vol. 60, no. 2

Wotume LX

MarcH/APRIL 1996

NEWSPAPER OF THE AMERICAN Givwil LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTHERN GALIFORNIA

aclu news.

Non-Profit

Organization

US Postage

PAID

Permit No. 4424

San Francisco, CA

Ninth Circuit Upholds Ban on Gas Chamber

66 T's is the death knell for lethal

gas executions in this country,"

said attorney Michael

Laurence, former Director of the ACLU-

NC Death Penalty Project.

Laurence was responding to the 3-0

decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of

Appeals on February 21 upholding the

landmark ban on San Quentin's gas cham-

ber. The ruling affirmed the 1994 decision

by U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall

Patel that the gas chamber is "cruel and

unusual punishment" and therefore vio-

lates the U.S. Constitution.

"The District Court's findings of

extreme pain, the length of time this

extreme pain lasts, and the substantial

risk that inmates will suffer this extreme

pain for several minutes requires the con-

clusion that execution by lethal gas is cru-

el and unusual,' wrote Judge Harry.

Pregerson in the 20-page opinion. He was

joined by Judges Melvin Brunetti and

Thomas Nelson.

This is the highest court in the coun-

try to determine that the gas chamber -

or any method of state execution - is

cruel and unusual punishment. The rul-

ing applies to all nine states in the Ninth

Circuit's jurisdiction, one of which -

Arizona - is one of the handful of states

that still allows the gas chamber as a

method of execution.

According to Laurence, who called

the gas chamber a "barbaric form of tor-

ture," the decision will have an effect

nationwide. Although the Attorney

General has 90 days to appeal to the U.S.

Supreme Court, the San Francisco

Chronicle reported that Governor Pete

Wilson was "incensed" by the ruling.

California has employed the gas

chamber to execute 196 prisoners since

1987. In 1992, the state Legislature passed | provided that the gas chamber would be |

a law allowing the state to kill by lethal

injection; the law went into effect on

January 1, 1998. However, the legislation

used unless the condemned prisoner elect-

ed to be executed by lethal injection.

In addition to Laurence, cooperating

attorney Warren George of McCutchen,

Doyle, Brown and Enersen is representing

the Death Row inmates in this suit which

was originally filed in April 1992. @

ver 300 abolitionists gathered outside the gates of San

Quentin Prison on the night of February 22 for a vigil in

protest of the state execution of William Bonin, the first con-

demned prisoner in California to die by lethal injection. Bonin

was executed a few minutes after midnight on February 23.

The death penalty opponents were heartened by the

words of Mike Farrell, President of Death Penalty Focus, Derrel

Myers, a San Francisco father whose 23-year old son was mur-

- ATTHE GATES OF SAN QUE

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dered in January, Magdaleno Rose-Avila of the Cesar Chavez

Institute and others who spoke out against state killing in the

shadow of the death house. Holding candles and anti-capital

punishment placards, the protestors' songs, prayers and silence

were punctuated by harsh, insulting jeers from a handful of

death penalty supporters.

Staff attorney Kelli Evans (above) was part of the ACLU-NC

staff and chapter activist contingent at the midnight vigil. Hl

TAN MARTIN

SOSSSHSSHSSSHSHSHSHSOSSHSHSHRSHSHOHSHSHSHHHSSHSHSHHHSSSHHSHSHSSHSHSSHSHSHSHSHHHHHOSHEHHFTHOHHSHHHHHSOHSEHOHSSSHSSESSHGESHEH8S8THH8H8ESEH8EH8EHSHEHEHEH8EH8E8TOSGH8TSES8H8SSG8EH82EH88OSEHS EO

Groups Mobilize

to Defeat CCRI

the Anti-Affirmative Action

Initiative

ours after the sponsors of the

H deceptively-titled California Civil

Rights Initiative (CCRI) turned in

their signatures to qualify for the

November 1996 ballot on February 21, a

broad coalition of affirmative action sup-

porters announced their plans to defeat

the measure at the polls.

At a press conference at the ACLU-NC

office, representatives of more than twenty

state and local civil rights, women's and

labor organizations - from the League of

Women Voters to the NAACP to the

California Business Council for Equal

Opportunity - pledged to put their mus-

cle behind a statewide campaign to stop

the initiative.

Members of the

local coalition,

Californians for Affirmative Action, were

joined by Ralph Neas of the National

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights who

pledged national support to defeat the bal-

lot measure.

"This is a fight for the hearts and soul

of what people in California stand for," said

Neas whose organization is the oldest and

largest civil rights coalition in the country.

"Our 185 organizations represent more

than 65 million Americans who care about

equal opportunity," said Neas, "and we all

understand that what happens here in

California will have a profound effect on

the future of affirmative action programs

nationwide."

Californians for Affirmative Action

chair Eva Paterson underscored the grow-

ing opposition from women, labor, and

Continued on page 2

ACLU-NE Annual Reporte

Innocent Man Wins Settlement for 3-Month Jailing

record, he was bound over for trial in

ed Nguyen, a self-employed contrac- | bery. Although he had no arrest or criminal

tor in San Jose, who was arrested |

and jailed for three months solely

because his photograph found its way into

the now-defunct "Asian Mug Book" once

maintained by the San Jose Police

Department, was vindicated on January 23

when the San Jose City Council voted to

award him $150,000 in damages.

The sum was part of a settlement in

Nguyen v. San Jose, the ACLU-NC lawsuit

filed on behalf of Nguyen in March 1992 in

Santa Clara County Superior Court, charg-

ing that officers of the San Jose Police

Department violated his rights to privacy,

due process and equal protection.

Nguyen was represented by ACLU-NC

cooperating attorneys Edward Davis and

Sharon Kirsch of the San Jose office of

Pillsbury, Madison and Sutro; ACLU-NC

Managing Attorney Alan Schlosser and

Richard Konda of the Asian Law Alliance.

"This settlement is extremely significant

for two reasons," said attorney Davis. "First,

it provides a small measure of compensa-

tion for Ted Nguyen who spent 90 days in jail

for a crime he didn't commit because of a

police department practice based on race.

"In addition, it sends a warning to all

other law enforcement agencies that if

they are going to use race-based photo ID

books - they could very well have prob-

lems," Davis added.

"This was discrimination," said Nguyen,

adding that he is happy with the settle-

ment but that he "would feel better about

justice" if they did not "jail and prosecute

an innocent man based on race."

400 VIETNAMESE MEN

The mugbook contained over 400 pic-

tures of Asian men between the ages of 18

and 25, 95% of them Vietnamese, many of

whom had never been arrested or convict-

ed of a crime. It had been used by the San

Jose Police Department since 1989.

Nguyen's picture was in the book

because in the spring of 1990, he drove up

to a friend's house where San Jose police

were conducting a narcotics investigation.

After the police confronted him, he was

detained for questioning and released

without charges. After being questioned,

Nguyen's photo was taken and, without his

knowledge, placed in the Asian Mug Book.

A year later, the police were investigat-

ing a robbery allegedly committed by a

group of Vietnamese men. The victim was

shown the Asian Mug Book and she identi-

fied two photos as being the robbers, one of

which was the photo of Nguyen. The police

did not arrange a line-up to require the vic-

tim to identify Nguyen in person. Rather,

based solely on the identification from the

photograph, Nguyen was arrested, booked

and charged with first degree armed rob-

(c)8208 CCO8SSOHSOCOHSEHESHSSEOH8SEE8O

Board Election...

Continued from page |

held on September 12, 1996.] Members of

the Board may propose additional nomina-

tions. Ifno additional nominations are pro-

posed by Board members, the Board, by a

majority of those present and voting, shall

adopt the Nominating Committee's report.

If additional nominations are proposed, the

Board shall, by written ballot, elect a slate

of nominees with each member being enti-

tled to cast a number of votes equal to the

vacancies to be filled; the Board slate of

nominees shall be those persons, equal in

number to the vacancies to be filled, who

have received the greatest number of votes.

The list of nominees to be placed before the

membership of the Union for election shall

be those person nominated by the Board as

herein provided, together with those per-

Superior Court; bail was set at $500,000.

CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES

After being jailed for over 90 days, Nguyen

was eventually acquitted by a jury of all

charges. In addition to his time in jail and

the thousands of dollars in legal fees, his

business suffered as a result of his arrest

and incarceration.

Groups Mobilize Against CCRI...

Continued from page |

minority voters to the initiative which, she

charged, "would turn back the clock on

equal opportunity in the state of

California."

Ralph Neas (center) of the National Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, joins ACLU-

NC Executive Director Dorothy Ehrlich (seated left), Californians for Affirmative Action

Chair Eva Paterson (seated right) and representatives of more than twenty women s

and civil rights groups at a press conference to launch the campaign to defeat CCRI.

ACLU-NC staff attorney Schlosser not-

ed, "Placing an individual's photo in a mug

book that is shown to crime victims expos-

es that individual to the danger of being

misidentified and prosecuted for a crime

he never committed. That this is not just a

theoretical danger is vividly demonstrated

by this case - for that is exactly what hap-

pened to Ted Nguyen.

"The mug book used by San Jose police

exposed only Asians to this dangerous

We urge all ACLU-NC members to get

involved in the campaign to stop CCRI at

the polls. To find out what you can do, call

your local Chapter (see Field Calendar on

p. 4 for contact numbers), or send in the

coupon below.

Be Prepared...

to Fight for

Affirmative

Action

READ UP -

New Brochure

on Affirmative

Action

The new ACLU brochure Affirmative

Action California: Why It Is Still Necessary, a

collaborative publication of the state's three

ACLU atfiliates, is full of useful facts on the

history and impact of affirmative action as

well as powerful arguments in defense of

the programs.

The 6-page pamphlet is an informative,

easy-to-use tool for speakers and organiz-

ers. More than 5,000 copies have already

been distributed around the state.

To order your copy, send in the coupon

below.

AND SIGN uP!

I Support Affirmative Action

O Keep me posted on ACLU activities

Send me a copy of Affirmative Action California

NAME

ADDRESS

City STATE Zip

PHONE (DAYS) (EVES),

FAX E-MAat

PLEASE FILL OUT AND RETURN TO.

FIELD DEPARTMENT, ACLU-NC, 1663 Mission STREET, #460, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103.

sons nominated by petition as hereafter

provided in Section 4.

Article VII, Section 4: Any fifteen or

more members of the Union in good stand-

ing may themselves submit a nomination to

be included among those voted upon by the

general membership by submitting a writ-

ten petition to the Board not later than

twenty days after the adoption by the Board

of the slate of Board nominees. No member

of the Union may sign more than one such

petition, and each such nomination shall be

accompanied by a summary of qualifica-

tions and the written consent of the nomi-

nee. @

Covarrubiaz

practice," Schlosser explained. "If a non-

Asian had been in the car with Ted when he

was stopped, that person would never had

his photo placed in the book, and exposed

to the risk of being falsely accused.

Furthermore this policy was even more

questionable because photos were includ-

ed of individuals who, like Ted Nguyen, had

not been convicted or even arrested for a

criminal offense.

"Finally there were no due process safe-

guards - persons were not informed that

their photos were in the book and there

was no policy limiting the amount of time

that their photo would stay there. Thus,

Nguyen's photo was placed in the book

without his knowledge or consent, and it

remained there for more than a year when

he was misidentified by the robbery victim.

Only then did Mr. Nguyen even learn that

his photo was part of the Asian mug book,"

Schlosser added. -

MUGBOOK SCRAPPED

In response to what happened to Nguyen,

community and civil rights groups demand-

ed that the Asian mugbook be scrapped. In

February 1992, Police Chief Lou

announced that the

Department would stop using the book and

return all photographs to the computerized

photo file bank.

"Although the Department is no longer

using the Asian mug book, unfortunately

this type of police practice is not limited to

San Jose," Schlosser said. "The ACLU has

investigated a number of instances where,

in the name of combatting gang activities, -

police detain and photograph minority

youth based solely on their ethnicity or

manner of dress. Such practices raise seri-

ous constitutional issues, as well as the

specter of innocent young people ending

up in police files without any objective evi-

dence linking them to criminal activity."

Schlosser noted the ACLU case of

Pham v. City of Garden Grove, where two

Vietnamese high school honor students

were detained and photographed for police

gang files solely on the basis of their race.

The two teenage girls in the Orange

County community were not acting illegally -

nor had they ever been arrested or charged

with any crimes. They were not formally

charged, but their photographs were

entered into a law enforcement computer

gang database - leading to the police

detention of one of the girls for a second

time. That case was settled in U.S. District

Court on February 9, with the Garden

Grove Police Department agreeing to

revise a number of policies and procedures,

including those that govern field inter-

views, photographs and the criteria for

labeling individuals as gang members.

"The tragic ordeal of Ted Nguyen

underscores the dangers of police depart-

ments using race, `gang' profiles or other

loose criteria to put photographs of inno-

cent people in their files," concluded attor-

ney Ed Davis. "This practice simply can't be

tolerated."

ACLU News = Marcn/Apri: 1996 = Pace 2

Wilson, UC Regents

Violate Open

Meetings Law

ACLU affiliates of Southern and

Northern California, filed suit on

February 16, charging that Governor Pete

Wilson and a quorum of the U.C. Board of

Regents violated the Bagley-Keene Open

Meetings Act by secretly committing to

eliminate affirmative action in the

University of California prior to their July

20, 1995 public session. The Daily Nexus v.

UC Regents, filed in San Francisco

Superior Court, maintains that the

Regents' decision abolishing affirmative

action is therefore, "null and void."

Tim Molloy, campus reporter for the

Daily Nexus, the U.C. Santa Barbara stu-

dent newspaper, was informed that Wilson

and between 10 to 15 of the Regents partic-

ipated in a series of private one-on-one

conversations regarding affirmative action

in U.C. admissions and hiring before the

July 20 public hearing. Based on this infor-

mation, Molloy used the California Public

Records Act to request phone numbers

called by Governor Wilson from July 10,

1995, through July 19, 1995.

S tudent reporters, represented by the

"I have tried through nearly thirty _

Public Records Act requests to gather

information that would help answer the

question of whether the Board violated the

Bagley-Keene Act," explained Molloy at a

San Francisco press conference following

the filing of the suit. "But hesitance on the

part of the Governor's Office to release

records I believe should be public, as well

as incongruities in statements from the

Governor's Office, have led me to believe

that this case is the last possible means by

which we can determine what actually led

to the votes.

To date, the newspaper has not

received any of the requested records.

Editor-in-chief Suzanne Garner maintains

that the Daily Nexus is not taking a posi-

tion on affirmative action at the University

but is challenging the Regents' decision

because the state officials violated their

obligation to deliberate in public.

"There is simply no place for backroom

politics in public decision-making.

Officials must be held accountable for

their actions and this becomes impossible

when they deliberate behind closed doors.

You can't get around the public meetings

law by forming a united front through tele-

phone calls before voting," explained

ACLU-NC staff attorney Ed Chen.

In a 1985 case, the California Court of

Appeal ruled that a series of telephone

calls to line up votes in a Stockton redevel-

. opment agency violated the local open

meeting law. The state law contains the

same language as that local version.

The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act

specifically requires the U.C. Regents'

meetings to be conducted in public and

prohibits a quorum or majority from evad-

ing this requirement by forming a "collec-

tive commitment" to take a particular

action outside a public meeting.

The plaintiffs may seek a court order

blocking implementation of the Regents'

decision pending a court ruling. If the

court declares the Regents' vote void, the

Regents would have to reconsider their

motions to abolish affirmative action at

the University.

The Daily Nexus is represented by

ACLU-SC attorneys Dan Tokaji and Mark

Rosenbaum; ACLU-NC staff attorney Ed

Chen, First Amendment Project attorneys

James Wheaton and Elizabeth Pritzker,

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights attor-

neys Eva Paterson and Nancy Stuart, Equal

Rights Advocates attorney Judith E. Kurtz,

and Karl Manheim of Loyola Law School.

Register to Vote Now,

at a DMV Near You

By MariA ARCHULETA

egistering to vote has just become

R as simple as walking into the near-

est DMV. On January 22, in the suit

Voting Rights Coalition v. Wilson, the U.S.

Supreme Court denied Governor Pete

Wilson's petition to stop the implementa-

tion of the National Voter Registration Act

(NVRA), the "motor voter" law, which allows

citizens to register to vote by mail and in

person at DMV offices, welfare depart-

ments and other government agencies.

On December 15, 1994 a coalition of

voting rights groups, represented by the

ACLU affiliates of Northern and Southern

California and other public interest

lawyers, filed suit to force implementation

of the measure enacted by Congress in

1998 to address the problem that 37% of

the country's eligible electorate are not

registered to vote. Despite the fact that

California had the lowest rate of registered

voters in the nation, Wilson refused to put

the law into effect. On January 23, 1995, in

a separate suit, the U.S. Department of

Justice also sued California for its failure to

comply. In March, 1995, a U.S District Court

found the "motor voter" law to be constitu-

tional and ordered the state to implement

the law by mid-June; Wilson appealed. In

July, 1995 the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of

Appeals rejected Wilson's appeal, and the

Governor unsuccessfully appealed once

more to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The door to the voting booth just

opened a lot wider, and Governor Wilson is

not in the way," said Alan Schlosser,

Managing Attorney of the ACLU of

Northern California. "Failure to imple-

ment this law - which was passed to help

close the gap between minority and white

voter registration rates - would have a

particularly harmful effect on minority

communities and the poor," Schlosser

added.

In all seven states (California, Illinois,

Kansas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South

Carolina, Virginia) where governors had to

be sued to implement the motor voter law,

courts have upheld the measure as consti-

tutional. In California, more than 100,000

people have been registering to vote each

month since the state was forced to imple-

ment the measure last June.

The voting rights coalition was repre-

sented by Schlosser, Mark Rosenbaum and

Dan Tokaji of the ACLU of Southern

California, Lawyers' Committee for Civil

-Rights Associate Director Robert Rubin,

the Asian Law Caucus and other public

interest legal organizations. @

ACLU News = Marcn/Aprit 1996 = Pace 3 :

es)

Heisler Moot Court

Another Successful Tradition for

Monterey Segre

BY LisA MALDONADO

unique program sponsored by the

Aimer County Chapter is ensur-

ing that aspiring lawyers learn how

to advocate for civil liberties even before

they graduate law school.

In 1986, in memory of renowned attor-

ney Francis Heisler, a former Chapter

Board member who died in 1984, the

Chapter established the Heisler Moot

Court at the Monterey College of Law.

Heisler, who taught at the college and

donated his extensive law library to the

school after his retirement, was honored

during his lifetime by both the Chapter and

the affiliate for his outstanding contribu-

tions to civil liberties.

The Heisler Moot Court, which has

become an institution in Monterey County,

is a competition in oral advocacy for law

.students who tackle major law and social

policy issues - ranging from pornography

and the rights of women, to drug testing, to

religion in the schools. Students present

their arguments to a distinguished panel of

judges who question and challenge the stu-

dents on their legal knowledge before a

public audience. The biannual program

also includes a civil liberties address by a

Francis Heisler at the 1977 ACLU-NC

Bill of Rights Day Celebration.

Monterey Chapter activist.

This year the Heisler Moot Court

focused on the timely issue of governmental

regulation of free speech on the internet.

"Our sixth biannual Heisler Moot Court

marks yet another successful result of our

Chapter's efforts to establish ourselves as

an integral presence in the Monterey

County community," said Chapter Chair

Catherine Stoner.

For Monterey Chapter Executive Direc-

ACLIU-NC S@eNOMA CHAPTER

INVITES YOU

FEATURING

former U.S. Representative

DAN HAMBURG

n "Civil Liberties in Two Societies:

U.S. and South Africa"

and

Founder of the UC Berkeley Free

Speech Movement

MArio SAVIO

on "Diversity and Affirmative Action

On and Off Campus"

Chapter Meetings

(Chapter meetings are open to all interested mem-

bers. Contact the Chapter activist listed for your

area.)

B-A-R-K (BERKELEY-ALBANY-RICHMOND-KENSING-

TON) Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth Thursday)

Volunteers needed for the chapter hotline - call

Tom Sarbaugh at 510/526-6376 for further

details. For more information, time and address of

meetings, contact Jim Chanin at 510/848-4752 or

Rachel Richman at 510/540-5507.

EARL WARREN (OAKLAND/ALAMEDA COUNTY)

CHAPTER MEETING: (Usually first Wednesday) New

meeting location Meet at 7:30 PM at Claremont

House/Activity Room, 4500 Gilbert Street,

Oakland (nr. Rockridge Shopping Center). We

encourage new members to join us as we work on

our high school essay contest, the Oakland civil-

ian review board, affirmative action, and ending

drug prohibition. For more information, call

David Gassman at 510/835-2334.

FRESNO CHAPTER MEETING: (Usually second

Wednesday) For information on date and time of

meetings, call Nadya Coleman at 209/229-7178.

TO ATTEND OUR

For more information, contact Steve Thornton (707) 544-8115

Friday, March 29

No Host Bar and Music

5:30 PM

Dinner 7 pm

Sebastopol Veterans

Memorial Building

$15 tickets before March 15 / $10

low income or kids under 16

after March 15: $20/$15

LESBIAN AND GAY RIGHTS CHAPTER MEETING: (Usually

first Thursday) ACLU-NC office, 1663 Mission

Street, Suite 460, San Francisco. Mailings and oth-

er activities start at 6:30 PM. Speakers at 7:00 PM.

Business meeting starts at 7:30 PM. For more infor-

mation, contact Jeff Hooper at 510/460-0712 or

Burton Weiss at 510/524-6073.

Marin County CHAPTER MEETING: (Usually third

Monday; fourth Monday in March and April) For

more information on meeting times and location,

contact Greg Brockbank at 415/491-0616.

MID-PENINSULA (PALO ALTO AREA) CHAPTER MEETING:

(Usually fourth Thursday) Meet at 7:30 PM at the

California Federal Bank, 2180 El Camino Real,

Palo Alto. For more information, contact Les

Earnest at 415/941-3964.

MONTEREY COUNTY CHAPTER MEETING: (Usually

third Tuesday) Meet at 7:15 PM, Monterey Library.

For more information, contact Richard Criley at

408/624-7562.

NorTH PENINSULA (SAN MATEO AREA) CHAPTER

MeeTING: (Usually third Monday) Meet at 7:30

PM, at 700 Laurel Street, Park Tower Apartments,

top floor. For more information, contact Marshall

Dinowitz at 415/595-5131.

tor Dick Criley, the event is a boon for

chapter visibility as well as public educa-

tion. "I think it important to establish pub-

lic recognition of civil liberties champions

as role models. Too often those receiving

public recognition are among society's

biggest crooks, albeit successful ones."

The Chapter has also established the

presentation of its Ralph Atkinson Award

as a community institution. The award,

now in its 20th year, has become so much a

part of the community that it is often cited

prominently in newspaper profiles or obit-

uaries of former awardees.

In addition to creating community visi-

bility, both Chapter projects have helped

strengthen the Chapter's membership and

board. "Team building takes time,"

acknowledges Criley, who has been active

in the ACLU for five decades. "It's a deli-

cate creative process that requires persis-

tence and continuity." Hl

Oakland Civilian

Review -

over the past year to demand

increased police accountability in

Oakland led to a successful public hearing

on this crucial issue on February 15. More

than 150 residents packed the City Council

chamber to demand a professional and

modern civilian review mechanism. After

three hours of public testimony, the Council

took a small step in the right direction by

directing city staff to respond to community

demands for strengthening a civilian review

by drafting possible legislation.

"This is our biggest accomplishment in

police practices work so far," said Grover

Dye, Chair of the Earl Warren Chapter

which covers Oakland and other East Bay

cities. "It took a tremendous amount of

preparation - we had meeting after meet-

ing. This was really the fruit of lots of peo-

ple's labor.

Dye credits the achievements of the

Chapter to "excellent coalition work with

local community groups," including

|" he efforts of the Earl Warren Chapter

PUEBLO (People United for a Better

Oakland) and the American Friends

Service Committee as well as outstanding

activism from Chapter members Louise

Rothman-Riemer, Emily Nalven, Mimi

McCorkle and others.

The February session was the first

major public hearing on police account-

ability in Oakland in 16 years. "We've been

wanting to target police accountability in

Oakland for a long time," said John Crew,

Director of the ACLU-NC Police Practices

Project. "This is the first step in the fight

for an authentic civilian review process ...

now the really hard work begins."

The effort for civilian review has

breathed new life into the Chapter Board.

"Working with PUEBLO and AFSC has been

such a positive experience for this chap-

ter," said Dye. "We've learned so much from

working with these dedicated community

organizations."

The police accountability effort is not

the only recent success for the Earl Warren

Chapter. A Chapter Committee against

Drug Prohibition has been working to edu-

cate the public on the medical marijuana

initiative, and the Hotline Committee is

"alive, well and moving" according to Dye.

"Keep plugging away,' he advises other

chapter activists, "eventually it will pay

off."

ACLU-NC EARL WARREN CHAPTER

REDwooD (HUMBOLDT COUNTY) CHAPTER MEETING:

(Usually third Thursday) Meet in the Arcata Jacoby

Storehouse at the Bonvenir Ice Cream Parlor at

7:30 PM. For information on upcoming meeting

dates and times, contact Christina Huskey at

707/444-6595.

SACRAMENTO VALLEY CHAPTER MEETING: (Usually first

Wednesday) Meet at 7:00 PM at the Java City in

Sutter Galleria (between 29 and 30, J and K Streets) in

Sacramento. For more information, contact Ruth

Ordas at 916/488-9955.

SAN FRANCISCO CHAPTER MEETING: (Usually third

Tuesday) Meet at 6:45 PM at the ACLU-NC Office,

1663 Mission Street, Suite #460, San Francisco.

For more information on chapter meetings, call

the Chapter Information Line at 415/979-6699.

SANTA CLARA VALLEY CHAPTER MEETING: (Usually first

Tuesday) Meet at 7:00 PM at the Community Bank

Towers, 3rd Floor Conference Room, 111 West St.

John Street, San Jose. Join us for an Affirmative

Action Speak-Out, featuring a keynote address by

workplace diversity expert Byron Kunisawa.

March 16, 9 AM - 2 PM, San Jose Convention

Center. For information contact Dawn Wright,

Commis-sion on the Status of Women, 408/248-

2434. For further chapter information contact

Catherine Wiehe at 408/226-7421.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY CHAPTER MEETING: (Usually

third Thursday) Meet at 7:00 PM at the Louden-

ACLU News = Marcn/Aprit 1996 = Pace 4

Nelson Community Center, Santa Cruz. Contact

Lucille Desjardins at 408/425-5828.

Sonoma County CHAPTER MEETING: (Usually third

Wednesday) Meet at 7:30 PM at the Peace and

Justice Center, 540 Pacific Avenue, Santa Rosa.

Join us for our Annual Dinner on March 29 (see

ad this page). Call Steve Thornton at 707/544-

8115 for more information.

Yoto County CHAPTER MEETING: (Usually third

Thursday) Meet at 7:30 PM, 2505 5th Street #154,

Davis. For more information, call Natalie Wormeli

at 916/756-1900 or the Chapter Hotline at

916/756-ACLU.

Field Action Meetin

(All meetings except those noted will be held at

the ACLU-NC Office, 1663 Mission Street, #460,

San Francisco.)

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION GRASSROOTS COALITION: Meet

every other Wednesday night at the ACLU-NC

office. For more information, contact Lisa

Maldonado at 415/621-2493 ext. 46.

STUDENT OUTREACH Committee: Meet to plan out-

reach activities. For more information, contact

Nancy Otto at 415/621-2006 ext. 37.

STUDENT ADvisory Committee: For more informa-

tion, contact Nancy Otto at 415/621-2006 ext. 37.