vol. 63, no. 3

Wotume LXIll

ay Marshall, the first African

American President of the State Bar

of California tells the story about

being stopped for "Driving While Black."

"One night, my wife and I were coming

home late from the movies. We lived at the

time in the Oakland hills. A police car fol-

lowed us up Redwood Road, and when we

turned into our driveway, he followed us

into our drive port and ordered us to stay

in our car. The officer then approached us

in our garage, asked us if we lived in our

house. My wife, who is also a graduate of

Harvard Law School, and | were stunned.

Where did he think I had put the owner -

in the glove compartment?

"The officer demanded our ID and veri-

fication of our residence. Imagine, in our

own house, own property, in our own

garage! He never gave us any reason for the

stop. Once he verified who I was, he just

left, giving no explanation for what had

happened," Marshall said.

Pastor Francisco Duarte, a minister to

Presbyterian congregations in Corcoran

and Fresno, has similar stories to tell.

"Many people in my congregations, includ-

ing my two sons, have been stopped simply

because they are Latino. When one of my

sons was stopped, he showed the officer his

college ID. The officer said to him, `Is this

real or is this fake?' He treated my son with

no respect," said Pastor Duarte, visibly

angry as he repeated his son's humiliating

experience. "These kinds of stops happen

in the Central Valley all the time."

Attorney Marshall and Pastor Duarte

told their experiences to a packed press

conference at the ACLU-NC office on April

14. The press conference was called to

announce the ACLU statewide campaign to

publicize its "Driving While Black or

Brown" hotline and to mobilize support for

SB 78, legislation that would track race-

based stops by California's law enforce-

ment officers.

Since the hotline's initiation in last

October, nearly 1400 persons have called to

report their stories of race-based police

traffic stops. The ACLU-NC will compile

_ Tickets to the event ;

benefit the ACLU FrontLine Campaign. For tick-

NEWSPAPER OF THE AMERICAN euroiviL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTHERN GALIFORNIA

aclu news

May-June 1999

Michelle Alexander, ACLU-NC Racial Justice Project Director, flanked by California

Ad Campaign Promotes "DWB" Hotline

MORE THAN |I,400 CALL TO REPORT RACE-BASED STOPS

State Bar President Ray Marshall (left) and teacher Milton Reynolds at the press confer-

ence launching the 1-877-DWB-STOP hotline campaign. Behind them is a copy of the

ACLU billboard that is up in 32 Bay Area locations.

these experiences to support SB 78 and to

educate the public about racial profiling in

routine traffic stops. The hotline number is

1-877-DWB-STOP (1-877-392-7867). The

Spanish language hotline is 1-877-Paralos

(1-877-727-2567).

"We want to put a stop to racist police

practices in our neighborhoods and on

our freeways," said Michelle Alexander,

Director of the ACLU-NC's Racial Justice

Project. "Almost every African American

and Latino has a story to tell, either their

own or a friend's, about being inexplica-

bly stopped and detained by the police for

no other reason than `Driving While

Black or Brown.' We will use the stories

we collect to make their voices heard in

the Capitol to pass SB 78 and to make

known to the public just how widespread

this problem truly is. Left unchallenged,

the problem of DWB stops creates resent-

ment and distrust of law enforcement in

communities of color."

State Bar President Marshall added,

"In my experience, being stopped because

of one's race is all too frequent, regardless

of your age, status, or any other criteria."

San Carlos middle school teacher

Milton Reynolds was followed to his home

by a police officer who flashed the siren

lights on Reynolds in his driveway. "There |

was in my driveway, the officer ordered me

(ee ee he Te 50 Years

of ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Advocacy

4

_ The On the FrontLine award is given

| back into my car," said Reynolds, who also

| while he was checking on that information,

| me anymore.'

Non-Profit

Organization

US Postage

PAID

Permit No. 4424

San Francisco, CA

works as a consultant in CoAction, a diver-

sity and communications consulting com-

pany. "When I asked the reason for the

stop, he told me I had run a stop sign,

which was absolutely not the case. He then

asked for my license and registration and

his partner was sitting in his car stroking

his shotgun and looking at me and another

police car pulled up. I was very scared.

"It was almost surreal," said Reynolds.

"He's staring me down through his shades

like some kind of B-grade movie while

stroking the barrel of a shotgun. That was

essentially what put me over the edge. I

thought, `This is not going to happen to

"The officer issued the ticket, told me if

I had a problem with it, I could see him in

court. After that incident, police cars were

driving by my apartment, parking in front,

even shining spotlights into my apartment. I

worried that I was getting paranoid, but

then my neighbor asked what was going on,

and my fears was confirmed. In the end, the

charges were dropped, Reynolds added.

Continued on page 4

to an individual or an organization that

has done significant and sustained work

work within the larger advocacy context of

Continued on page 7

ets, or more information, please call the ACLU-

NC Development Department 415/621-2493.

Sponsored by PACHFIC (BELL.

Time to Overcome?

Civit RIGHTS BILLS INTRODUCED IN SACRAMENTO

BY FRANCISCO LOBACO AND

VALERIE SMALL NAVARRO

ACLU LEGISLATIVE OFFICE

fter 16 years of Republican reign,

Ast civil rights mea-

ures rose from the ashes once

again.

This year the ACLU is again co-spon-

soring, along with the California Civil

Rights Coalition and the Fair Employment

and Housing Commission, an omnibus leg-

islative proposal intended to strengthen

the civil rights protections afforded by the

Fair Employment and Housing Act

(FEHA), and other civil rights statutes.

The "California Civil Rights Amendments

of 1999," AB 1670, is authored by

Assemblymember Sheila Kuehl (D-

Santa Monica), and is similar to legisla-

tion vetoed by Governor Wilson last year.

AB 1670 includes numerous provi-

sions that protect the rights of workers.

The bill would extend the protections

against harassment at the workplace to

independent contractors; would require

employers to provide reasonable accom-

modation to pregnant employees; would

increase the amount of damages that can

be awarded through the administrative

process form $50,000 to $150,000; and

would prohibit genetic testing by employ-

ers. The measure also would clarify that

the current prohibitions against discrimi-

nation by agencies or entities receiving

state funds are enforceable through a civil

action for equitable relief.

RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS

In a separate proposal, the ACLU is

strongly supporting AB 1541 (Keeley-D,

Boulder Creek) which narrows the reli-

gious exemption under the Fair

Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).

AB 1541 was introduced in response to the

recent California Supreme Court decision

in McKeon v. Mercy Healthcare-

Paul Anderson

The California Civil Rights

Amendments of 1999 will expand the

rights of women and disabled

workers. The measure will extend

provisions against harassment at the

workplace and provide much-needed

protection to pregnant employees.

Sacramento which held that a religiously

incorporated hospital was exempt from

California's employment discrimination

laws. AB 1541 would provide that reli-

giously affiliated health facilities would no

longer be exempt from California's

employment discrimination laws unless

they restrict health services only to mem-

bers of the same religion. This is an effort

to bring California's employment discrimi-

nation statute closer in conformity to long-

standing federal laws.

DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS

Several bills attempt to make inroads in

extending domestic partnership protec-

tions to couples who cannot or are

unwilling to get married. SB 75

ACLU News = May-June 1999 = Pace 2

(Murray, D-Los Angeles) and AB 26

(Migden, D-San Francisco) create a

statewide domestic partnership registry

with the Secretary of State. The Murray

measure broadly provides hospital visita-

tion, conservatorship, and inheritance

rights for domestic partners. The Migden

measure targets hospital visitation rights

and requires health care insurance com-

panies to provide health care coverage

for domestic partners of employees or

other policyholders. Finally, AB 107

(Knox, D-Los Angeles) more narrowly

targets state and local government

employers allowing them to offer health

care coverage, through the Public

Employees' Medical and Hospital Care

Act, to the domestic partners of their

employees and annuitants.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION ANTI-

DISCRIMINATION

The quest for adding sexual orientation to

the prohibited grounds for discrimination

under the Fair Employment and Housing

Act (FEHA) began literally 20 years ago

with former Assemblymember Art Agnos.

This year, AB 1001 (Villaraigosa, D-Los

Angeles) moves the provision prohibiting

employment discrimination on the basis

of sexual orientation from the Labor Code

to the Civil Code (FEHA). The protections

currently afforded by the Labor Code are

less extensive than those afforded by the

Fair Employment and Housing Act. For

example, there is a 80-day time limit for fil-

ing instead of the one year under FEHA,

prevailing parties may not recover attor-

neys' fees, and all nonprofits are exempt

from the Labor Code, while only religious

nonprofits are exempt from the FEHA.

The Dignity for All Students Act, AB

222 (Kuehl, D-Los Angeles) extends the

protections against discrimination to sexu-

al orientation or perceived sexual orienta-

tion in the Education Code. These changes

would protect students and employees from

discrimination based upon their real or per-

ceived sexual orientation --- though reli-

gious schools are exempt. During the

campaign Governor Gray Davis indicated

he would sign the legislation protecting stu-

dents from discrimination.

All of these measures are expected to

come to a vote on the floors of their respec-

tive houses by the end of May. ACLU mem-

bers and friends should write or call their

state representatives to encourage "yes"

votes on the floor, especially people who

live in districts whose representatives are

"marginal" (i.e., a Democrat in a tradition-

ally Republican district or vice versa).

If you need more information on whom

to call or write, please contact Field

Representative Lisa Maldonado at

415/621-2493.

Workers File Language Discrimination

Claim Against Fresno Plant

n March 18, the Language Rights

O Project (a joint effort of the ACLU-

NC and the Employment Law

Center) filed sixteen charges of discrimi-

nation with the U.S. Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against

Nibco, Inc., an Indiana-based corporation

with a manufacturing plant located in

Fresno. The charges accuse Nibco of dis-

criminating against its foreign-born

employees by requiring them to pass

English-only examinations as a condition

of keeping their jobs at the plant, despite

the workers' successful job performance.

The plaintiffs in the case - sixteen for-

mer and current Latina and Southeast

Asian employees - were working at

Nibco's Fresno plant when the English test-

ing requirement was imposed. "Although

the exams supposedly tested their work-

place knowledge, the workers had to take it

in English. Because of that, the plaintiffs

were all terminated even though they had

flawless work records. Each of them had

worked at the plant at least four years and

some were employed for as long as 18 or 19

years," said attorney Donya Fernandez of

the Employment Law Center.

"There's absolutely no reason why it

should suddenly become necessary for us

to know English to keep our jobs. | worked |

at the plant for 9 years and did my job well |

without being proficient in English," said |

38-year-old Martha Rivera. "I can't believe |

Nibco really thinks that there is any justi- |

: Continued on page 5 |

Two of the fired Nibco workers, Sy Vang (at mikes) and Martha Rivera (right), with Ger

Moua of the Northern California Coalition on Immigrant Rights' Central Valley Project

(left) and immigrant rights activist Gloria Hernandez, (far right) announce the filing

of a language discrimination claim at a Fresno press conference.

ROBERT BRITO

FREE SPEECH IN SAN FRANCISCO

ACLU Supports Sisters and Signs

BY MELISSA DAAR

PUBLIC INFORMATION ASSOCIATE

he ACLU-NC spoke out in favor of

[iss Francisco's right to free

expression on two _ key issues

before the San Francisco Board of

Supervisors this Spring. In March, the

ACLU-NC_ successfully opposed two

Board of Supervisor motion that would

have rescinded a street fair permit

issued to the Sisters of Perpetual

Indulgence. In April, the ACLU-NC testi-

fied against proposed revisions to San

Francisco's sign and handbill ordinance

that would have seriously restricted free

speech rights.

SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE

"The government may not engage in con-

tent-based discrimination, much less view- |

point-based discrimination" argued

ACLU-NC Executive Director Dorothy

Ehrlich and Staff Attorney Bob Kim in a

March 26 letter to the San Francisco Board

of Supervisors. The letter came in the

midst of a controversy surrounding the

city-permitted celebration to be held by

the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence on

Easter Sunday, closing off part of famed

Castro Street.

The permit was initially issued on

March 1 by the Board of Supervisors with

no altercations. However, after the news-

paper Catholic San Francisco published

received a deluge of angry calls and e-

mails. When a Supervisor made a motion

to rescind the permit given to the Sisters,

the ACLU-NC took action.

In their letter, Ehrlich and Kim cited a

plethora of cases to show that the city had

no legal basis to revoke the permit.

"Revocation would be motivated by the

desire to restrict the Sisters' speech

because of its message and content. This is

impermissible," Ehrlich and Kim wrote.

They also pointed out that even if the pro-

posed speech is patently offensive to cer-

tain people, the city nonetheless cannot

restrict it; "Objectors to speech cannot

n March 23, more than six hun-

O dred high school students from

throughout northern California

participated in Say What??!! Students

Celebrating Freedom of Expression, an

ACLU-NC conference at the Sacramento

Convention Center. "Student activists

spoke to each other about how to chan-

nel their energy and ideas on current

controversial social issues into effective

action," explained Nancy Otto, Director

of the ACLU-NC's Howard A. Friedman

Students Meet, Rally for

Rights in the

Capitol

The conference culminated in a demon-

stration for more funding for education

and less money for juvenile incarcera-

tion on the Capitol steps. At the rally,

Senator Kevin Murray spoke to the stu-

dents about his bill, SB 78, commonly

known as the bill to monitor "DWB" or

Driving While Black or Brown. SB 78

would require California law enforce-

ment to collect data on racial profiling

in routine traffic stops. Many students

lobbied their representatives in support

of SB 78.

First Amendment |

Education Project that

sponsored the event.

Students attended a

broad range of work-

shops covering issues

ranging from the

media portrayal of

youth to attacks on

public education. At

the workshop "Hate

Crimes on the Rise,"

~ Student leaders dis-

2. .

a cussedstrategies to

mobilize students

= against racist and

anti-gay harass-

ment and violence.

Students from San Marin High School

in Novato spoke about their rally

organized after a 17-year oled senior

was beaten just outside the high

school, the word "fag" etched into his

arm in pen.

At another workshop, Deputy Sheriff

Roslyn Watkins, Vice-Chair of the

National Black Police

Association, and Jasmin Barker of

the Third Eye Movement discussed

the relationship between youth

and police and how youth

activism can improve the rela-

tionship between the two.

ACLU News = May-June 1999 = Pace 3

an editorial condemning the Board's deci- |

sion to allow the celebration, City Hall |

_ the objectors reign, very little speech from

hold `veto' power over whether speech is

heard or not. Were the government to let

controversial or dissident viewpoints

would be heard at all." Kim also testified to

the ACLU's position at the March 29 Board

of Supervisors meeting.

The Board of Supervisors voted 7-2 not

to rescind the permit, thus acknowledging

that any other action would have infringed

on the rights of the Sisters.

SIGNS, HANDBILLS AND BANNERS

Staff attorney Bob Kim testified at the

Board of Supervisor's Housing and Social

Policy Committee against proposed revi-

sions to the San Francisco Municipal Code

regulating the posting of signs, handbills

and banners.

The proposed ordinance would have

required that signs posted on lamp posts

and utility poles bear the name and address

or telephone number of the person responsi-

ble for the posting. Kim testified that requir-

ing names and addresses be placed on signs

infringed on the constitutionally recognized

right to engage in anonymous speech.

In a March 1 letter to the Board of

Supervisors, ACLU-NC Managing Attorney

Alan Schlosser referred to a Supreme Court

decision upholding anonymous sign post-

ing. "Recently, in overturning an Ohio

statute that prohibited the distribution of

anonymous campaign literature, the

United States Supreme Court noted that

`anonymous pamphleteering is...an honor-

able tradition of advocacy and dissent.

Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of

the majority."

The ACLU-NC also objected to the pro-

posed requirement that any person seeking

to distribute handbills first register with the

Department of Public Works. In his letter to

the Board of Supervisors, Schlosser stated

that this requirement "was an unprecedent-

ed burden upon a time-honored populist

mode of communication."

In response, Supervisor Barbara

Kaufman amended the legislation making

many of the changes suggested by the

ACLU, sharply scaling back the breadth of

the proposed ordinance. The final legisla-

tion merely required commercial sign

posters to not use tape and made it illegal

for people to remove illegal signs. On April

21, the Board of Supervisors passed the

amended ordinance.

Public Information intern Ilan Elson-

Schwab also contributed to this article.

DWB Campaign...

Contiued from page |

Jason Marr, a 16-year old

`sophomore class presi-

dent from Hogan High

School in Vallejo, had

only had his license a few

months when he was

stopped by officers who

searched his car. "They told

me they were stopping me

because my license plate

light was out. They checked

through my whole car - even

unwrapping a slice of pizza

from aluminum foil," said Marr

who is Asian American. "They

didn't find anything, so they just

let us go. When I got home, |

checked that little light - and it

was working the whole time!"

ACLU bill-

boards are

on high-

ways and

city

streets.

BILLBOARDS AND RADIO ADS

To publicize the DWB hotline, the

ACLU has launched an ad cam-

paign, supported by two local advertising

agencies. On Bay Area highways and major

city streets, English and Spanish billboards

urge drivers who feel they have been the

subject of race-based stops to call the DWB

hotline. The English language billboard,

created pro bono by Carol H. Williams

Advertising, features three young African

American men with the quote, "If I had a

dollar for every time I was pulled over ..." It

is up in 82 locations in the East Bay and San

Francisco. Half of the spaces were donated

to the ACLU by Outdoor Systems, a bill-

board company. The billboard geared to

stand the objection to trying to collect

data, which will either validate the

complaints or vindicate the police,"

Marshall said. "We need to use the

data to promote police practices that

furthers confidence in the police force

and the justice system."

John Crew, Director of the ACLU-

NC Police Practices Project noted that

within recent months, the police chiefs

of San Diego and San Jose had volun-

tarily agreed to collect data on the race

of drivers stopped. "This is extremely

significant," Crew said. "These depart-

ments are sending a powerful message

nationally on this issue."

NATIONAL PROBLEM

In response to mounting criticism

of discriminatory police practices

nationwide, on April 14,

Representative John Conyers, D-

Michigan, reintroduced the

"Traffic Stops Statistics Act" to

study the issue on a national level.

Sponsors cite strong anecdotal evi-

dence that racial profiling is a

problem countrywide. The nation-

al ACLU has also initiated a hotline

to collect stories from drivers who

have been subject to race-based

stops throughout the country.

In one of the only areas where

statistics currently exist is

Maryland: An ACLU study, based on

court-imposed monitoring of the

Maryland State Police stops on I-

95, showed that although African

American drivers were 72% of

those pulled over, they were only

Spanish-speakers, states "@% ! Otra vez

me par6 la policia por ser Latino," (Once

again, the police stopped me for being

Latino). Head-Quarters advertising agency

created it pro bono.

Lively, thought-provoking radio ads in

English and Spanish are also airing

throughout the state, also created by the

two agencies. In the English ad, two men

are driving in a car and the police are fol-

lowing them.

Guy #1: Everywhere I go, they're there.

I'm tellin' you.

Guy #2: Alright be cool. Hold on...Why

are we scared? We didn't do anything

wrong.

Guy #1: Yeah. (Pause) So why are they

pulling us over?

KMEL, KPOO, and KPFA are playing the

radio ads in the Bay Area and KPWR is air-

ing it in Southern California. The Spanish

ad, "Vamos a parar a los que nos paran!"

(Let's stop those who stop us!) will air in

northern, central and southern California

radio stations.

Pastor Francisco Duarte of Visalia (at mikes) charged that Latino drivers - including

SB 78 MOVES IN LEGISLATURE

SB 78, the "California Traffic Stops

Statistics Act" authored by Senator Kevin

Murray (D-Culver City), is moving through

the Legislature. Racial Justice Project

Director Alexander testified before the

Senate Public Safety Committee on April

20. Despite opposition from several state

police officers' associations, the measure

was voted out of the Committee. It now

heads to the Appropriations Committee,

and then the full Senate. Similar legisla-

tion, also authored by Murray, was passed

by the Legislature last year but was vetoed

by Governor Wilson.

Minority law enforcement organiza-

tions such as the National Black Police

Association and the National Latino Peace

Officers' Associations support the measure

that mandates that data on race and traf-

fic stops be collected by police and report-

ed by the Department of Justice. The data

will only be used for research and statisti-

cal purposes only. State Bar President

Marshall urged support for SB 78.

"Certainly the problem is pervasive

enough and merits study. I don't under-

Rick ROCAMORA

his two sons and many of his parishioners - were unfairly stopped by the Highway

Patrol. With Pastor Duarte are ACLU-NC Public Information Director Elaine Elinson,

teacher Milton Reynolds, State Bar President Ray Marshall, high school sophomore

Jason Marr and ACLU-NC Executive Director Dorothy Ehrlich.

The "Traffic Stops Statistics Act" (SB 78), sponsored by Senator Kevin Murray (D-

14 % of the drivers.

WHaT You CAN Do

ns

Have You Been Stopped by Police

Because of Your Race?

Call 1-877-DWB-STOP*

Or in Spanish: |-877-PARALOS**

Share your experience - and help put an end to race-based stops. Call the ACLU toll

free in California.

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More than 1,400 people have called the ACLU DWB Hotline since it was initiated last

October. The respondents have called from cities, suburbs and rural areas throughout the

entire state. Each story, each voice will help stop the practice of race-based police stops.

spapnanesnsne spas ee sionnemensnanse ee sais sists a

se

Culver City), mandates that data on race and traffic stops be collected by police and

reported to the Department of Justice. The bill passed the Senate Public Safety

Committee and must be passed by the full Senate and Assembly and signed by

Governor Davis. Last year, Governor Wilson, saying vetoed AB 1264, Murray's first

attempt to require data collection on racial profiling.

Call, FAX , write or e-mail your state Senator and Assemblymember urging them to

vote YES on SB 78@. Tell Senator Kevin Murray you support SB 78. Then, let

Governor Gray Davis know that you want him to sign this important measure when

it gets to his desk.

Please send copies of your correspondence to Field Representative Lisa Maldonado,

ACLU-NC, 1663 Mission Street, #460, San Francisco 94103. If you need the addresses

or numbers of your legislators, please call Lisa at 415/621-2498 ext. 46.

The Oakland Chapter of the ACLU and PUEBLO invite you to tell your story about

being stopped for Driving While Black or Brown. Hear Michelle Alexander, Director,

ACLU Racial Justice Project and D'wayne Wiggins of Tony! Toni! Tone! - telling his

story about a "DWB' stop in Oakland. Work on a community effort to end race-based

stops in Oakland.

Tuesday, May 25 from 7 to 9 PM

Lake Merritt United Methodist Church

1330 Lakeshore Avenue

Oakland

ACLU News = May-June 1999 = Pace 4

ACLU-NC Launches Campaign Against

Anti-Gay Initiative

ore than fifty grassroots activists

I attended the ACLU-NC activist

training on April 17 to learn how to

defeat the Knight Initiative, the ballot

measure sponsored by Republican state

Senator Pete Knight that would bar recog-

nition of same-sex marriages in California.

"We wanted to provide key activists from

communities throughout northern

California with background information,

polling data, tips on public speaking and

other organizing tools that will be key to

stopping the anti-gay initiative," said Field

Representative Lisa Maldonado.

The event drew ACLU-NC advocates

from the Monterey County, North Peninsula

and Lesbian and Gay Rights Chapters, as

well as allies from the National Organization

for Women, the Harvey Milk Democratic

Club, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and

Gays, the California Alliance for Pride and

Equality, All Our Families Coalition,

Californians for Fairness and a coalition of

Bay Area students. "We are extremely

pleased with the diverse turnout," said

series of divisive measures from Proposition

187, to 209, 226, and 227 that have targeted

people of color, immigrants, and labor

unions for unfair treatment. The ACLU has

put our muscle against all these measures.

Twenty years ago, we successfully fought the

Briggs Initiative, which would have banned

gays and lesbians from becoming teachers

merely because of their sexual orientation.

"The Knight initiative is brought to us

by the same forces and even some of the

same financial backers of the far right,"

Maldonado, "because this initiative affects

all Californians.

"The Knight initiative is one more in a

Alvarez. "I still haven't been able to find

another job, and I don't know how I will be

able to support my children."

Fresno Plant

Continued from page 3

fied business reason for this policy. It FAMILY DEPENDS ON INCOME

makes no sense at all."

According to the charges, the plain-

tiffs' jobs - which included making com-

ponents for irrigation systems by

manually assembling parts and operating

production machines - were routinized

and repetitive in nature, requiring little

communication in any language, let alone

in English. Much of the workforce at the

Fresno plant had long been comprised of

immigrants whose proficiency in English

was limited. In addition to the 16 workers

who have come forward thus far, many

other Latino and Southeast Asian employ-

ees were also fired because of their limit-

ed English proficiency, according to the

plaintiffs' attorneys.

"Make no mistake about it, Nibco's

English-only testing policy is discrimina-

tion, pure and simple," stated Marielena

Hincapie, an Employment Law Center

attorney.

ACLU-NC staff attorney Ed Chen

added, "Discrimination because of limited

English proficiency or foreign accent is far

too common. Employers are only entitled

to demand a level of English proficiency

that is actually needed to perform job

duties. The public should be aware that

practices which deny people job opportu-

nities on the basis of limited English profi-

ciency can be just as unlawful and harmful

as more overt forms of prejudice against

ethnic and racial minorities."

The plaintiffs were hired under the

Fresno plant's previous ownership, which

did not require its employees to be profi-

cient in English. One employee, who had

worked at the plant for 19 years before

being terminated last September, was lat-

er offered her job back because her exten-

sive experience at Nibco made it difficult

for the company to replace her, her attor-

neys said. None of the other plaintiffs

have been offered their jobs back.

WORKED FOR 19 YEARS

"I felt humiliated and discriminated

against when I was let go after 18 years. I

know I did my job well, and was always loy-

al to the company," said 44-year-old Alicia

"My family depends on my income, because

my husband is retired, my son is in college,

and my granddaughter also lives with me.

Nibco told us we were being let go because

there wasn't enough work. But I know that

this isn't true, because they were hiring

English-speaking workers to replace us at

the same time," said 58-year-old Margarita

Mendoza. "After I worked there for 11

years, it offends me to think that Nibco

couldn't even be honest enough to tell us

that they simply didn't want non-English

speakers in their plant."

The EEOC is the agency charged by

Congress with enforcing the federal laws

that prohibit discrimination in employ-

ment. Because of the emergence of lan-

guage-based discrimination in. the

workplace, which also includes similar

practices as "speak-English-only" rules and

accent discrimination, the EEOC has made

investigating such cases a top priority in

its national enforcement program.

"Nibco's policy, unfortunately, reflects

just one part of the larger picture of dis-

crimination against immigrants in present-

day America," said ELC attorney Chris Ho.

"Although restrictive language policies can

sometimes be more subtle than other types

of unfair treatment, anti-immigrant atti-

tudes have typically manifested them-

selves throughout our history in this way.

It's precisely for this very reason that many

federal courts have stressed the impor-

tance of closely scrutinizing language

practices such as Nibco's - because they

are often a convenient cover for unlawful

discrimination against national origin

minority workers."

The Language Rights Project, a joint

effort of the ACLU-NC and _ the

Employment Law Center, works to combat

language-based discrimination in the

workplace, and ensure equal access to gov-

ernment services. The Language Rights

Information Line (1-800-864-1664) offers

free legal advice and referrals in English,

Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese to indi-

viduals who believe they have been sub-

jected to discrimination based on their

language or accent. Mf

Maldonado added.

ACLU-NC staff attorney Bob Kim and

Dilia Loe, Program Director of the Gay and

Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation

(GLAAD), provided the group with an in-

depth backgrounder on same-sex mar-

ples," Kim added. "Some people may have

sincere religious objections to same-sex

marriage, but this is civil marriage we're

talking about. Religions are free to deter-

mine whether or not they will recognize

same-sex unions. The government, on the

other hand, should not perpetuate inequal-

ity against a class of people by withholding

fundamental rights from them."

Jeffrey Mittman, acting chair of the

Lesbian and Gay Rights Chapter and

emcee of the day's event, told the enthusi-

astic grouping that the ACLU-NC hopes to

hold more trainings, including some in

less populated, outlying areas. "The real

grassroots struggle is not in the Bay Area,

but in more rural communities. This is

where gay and lesbian couples and families

need our support the most," he noted. Kim

added that it is crucial to mobilize women

and people of color in the campaign. "The

same forces that are against a woman's

right to choose are the ones sponsoring the

Knight Initiative. The same forces that are

against people of color are sponsoring the

riage. Mike Marshall, campaign manager

of Californians for Fairness, the statewide

group formed to defeat the Knight Initiative,

spoke about the structure of the statewide

campaign and offered strategy ideas to

reach a majority of voters with a clear and

winning message.

"It is important for us to see this as a

civil rights issue," said ACLU-NC attorney

Kim. "The ACLU believes that choice to

marry is a fundamental right that should

be made available to couples on an equal

basis without regard to sexual orientation

or the gender of one's partner.

Knight Initiative. We all have a common

interest in defeating this measure."

"We are extremely happy with our first

activist training," added Maldonado. "No ini-

tiative can be won without community

activism. We are hoping that people will take

the information they picked up here and

speak to their families, friends, neighbors,

and community groups about the impor-

tance of defeating the Knight Initiative."

For more information on how you can be

involved in the campaign, please call Field

Representative Lisa Maldonado at 415/621-

2498 or e-mail: lisam@aclunc.org.

"It's also a civil liberties issue because

the government is the one placing marital

barriers in front of gay and lesbian cou-

Kim Joins ACLU-

NC Legal Staff

TO FOCUS ON GAY RIGHTs, HIV/

AIDS,AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE ISSUES

BY MELISSA DAAR

PuBLIC INFORMAATION ASSOCIATE

obert Kim has joined the staff of the

Rise of Northern California and will

be concentrating his legal work on

gay rights, HIV/AIDS, and

criminal justice issues.

In one of his first cas-

es with the ACLU, Kim is

working with staff attor-

ney Ann Brick and others

in representing Morgan

Hill high school students

who charge that school

officials refused to take

any action to protect

them from harassment on

the basis of their gender

or sexual orientation.

In an effort to im-

prove school practices

In the area of criminal Justice, Kim will

be focusing on prisoners' rights and due

process protections. He will also be exam-

ining the role of race and poverty in the

criminal justice system.

Kim's experience in criminal justice

issues includes service as

the Assistant to the

Counsel at the

Department of Juven-ile

Justice in New York City as

well as at Stern Shapiro

Weissberg and Garin, a

Boston civil rights and

criminal de-fense law

firm.

Kim also worked as a

staff attorney at the Legal

Aid Society of Alameda

County in Oakland and

represented homeless

persons at the Homeless

Robert kim

throughout Advocacy Project in San

Northern California, Francisco. He is a graduate

Kim is working with the of Boston College Law

ACLU-NC's. innovative Howard A. School, where he received a commence-

Friedman First Amendment Education ment award for his public service work in

Project making presentations to school | immigration and criminal defense. Kim

teachers and administrators regarding : will be working closely with the National

their obligations to protect students from | ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project and

harassment. He is also seeking cases in | the HIV/AIDS Project which are both

which persons have faced discrimination | directed by Matthew Coles, a former

because of their HIV status. | ACLU-NC staff attorney.

: ACLU News = May-June 1999 = Pace 5

BY STAN YOGI

change in jobs created a wonderful

A areca for ACLU-NC board

ember John Schweizer to make a

significant planned gift to the ACLU

Foundation of Northern California. John is

typical of many baby boomers who are

changing careers in the middle of their

working lives. The former Director of

External Affairs for Pacific Bell, John

retired from this position after 24 years

with the company to become Chief of Staff

for State Senator Jackie

Spier.

In making that

move, John was able to

roll over his Pacific Bell

pension plan into an

individual retirement

account (IRA). It wasn't

until he faced the ques-

tion of whom to name as

the beneficiary of his

IRA that he learned

about the advantages of

naming a non-profit

organization like the

ACLU Foundation as the

beneficiary of retire-

ment accounts.

Leaving retirement John Schweizer

account assets to an indi-

vidual (other than a spouse) can result in

significant estate and income taxes that

may dramatically reduce the amount an

heir receives. On the other hand, as a tax-

exempt, non-profit organization, the ACLU

Foundation would receive retirement

account assets free from all taxes and use

the gift to defend our civil liberties.

Many ACLU members, like John, have -

named the ACLU Foundation as a benefi-

ciary of their IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and

other qualified retirement plans, while

leaving other assets and belongings to fam-

ily and friends. Doing so provides caring

people an efficient, tax-effective means to

maintain their philanthropic spirit and

also leave larger gifts for their heirs.

John was thrilled to discover this sim-

ple estate planning method to leave a lega-

cy to the ACLU Foundation. "I make annual

gifts to the ACLU Foundation," John says,

"and I was excited to learn about this IRA

strategy as a means of making an ultimate-

ly larger gift than my yearly contributions.

My annual contributions address the ACLU

_ Foundation's immediate needs, but my |

| planned gift will help ensure the ACLU

Foundation's future work. It's my invest-

ment in civil liber-

ties."

John's passion

for the ACLU and

justice

was 138, his uncle

gave him an ACLU

newsletter to read.

The range of civil

liberties battles

that the ACLU was

fighting impressed

John, and _ the

ACLU's positions

made sense to him.

The next day, he

said to his uncle,

"The ACLU seems

to be on the right

side of all issues." His uncle responded that

the ACLU is "the most important advocacy

group in the world."

Because of his background in commu-

nications technology, John is particularly

interested in the ACLU's cutting edge work

on Internet privacy and on-line free

speech. "Technologies are being developed

faster than public policies," says John.

"The ACLU is doing very good work on

these issues."

As a gay man, John is also proud of the

ACLU's long commitment to ensuring

equal protection for lesbians and gay men

and the organization's continuing fight for

is deep- |

rooted. When he |

the rights that he, as a gay person, doesn't

have because of legalized discrimination.

John is also committed to the ACLU's

pioneering work in language rights, affir-

mative action, and disability rights

because he supports policies that will

result in true diversity. "There are still so

many barriers in today's society, and the

ACLU is helping to break down those bar-

| riers," explains John.

Because of his devotion to the princi-

ples of liberty and justice embodied in our

Baby Boomer's Career Change Benefits ACLU

Bill of Rights, John's `decision to name the

ACLU Foundation as a beneficiary of his

IRA was easy. "I chose the ACLU," explains

John, "because it is such an important

advocacy group working on the broadest

range of civil rights issues. It is one of the

| most effective agencies in the continuing

battle for civil rights."

Stan Yogi ts the ACLU-NC Foundation's

Director of Planned Giving. For more

| information, please contact Stan at

| 415/621-2493.

Ct et

ACLU Activists

Honored

BY ILAN ELSON-SCHWAB

wo ACLU leaders, Immigrants'

|" Rights Project Director Lucas

Guttentag and North Peninsula

Chapter founder Emily Skolnick, are being

honored for their civil liberties work.

Guttentag will be honored on May 20 by

the Immigrant Legal Resource Center with

the Phillip Burton Immigration and Civil

Rights Award. "Lucus Guttentag has liti-

gated landmark class action and individual

suits nationwide. Under his direction, the

Immigrants Rights Project, working collab-

oratively with organizations and lawyers

across the country, has become one of the

largest programs advancing the constitu-

tional and civil rights of non-citizens

through litigation," said Anaya Rose of the

ILRC. Guttentag, whose project operates

out of the ACLU-NC office in San Francisco

as well as the national ACLU headquarters

in New York, has litigated historic class-

action lawsuits on behalf of Haitian

refugees detained at Guantanamo Naval

Base, and for Salvadoran and Guatemalan

refugees who were being denied asylum.

He also successfully challenged the prohi-

bitions of judicial review in the 1996 Anti-

Terrorism and Immigration Reform Acts.

SKOLNICK IN THE HALL OF FAME

Emily Marks Skolnick, who was a founder of

SCULPTORS RESPONDING TO THE VWVAVE

OF PURITANISM IN THE 90's

the North Peninsula Chapter of the ACLU in

1978 and served on the Board of Directors of

the ACLU-NC, was inducted into the San

Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame on

March 13. Skolnick was honored for her

hard-fought battles against discrimination

in the schools and in the workplace.

"Skolnick's deep and long-standing commit-

ment to the ACLU and to the fight for equal-

ity and justice inspires us all," said ACLU-NC

Executive Director Dorothy Ehrlich.

Skolnick, who was raised in lowa, was

graduated from Wellesley College in 1987,

Phi Beta Kappa, majoring in Labor

Economics. In the 40's Skolnick fought for

school desegregation and helped instigate

what became the historic case Brown vs.

Board of Education. Long before the

nationwide HeadStart movement gained

popularity, Skolnick was a pioneer in creat-

ing early childhood development pro-

grams. In 1958, Skolnick conducted the

field study that led to the passage of the

San Mateo City Fair Employment Practices

Ordinance, and helped gather support for

the State Fair Employment Practices Act.

"Emily is truly a great role model - tena-

cious and undeterred - and incredibly

persuasive in spurring on others to action

in the causes she passionately believes in,"

said ACLU-NC Board Member Marlene De

Lancie, co-founder of the North Pen

Chapter.

A RECEPTION TO BENEFIT

THE ACLU OF NorTHERN CALIFORNIA

SATURDAY

AUGUST |4

A NEW LEAF GALLERY

1286 GILMAN STREET,

BERKELEY

TIcKETs: $15

to the Wave of Puritanism in the 90's."

at 416/621-2493.

A New Leaf Gallery is sponsoring an exhibit entitled "Censored!

The August 14 reception will feature a discussion

on the state of freedom of expression in the arts. Proceeds from ticket sales and a por-

tion of the sculpture sales during the week of the event will benefit the ACLU

Foundation of Northern California. The exhibit will run from August 7 through

September 19. Please call the ACLU-NC Development Department for more information

- Sculptors Responding

ACLU News = May-June 1999 = Pace 6

ACLU Suprorts DOCTOR

ls Murder Charge an Anti-Choice Weapon?

he ACLU is supporting a doctor who

T's facing murder charges, in his bid

to obtain official information that

will establish whether he is the victim of

government bias against abortion.

Dr. Bruce Steir, an experienced,

licensed obstetrician and gynecologist, has

traveled to California counties lacking an

abortion provider. In December, 1996, Dr.

Steir performed a second-trimester abor-

tion on a patient in Riverside. The woman

subsequently died from internal bleeding

caused by a perforated uterus. The

California Medical Board referred Dr. Steir

to the Riverside District Attorney's Office,

which has charged him with murder. The

Medical Board has apparently never before

referred a doctor for criminal prosecution

for making a mistake. Dr. Steir believes

that the government has singled him out for

a murder charge because he provides con-

stitutionally protected abortion services.

"This rare criminal prosecution of a

licensed doctor raises important issues,

involving both principles of privacy and

equality," said ACLU-NC staff attorney

Margaret Crosby.

"If Dr. Steir can show that he would

not be on trial for murder if he had per-

formed any other operation, this case |

must collapse as an unconstitutional dis- |

criminatory prosecution," added Crosby |

who filed a friend of the court brief in the

case on behalf of organizations support-

ing reproductive freedom, including

Francisco on March 24.

are a very powerful organization."

Strossen Thanks

AC LU Donors

National ACLU President Nadine Strossen (left), pictured here with (1. to r.) ae

Board Member Fran Strauss and supporters Esther Marks and Ina Dearman, was

the featured speaker at the ACLU-NC Benefactors Dinner at the City Club in San

Strossen said she was so pleased to speak to the large and supportive audience of

ACLU donors, "especially as I have been on hardship duty in recent weeks debating

the likes of Clarence Thomas (on the subject of gender discrimination and sexual

harassment!), Robert Bork , Ralph Reed and New York City Police Commissioner

Howard Safir. Bork, you will be happy to know, called the ACLU the premier lobby-

ing and litigating arm of American liberalism," Strossen said, adding "Tt seems we

Strossen thanked the ACLU-NC supporters for their generosity in allowing the

organization to, in Justice Brennan's words, "make the words of the Constitution

leap off the pages and into people's lives." She was joined at the podium by

Development Committee Chair Quinn Delaney, who jubilantly announced that the

affiliate had reached its targeted fundraising goal. "We are inspired by your tremen-

dous commitment to the ACLU and to civil liberties," Delaney said.

Union Matp

a

Milton Estes...

Continued from page |

protecting civil and constitutional rights

for all people.

For more than two decades, Dr. Milton

Estes' professional and volunteer work

have exemplified the qualities of an On the

FrontLine award recipient. As the first

openly gay Chair of the Board of the ACLU-

NC, Dr. Estes worked tirelessly on behalf of

gay rights and the rights of people with

AIDS, as well as women's reproductive

rights, freedom of speech and racial justice.

As a physician, Dr. Estes has provided

services to people with AIDS, prisoners and

victims of the war in El Salvador. Working

with numerous professional AIDS organiza-

tions, including the Marin AIDS

Commission and the Marin General

Hospital AIDS Task Force. Dr. Estes has

been a leader in the fight against AIDS; his

work for social justice includes service with

the Bureau of Jewish Education and Bay

Area Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Dr. Estes is a founder of the FrontLine

Campaign to which all proceeds from the

event are designated. The FrontLine

Campaign is an advocacy partnership

between the ACLU of Northern California

and the national ACLU's Lesbian and Gay _

Rights and AIDS/HIV Projects. Half of

every contribution supports the ACLU's

work on lesbian and gay rights and HIV

across the country. The other half stays

here to support all the work of the

Northern California affiliate. Hi

Planned Parenthood and California

Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action

League.

SELECTIVE PROSECUTION

To determine whether he is the victim

of selective prosecution, Dr. Steir request-

ed Medical Board records. The records

would show when the Board refers doctors

for criminal prosecution, as opposed to dis-

ciplinary action restricting the practice of

medicine. `Typically, the Board makes

criminal referrals when doctors commit

narcotics violations, insurance fraud, or

sexual misconduct with patients. The

| requested records would also reveal how

_ the Board treats doctors who make med-

_ ical errors, including those that cause

| patient deaths. The Board, represented by

| Attorney General Dan Lungren, refused to

give Dr. Steir access to this information.

When Dr. Steir went to court, the ACLU

supported his efforts to secure information

on selective prosecution. The ACLU urged

| the California Supreme Court to review the

case and to order the Board to open its files.

In March, the California Supreme Court

granted review and ordered the criminal

prosecution halted until the courts have

had an opportunity to resolve Dr. Steir's

request for information on selective prose-

cution. The Court transferred the case to

the Court of Appeal, which will hear argu-

ments in June. The ACLU's amicus brief

supports Dr. Steir's request for information.

"Discrimination is buried in the files

and consciences of Medical Board offi-

cials," Crosby explained. "We are urging

the Court to order the disclosure of that

information."

ANTI-CHOICE CAMPAIGN

The ACLU has asked the court to con-

sider Dr. Steir's case in the context of an

intense campaign against the constitution-

al right to choose abortion. Public officials

pass laws to burden access to abortion, and

anti-choice activists subject abortion

providers to a concerted campaign of vio-

lence and harassment. Dr. Steir, himself a

long-standing target of anti-choice zealots,

has been forced to wear a bullet proof vest

to provide abortion services.

"We have seen a frightening campaign

to restrict the availability of abortion by

eliminating abortion providers," Crosby

stated. "Against this background, Dr.

Steir's concern that his unusual murder

prosecution may be tainted by anti-choice

motivations is hardly implausible." Anti-

choice activists have a history of communi- -

cating with Medical Board officials, and

pressuring them to take adverse action

against obstetricians and gynecologists

who provide abortion services. In Dr.

Steir's case, a well-known opponent of

legal abortion urged Medical Board offi-

cials, the local coroner and the prosecutor

to prosecute Dr. Steir.

"As reproductive rights advocates, we

are concerned that women receive safe and

skilled medical care," Crosby stated. "We

support government efforts to prevent

incompetent practitioners from practicing

medicine. "But we also feel strongly that

anti-choice officials should not misuse the

power of government to punish doctors for

providing abortions. Now, when the short-

age of abortion providers is threatening

women's right to choose, that concern is

heightened.

"A murder charge can be a potent

weapon in the anti-choice campaign to

deter doctors from providing abortions,"

Crosby added. @

OE

Library Volunteers

The ACLU-NC needs volunteers with library experience to

collection of news clippings,

publications and other materials.

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

help maintain our research

TT RRL Te

WWW.aclunc.org

for the latest news from your affiliate!

TUM TIM CSCM CS ASMA TITIAN COMMOTION CUAUIAT COUR

northern California's cutting-edge civil liberties issues!

ACLU News @ May-June 1999 = Pace 7

BY LISA MALDONADO

ACLU-NC FIELD REPRESENTATIVE

he ACLU Monterey Chapter gets

i` for the price of one" with

activists Bruce Carlson and Matt

Friday. Twice the energy, twice the com-

mitment, twice the political experience.

The couple has between them more than

two decades in the fight for social justice.

Bruce is from the Bay Area and Matt

hails from the Midwest. After meeting at a

local gay dance bar in Monterey in 1986,

they fell in love. "Within a year or two of |

"meeting we were doing political action

work together in Monterey - we worked on

voter registration, petition drives ...and

one thing just led to another " Bruce said.

Bruce has long been active in Demo-

cratic Party organizations. Matt is active

with the Coalition of Minority Organiza-

tions, in particular the Committee on

"Mental Health and Police Practices.

Together, they helped to found the

Monterey County Gay, Lesbian, and

Bisexual Task Force, and are known for

speaking out against hate violence and big-

otry in their community. They also speak

in high schools about lesbian, gay bisexual

and transgender history.

They met ACLU Chapter leaders

Michelle Welsh and Kathy Stoner through

their work on Monterey's first Gay Pride

march in 1991 and were invited to join the

Chapter. "We are so proud to work with the

Monterey Chapter and are inspired by the

work of Michelle, Kathy and others, like

our Executive Director, Richard Criley who

has been fighting for civil rights since he

was a student at UC Berkeley in the 1930s,"

explained Matt.

The couple credits the ACLU's excel-

lent coalition partners in Monterey with

making a strong voice when civil liberties

issues arise. One of their recent success-

ful coalition efforts involved educating

the community about discrimination and

the Boy Scouts. Three Boy Scout troops

have been using a building on the Defense

Language Institute (DLI) military base

since the 1940s. The military turned over

the building to the city of Monterey with

the agreement that the Boy Scouts would

continue to use it; Monterey leases it to

the Scouts for $1 per year. "When the Boy

Scouts requested $52,000 from the city's -

Neighborhood Improvement Program

Chatter Meetings

(Chapter meetings are open fo all interested members.

Contact the Chapter activist listed for your area.)

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

sington) Chapter Meeting: (Usually first

Wednesday) For more information, time and address of

meetings, contact Diana Wellum at 510/841-2069.

Fresno Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth Tuesday).

Please join our newly-reorganized Chapter! Meetings are

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

For more information, cal Bob Hirth 209/225-6223

(days).

Marin County Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth

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

Center, Community Meeting Room. For more information,

contact Rico Hurvich at 415/389-8009.

Mid-Peninsula Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth

Thursday) Meet at 7:00 PM, at 460 South California

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

JAIME SANTOS

Longtime activists Bruce Carlson (left) and Matt Friday

funds, we got involved," said Bruce. "We

felt we had to confront the obvious double

standard represented in public funding

for an organization that discriminated

against members of the public based on

sexual orientation and religion," ex-

plained Bruce.

"Working with PFLAG, we launched a

public education campaign, attended rele-

vant council meetings, and eventually

went into arbitration with the Scouts.

"After several months, the City Council

revisited the controversy and, after pas-

sionate arguments from ACLU and PFLAG

activists, decided to develop a clause in the

lease requiring the local scouts to state

that they would not discriminate on the

basis of religion or sexual orientation."

Although the issue is still unresolved,

Matt and Bruce both feel that , in addition

to the educational opportunities the con-

troversy provided, one of the long-term

results may well be a necessary anti-dis-

crimination statement (that includes sex-

ual orientation) to be developed by the

city. "Right now we have some reason to

feel pretty hopeful about all of this," Matt

said.

"We want to make sure that Lesbian

and Gay people have it better than we did

when we were growing up," Bruce

explained. We are interested in getting

the information out about our community

to end the hate."

The pair attended the ACLU-NC

activist training in April on the Knight

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.

aol.com/mpenacly. For more information, contact Marc

Fagel at 650/579-1789.

Redwood (Humboldt County) Chapter

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

359 G 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

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

Sacramento. For more information, contact David Miller

at 916/991-5415.

ACLU News = May-June 1999 = Pace S

initiative and are now incorporating

what they learned in presentations they

are giving in Monterey schools and com-

munity groups. "The Knight Initiative-

is a barely concealed attack on the civil

rights of LGBTs, and the constitutional

principles of America," Bruce charged.

"Anyone involved with the principles of

civil rights should be taking a stand. We

must fight hate wherever it appears.

This is just another attempt to disenfran-

chise our community."

Bruce and Matt are in some ways typi-

cal ACLU activists, overworked, overex-

tended and constantly running from one

meeting to the next. They do a lot for their

community but their activism reaps

rewards for them as well. As Matt

describes it: "Part of the reason | got

involved in this kind of work was to learn

more about my community, the experi-

ences and perspectives of different seg-

ments of the population. I want to

contribute to developing alternatives to

the cruelty, indifference, shame and injus-

tice that exists for a lot of people.

"And I have a need to feel useful. The

simple truth is I want to feel goodabout my

life and the work I'm doing," he added.

Bg bed habla

in Oakland

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 (979-6699) for further details.

Santa Clara Valley Chapter Meeting: (Usually

first Tuesday) Meet at 7:00 PM at the Peace Center, 48

S. 7th St., San Jose, CA. For further chapter informa-

tion contact Dan Costello at 408/287-6403.

Santa Cruz County Chapter Meeting: (Usually

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

tion, 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 415/899-3044 for more informa-

fion.

Yolo County Chapter Meeting: (Usually third

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

Davis. For more information, call Natalie Wormeli at

530/756-1900 or Dick Livingston at 530/753-

7255.

Chico Gaia: If you are a saterit in the

Chico/Redding area, please contact Steven PostJeyes at

530/345-1449.

Chapters Reorganizing

If you are interested in reviving the Mt. Diablo,

Oakland, East Bay or Lesbian and Gay Rights

Chapters, please contact Field Representative Lisa

Maldonado at 415/621-2006 ext. 46.

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-

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