vol. 55, no. 2

aclu news

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Volume LV

march 1991

War Emergency Desk Handles

Complaints on Key Issues

he ACLU-NC War Emergency

Desk, established during the first

week of the war in the Persian

Gulf, has responded to more than 100

complaints of civil liberties violations dur-

ing its first month of operation.

Calls ranged from charges of police

abuse by those protesting the war on the

Streets, to questions about restrictions. on

- speech in the work place - "Can I wear a

peace button on the job?" or "My boss

won't allow me to wear a yellow ribbon."

. Legal interns Anne Salisbury and Alan

Zeltserman, the War Desk's two full-time

staff members, are in direct contact with

the many individuals and organizations

who call the ACLU-NC for assistance.

Above all, they say, they hope to prevent

civil liberties from becoming domestic

casualties of the war. According to

Salisbury, a University of Pennsylvania

law student, the War Desk has perhaps

been most successful in assisting those

who have been blocked in their attempts to

protest the war.

Explains Salisbury, "When we get a

call from a group in San Francisco that is

being told by public officials that they

can't distribute literature on the sidewalk

without a permit, we're able to intercede

directly and let the public official know

that the protestors do not need a permit in

order to distribute leaflets on a city side-

walk, as long as they're not blocking any-

one's way. When the ACLU calls and sets

things straight, we can usually fix the

problem right on the spot."

Arab-Americans

Some of the problems the War Desk is

confronting are not so easily cured. The

desk has focused its primary attention on

discrimination against Arab-Americans,

and particularly on the FBI's recent efforts

- to investigate and interrogate Palestinians,

Iraqi nationals, Arab-Americans, and oth-

ers who are or who appear to be of Middle

Eastern origin.

The ACLU has strongly criticized the

program.

Law interns, working in concert with

veteran ACLU-NC staff counsel Alan

Schlosser, have begun monitoring the

FBI's attempts to investigate and inter-

view Arab-Americans, and have provided

assistance and information to a number of

individuals and groups targeted by the

probe. Protesting the FBI's program as a

tragic reminder of the government's now

thoroughly discredited policies against

Anne Rushing

No. 2

Japanese-Americans during World War II,

the ACLU hopes to develop a strategy to

end continuing abuses in the Bay Area and

throughout the nation.

Among the many calls that Salisbury

has handled from Arab-Americans, she

noted one example as especially disturb-

ing. In this instance, FBI agents forced a

school administrator to order an Arab-

American student to be sent out of a local

community-college classroom so that she

could report for an interrogation.

At a time when war tensions are run-

ning high, it is particularly humiliating for

minority students to be subjected - in

front of their classmates and peers - to

treatment which suggests that there is a

reason to suspect them of wrong-doing.

Official government action, unfortu-

nately, often echoes in the private sector,

and there have been many recent com-

plaints that Arab-Americans throughout

the Bay Area have been harassed by pri-

vate parties.

Press Censorship

On February 13, 1991 the ACLU-NC

co-sponsored a forum on media coverage

of the war in the Gulf and the dissent here

at home. The forum, entitled "Covering the

War - Is Truth the First Casualty?" was

co-sponsored with the U.C. Berkeley

Graduate School of Journalism and Media

Alliance. The forum, held on the UC cam-

pus, drew a lively response from the audi-

ence, which heard from UC Berkeley

sociology professor Todd Gitlin; free-lance

Continued on page 4

Police Tactics at Demos Get Mixed

ACLU Reviews

news - bad news."

That's how ACLU-NC

Police Practices Project director John

Crew summarized the police response to

the recent anti-war demonstrations in the

Bay Area.

"On the positive side," Crew said,

"there were considerably fewer complaints

66 I t was the proverbial good

Prop. 96 Stay

Dissolved by Court

ix San Francisco County jail

S inmates, and a physician who used

to work at the jail, sued the San

Francisco Health Department and the San

Francisco Sheriff's Department to block

implementation of the jail/prison provi-

sions of Proposition 96, which required

reporting of all HIV-infected inmates.

Those provisions would require health

_care workers in the jail to report the names

of all inmates infected with HIV or other

communicable diseases to all deputies,

and others working at the jail who might

come into contact with the inmates.

The suit was filed in San Francisco

Superior Court on January 14. The plain-

tiffs asked the court to issue a preliminary

injunction, ordering the Health

Department (which employs all jail health

care workers) and the the Sheriff not to

implement the reporting rules for inmates

with HIV and Hepatitis B.

The Superior Court heard the injunc-

tion request on January 31, and denied it

with a one line order on February 7. That

afternoon, the Sheriff announced that

implementation would begin six days

later. Two days before the deadline, the

plaintiffs appealed the order. Late that

same afternoon, the inmates' lawyers

asked the Court of Appeal to issue a stay

ordering the Sheriff and the Health

Department not to implement during the

appeal.

The inmates also asked the court to

issue an emergency stay directing the

defendants to do nothing to implement

until the court could consider the request

for a stay pending appeal. The Court of

Appeal issued the emergency stay at 5:15

that same afternoon. But the stay was dis-

solved later in February.

The prisoners are represented by

ACLU-NC co-operating attorneys Jeff

Continued on page 3

of serious acts of police brutality and

fewer injuries than in the past. On the

other hand, a California Highway Patrol

officer sent at least two demonstrators to

the hospital in a shocking over-reaction to

civil disobedience, and the San Francisco

Police Department continued to use certain

tactics that we fear will have a chilling

effect on people wishing to express their

views. There was also an incident of police

intimidation of demonstrators in Oakland

that was disturbing."

San Francisco police officers were

operating under a crowd control manual

negotiated with police and city officials

just last year by the ACLU's Police

Practices Project and other community

groups. Among other things, the manual

sharply limits the use of police batons

against demonstrators. It was widely cred-

. ited for the relatively non-violent nature of

the police tactics.

When asked why the police did not use

more force in controlling the crowds, San

Francisco Police Chief Willis Casey was

quoted as saying, "This is not Lithuania."

Mayor Art Agnos noted that the city was

in the process of settling United Farm

Workers' leader Dolores Huerta's police

brutality lawsuit for $825,000 because of

injuries she suffered during a 1988 protest.

However, during mass arrests at three

demonstrations, San Francisco police

swept-up some people who had engaged in

no criminal activity. The ACLU-NC

received complaints from passers-by, legal

observers, media, and others who claimed

that they were arrested while lawfully

standing on sidewalks or under circum-

stances when police had given no clear

warning or opportunity to disperse.

"Police must make fundamental dis-

tinctions about people's conduct when

making mass arrests in civil disobedience

circumstances," Crew said. "If arrests are

made because some people are sitting

down in the street and intentionally block- -

ing traffic, others who lawfully observe or

protest on the sidewalks should not be

arrested. If police have legal cause to

declare an event an unlawful assembly,

they must make clear announcements and

give people an adequate opportunity to dis-

perse before arresting people for failing to

do so."

Crew also noted that police exacer-

bated the situation when some demonstra-

tors were not released from custody with

citations because they were labelled

"repeat offenders." According to Crew,

"This represents the worst type of preven-

tative detention - especially when so

many of the arrests were apparently

improper in the first place."

The ACLU-NC also received com-

plaints about conditions at a San Francisco

pier that had been set-up as a temporary

jail to accommodate the 1,600 people

arrested during the first week of anti-war

protests. Protestors complained that they

were denied access to phones, lawyers,

food, water and bathrooms during the sev-

eral hours they were held in pens in the

pier behind a sign scrawled, "Operation

Desert Keep."

In another incident now under ACLU-

NC review, two demonstrators were

viciously attacked by a CHP officer when

they joined others in sitting on the shoul-

der of Highway 101 in San Francisco.

After a shouted order to "move!" was

ignored by the protestors, the officer

immediately began delivering brutal blows

with his side-handle baton.

Continued on page 3

aclu news

march 1991

`Domestic Partners Celebrate Victory on

Valentine's Day

tic partnership law finally took

effect on February 14, Valentine's

Day. Approximately 290 couples regis-

tered their relationships with the county

clerk during the first day, many of them

lining up hours before the office's official

opening at 9 a.m.

The city clerk set up a special area to

process the anticipated large first day

crowd in the Registrar of Voter's office.

Potential new partners were given an

information sheet written by the ACLU-

NC, and a set of processing instructions

printed on pink paper. Each clerk's station

was marked with a heart shaped red bal-

loon.

After each new couple presented a

swom declaration and $35 filing fee to

the clerk, they were given a "Certificate of

Domestic Partnership" signed by the clerk

and printed over a lavender city seal.

Registration continued throughout the

_ Day, alongside the traditionally large num-

ber of marriages performed on Valentine's

day. As the day wore on, the two crowds

mixed in the rotunda, laughing and asking

each other to take pictures of the couples

and their friends. It became difficult to tell

who came from which group.

S an Francisco's long awaited domes-

There were few discernable patterns in

the new domestic partners. Most of the 0x00B0

couples were same sex, although about 20

percent were not. The gay couples divided

about evenly between women and men.

There were many senior couples along

with many couples in their 20s. "I don't

see many political people here," one of

clerks remarked. "These look like average

working people to me."

About half the couples joined in a cele-

bration in the City Hall rotunda at 4 p.m. .

Announcers at either side of the grand

marble staircase in the center of the

rotunda read the names of the members of

each couple as they appeared at the top of

the stairs. The couples then descended the

staircase into a large cheering crowd in the

rotunda, while a swing band provided

background music.

`One couple, both members wearing

cowboy hats, threw bouquets into the

crowd half way down the stairs. Another, a

man and a women who had been together

over 12 years, marched down the stairs

with their daughter. When two men in tux-

edos appeared at the top of the stairs, the

speaker announced that this was their 15th

anniversary. Two women in tuxedos came

down the stairs holding an infant, also

Sonoma Students Rights

Affirmed

he right of student journalists to

produce an underground newspa-

~ per without signing their names to

articles has been affirmed by a school

board of trustees in Sonoma County.

The board decision came as a result of

action by the Sonoma County chapter of

the ACLU. "Ipso Facto" first appeared on

the campus of Sonoma Valley High School

in November. It featured articles on the

Persian Gulf, safe sex, and a criticism of

the school principal.

Previous school board policy had

required all material distributed on campus

to bear the name of a sponsoring organiza-

tion. Students who distributed "Ipso Facto"

contacted the Sonoma ACLU and asked

for help in reversing that policy.

ACLU cooperating attorney Steven

Fabian wrote to the school board, pointing

out that banning anonymous materials vio-

~ lates both the freedom of speech provi-

sions and the California education code.

"Under these rules," Fabian pointed out,

"the Federalist Papers, written in favor the

adoption of our Constitution, would have

been banned, and our forefathers sus-

pended if they attended Sonoma Valley

High School."

The school board agreed, and was

scheduled to formally ratify its decision

allowing anonymous publications in a late

February meeting.

the measure.

ACLU stalwarts Anne Forfreedom (1.) and Dawn Huber at the ACLU-NC

information table during a commemorative event held on the eighteenth

anniversary of Roe v. Wade in Berkeley in January. At an ACLU co-

sponsored press conference marking the anniversary in Sacramento,

Assemblywoman Jackie Speier announced she had introduced a resolution

asking the president and Congress to enact the Reproductive Health Equity

Act. She was joined by State Senator Rebecca Morgan in speaking in favor of

Anne Rushing

dressed in a tuxedo.

Later, the crowd heard remarks from

Supervisor Harry Britt, who has sponsored

the law for over ten years. After other

speakers, the crowd moved to the Green

Room at the War Memorial for a reception

sponsored by the Lesbian Agenda for

Action.

ACLU-NC attorney Matt Coles, who

has worked on the law since it was first

proposed in 1981, looked at the rotunda

crowd and said, "People are having so

much fun, but you can tell by looking at

their faces that this is so important. It is

easy to forget how important it is to peo-

ple not to have to hide any part of their

lives. This is great."

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 Norther California

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aclu news

march 1991 3

Why There are More and More

Police Review Commissions

By John Crew

n the last few years, there has been

enormous growth in the number of

communities nationwide creating

civilian review boards for their police

agencies. The overwhelming support for

civilian review in a variety of localities -

whether large or small, liberal or conserva-

tive - has finally put to rest the tired, old

claim that these boards are solely the prod-

uct of narrow special interest groups who

have some ax to grind wae law enforce-

ment.

In reality, the recent rend nae civil-

ian review is the product of two funda-

mental facts of life in contemporary police

work.

First, in an era of ever-shrinking fund-

ing for local government, there is an inten-

sified need for tax dollars to be spent

wisely. With a large share of these limited

funds being devoted to public safety, local

governments simply cannot afford police

officers who are not performing their jobs

professionally, and who create liability

risks for the taxpayers.

Independent civilian review boards can

help identify problem officers, and prac-

tices which fail to reflect the true policing

needs and values of the communities they

serve.

Second, police officers are asked to

perform very difficult and dangerous tasks"

that should not be further complicated by

strained police-community relations. An

effective and credible system for investi-

gating complaints of police misconduct is

a critical component of healthy police-

community relations. A system that asks

the public to blindly trust the police to

"police" themselves is often neither effec-

tive or credible. And, therefore, such a

system is usually ignored by the very peo-

ple whom law enforcement should be

encouraging to come forward with their

concerns.

Many arguments have been used by

those opposing civilian review boards.

These arguments rest on myth. Let's look

at them one by one.

Myth No. 1 - "Civilian review is an

outdated idea." In fact, of the ten civilian

review agencies and boards now operating

in California, six were created in the last

five years.

Myth No. 2 - "Civilian review is

inconsistent with laws governing police

discipline." In fact, every attempt to chal-

lenge the legality of California's civilian

review systems has failed.

Myth No. 3 - "There is universal oppo-

-gition to civilian review in the law enforce-

ment community." In fact, support for

civilian review among professional admin-

istrators and associations is growing. For

example, the sheriff of San Diego County,

the San Francisco Chief of Police, and the

National Black Police Association all have

endorsed strong, independent civilian

review systems.

Myth No. 4 - "Civilian review systems

create extra layers of bureaucracy." In

fact, the most efficient civilian review sys-

tems replace rather than duplicate the

usual practice of using police officers to

investigate complaints. This allows trained

civilians to specialize in these sensitive

investigations, while freeing police for

more urgent needs.

Myth No. 5 - "Civilians just can't

understand police work." Police work is

Alameda Police Lose

Second `"*Malicious

Prosecution" Suit

or the second time in less than a

year, police officials in Alameda

have attempted to sue citizens

bringing malicious prosecution

againstthem.

But, on February 11, an Alameda

Superior Court judge, for the second time

in a year, dismissed such a suit.

Raymond Seeterlin and his attorney

were sued as a result of bringing a police

brutality action against police officer

Robert A. Villa and the City of Alameda.

The suit was settled, but Villa persisted in

filing a malicious prosecution action.

Superior Court Judge James R.

Lambden dismissed the suit. "By dismiss-

ing Villa's malicious prosecution action at

an early stage, the court was telling civil

rights plaintiffs that their settlement will

not be allowed to come back to haunt

them in the form of legal harassment after-

suits

ward," according to ACLU staff counsel

Ed Chen.

The suit was similar to one filed last

March by three Alameda police officers

following the filing of a civil rights law-

suit by a woman who alleged she had

been beaten after a routine traffic stop.

"The filing of malicious prosecution

actions by police officers accused of

police brutality is a very troubling trend,"

says Chen. "Most such suits are thrown

out by the courts as unmeritorious, but

they nevertheless may have their intended

effect, deterring people with legitimate

claims from seeking redress for police

misconduct."

Diana L. Lee, of Howard, Rice,

Nemerovski, Canady, Robertson and Falk

served as cooperating attorney on this

case.

Charitable Bequests to the ACLU

he Northern California ACLU has

been fighting to defend the

Constitution and the Bill of Rights

for more than half a century.

During this time, we have represented

hundreds of people and organizations

which have made history, through eras of

redbaiting, vigilantism, internment camps

during World War II, HUAC, the Free

Speech Movement, Vietnam, civil rights,

reproductive rights, gay rights, and more.

You can help assure 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 provided important support for the

ACLU through their bequests.

Making such 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.

If you would like information about

writing a will, or want additional details of

how bequests may be made, please consult

your attomey, or contact:

Cheri Bryant

ACLU Foundation of Northern CA

1663 Mission Street, Suit 460

San Francisco, Ca. 94103

Telephone: 415-621-2493

like any other professional occupation; it

can be explained, if the effort is made, to

outsiders willing to learn. If there is a

police tactic or policy that cannot be

explained in a manner that the public can

comprehend and accept, it probably

should not be used at all.

Independent civilian oversight of

police is merely the implementation of a

very fundamental American belief that

abuses of government power can be

avoided through systems of checks and

balances. With the legal authority to arrest

and use force, police officers are given

unique powers over the public which they

serve. A police officer is more visible and

can have greater impact on the day-to-day

lives of the residents in some communities

than any other government employee.

In many ways, a local police agency is

in greater need of public scrutiny and an

independent system of checks and balances

than any other local government institu-

tion. Professional police officers and

administrators should have little to fear

from the creation of civilian review sys-

tems designed to act as the public's impar-

tial "watchdogs."

In fact, they have much to gain.

Staff attorney John Crew directs the

Police Practices Project for the ACLU-NC.

A version of this article appeared in the

Santa Cruz Sentinel. The Coalition for a

Police Review Commission is advocating -

the establishment of civilian review agen-

cies for police and sheriff s departments in

Santa Cruz county.

Ann Brick Joins ACLU-NC

Staff

nn Brick, an attorney since 1978

A with Howard, Rice, Nemerovski,

Canady, Robertson, and Falk, has

joined the ACLU-NC as staff counsel.

_ Ms. Brick has been an ACLU board

member for the past two years. She has

worked with the ACLU as a cooperating

attorney since 1978, on the school book

censorship case, Wexner vs. Anderson

Union High School Board of Trustees.

(The case, involving the works of the late

Richard Brautigan, was won after eleven

years of legal proceedings.) She also

served on the ACLU-NC legal committee.

A native of Wyoming, Ms. Brick is a

graduate of Tulane University and Boalt

Hall Law School. She clerked for U.S.

District Court Judge Alfonso J. Zirpoli

before joining Howard, Rice.

"After having worked with the legal

staff here as both a cooperating attorney

and a board member," she says, "actually .

joining the staff feels like coming home."

Dorothy Ehrlich, ACLU-NC executive

director, says that "Ann Brick's addition

to our legal staff couldn't come at a better

Elson-Alexandre

time. Having such an experienced litigator

who knows our issues so well will help us

immeasurably at a time when so many

civil liberties issues are being referred to

us for action."

Proposition 96 Reporting ...

Continued from page I

Cole and Valerie Pierce of Jackson, Tufts,

Cole and Black, and by ACLU-NC staff

counsel Matt Coles.

The inmates argue that since most peo-

ple with HIV do not know they are

infected and show no outward signs of the

disease, health care workers could report

only the names of a minority of those who

are infected. That means, the inmates say,

that jail workers trying to minimize the

already small risk of exposure must use

"universal precautions:" i.e., wear gloves

whenever encountering blood.

According to Cole, the prisoners' posi-

tion is supported by the United States

Centers for Disease Control, and by "the

most prominent experts on AIDS in cor-

rectional facilities." Three of those

experts, Steven Safyer, the head of New

York City's jail medical service; Robert

Cohen, one of his predecessors; and

Lambert King, whom Cole called "the

nation's leading expert on prison medi-

cine," gave sworn statements in support of

the inmates. -

The inmates were also supported by the

jail's own doctors, according to attorney

Pierce. She said that after the suit was

filed, the plaintiff's lawyers took the depo-

sitions of Dr. Elizabeth Kantor, head of

medicine for the county jails, and Dr.

Joseph Goldenson, her assistant. -

Kantor and

According to Pierce,

Goldenson supported the experts' testi-

mony that in view of the need for universal

precautions, reporting serves no useful

purpose. She said that both doctors also

"agreed with the experts that reporting

would lead to a false sense of security by

corrections workers and would discourage

inmates from being honest with physi-

cians."

Coles explained that the challenge is

based on the state and federal constitu-

tional rights to privacy and the Federal

Rehabilitation Act, which bans discrimina-

tion against persons with disabilities.

Police Tactics at

Demos...

Continued from page I

The first victim received several lacer-

ations on his leg. The second man suffered

a severely fractured shin bone that

required several hours of emergency sur-

gery. Immediately after breaking the

man's leg, the officer began kicking him.

The entire incident was captured on video-

tape.

Crew notes that side-handle batons

have been purchased by. several law

enforcement agencies because can they

deliver more force than conventional

batons which lack the handle protruding at

a right-angle from the stick. "If this is an

example of the amount of force involved

with these weapons, perhaps law enforce-

ment agencies should re-think their use.

It's difficult to imagine any circumstances

when it would be necessary for a police

officer break someone's leg with a baton."

aclu news

4 march 1991

ACLU War

Emergency ...

Continued from page 1

writer and media critic Laura Fraser;

Soheir Morsey, a University of Cairo

anthropologist; and editors at Channel 2

and the Chronicle.

A capacity crowd of more than 300

people expressed a high degree of skepti-

_cism, anger and frustration over the way

information about the war has been manip-

ulated through the imposition of military

press restrictions, and heartily agreed

when Gitlin referred to news organiza-

tions' distressing tendency to cover the

war as though it were a sporting event.

In other ACLU-NC efforts, an emer-

gency project was undertaken in mid-

February to gather support from local

media workers for an effort to abolish mil-

itary censorship on mideast reporting of

Operation Desert Storm.

The Pentagon restrictions include the

requirement that reporters travel in "pools"

accompanied at all times by military

escorts, who are present at interviews with

troops; and that all dispatches from these

pools must be reviewed in advance by a

military censor. The statement, which was

signed by 64 Bay Area reporters and edi-

tors, was transmitted to Washington for

release in conjunction with Senate

Hearings on this subject which began on

February 20.

ACLU's national office is also filing a

friend-of-the-court brief in a case brought

to challenge "pool" and other press restric-

tions, particularly as they relate to the mili-

tary's efforts to exclude free-lance

journalists from covering the Gulf war.

_ The lawsuit was filed on behalf of eleven

magazines and news agencies, including

San Francisco-based Mother Jones maga-

zine and Pacific News Service. Well

known writers, including Sydney

Schanberg and E. L. Doctorow, have

joined the action.

Conscientious Objectors

ACLU-NC's War Desk has received a

number of inquiries from enlistees with

questions regarding conscientious objector

status, as well as from young people and

their parents worried about the possibility

that a military draft may be reinstated.

ACLU-NC has recruited lawyers and oth-

ers to be trained as counselors for the

Central Committee for Conscientious

Objectors (CCCO), an organization that

provides military and draft counseling in

the Bay Area.

In response to these concerns and to

rumors that have begun circulating about

the possibility of a renewed draft, ACLU-

NC Field Representative Marcia Gallo

worked with CCCO to present a program,

billed as the "largest draft counseling

workshop ever held," at U.C. Berkeley's

Zellerbach auditorium on February 12th.

More than 700 young people and parents

attended the event, which was moderated

by H. Lee Halterman, chairperson of

ACLU-NC's board of directors. According

to Gallo, the effort allowed many young

people to examine the complex and serious

issues involved in making a decision to

become a conscientious objector.

The ACLU, believing that individuals

have a right to obey their consciences, and

that anti-war convictions need not be

expressed in traditional theistic or religious

terms, has long been concerned with pro-

tecting the legal rights of conscientious

objectors.

Outside the Bay Area

The ACLU-NC's 17 chapters through-

out the Northern California area are also

hearing increasing complaints about war-

related civil rights abuses. Our Mt. Diablo

Chapter reviewed a complaint from an

Arab-American who had been contacted

by the FBI, and the Monterey Chapter

received a number of hot-line calls

requesting both assistance with first

amendment abuses related to anti-war pro-

tests and information about CO status, the

rights of enlistees, and the draft. Chapter

hot-line coordinators are consulting with

the War Desk in the San Francisco office.

The Emergency War Desk was estab-

lished in part to assess civil liberties prob-

lems raised by the Gulf war, and to

provide the organization with the informa-

tion we will need to respond adequately to

those concerns.

At this stage, the desk continues to han-

dle about fifty calls a week. Our ability to

respond effectively and to marshal our

resources appropriately has _ clearly

improved with the consistent staffing that

is provided by our legal interns. The

Emergency War Desk will continue to

operate and can be reached by calling

(415) 621-2493. Ask for either Alan

Zeltserman or Anne Salisbury, from 9:00

ACLU chapter's

annual meeting to

elect a board of

directors.

Glasser has been ACLU executive

director since 1978. From 1970 to 1978

he was director of the New York Civil

Liberties Association, and from1967 to

1970 served as associate director of the

NY CLU.

Further information on the meeting,

as well as a ballot, will be sent to all San

Francisco Chapter members. People

interested in helping to organize the

event should call Phil Mehas, program

committee chairman, at 863-2733.

(Announcing..... An evening with....

ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser

Monday, April 22, at the San Francisco

to.5:00 p.m. every weekday.

Tom Tyburski/

Chapter

Meetings

(Chapter meetings are open to all inter-

ested members. Contact the chapter acti-

vist listed for your area.)

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

- Kensington) Chapter Meeting: (Usually

fourth Thursday) Meeting on Thursday,

March 28, 1991 in Berkeley. Contact

Julie. Houk, 415/848-4752, for further

information.

Wednesday, March 13, 1991. Focus on

police practices. 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, March

18, 1991 at San Joaquin Law School.

New members always welcome! For

time and address of meetings, please call

tact Gary Waldron, 209/221-1114 (eve.)

Gay Rights Chapter Meeting: (Usually

first Thursday) Meet Thursday, March 7,

1991. Meeting at the ACLU Office, 1663

Mission, #460, San Francisco at 7:00

p.m.. For more information, contact

Terese Friend, 415/272-9700.

Marin County Chapter Meeting:

(Third Monday) Meet Monday, March

18, 1991 at 7:30 p.m., Westamerica

Bank, Community Room, Strawberry

Shopping Center, Mill Valley. John

Crew, Director of ACLU-NC Police

Practices Project, will discuss "Ideas For

Police Reform and Accountability". For

more information, contact Bernie Moss,

415/332-3153.

Mid-Peninsula (Palo Alto area)

Chapter Meeting: (Usually first

Thursday) Chapter pot-luck on Thursday,

March 7, 1991 7:00 p.m. New members

welcome! For more information, contact

Harry Anisgard, 415/856-9186.

Monterey County Chapter Meeting:

The Monterey County Chapter will have

their Board Meeting on Tuesday, March

Library, Community Room, Pacific and

Madison Streets, Monterey. Dorothy

Ehrlich will be speaking at the Theater of

Monterey Community College on

Wednesday, March 20, 1991, 7:30 p.m.

on censorship. For more information,

contact Richard Criley, 408/624-7562.

Mt. Diablo (Contra Costa County)

Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth

Thursday) Mt. Diablo Chapter will meet

on, Thursday, March 28, 1991. For more

information, contact Mildred Starkie,

415/934-0557. Calling all teachers: Are

you interested in working with the chap-

ter on a civil liberties essay contest for

students? If so, contact Mildred Starkie,

number above.

North Peninsula (San Mateo area)

Chapter Meeting: (Usually third

Monday) March meeting will be on

Tuesday, March 19, 1991. For more

information, contact Emily Skolnick, 340-

9834. Note: The North Pen Chapter

has a new Hotline number: 579-1789.

The Chapter Annual Meeting will be on

Sunday, May 5, 1991, 2:30 p.m. at the

Beresford Center, 2720 Alameda De Las

Pulgas. A light buffet will be offered. The

featured speakers will be ACLU-NC

Executive Director Dorothy Ehrlich and

Larry Bensky, National Affairs

Correspondent for Pacifica Radio. The

winners of the High School Essay

Contest will be presented. -

Earl Warren (Oakland/Alameda

County) Chapter Meeting: (Usually

second Wednesday) Meeting on.

the chapter hotline 209/225-7380 or con- -

5, 1991 at 7:30 p.m. at the Monterey

Field Program Monthly

Meetings

North Valley (Shasta, Siskiyou,

Tehema, and _ Trinity Counties)

Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth

Wednesday) March 27, 1991, Board

Meeting at 6:30 p.m. and the Chapter

Meeting at 7:00 pm. at MHarry's

Restaurant, Cypress and Hilltop in

Redding. For more information contact

Frank Treadway, 916/365-4336 or 916/

241-7725.

Sacramento Valley Chapter Meeting:

(Usually second Wednesday) Special

Meeting on March 28, 1991, 7:00 pm at

the Sacramento County Offices, 700 H

Street, Hearing Room 1. John Crew,

Director of the ACLU-NC Police

Practices Project, will discuss develop-

ment of a Police Practices Committee for

the Sacramento Area. For information,

contact Ruth Ordas, 916/488-9956.

San Francisco Chapter Meeting:

(Usually third 0x00A7 Monday) Meet

Wednesday, March 18, 1991 7:00 p.m.

at ACLU office, 1663 Mission, #460,

San Francisco. The Annual Meeting of

the San Francisco Chapter will be held

on Monday, April 22, at the First

Unitarian Church in San Francisco at

6:00 p.m. Featured speaker will be Ira

Glasser of the National Office. For more

information call Leon Seville, 415/681-

4747. :

Santa Clara Valley Chapter Meeting:

(Usually first Tuesday) Meet March 5,

1991 7:00 p.m. at 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) Meet

Wednesday, March 13, 1991 at 7:15

p.m.. Chapter will continue to work on

combatting Hate Crimes. Look for pro-

gram on Homeless issues in May.

Contact Keith Lesar, 408/688-1666, for

further information.

Sonoma County Chapter Meeting:

(Third Thursday of the month) Meet

Thursday, March 21, 1991 7:30 p.m., 821

Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa. All mem-

bers welcome. Contact Fran Byrn, 707]

546-3237.

Stockton Chapter Meeting: For infor-

mation contact Beverly Ford 209/948-

6759.

Yolo County Chapter Meeting: (Third

Thursday of the month) For more infor-

mation, contact Doug Powers, 916/756- 0x00B0

8274.

Field -

Committee

Meetings

(All meetings except those noted will be

held at the ACLU-NC Office, 1663

Mission Street, Suite 460, San Francisco.

_To RSVP, or for more information, con-

tact Marcia Gallo or Michele Hurtado at

the ACLU-NC 415/621-2493.)

Student Outreach Committee:

(Usually third Saturday) Contact

Marcia Gallo, number above, for more

information.

Pro-Choice Action Campaign: (Usually

third Tuesday) Contact Marcia Gallo,

number above, for more information.

Death Penalty Action Campaign:

Contact Marcia Gallo, number above,

for more information.