vol. 62, no. 4

Woitume LXIili

gual education in California,

students and parents in

California's public schools repre-

sented by public interest advoca-

cy groups filed a class action

lawsuit in U.S. District Court in.

San Francisco to block imple-

mentation of Proposition 227 on

June 3, the day after the measure

was passed by voters.

The case, Valeria G. v.

Wilson, seeks to invalidate the

initiative for violating the Equal

Educational Opportunity Act of

1974 (EEOA) Title VI of the Civil

Rights Act of 1964, and the Equal

Protection Clause of the 14th

Amendment. The suit charges

that Proposition 227 denies the

right of language minority chil-

dren to equal access to educa-

tional opportunity.

On June 10, attorneys filed a

motion for a preliminary injunc-

tion. U.S. District Court Judge

Charles Legge will hear oral argument on

the motion on July 15 in San Francisco.

Public interest law firms representing

the plaintiffs include the ACLU-NC,

Multicultural Education, Training and

Advocacy (META), Mexican American

Legal Defense and Education Fund

(MALDEF), Asian Pacific American Legal

Center, Asian Law Caucus, Employment

Law Center, and Public Advocates.

Ed Chen, ACLU-NC staff attorney, said,

|: an effort to rescue bilin-

Jurty-Aucust 1998

Students, Parents File Class Action

Lawsuit Block 227

"This initiative is unlike any other state

law dealing with the needs of limited

English proficient students. It prescribes a

one-size-fits-all English-only model for 1.4

million students throughout California, in

complete disregard for their individual

needs and differences. Proposition 227

also overrules the educational expertise of

local schools and school districts, which

use a variety of programs - including those

which involve instruction in the students'

primary language - to assure that students

are able to make progress on academic sub-

jects while learning English at the same |

time."

The suit was filed on behalf of parents

of limited English proficient students and

their parents, as well as local and statewide

civil rights organizations, who oppose the

attempt to end optional bilingual education

programs and limit parents' choices for

educational programs for their children.

Security Firm to Pay up to

$2.1 Million to Settle Class

Action Against Employee

"Political Litmus Test'"'

urns International Security

B Services, a subsidiary of Borg-

Warner Protective Services

Corporation - the nation's largest securi-

ty firm - has agreed to pay up to $2.1

million to settle a class action challenge

to its use of a controversial pre-employ-

ment test that asked probing questions

about job applicants' attitudes toward

corporations ("Most companies make too

much profit"), employers, workers' rights

and drug and alcohol laws ("Marijuana

should be legalized").

The suit, Thompson v. Borg-Warner,

filed in 1994 by the ACLU-NC, cooperating

attorneys from Howard, Rice, Nemerovski,

Canady, Falk and Rabkin and Berkeley civil

rights attorney Brad Seligman, charged

that the test discriminated against job

applicants based on their political beliefs

and affiliations.

hd

Under the settlement, which must be

approved by San Francisco U.S. District

Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, Burns has

already paid $1.6 million into a fund that

will provide up to $1250 to each applicant

who was rejected because of the test and

$500 to those who took the test and were

nevertheless hired. About 8,000 applicants

took the test. The fund will also cover costs

and attorneys fees for the plaintiffs.

Applicants were asked to answer Yes or

No to 100 probing questions about their

personal beliefs, including:

- Workers usually come last as far as

most companies are concerned.

- Most employers try to underpay their

employees if they can.

- Companies provide only what they

have to for worker comfort.

- Most employers really care about

improving working conditions for

their employees.

- Most bosses are fair to their employees.

- The drinking age should be lowered.

- The government has no right to inter-

fere with a person who chooses drugs

if its doesn't hurt anyone.

- Illegal use of marijuana is worse than

drinking liquor.

Responses were scored according to a

grading manual and applicants were

ranked "High Risk," "Medium Risk" or "Low

Risk" for hire.

Attorney Linda Foy noted, "Employers

have a legitimate right to information

about an applicants' job-related qualifica-

tions. However, that right does not permit

an employer to require job applicants to

disclose their political beliefs and opin-

ions, nor to base employment decisions

upon their responses. Having to take this

Continued on page 3

aclu news.

Juana Flores (right) worries that because of Proposition 227, she will soon be unable to participate in her

children's education because she does not speak English. Marielena Hincapie of the Employment Law Center

interpreted Flores' comments for the press.

NEWSPAPER OF THE AMERICAN Civil LIBERTIES UNION oF NoRTHERN GALIFORNIA

Non-Profit

Organization

U.S Postage

PAID

Permit No. 4424

San Francisco, CA

Attorneys in the case hope to

block the implementation of

Proposition 227 before its provi-

sions disrupt the programs cur-

rently offered to 1.4 million

students identified as limited

English proficient. Plaintiffs in

this case are concerned that the

English-only program mandated

by Proposition 227, and the

administrative havoc that imple-

menting Proposition 227 will

cause, will negatively affect all

5.6 million children in the state's

public schools.

"Parents, including immi-

grant parents, should have the

right to make basic choices

about their children's educa-

tion," said Deborah Escobedo,

staff attorney with META. "All

children, including immigrant

children, should have the right

to learn academic English and

have access to science, math and

history. Proposition 227 takes

away these basic rights. This suit seeks to

defend these basic rights and to ensure

that no child will be denied a meaningful

education."

Juana Flores has two daughters

enrolled in bilingual classes in San

Francisco schools. Ms. Flores, speaking

through an interpreter, said, "Although I do

not speak English well, I have been able to

help my children with school. As parents,

the more we are involved the more our

children are going to see that education is

important. If they take away bilingual edu-

cation, they are going to take away our

communication with the teachers, and we

will no longer feel welcome at the schools,

nor will we be able to participate in the

school community."

Christopher Ho, an attorney with the

Employment Law Center, said, "Proposi-

tion 227 will segregate children who do not

speak English and teach them that their

primary language is worthless. It will

deprive them of their only means to really

communicate with their teachers, it will

take away their parents' ability to partici-

pate in their children's education, and it

will not give them access to the education-

al programs enjoyed by students who do

speak English. It's pure and simple dis-

crimination based on language and on

national origin, and we want to stop this

from going forward."

"Proposition 227 sets back public edu-

cation in California by 25 years," comment-

ed Ted Wang of Chinese for Affirmative

Action, which helped bring the original

Lau v. Nichols case in 1973 which resulted

in the U.S. Supreme Court mandate that

language minority children must be pro-

vided access to programs which meet their

specific language needs. "This proposition

treats children who are not fluent in

English as if they have a disease. They will

be isolated from other children, placed in

Continued on page 2

ARIA ARCHULETA

Roundtable on Race and Criminal Justice,

Sign Up for the ACLU-NE Activists Conference

Election Year Answer:

BY VALERIE SMALL NAVARRO

ACLU LEGISLATIVE ADVOCATE

always looking for the perfect "wedge

issue." Now that race and immigration

are wearing a little thin, we can look for-

ward to the demonization - and strangely

enough, simultaneously, the infantilization

- of young people. Behold, the new dan-

ger on your block - the kids.

Unless something unexpected hap-

pens, the religious right and Governor

Wilson will bring us the ironic juxtaposition

of ballot initiatives in the year 2000 to

require young women to get parental con-

sent for abortions and to completely over-

haul our juvenile criminal justice system,

treating young people as adults in the name

of "prevention."

Jim Shultz, a political analyst from the

Democracy Center, even formulated a pos-

sible campaign slogan for the opposition

when it looked like the juvenile justice ini-

tiative was going to be on the same ballot as

the class-size reduction initiative:

"Fighting for the future of California's chil-

dren - twenty kids to a classroom; twenty

kids to a cell."

JUVENILE JUSTICE REFORM

Two new measures, SB 1455 and AB

1735 embody Governor Wilson's sweeping

"Gang Violence and Juvenile Crime

Prevention Act" targeted for the 2000 bal-

lot. This act .

- mandates that juveniles charged with

murder or "one-strike" sex crimes be

tried as adults;

- gives the District Attorneys the power

to prosecute juveniles 16 or over for a

[: an election year, politicians are

broad range of crimes without a judi-

cial finding of "fitness;"

- expands the use of wire taps in gang

investigations;

- and requires registration (similar to

sex offender registration) of people

convicted of gang-related felonies.

Despite the media-savvy title of this

measure, the ACLU finds neither an ounce

of "prevention" nor a smidgen of a cure.

Furthermore, we find it appalling that chil-

dren and young people drop out of dilapi-

dated California schools in neighborhoods

that some people won't even drive through

and end up in "state-of-the- art" prisons.

The real means of preventing juvenile

Lawsuit to Block 227...

Continued from page |

English immersion classes, and denied

other academic programs. We just can't

tolerate this," added Wang, who is an

ACLU-NC Board member.

"Proposition 227 violates the funda-

mental right of national origin minorities

to participate on an equal basis in the

political process of advocating for effec-

tive educational programs for their chil-

dren," stated Joe Jaramillo, staff attorney

for MALDEF. "This Proposition shuts off

the basic means to advocate for or to

change local educational programs

designed to overcome students' language

barriers. We're now forced to turn to the

courts to vindicate the rights of parents

and students to advocate for effective

and appropriate education. programs for

limited English proficient children."

Maria Blanco, the Northern

:

7

J

California Director of the California

Latino Civil Rights Network, said, "As a

Latino civil rights organization whose

focus is to ensure equal opportunity for

all of California's Latino school children,

we deplore the passage of Proposition

227. This initiative is bad public policy,

and it takes away educational choices

from parents, from students and from

local school districts."

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the

California Latino Civil Rights Network,

Chinese for Affirmative Action, Mujeres

Unidas y Activas (United and Active

Women), Parents for Unity, and numerous

parents of children currently enrolled in

California's public schools. Defendants

include Governor Pete Wilson, the State

Board of Education, and the State

Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Tom MEYER, REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION

Demonize the Young

crime - investment in our children's

futures and education, ensuring jobs and

living wages, and treating drug and alcohol

addiction as diseases - are far more cost-

ACLU, PUEBLO

Blast Oakland City

Council for Illegal

Closed Door Meetings

United for a Better Oakland) filed a

complaint on May 27 against the

Oakland City Council for convening illegal

"closed door" meetings regarding the

Citizens Police Review Board (CPRB).

These meetings violate the City's open

government "Sunshine Ordinance," a law

which places strict limitations on issues that

can be discussed out of public view. The

ACLU-NC and PUEBLO filed the complaint

with Oakland's two-year old Public Ethics

Commission, the watchdog group charged

with enforcing open government laws.

The 22-page complaint details how the

City of Oakland has effectively set the

terms of the Citizens Police Review Board

in a Series of illegal closed door meetings

in order to accommodate the political

demands of the Oakland Police Officers

Association. These secret meetings break

the spirit and the letter of the Sunshine

Ordinance, the groups charge.

ACLU-NC Police Practices Project

Director John Crew explained, "Less than

Te ACLU-NC and PUEBLO (People

ACLU News = Jury-Aucustr 1998 = Pace 2

for minors' abortion, will probably also be

ILLUSTRATION BY PAUL ANDERSON

effective in terms of state dollars and pre-

venting the pain and suffering of possible

victims and our communities.

In addition, the Governor's

Department of Finance describes the fiscal

impact as follows: "This measure would

result in unknown major net costs to the

state of at least hundreds of millions of dol-

lars annually and one-time costs of at least

several hundreds of millions of dollars. It

would also result in unknown net costs to

local governments of at least tens of mil-

lions of dollars annually, and tens of mil-

lions to hundreds of millions of dollars in

one-time costs."

REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM

The "California Parental Rights and

Protection Initiative," which would amend

the California Constitution to include the

recently-struck down parental consent law

on the 2000 ballot.

Recycling takes on a new meaning in

the hands of certain legislators. The bad

ideas keep coming back: parental consent

for young women's abortions - a bill car-

Continued on page 7

two years ago, the Oakland City Council

made a significant commitment to open

government by passing the Sunshine

Ordinance and creating the Public Ethics

Commission to enforce these laws. We are

asking that commitment with the people of

Oakland be kept.

"What is at stake is whether the laws

concerning civilian review will be crafted

openly and fairly or in backrooms where

secret deals lead to bad laws," Crew said.

_ "Will Oakland argue that matters of

civilian review are not police/community

relations issues? Frankly, we don't think

that they can meet that burden,' Crew

added.

PUEBLO member Vildred Dawson said,

"The City Council is breaking the law and

were demanding an immediate investiga-

tion. Oakland has long history of striking

secret, backroom deals that are bad for the

public. That was what the Raiders deal

was about. That is what this is about. The

Ethics Commission must act now to restore

the credibility of this government." @

Ninth Circuit Hears

Oral Argument on

Written "Drug Tests"

for Welfare Applicants

he ACLU-NC lawsuit, Hunsaker v.

[con of Contra Costa, challenging a

controversial "drug test" used to weed

out welfare applicants by labeling them

"chemically dependent" was heard by the

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on June 9.

On behalf of welfare recipients and

applicants in Contra Costa County, ACLU-

NC cooperating attorney David J. Berger of

the law firm Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and

Rosati, argued that the County's "SASSI"

test, (Substance Abuse Subtle Screening

Inventory) violates the Americans with

Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Due

Process clause of the 14th Amendment.

Contra Costa County's use of the test

was first challenged in 1995 by the ACLU-

NC and the Disability Rights Education and

Defense Fund, Inc.(DREDF) working with

cooperating attorneys at Palo Alto's Wilson,

Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosati (WSGR). In

August 1997, U.S. District Court Judge

Maxine M. Chesney ruled that the test vio-

lated the ADA and prohibited the County

from continuing to use the test. The

County appealed to the Ninth Circuit.

The test, which the County began using

about six years ago, asks 62 true/false ques-

tions such as "I believe everything is turn-

ing out just the way the Bible said it

would.", "Most people would lie to get what

they want.", Sometimes I have a hard time

sitting still.", "Some crooks are so clever

that I hope they get away with what they ve

done." and "Pornography and obscenity

have become serious problems and must be

curbed.". Twelve additional questions ask

about alcohol and drug related experiences

in the past year. The test is then scored as

*CD" (chemically dependent) or "non-CD'.

ACD score requires the General Assistance

applicant to be further evaluated, and may

lead to enrollment in a mandatory drug

treatment program as a condition for con-

tinuing to receive County welfare.

A joint study by the County and the

plaintiffs showed that SASSI incorrectly

labeled 44% of those who took the test as

chemically dependent yet missed half of the

truly chemically dependent. It also incor-

rectly identified many recovered and reha- |

bilitated drug and alcohol users as currently |

dependent.

"The County was removing people from |

| General Assistance based on a test not |

much more accurate than a coin toss," said |

Berger. "It wasn't serving any interest in |

getting the right people into treatment,

while at the same time it was forcing non- |

| chemically dependent people into extreme-

ly burdensome treatment programs."

In 1966, the County agreed to stop using |

the test pending the outcome of the lawsuit. |

Until that time, the County required thou-

sands of GA applicants scored as "chemical-

ly dependent" or "at risk" of dependency to

go through a six-month treatment program

that was so onerous, most were unable to

finish.

In addition to Berger, the plaintiffs were

represented by Brad Seligman from DREDF,

ACLU-NC staff attorney Ed Chen and WSGR

attorneys Millicent Meroney, Marthe

LaRosiliere, and Dorothy Fernandez.

Homeless People

Sue San Francisco

for Property

Rights Violations

n June 17, ten homeless individuals

Oi small claims actions against

the City of San Francisco for prop-

erty rights violations that occurred during

last year's sweeps of Golden Gate Park.

The Coalition on Homelessness and the

ACLU had previously advised the City that

it was illegal to summarily destroy home-

less people's property. A hearing on the

claims has been set for July 80.

In November 1997, Mayor Willie Brown

ordered a crackdown on homeless people

staying in and around Golden Gate Park. A

key component of these sweeps was the

systematic and unlawful seizure and

destruction of homeless people's property.

Since that time, City workers have regular-

ly seized and destroyed homeless people's

personal property both in the parks and in

other public areas of the City. The City has

confiscated and destroyed personal prop-

erty, including life necessities such as

medication, clothing and blankets, as well

as irreplaceable sentimental items such as

family photos.

"It's as if the City believes homeless

people have no property rights," says Judy

Appel, staff attorney for the Coalition on

Homelessness. "The City's actions evince a

rejection of the constitutionally-enshrined

idea that every person, regardless of her

wealth, should not be deprived of her prop-

erty without due process of law."

The claims allege state and federal

constitutional violations, and negligence,

conversion, trespass and intentional

infliction of emotional distress causes of

action.

"A policy that allows the City to seize

and destroy the property of homeless peo-

ple not only violates their constitutional

rights, but punishes people simply for

being poor," said ACLU-NC Executive

Director Dorothy Ehrlich. "We oppose the

City's policy of sweeping homeless people

and their property out of sight."

The Coalition, the ACLU and others

have suggested a policy that would better

protect homeless people's property rights,

providing for 24-hour notice prior to seiz-

ing unattended property and other due

process safeguards. The City has refused to

incorporate pre-confiscation notice and

some of the important safeguards in its offi-

cial policies.

Continued on page 6

ACLU Helps Defeat

Official English Law

in Arizona ~

By MariA ARCHULETA

rizona's Official English

Amendment, Article 28, violates the

irst Amendment and unduly

obstructs non-English speakers access to

government, ruled the Arizona Supreme

Court in Ruiz v. Symington on April 28.

Article 28, passed by Arizona voters in

1988, declared English to be Arizona's offi-

cial language and required all state agen-

cies to "act in English and in no other

language." Article 28 also banned the

enforcement of any law or policy that

required the use of any language other

than English.

The ACLU-NC along with the National

ACLU, and the law firms Dominguez and

Associates, and Hanson, Birdgett, Marcus,

Vlahos and Rudy filed an amicus brief in the

case.

"We're pleased with the decision," said

ACLU-NC staff attorney Ed Chen. "The

Court recognized that English-only laws

are discriminatory and lock language

minorities out of the political process."

The ruling was the second to find the

state's official English Amendment uncon-

stitutional. In October 1996, the Ninth

Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the

amendment in a parallel case, Yniguee v.

Arizonans for Official English, a lawsuit in

which the ACLU-NC aided the lead counsel

in strengthening their legal arguments.

The plaintiffs in Fuze included elected

officials, public employees and a private citi-

zen who routinely use Spanish to discuss

matters of public concern with their cowork-

ers, colleagues, and constituents during the

performance of governmental business.

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that

Article 28 violated the First Amendment

because it made providing government

information and services to non-English

speakers nearly impossible. The Court also

found that the official English Amendment

violates the Equal Protection Clause of the

Fourteenth Amendment because it had a

disproportionately negative effect on lan-

guage minorities.

In June 1996, the Arizona Court of

Appeal found Article 28 unconstitutional,

overturning the Superior Court's 1994 dis-

missal of the Ruiz case. The defendants

appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court

which stayed any legal action on Fuze until

after the U.S. Supreme ruled on Yniguee.

In March 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court

found the Yniguez case to be moot, because

the plaintiff was no longer employed by the

state of Arizona.

The ACLU-NC needs volunteers with library experience

to help maintain our research

collection of news clippings,

publications and other materials.

For more information call Public Information Director Elaine Elinson at 415/621-2493.

Employee Test...

Continued from page |!

test had a chilling effect even on those

. applicants who gave theoretically `right'

answers," Foy said.

"The test was apparently adopted as a

marketing tool by Burns, whose executives

never really examined whether the test

would be either effective or legal,"

explained attorney Brad Seligman. "This

case illustrates the high price a company

may pay for unthinkingly subjecting job

applicants to a test that discriminates or

needlessly invades their privacy."

Lead plaintiff Mel Thompson, an

experienced security guard who applied

for an unarmed guard position in San

Francisco, had been told he was an excel-

lent prospect for hire until he took the

test. For questions that probed his politi- ~

cal beliefs, rather than answering Yes or

No, Thompson wrote a question mark on

the test. Following the test, he was not

hired by the company.

"T always thought that the difference

between a totalitarian society and a free

one, would be that workers have a right to

their political beliefs," Thompson said.

"It's a dangerous precedent when the free

exercise of one's conscience rules one out

of employment opportunities."

ACLU News #8 Jury-Aucust 1998 = Pace 3

The lawsuit, a class action on behalf of

all applicants and potential applicants for

employment with Burns in California,

charged that the company's use of the test

violated California Labor Code Sections

1101-1102, which prohibit employers from

discriminating against employees and

applicants based on their political atti-

tudes, activities and affiliations. The law-

suit also charged that the use of the test

was an unlawful business practice under

the Business and Professions Code Section

17200.

"It is crucial that employers be pre-

vented from dictating the political beliefs

of their employees," said ACLU-NC staff

attorney Ed Chen. "The effect of this test

was to discriminate against people who

held liberal views on issues such as work-

ers' rights and drug _ legalization.

Fortunately, California labor laws prohibit

employers from discriminating on the

basis of political views and activities."

The suit is one of the largest cases con-

cerning employees' political activity in

California. Its outcome will have a broad

impact on the nature of employment test-

ing throughout the state. Plaintiffs are

represented by ACLU-NC staff attorney Ed

Chen and cooperating attorneys Brad

Seligman, and Laurence Pulgram and

Linda Foy of Howard, Rice, Nemerovski,

Canady, Falk and Rabkin. @

A N A CEU NC

ROUNDTABLE

Two years after the passage of Proposition 209, one

year after President Clinton launched his lackluster

Dialogue on Race, and in a year in which one in four

young African American men in the United States are

trapped in the criminal justice system, the ACLU-NC

sponsored a groundbreaking Roundtable on Race and

the Criminal Justice System.

he meeting was organized by ACLU-

ik staff attorney Kelli Evans and

brought together thirty advocates

from groups such as the Institute on Race

and Poverty, the Sentencing Project, the

Justice Policy Project and the Environ-

mental Defense Fund, as well as law pro-

fessors, criminal defense and con-

stitutional lawyers, public defenders and

self-described "recovering prosecutors."

The meeting was supported by a generous

grant from the Center on Crime,

Communities and Culture of the Open

Society Institute.

Evans opened the Roundtable by

recalling that, "despite being well-educat-

ed about racial disparities in the criminal

justice system, I was still astonished the

first time | visited the San Francisco Jail

and saw that virtually all the faces behind

the bars were black or brown."

That experience was relentlessly

repeated for Evans as she worked as a pub-

Professor David Baldus, University

of Iowa Law School, author of the

groundbreaking McCleskey study

on race and the death penalty.

Death penalty defense lawyer Bryan Stevenson of the Equal

Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama (r. to Ll.) with Mark

Mauer of the Sentencing Project in Washington, D.C. and

James O'Sullivan with the Center on Crime, Communities and

Culture of the Open Society Institute.

lic defender in California's juvenile justice

system. "Unfortunately, racial disparities

of enormous proportions continue at virtu-

ROUNDTABLE ally every level of juvenile and adult crimi-

PHOTOS BY nal justice systems across the nation,"

Unron Marp Evans said. "It goes without saying that

ACLU News =a Juty-Aucust 1998 = Pace 4

| Reagan-Bush `get-tough-on crime' crusade

This remarkable conversation took place on May 29

and 30 in San Francisco. It brought to the table a

diverse group of lawyers, social scientists and scholars

in an effort to examine the deeply-seated and troubling

problems of a justice system which criminalizes a stag-

gering and unconscionable number of young men of

color.

these disparities con-

tribute to even greater

disenfranchisement of

many communities of

color.

"In the context of -

the criminal justice

system, with its many

layers and multiple

decision makers, pro-

ving discrimination

continues to be an -

extremely difficult, if

not impossible, task

- but there is a role

for litigation that is

very important for

fighting racism in the

criminal justice sys-

ACLU-NC Executive Director Dorothy Ehrlich (1. to r.) with

ACLU-NC Police Practices Project Director John Crew and

Vincent Schiraldi, Director of the Justice Policy Institute in

tem. By being here, Washington, D.C.

we are making a com-

mitment to one anoth-

er to address this crisis," Evans said.

The two-day discussion examined the

growing racial disparities at every point in

the adult and juvenile criminal justice sys-

tems - from the moment of police stops

all the way through sentencing and incar-

ceration. "The entire burden of the

was borne by African American youth,"

charged former national ACLU Legal

Former National ACLU Legal Director

john powell, Director of the Institute on

Race and Poverty at the University of

Minnesota.

Director john powell,

now the Director of the

Institute on Race and

Poverty at the University

of Minnesota Law

School.

His statement was

underscored by a presen-

tation from Mark Mauer

of the Sentencing

Project. "The numbers

are clear, striking and

dramatic," he said, the

peaked lines and long

bars of his charts graphi-

cally depicting the dis-

parity of African

Americans being stopped

by police, detained, sen-

tenced and imprisoned

in far greater numbers

than their white counter-

parts. "The criminal justice system has

become an instrument of social policy. The

criminal justice control rates, combined

with the potential impact of current social

David Rudovsky, who successfully chal-

lenged the racially motivated police stops of

motorists in Pennsylvania, heard echoes of

Robert Garcia (7) of the Environmental Defense Fund in Los

Angeles with national ACLU Board member David Rudovsky

who successfully sued police agencies for their racially moti-

vated stops of motorists on the I-95.

Participants who had litigated race-

based challenges in situations such as

death penalty jury selection, disparate

sentencing for cocaine/ crack offenses and

police abuse spoke of how difficult it

that U.S. Supreme Court decision when a

police officer told his client that her car was

ACLU-NC Vice Chair Margaret Russell, a constitutional law

professor at Santa Clara University and David Sklansky, of

UCLA Law School, author of Cocaine, Race and Equal

Protection.

and elusive problems of prosecutorial dis-

cretion and unconscious racism.

Death penalty attorney Bryan Stevenson,

Director of the Equal Justice

Initiative in Alabama, called for

"dynamic litigation," which has

as its goal the changing of the

larger political reality, working

with disenfranchised commu-

nities through education and

organizing work. "We cannot

underestimate the psychic

harm of living in a society

where the criminal justice sys-

tem is most brutal to people of

color."

Though the statistics were

grim, and the depth of the

problem almost immeasur-

able, the roundtable partici-

pants were encouraged by

each other's experiences and

commitment to working on

this issue. As Georgetown

University Law Professor

Charles Lawrence explained, "When the

United States Supreme Court basically

is move to the criminal justice system

when the argument is race. As Impact

Fund Executive Director Brad

Seligman noted, "In McCleskey, the

U.S. Supreme Court accepted as true

that the race of the victim and the

defendant make a difference in the

outcome of a capital trial, but added

that changing a death sentence

because of it would upset the whole

apple cart of the American judicial sys-

tem. The justices declined to do so."

ACLU-NC Managing Attorney Alan Schlosser with

Michelle Alexander, newly-appointed Director of the

ACLU-NC Racial Justice Project.

and criminal justice policies, attest to the

gravity of the crisis facing the African

American community."

The War on Drugs was cited as one of the

most dangerous ways that the criminal jus-

tice system is used to deal with social prob-

lems. "Although we know that prevention

and treatment are more effective in dealing

with the drug problem, we still build more

prisons," noted Barry Krisberg of the

National Center on Crime and Delinquency.

In 1980, one out of 15 people were in prison

for a drug offense; today that number has

risen to one out of four.

Professor Angela J. Davis of the American University

Law School in Washington, D.C. (1.) with investigator

Nancy Pemberton, former Chair of the ACLU-NC.

stopped "because you're young, you're black

and driving a fancy car."

ACLU-NC staff attorney Ed Chen

said that in California young people

of color are targeted by the police as

gang members even if they have nev-

er been arrested. "The state's law

enforcement gang database criminal-

izes young people based on their race,

their style of dress, or who they hang

around with. Forty-seven percent of

the young black men in Los Angeles

are in this database

and 44% of those

have never been

arrested.

"There is no con-

trol over this informa-

tion, no supervision

over this data base

which includes a

quarter of a million

names," Chen warned.

Experts with

backgrounds in sta-

tistics, criminal defense

and constitutional law

shared their experiences

and ideas in sessions on

Title VI of the U.S. Civil

Rights Act, racially moti-

vated pedestrian and auto

stops, questions of evi-

dence, and the complex

Professor Charles Lawrence of Georgetown

University Law Center, co-author of "We Won't

Go Back: Making the Case for Affirmative

Action."

says `If you're black, you lose,' without giv-

ing any arguments that anyone would buy,

we need to look for new ways to respond.

"Racism is like a disease, which we

must get rid of because it is hurting all of

us," Lawrence concluded.

The Roundtable participants plan to

build a network to further this exchange of

ideas and to prepare for future litigation. m

pound

re a Ae he US LE eo Le

_ Bittersweet Victory For Interned Japanese

Latin Americans

66 [ine is truly a bittersweet settle-

ment," said Grace Shimizu of the

Campaign for Justice, whose

father was among the kidnapped Japanese

Latin Americans.

that Japanese Latin Americans will not be

compensated."

Shimizu spoke at a June 12 news confer-

ence to announce the settlement of a federal

class action lawsuit, Mochizuki v. U.S. The

suit was filed by the ACLU of Southern

California on behalf on 2,264 Japanese Latin

Americans who were kidnapped and

interned by the United States government to

be used as hostages in return for Americans

located in Japan during World War II.

The settlement includes a presidential

apology and $5,000 reparation payment to

survivors. Assistant Attorney General for

Civil Rights Bill Lann Lee, who also spoke

at the press conference, acknowledged that

the settlement was a "compromise"

because it compensates Japanese Latin

Americans only one quarter of the amount

given to Japanese Americans and because

it fails to guarantee payment. Payment to

Japanese Latin Americans will be dis-

bursed from whatever amount is left

unclaimed in the 1988 Civil Liberties Act

fund after the fund satisfies remaining eli-

gible claims from Japanese Americans.

Former internee Art Shibayama spoke

"There is a possibility (c)

with a quivering voice as he recounted memo-

ries of being stripped of clothing and sprayed

with insecticide upon arrivalinthe U.S.

Internees have only until August 10,

1998 to apply for redress under the Civil

Liberties Act, and claims must be received

by the Office of Redress Administration no

_ later than September 1998. "Our job is not

over," declared Lee. "We must work to find

everyone who is eligible for redress."

Former internee Art SHbagania (1), joined by ACLU- SC attorney FB

EDDIE JEN

Is of h. w

he was forcefully taken from Peru and held in an internment camp during World War IT.

Lawyers Council Fund Kick-Off

Features Kaczynski Defense Team

of the Lawyers Council and the kick-off

of its 1998 fundraising campaign, the

ACLU-NC held a luncheon for the Steering

Committee at San Franciso's Boulevard

Restaurant featuring a presentation by

Quin Denvir and Gary Sowards, defense

attorneys for Theodore Kaczynski.

"Since being established in 1988, the

Lawyers Council has strengthened our

support within the northern California

legal community allowing the ACLU to be

at the forefront of significant civil liber-

ties issues," said Susan Harriman of

Keker and Van Nest. Harriman co-chairs

the Council with Lenard G. Weiss of

Steefel, Levitt and Weiss.

ACLU-NC Executive Director Dorothy

|: celebration of the tenth anniversary

Ehrlich told the Council members that

"during these tough years for the ACLU -

the El Nifio season for civil liberties - the

reason we can respond so rapidly and so

well to threats to affirmative action, immi-

grant rights and reproductive freedom is

because of the extraordinary dedication of

the legal community."

Through individual and corporate

contributions, the Lawyers Council pro-

vides major financial support to the

ACLU-NC Foundation. Currently there are

388 members of the Steering Committee

and more than 250 lawyers who are mem-

bers of the Council. ACLU-NC Board

Chair Dick Grosboll introduced four

lawyers who have been members of the

Council Steering Committee for the past

Four veterans of the Lawyers Council Steering Committee (I. to r.) Karl Olson and

Michael Ram, both of Levy, Ram and Olson, Co-chair Susan Harriman of Keker and Van

Nest, and Charles Freiberg of Heller, Ehrman, White and McAuliffe have all served for ten

years.

ACLU News = Jury-Aucust 1998 = Pace 6

ten years: Harriman; Charles Freiberg of

Heller, Ehrman, White and McAuliffe; and

Karl Olson and Michael Ram, both of Levy,

Ram and Olson.

Quin Denvir, Federal Public Defender

of the Eastern District, and Gary Sowards,

a criminal defense attorney with

Sternberg, Sowards and Lawrence, spoke of

the challenges presented by the highly-

publicized Unabomber case when the

local prosecutors, the Attorney General of

the United States and even President Bill

Clinton were intent on seeking the death

penalty.

For information on claims in Japanese:

Ayako Hagihara (310) 344-1893

For information on claims in Spanish or

English:

Robin Toma (213) 974-7640.

Homeless...

Continued from page 3

"I did not have an indoor place to

sleep and the city had destroyed all of my

warm clothes and sleeping bag," says

James G., one of the claimants. "It was

especially bad because this was the rainy

El Nifio period." James G., who had left

his property momentarily to get some

food at St. Anthony's, was told by police

officers upon his return that city workers

had thrown all of his property into the

trash truck and crushed it. James G. was

particularly worried about his feet, which

have metal pins in them and need to be

kept warm. When he asked to retrieve his

socks, boots, and tennis shoes from the

trash compactor, the officer refused his

request.

James B. is HIV positive, and the med-

ications vital to his well-being were

among his property seized by city work-

ers. Despite the urgency of locating

James B.'s property for medical reasons,

which he explained to a Recreation and

Park employee, he was not allowed to look

for them in the abandoned property stor-

age container. All of James B.'s posses-

sions, except for a pouch found near the

bottom of a dumpster, are still missing.

Among them are necessities such as warm

clothing, a sleeping bag, and rain gear. "I

developed a severe cold due to the loss of

my belongings which protect me from the

weather," James B. says. He was admitted

to the emergency room of the Veterans

Hospital on March 28, 1998.

Paul F. was fortunate enough to have

a friend watch out for his property while

he was gone. However, when his friend

told city workers not to take Paul's prop-

erty, a police officer told him that he-

would "go to jail if he tried to butt in."

"The city workers stole my brand-new

sleeping bag that I had not even slept in

yet," says Paul F. "I was afraid that if I fell

asleep, I would not have woken up

because it was so cold."

San Francisco

Honors ACLU-NC for

Defense of Domestic

Partners Law

BY MARIA ARCHULETA

he City of San Francisco officially

UY Mas the ACLU-NC for defending

the city's "Equal Benefits Ordinance,"

which requires companies that the city does

business with to provide the same benefits

to unmarried domestic partners that they

provide to married couples.

In a June 1 resolution, the Board of

Supervisors commended "the extraordinary

efforts" of the ACLU-NC and other members

of the City's legal team in "defending the

Equal Benefits Ordinance."

The controversial law, passed in

November, 1996, was widely viewed by gay

rights advocates as a major step forward in

the effort to get fair treatment for lesbian

and gay employees.

Challenging its obligation to follow the

ordinance, the American Transport

Association filed suit in May 1997 against

the City on behalf of major airlines.

The ACLU-NC filed an amicus brief

supporting the ordinance along with the

Lambda Legal Defense Fund and the

National Center for Lesbian Rights.

On April 10, 1998, U.S. District Court

Judge Claudia Wilken largely upheld the

Equal Benefits Ordinance, although she

ruled that portions of it could not be

applied to the airlines because of the

unique nature of their businesses. Hf

Sacramento Report...

Continued from page 2

rying the text of the initiative was intro-

duced in each house [SCA 17 by Senator

Tim Leslie, R-Tahoe City and ACA 38

Assembly Member Bill Leonard, R-

Upland]. The Senate Judiciary

Committee killed the bill after hearing

from ACLU-NC staff attorney Margaret

Crosby and her opponent, Attorney

General Dan Lungren.

The coalition of women's organizations

working on reproductive freedom were

also able to defeat other "oldies" such as

imposing felony penalties on women for

fetal vehicular manslaughter if her fetus

dies in an accident and criminalizing cer-

tain late-term abortion procedures.

CYBER-LIBERTIES

Numerous Internet-related bills have

been introduced, including bills to censor

access to the Internet. The most troubling

is AB 2350 by Assembly Member Peter

Frusetta (R-Tres Pinos) requiring public

libraries to install software programs that

prohibit access to obscenity.

Internet blocking

search warrant has been issued.

EXPANDING THE DEATH PENALTY

No election year would be complete

without efforts to expand the use of the

death penalty. The ACLU is urging sup-

porters to send letters opposing SB 1799

and SB 1878 to Speaker Antonio

Villaraigosa opposing the measures and

asking that the bills be stopped.

SB 1799, carried by Senator Charles

Calderon (D-Los Angeles), adds to the list

of "special circumstances' for which a per-

son can be executed, the intentional

killing of a someone under 14. SB 1878 by

Senator Quentin Kopp (I-San Francisco)

would permit the death penalty where the

defendant kidnaps or commits arson with

the intent to kill the victim.

THE Goop NEws:

DATA COLLECTION ON

PROPOSITION 209

To gauge the effect of Proposition 209's

ending of affirmative action, and to deter-

mine the extent to which barriers to

women and minorities

remain, monitoring

software unconstitu-

tionally abridges First

Amendment rights by

restricting access by

adults and minors to

The Governor's

Juvenile Crime

information is obvi-

ously crucial.

The ACLU was

instrumental in insert-

valuable protected : ing language into the

speech while leaving P revention Act Senate version of the

oer mural ume has neither dn: fe

ee sex, AIDS, _ ounce of a

and lesbian issues an ata on ethnicity an

6cent 0x00B0

women's rights have prevention gender of small busi-

been blocked by these . d ness bidders in public

imperfect devices. nora smi gen contract and procure-

Strong opposition by the ment. This effort

ACLU and_ librarians of qa cure. comes in response to

have stalled AB 2350 in

the Assembly.

BIOMETRICS: PRIVACY AND IDENTITY

To prevent "identity theft," banks,

department and grocery stores, and other

businesses are moving toward the use of

"biometrics." Scanners will take measure-

ments from the iris of your eye, your voice,

or fingerprints and compare those to the

prints you've previously given the business.

The two bills setting out the parameters

for gathering and use of biometric data by

private entities are: AB 50, sponsored by

the unusual alliance between the

California Bankers Association and the

Center for Law in the Public Interest, is

carried by Assembly Member Kevin Murray

(D-Los Angeles) and SB 1622, a stricter

proposal with more significant penalties

imposed for violations carried by Senator

Steve Peace (D-San Diego).

No one questions the need to protect

people from other individuals using their

identity to obtain goods and services; how-

ever, the ACLU advocates less intrusive

means of insuring identity (i.e., the use of a

magnetized card combined with a personal

identification number (PIN) ). We have also

raised serious privacy concerns, including

the need to protect against theft of data

from these private data banks; access by

government officials to the data; and the

need to prohibit private businesses from

gathering DNA or using the information for

anything other than identity purposes.

SEARCHES AND SCANNING DEVICES

AB 533 by Assembly Member Wally

Knox (D-Los Angeles) allows law enforce-

ment to use weapons scanning devices that

can "see through" clothing and even build-

ings and can be used up to 90 feet away

without the individual knowing that she is

being searched. With the expert assis-

tance of Professor David Harris, University

of Toledo, School of Law, the ACLU is work-

ing to ensure that the devices may only be

used when there is a "reasonable suspi-

cion" based on articulable facts that the

person is armed and dangerous, or where a

Governor Wilson's re-

cent Executive Order

eliminating the monitoring of the num-

bers of minorities and women receiving

the State's contracting business.

We will lobby to maintain this provision

in the final version of the Budget.

INTERROGATION OF STUDENTS ON

CAMPUS

Assembly Member Kerry Mazzoni (D-

Novato) agreed to carry AB 2501 that will

require a parent or guardian to be present

when the police question an elementary

school student on campus. Secondary

school students have the option of asking

for either a parent or a member of the

~- school staff to be present.

An unusual coalition supports this

measure including the Pacific Justice

Institute, the Capitol Resource Institute,

the National Center for Youth Law, the

California Teachers' Association, and the

Junior State of America. These organiza-

tions support this bill to involve parents in

the discipline of their children.

ACLU-NC staff attorney Ann Brick, an

experienced advocate for student rights,

worked to ensure that AB 2501 had the

votes necessary to move out of the Assembly

Education Committee and onto the

Assembly Floor where it got widespread bi-

partisan support: 49 of 80 possible votes.

Unfortunately, law enforcement organiza-

tions have come out opposing this unique

opportunity to involve parents, despite an

exception in the bill to allow for questioning

without parental notification in circum-

stances where waiting for parental consent

would materially interfere with the officer's

ability to conduct an investigation.

The ACLU is encouraging members

and supporters to write letters to their

Senators and the Governor supporting

this measure. and

More information on all of these bills ts

available on the California Senate website,

WWW.SEN.CO.gOv; information on how to

lobby your legislators can be found on the

ACLU-NC website at www.aclunc.org.

Name

Address

Telephone

e-mail

September 18-20, 1998

Asilomar, Monterey

Beating Back the Censors:

The Electronic Attack on the First Amendment

Economic Justice:

Civil Liberties and the Poor

Taking the Initiative:

Is the Initiative Process a Good Idea Gone Bad?

A Report Back: Tribal Sovereignty Unplugged:

Students Explore the Native American Experience

Racial Justice Project

The Fight is in the Courts:

Overview of the ACLU-NC Legal Docket

The Assault on Public Education:

Vouchers, Abstinence and Prayer

An ACLU Activist Institute:

Organizing for Justice...

Languagephobia:

Language Rights Are Civil Rights

and Morel

Civil Liberties Film Festival

Stand Up Comedy by Aundre the Wonderwoman

ACLU Beach Party

The ACLU of Northern California Board Meeting

will be held on Saturday, September 19.

Asilomar Housing Rates and Information

FOR ACCOMMODATION AND MEALS, YOU MUST REGISTER

SEPARATELY WITH ASILOMAR CONFERENCE CENTER.

We will send you the Asilomar Housing Registration form when we

receive your Conference Registration or you may contact them

directly by FAX at: 408/372-7227, by mail at: Asilomar Conference

Center, PO Box 537, Pacific Grove, CA 93950.

You may also download the Asilomar Housing Registration form by

going to the ACLU-NC website at www.aclunc.org.

Full Time Participation ONLY

Rates are for 2 nights and include all meals beginning with dinner

on the first day and ending with lunch on the last day. _

Check-in-3pm Check-out 12 noon

Rates are per person and include housing, tax and meals for com-

plete conference.

Single room (Limited): $256

Double Room (Per Person): $162

Youth (Age 3-17): $98

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION OnLY-Do Not SEND AccomopaATION REGISTRATION TO ACLU!

YES!!! Sign me up for the 1998 ACLU-Northern California Activist

Conference at Asilomar, Monterey. $25

Wheelchair accessible

For ASL interpreters or other reasonable accomodation, please contact Lisa

Maldonado at 415-621-2493 no later than August 31.

Please Make your check payable to ACLU-NC,

1663 Mission Street, Suite 460, San Francisco, Ca 94103.

ACLU News # Jury-Avucust 1998 = Pace 7

Death Penalty Foe

Mike Farrell at S.F.

Chapter Meeting

GrorGE T. KRUSE

Death Penalty Focus President Mike Farrell (center-left) with San Francisco

Chapter activists Jeannie Maher, Philip Mehas and Roberta Speikerman (1. to r.).

66 TN death penalty is not a fringe

issue. It's not about Left or

Right, Republican or Democrat.

It's about what kind of country America is

- and what kind of country it wants to be."

Mike Farrell, President of Death

Penalty Focus and Advisory Board Member

of the National Coalition to Abolish the

Death Penalty, spoke to an appreciative

audience about the difficulties - and the

value - of organizing against capital pun-

ishment. The actor and former star of

M*A*S*H was the keynote speaker at the

Annual Meeting of the San Francisco

Chapter on May 28.

More than 100 members and support-

ers of the ACLU attended the event at the

First Unitarian Church, which also includ-

ed a reception, student art exhibit and a

fundraising auction of an original Ansel

Adams photograph. Chapter Chair and

event organizer Jeannie Maher opened the

meeting with a spirited call to action for

San Francisco activists and introduced the

| keynote speaker.

Farrell, who is also the Co-chair of |

Human Rights Watch, California, drew

lessons from his experiences in Bosnia,

Rwanda and America's Death Rows. "We do

not want a nation that claims to believe in

equal justice for all yet applies a double

standard when it comes to the impover-

ished and people of color; a nation which

presents itself as the standard bearer of

human rights yet is one of only two that has

not ratified the Convention on the Rights of

the Child; and nation that claims to cherish

its children, yet joins Iran, Saudi Arabia,

Nigeria and Afghanistan in executing

them," Farrell said. @

Bring

Ciwil

PNR Me med

Shasta Room

LUNCH PROVIDED

Liberties

Valley!

COME TO OUR FIRST REORGANIZING MEETING!

Saturday, July 25

at the Holiday Inn, Chico

685 Manzanita Court(WHERE MANGROVE MEETS COHASSET)

Meeting starts at 11:00 AM

rsvp: Steven Post-Jeys 530-345-1449 or Lisa Maldonado 415-621-2006 ext 46

For more information, please contact

Lisa Maldonado at (415) 621-2493, extension 46.

eS TELE

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-Ken-

sington) Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth

Thursday) For more information, time and address of

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

Rachel Richman at 510/540-5507.

Fresno Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth Tuesday).

Please join our newly-teorganized Chapter! Meetings are

held at 7:00 PM at the Fresno Center for Non-Violence. For

more information, call Bob Hirth 209/225-6223 (days).

Marin County Chapter Meeting: (Usually third

Monday) Meet at 7:30 p.m. at the Corte Madera Town

Center, Community Meeting Room. For more information,

contact Kerry Peirson at 415/383-3989.

Mid-Peninsula Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth

Thursday) Meet at 7:30 PM, at 460 South California

LR REE

Avenue, Suite 11, Palo Alto. . For more information, con-

tact Ken Russell at 650/325-8750.

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.

Check-out our web page at: http://members.col.com/

mpenaclu. For more information, contact Marc Fagel at

650/579-1789.

Redwood (Humboldt County) Chapter

Meeting: (Usually third Thursday) Meet at Chan's at

359 Street in Arcata at 7:00 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

ACLU News a= Jury-Aucust 1998 = Pace 8S

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

Sacramento. For more information, contact David Miller

at 916/991-5415.

San Francisco Chapter Meeting: (Third Tuesday)

Meet at 6:45 PM at the ACLU-NC Office, 1663 Mission

Street, Suite #460, San Francisco. Call the Chapter Hotline

at (979-6699) for further details.

Santa Clara Valley Chapter Meeting: (Usually

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

Towers, 1st Floor Conference Room, 111 West St. John

Street, San Jose. For further information contact Jon Cox

at 408/293-2584 or Elizabeth Zimmerman at

408/246-2129.

Santa Cruz County Chapter Meeting: (Usually

third Monday) Meet at 7:15 PM. For more informa-

fion, contact Dianne Vaillancourt at 408/454-0112.

Sonoma County Chapter Meeting: (Usually third

Tuesday) Meet at 7:30 PM at the Peace and Justice Center,

540 Pacific Avenue, Santa Rosa. Call Judith Volkart at

707/526-2893 for more information.

Te

TOE

Yolo County Chapter Meeting: (Usually third

Tuesday) Meet at 7:30 PM, 2505 5th Street 154, Davis.

For more information, call Natalie Wormeli at 916/756-

1900 or Dick Livingston at 916/753-7255.

Chapters Reorganizing

If you are interested in reviving the Mt. Diablo or

North Valley Chapter, please contact Field

Representative Lisa Maldonado at 415/621-2493.

Field Action Meetings

(All meetings except those noted will be held at the ACLU-

NC Office, 1663 Mission Street, 460, San Francisco.)

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 af 415/621-2006 ext. 37.