy after the

EEOC determination. The lawsuit, filed

on June 26, sought an injunction from the

court to halt the discriminatory policy.

After hearing oral arguments, Judge

Schnacke made his ruling from the bench,

rejecting the meat company's justification

for the language rule because it did not

demonstrate any neutral business neces-

sity, the only criterion under federal regu-

lation which can justify English-only

rules in the workplace. He stated that the

company's supposed attempt to control

racial disharmony by imposing a factory-

wide language restriction amounted to

"overkill." Less restrictive alternatives

were available, he added.

The factory workers' jobs involve tak-

ing frozen meat products from conveyor

belts and packing them into boxes for

wholesale distribution. Plaintiff Garcia

said, "There is no reason from any busi-

ness standpoint, safety-related or other-

wise, why such a rule is needed."

Cooperating attomey Iniguez noted

that the decision will ensure that employ-

ers reconsider any language restrictions

they place on their workers. "It serves to

put employers on notice that in order to

comply with the law, the courts will

require them to have business justification

for their policies," Iniguez said.

The ACLU-NC has fought English-

only rules at worksites throughout

California. In 1989, the EEOC deter-

mined, in response to a complaint filed by

Chen on behalf of hospital workers at the

University of California at San Francisco,

that the English-only policy of the

University was unlawful. According to

Chen, the significance of the court's ruling

lies in the fact that it is the first ruling on

English-only workplace rules by a

_ California federal judge.

The California Legislature recently

passed a bill by Senator Marks (SB 834)

to restrict the usage of English-only rules

in the workplace. The bill was vetoed by

Governor Wilson on October 12. Calling

the Governor's action "unfortunate,"

cooperating attorney Orrick explained that

"the bill would would have had the effect

of clarifying what the state regulations

already are, which is that English-only

rules are discriminatory, absent business

necessity."

Ahsan Janoo is an intern in the Public

Information Department.

Challenge Gift Boosts Fall Fund Campaign

by Cheri Bryant

_ACLU-NC Development Director

r | 1 he ACLU-NC Foundation kicked-

off its annual Major Gifts

Campaign on October 10 in the

midst of the Thomas confirmation hear-

ings and everyone was acutely aware of

the need for the ACLU's work in these

threatening times. With issues of police

brutality and curtailment of reproductive

rights on the minds of many ACLU mem-

bers, Campaign volunteers agreed that

there is much to discuss with donors dur-

ing the fall fundraising effort.

"The Campaign is structured as a way

to reach out to our friends and update

them on the current work of the ACLU,"

explained Fran Strauss, Chair of the

Development Committee. "Of course, we

want our donors to renew their support.

But what is even more important, we want

to hear from them, and we want to let

them know what our priorities are."

Fifty fundraising volunteers will be |

meeting with more than 200 prospective _

supporters over the next few months.as a

part of the Campaign. They are organized

into five teams, each with a team captain:

Dick Grosboll, Lee Halterman, Davis

Riemer,

Young. The goal for the Fall fundraising

effort is $383,000.

"This. year we are very fortunate to

John Rutherford and Julius ~

$360,0000x2122

- $330,000

L$ 300,000

$270,000

$240,000

$210,000

$180,000,

$150,000"

$1 20,0094

oe

$90,000,

ty

yy Yin;

Y?

have a Challenge Gift that will help to

boost support at the Founders Circle level

of the Campaign," said Milton Estes,

newly elected Board Chair.

Estes explained that the Challenge

Gift, offered by a generous donor, means

that the ACLU will receive a dollar match

to any donor who. makes a new gift, or

increases their support, in the $2,500 -

$10,000 range. All of the gift, not just the

increase, will be matched by the anony-

mous donor, up to a total of $35,000.

"We expect this to be an attractive

incentive to some of our loyal supporters

at the $1,000 level and above," Estes said.

"The donor of the Challenge Gift wants to

remain anonymous, but I can say that the

donor is a longtime ACLU supporter who

is very concerned about the current cli-

mate, in the courts and generally, of hos-

tility towards civil liberties. Through this

gift, the donor is expressing that concern

and encouraging philanthropic activism as

a means to move forward in the struggle

to preserve civil liberties.

"This gift, and all gifts to the

Campaign, are especially significant in

this, the 200th Anniversary of the Bill of

Rights. There is much to celebrate in that

anniversary, yet our donors recognize that .

there is still such a long way to go until

the guarantees enumerated in that docu-

ment are fully realized for all Americans,"

he added.

For more information about the

Challenge Gift or the Campaign, call

Cheri Bryant at 621-2493.

aclu news

nov 1991

Teachers Conference Inaugurates

ACLU-NC Friedman Project

n September 21, educators and

students from throughout the Bay

Area joined ACLU-NC staff,

Board members, and friends at the inaugu-

ral conference of the the new Howard A.

Friedman First Amendment Education

Project.

"Teaching the First Amendment in the

Bicentennial Year" brought together attor-

neys, teachers, and education activists for

a day of discussion on the history and cur-

rent status of First Amendment rights,

with special emphasis on their application

to high school students. One panel,

"Diversity and Conflict," featured five

high school teachers who have developed

programs to deal with an increasingly

diverse student population and the impor-

tance of freedom of expression in chal-

lenging racism, sexism, homophobia, and

class bias.

Each participant received a binder full

of materials on First Amendment issues.

A special section, entitled "Teaching the

Firs. Amendment to High School

Students: Curriculum Ideas, Activities,

and Strategies for English and Social

Studies Teachers" was written for confer-

ence attendees by Education Project chair

Dale Brodsky, a civil rights attomey spe-

cializing in employment discrimination

who is now in the process of becoming a

high school teacher.

Conference participants were wel-

comed by ACLU-NC Executive Director

Dorothy M. Ehrlich; sessions were mod-

erated by Education Project chair Brodsky

and Marcia Gallo, the Project's director.

Law, Resources and Student Life

The day began with a session on the

development of First Amendment law,

presented by Ann Brick, ACLU-NC staff

attorney and advisor to the Education

Project. Beverly Tucker, ACLU-NC

Board member and Chief Counsel with the

California Teachers' Association, dis-

cussed the differences between state and

federal constitutional law. A session on

current First Amendment issues in the

schools featured ACLU-NC staff attorney

Alan Schlosser on dress codes, Brick on

book banning and Brodsky on school

prayer.

"Diversity and Conflict - Programs

Designed to Promote Debate, Discussion,

and Understanding Among High School

Students," featured a lively discussion by

local high school teachers and activists,

including Rob Birle, spokesperson for the

Bay Area Network of Gay and Lesbian

Educators; Joyce Hawkins and Ken

Obeso, Ethnic Studies teachers at

Berkeley High School; Effie Pandell, vet-

eran San Francisco social studies and

Street Law instructor at Washington High

School; and Stan Pesick, Skyline High

School social studies teacher in Oakland.

A nuts-and-bolts session on "Sources

and Resources" was presented by M.

Anne Jennings, ACLU-NC Board mem-

ber, environmental lawyer, and former

high school teacher, who gave tips on

doing legal research; and Dan Nealand,

Assistant Director with the National

Archives, Pacific Sierra Region, who

spoke on the use of original documents in

teaching.

Inaugural Reception

Following the Conference, participants

joined members of the Howard A.

Friedman family, San Francisco Superior

Court Judge Donna Hitchens, and ACLU-

NC Board Chair Milton Estes at a recep-

tion to inaugurate the Project. Family

leader Phyllis Friedman painted a vivid

verbal picture of her late husband's vision

of civil rights and civil liberties, and

expressed her family's pleasure in the

development of the Howard A. Friedman

First Amendment Education Project.

"Thanks a million,' wrote a teacher

from Berkeley. "I'm using the Freedom of

Religion materials right now and sharing

them with colleagues...feeling more confi-

dent in dealing with these issues and their

complexity thanks to your workshop and

`the superior, easy to use materials you

have produced."

The next event of the Howard A.

Friedman First Amendment Education

Project is a Students' Conference, "SAY

WHAT??!! Students Celebrate

Freedom of Expression," on December

11 at San Francisco State University. A

Students' Advisory Committee is being

organized to help plan the conference.

For more information on the Project,

the Student Conference or the Students'

Advisory Committee, contact Marcia

Gallo at 415/621-2493.

Minors Rights ...

Continued from page I

and held that in California the state may

burden the procreative choices of adoles-

cent women only if it proves that the

restriction is necessary to achieve a com-

pelling public interest.

Plaintiffs contend that laws mandating

adult authorization for teenagers' abortions

rest on generalizations about family life

and adolescent behavior that are empiri-

cally unsupported.

"The real issue here is whether stereo-

typic assumptions - for example, that all

parents can and will provide helpful coun-

sel to their pregnant daughters or that teen-

agers make rash or uninformed decisions

about pregnancy - can justify infringing

teenagers' fundamental rights of procrea-

tive choice and privacy," said Shostak.

At the trial, counselors, medical person-

nel and judges from states where parental

consent or notification laws are in effect

have testified about the disastrous effect of

such laws on the physical, mental and emo-

tional health of teenagers who are forced to

confront unsympathetic parents or navigate

a formidable judicial system to obtain a

court order for abortion. Paula Wendt,

Director of the Meadowbrook Women's

Clinic in Minnesota, testified about the

judicial bypass process, the role of clinics

in the process and the detrimental impact

on the health and welfare of minors in her

state, where a similar law is in effect.

Physicians, psychologists, trained coun-

selors, and sociologists have testified about

California's current system for ensuring

informed consent.

Dr. Anita Nelson, an _ obstetrician-

gynecologist at the Harbor UCLA Medical

_Center and director of seven county family

planning clinics in Los Angeles, testified

about the counseling practices and proce-

dures for teenagers who find themselves

pregnant. She spoke movingly of runaway-

teenagers, girls from undocumented fami-

lies, and teens from homes where parents

have many mental or substance abuse

problems who, in addition to medical help,

look to the clinics for information, support

and confidentiality. "As a doctor, I am

trained to do no harm," she said, adding

that great harm would be done to teens if

they were forced to tell their parents or a

judge about a pregnancy or abortion.

"For many years, California law has

allowed minors to consent to specific med-

ical services in order to encourage them to

seek care for conditions-such as preg-

nancy and sexually transmitted disease-

that, without medical treatment, would

jeopardize their health," said English.

National significance

California's lawsuit has become espe-

cially significant in light of the United

States Supreme Court's 1990 decisions in

Hodgson v. Minnesota and Ohio v. Akron

Center for Reproductive Health, upholding

parental notification statutes in Minnesota

and Ohio.

"California has a pioneering history in

its state constitutional protection for repro-

ductive choice," said Crosby.

"For over 20 years, California courts

have recognized a fundamental right to

Chapter Meetings

(Chapter meetings are open to all interested

members. Contact the chapter activist listed

for your area.)

B-A-R-K _ (Berkeley-Albany-Richmond-

Kensington) Chapter Meeting: (Usually

fourth Thursday) Volunteers needed for the

chapter hotline -- call Florence Piliavin at

415/848-5195 for further details. For more

information, time and address of meetings,

contact Julie Houk, 415/848-4752.

Earl Warren (Oakland/Alameda County)

Chapter Meeting: (Usually second

Wednesday) Meetings on Wednesday,

November 13 and December 11. The Earl

Warren Chapter is sponsoring a high school

essay contest this fall. For time and

address of meetings, please call Irv

Kermish, 415/836-4036 or Abe Feinberg,

415/451-1122.

Fresno Chapter Meeting: (Usually third

Monday) Meeting on Monday, November

18 and December 16 at San Joaquin Law

School. New members always welcome!

For more information, call Nadya Coleman

at 209/229-7178 (days) or A.J. Kruth at

209/432-1483 (evenings). ;

Gay Rights Chapter Meeting: (Usually

first Thursday) Meet Thursday, November

7 and December 5 at the ACLU Office,

1663 Mission, 460, San Francisco at 7:00

PM. Volunteers welcome to mailing party on

November 5, starting at 5:30 PM. For more

information, contact Teresa Friend, 415/

272-9700.

Marin County Chapter Meeting: (Third

Monday) Meet Monday, November 18 and

December 16 at 7:30 PM, Westamerica

Bank, East Blithedale and Sunnyside

Avenues, Mill Valley. For more informa-

tion, contact Harvey Dinerstein, 415/381-

6129.

Mid-Peninsula (Palo Alto area) Chapter

Meeting: (Usually first Thursday) Annual

Meeting and Dinner on Wednesday,

November 6 at 6:30 PM at the Holiday Inn,

Palo Alto. Dinner and Reception with guest

speaker PC pioneer and publisher and

ACLU-NC Board member David Bunnell

on Computers and Technology:

Implications On Civil Liberties For The

Next Generation. ACLU-NC Executive

Director Dorothy Ehrlich and Friedman

Education Project Director Marcia Gallo

will also speak; Admission is $20 - $30.

Meeting on Thursday, December 5. New

members welcome! For more information,

contact Harry Anisgard, 415/856-9186 or

call the Chapter Hotline at 415/328-0732.

Monterey County Chapter Meeting:

(Usually first Tuesday) Meetings on

Tuesday, December 3 at 7:30 PM at the

Monterey Library, Community Room,

Pacific and Madison Streets, Monterey. For

more information, contact Richard Criley,

408/624-7562.

Mt. Diablo (Contra Costa County)

Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth

Thursday) For more information, contact

Mildred Starkie, 415/934-0557.

North Peninsula (San Mateo area)

Chapter Meeting: (Usually third Monday)

Meet Monday, November 18 and December

16. at 7:30 PM at the offices of Planned

Parenthood, 2211 Palm Avenue, San Mateo.

Note: The North Pen Chapter has a new

Hotline number: 579-1789. For more

Field Program Monthly

Meetings

information, contact Emily Skolnick at 340-

9834.

North Valley (Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehema, and

Trinity Counties) Chapter Meeting:

(Usually fourth Wednesday) For more

information contact Frank Treadway, 916/

365-4336 or 916/241-7725.

Sacramento Valley Chapter Meeting:

(Usually second Wednesday) Meet

Wednesday, November 13 and December 11

at 7:00 PM at Hearing Room 1, Sacramento

County Offices, 700 H Street. For more

information, contact Ruth Ordas, 916/488-

9956

San Francisco Chapter Meeting: (Usually

third Monday) Meet Wednesday, November

18 and December 16 7:00 PM. at ACLU

office, 1663 Mission, 460, San Francisco.

For more information, call the Chapter

Information Line at 415/979-6699.

Santa Clara Valley Chapter Meeting:

(Usually first Tuesday) Meet Tuesday,

November 5 and December 3 at 7:00 PM at

the Commerce Bank Building, 111 West St.

John Street, 2nd Floor Conference Room,

San Jose. Contact John Holly, 408/554-

9478, for further information.

Santa Cruz County Chapter Meeting:

(Usually second Wednesday) Board meeting

on Wednesday, December 11. The Santa

Cruz Chapter will have its Annual

Meeting on Wednesday, December 4 at the

Louden Nelson Community Center.

Featured speaker will be Margaret Pena,

ACLU-NC Legislative Director. Chapter

will continue to work on combating Hate

Crimes. Contact Keith Lesar, 408/688-1666,

for further information.

Sonoma County Chapter Meeting: (Third

Thursday of the month) Meet Thursday,

November 21 and December 19 at 7:30 PM,

821 Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa. All mem-

bers welcome. Contact Len Bronstein at

707/527-9018

Yolo County Chapter Meeting: (Third

Thursday of the month) The Yolo County

Chapter will co-sponsor a panel on Hate

Speech on Wednesday, November 20 at the

Jewish Fellowship Building. Regular meet-

ing on Thursday, December 19. For more

information, contact Alan Bronstein at 916/

752-2586.

Field Action

Meetings

(All meetings except those noted will be held

at the ACLU-NC Office, 1663 Mission

Street, Suite 460, San Francisco.)

Student Outreach Committee: (Usually

third Saturday) Contact Marcia Gallo, at

ACLU-NC 415/621(c)2493.

Civil Rights Committee: (Fourth Saturday)

Meeting on Saturday, November 23 from

10:00 AM to 11:30 AM. No meeting in

December. RSVP to Nancy Otto at the

ACLU-NC 415/621-2493.

First Amendment Committee: (Fourth

Saturday) Meeting on Saturday, November

23 from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM. No meeting

in December. RSVP to Nancy Otto at the

ACLU-NC 415/621-2493.

Pro-Choice Action Campaign: Contact

Nancy Otto at the ACLU-NC 415/621-2493.

choose abortion that is both independent of

Roe v. Wade and more encompassing than

the federal constitutional guarantee," she

said.

With the departure of Justices Brennan

and Marshall from the United States

- Supreme Court, and federal constitutional

protection for the right to choose in serious

jeopardy, pro-choice attorneys are hoping

that American Academy of Pediatrics v.

Lungren will become an important prece-

dent that continues California's leadership

in state constitutional protection for repro-

ductive rights. The case is being closely

watched because 41 states have similar

parental involvement laws; about twenty

are in effect, the remainder are under court

injunction.

"The challenged law would tum back

the clock more than twenty years on

California adolescents' right of access to

reproductive health care with disastrous

effects on their health and welfare," said

English.

"SAY WHAT? ?!!..."

Students Celebrating

Freedom of Expression

Conference

Wed, December 11

9:00 A.M. TO 2:00 P.M.

(Lunch included)

San Francisco State University

Guest Center

South State Drive and Lake Merced Blvd.

San Francisco

FREE to high school juniors and seniors

(other students may apply)

TO REGISTER: Call Marcia Gallo at

415/621-2493. Everyone must register by

November 23, 1991. The Conference is free,

but limited to 300 people - so call today!