vol. 64, no. 6

aclu news

CT 2000

NEWSPAPER OF THE AMERICAN euro:ivit LIBERTIES Union oF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Non-Profit

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Wo.tume LXIV

ACLU Honors Death = Foe with Rights Award

he fight against the death penalty

iy requires many voices: capital defense

lawyers, writers, orators, investiga-

tors, organizers, educators, and those who

stand in silent vigil outside the gates of

Death Row. Bryan A. Stevenson is all of

these and more. He has dedicated his life to

fighting the death penalty on all fronts.

The ACLU-NC will honor Stevenson

with the Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award

at the annual Bill of Rights Day Celebration

on Sunday, December 10 at The Argent

Hotel in San Francisco (See ad this page).

At the Celebration, the Lola Hanzel

Courageous Advocacy Award will be pre-

sented to veteran Oakland activist Grover

Dye, a leader in the ACLU-NC Paul Robeson

Chapter. Octogenarian Dye began his

grassroots organizing work in the civil

rights movement in Washington, D.C. and

continues to this day to fight against police

abuse, censorship at the Oakland Library

and ballot measures that deny rights to les-

bians and gays, juveniles, and people of col-

or.

The event will also feature a perfor-

mance by Agustin Lira and Alma, an all-

acoustic trio that brings to life the

Chicano/Latino experience through music,

and a presentation by students from the

ACLU-NC Friedman Project who went on

the "Corporate America: Unplugged" jour-

ney this summer.

CHALLENGING DEATH Row

Stevenson is the Executive Director of the

Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) of Alabama,

challenging bias against the poor and peo-

ple of color in the criminal justice system.

In 1995, Stevenson won a prestigious

MacArthur "genius" grant of $250,000 and

devoted the prize money to the EJI to pro-

vide legal representation to capital defen-

dants and death row prisoners. Alabama

has the largest death row per capita in the

South, and the third largest in the United

States. The population of Alabama's death

row has doubled since 1988, and has now

reached 300. Stevenson did not choose an

easy place to do battle: in Alabama there is |

no state-funded public defender system,

compensation for attorneys who represent

death row prisoners in state post-convic-

tion proceedings is limited to $1000, and

trial judges can (and do) override a jury

changing a sentence of life imprisonment

without parole to death.

DEEP SOUTH

Stevenson has represented poor people in

the Deep South since 1985, when he was a

staff attorney with the Southern Center for

Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia. He later

served as the Executive Director of the

Alabama Capital Representation Resource

Center.

Stevenson's work on behalf of a prison-

er who spent six years on death row for a

crime he did not commit was featured on

60 Minutes. Walter McMillian, a 45-year

old African American contractor was con-

victed for the murder of a young white

woman in his hometown of Monroeville,

Alabama. Law enforcement officers were

so convinced of McMillian's guilt that he

was put on death row 13 months before his

case even went to trial. Stevenson's four

years of tenacious defense work showed

that the police had concealed exculpatory

statements from the state's primary wit-

ness. McMillian was set free in 1993.

As Stevenson later testified before the

Senate Judiciary Committee, "The desire

to achieve a capital murder conviction at

any cost frequently results in proceedings

where a reliable determination of guilt or

innocence is not likely."

Stevenson is a graduate of Harvard Law

School and the Harvard School of

Government, where he was awarded the

Kennedy Fellowship in Criminal Justice.

He has served as a professor of law at the

University of Michigan and New York

University. Stevenson is the recipient of

numerous honors including the Reebok

Human Rights Award, the Thurgood

Marshall Medal of Justice from

Georgetown University Law School, and

the 1991 Medal of Liberty awarded by the

| national ACLU. |

His tireless efforts on behalf of the poor _

and people of color, especially those on |

Death Row, have led him from the halls of |

Congress to the backroads of Alabama. |

Walter McMillian, the man Stevenson |

freed from death row, is from Monroeville,

Alabama, the same hometown as Harper |

Lee, author of Zo Kill a Mockingbird.

Stevenson reminds us that when people

read her novel, they all root for Atticus |

Finch, the lawyer who tries to defend a

black man wrongfully accused of the rape

of a young white woman. "But in real life,

we act like we don't care if an innocent

man dies. We must be better than that,"

Stevenson says.

In today's America, roughly two people

a week are being executed. The only coun-

tries that execute more are China, Iran,

Saudi Arabia and the Congo. Stevenson

says "It is unconscionable for the nation to

continue on its current course."

prominent death penalty attorney

ON OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award

Bryan A. Stevenson

Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative and

ts Day Celebration

Sunday, December 10

The Argent Hotel, San Francisco

2:00 PM

Lola Hanzel Courageous Advocacy Award

Grover Dye ACLU-NC Paul Robeson Chapter activist

Photo Exhibit:

Performance:

"Don't Kill For Me" by Murder Victim's Families

for Reconciliation

Agustin Lira and Alma Music of the Americas

Tickets: $20; $10 for seniors, students, low-income

For more info and tickets, please call Field Director Lisa Maldonado 415-621-2493

(c)0008 CCHOH8H8HHOSCHHHHEHHHHHHEHHHHHHHHHTHHHHHHEHHHHHHTHHHHHHTHHHHTHHHHHHHHHHHHHEHHHHHHHHTHHHHHHTHHHHHHHHHHHHTHHHHTHHOHTHHHHHHEHEEHHHESESEE

ACLU Wins Free Speech Victory

in Medical Marijuana Case

BY STELLA RICHARDSON

MeEpIA ASSOCIATE

triking a victory for free speech, U.S.

District Judge William Alsup ruled

on September 7th that federal

authorities can not revoke the licenses of

doctors who recommend the medical use

of marijuana to their patients. The ACLU-

NC and the national ACLU Drug Policy

Litigation Project represent the doctor and

patient plaintiffs in the class action law-

suit, Conant v. McCaffrey.

"My hope is that this ruling puts an end

to threats by the federal government," said

Graham Boyd, a lawyer with the national

ACLU Drug Policy Litigation Project.

"Physicians have been working in fear and

now with this order, doctors and patients

can once again freely discuss marijuana

"It is critical that | be able to advise my patients

on the medical use of marijuana without fear of

being criminally prosecuted or losing my license."

-- Dr. Milton Estes

without fear of federal punishment."

Judge Alsup issued a permanent

injunction that bans the government from

revoking doctors' licenses and prohibits

the government from initiating investiga-

tions of physicians who have provided

advice on the medical use of marijuana.

"It is critical that I be able to advise my

patients on the medical use of marijuana

without fear of being criminally prosecut-

ed or losing my license," said Dr. Milton

Estes. "I work with HIV-infected patients,

and it is reassuring to feel that I can now

freely speak to my patients." Dr. Estes, a

plaintiff in this case and former Chair of

the ACLU-NC Board of Directors, has a pri-

vate practice in Marin and oversees the

care of all HIV-positive inmates in San

Francisco County jails.

Despite a temporary injunction issued

against the government in 1997, doctors

continued to feel threatened about advis-

ing patients on medical marijuana because

of statements made by White House drug

czar Barry McCaffrey. At issue is the lan-

guage of Proposition 215, approved by

California voters in November 1996, which

makes it legal for patients to grow and pos-

sess marijuana for medical use when rec-

ommended by a doctor. The Clinton

administration maintains that marijuana

is illegal under federal law and pledged to

punish doctors who recommend its use.

"Judge Alsup's decision allows doctors

to get back to doing what we all want our

doctors to be able to do: provide patients

with their best medical advice without fear

of government retaliation " said ACLU-NC

staff attorney Ann Brick. "This ruling pro-

tects the free speech rights of doctors and

should put an end to any further threats by

the government."

The law firm of Altshuler, Berzon,

Nussbaum, Rubin and Demain and the

Lindesmith Center also participated in the

case.

Inside: Board of Directors Election See pages 4 and 5

Honors to ACLU-NC Staff and Board

his season brings honors from many

[| Menizaton to outstanding staff

and board members of the ACLU of

Northern California. Board members'

Aundre Herron and Michelle Welsh and

staff members Michelle Alexander, Fran

Beal and Margaret Crosby are being hon-

ored for their outstanding contributions to

civil liberties and civil rights.

MICHELLE ALEXANDER ~

Michelle Alexander, Director of the ACLU-

- NC Racial Justice Project has been named

the recipient of the Clinton W. White

Advocacy Award by the Charles Houston Bar

Association, an organization representing

African American

lawyers and judges

throughout north-

ern California.

Alexander was cited

for her outstanding

work as an advocate

for justice, particu-

larly in the areas of

education and

racial profiling. Alexander is currently liti-

gating Rodriguez v. CHP, a case against the

California Highway Patrol for racial profil-

ing, and Williams v. Board of Education

which challenges pervasive substandard

conditions in elementary and high schools,

including lack of textbooks, unsanitary

facilities, and teachers without credentials.

Alexander will be honored at the orga-

nization's annual dinner on December

16 at the Marriott City Center Hotel

in Oakland.

For more information and tickets,

call the Charles Houston Bar Assoc-

iation at 510/238-3493

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FRAN BEAL

The Women of Color Resource Center hon-

ored Fran Beal with its Second Annual

Sister of Fire Award on October 29 at its

Tenth Anniversary

Celebration in Oak-

land. Beal, Re-

search Associate

with the ACLU-NC

Racial Justice

Department, was

honored as "peace

and justice activist

and writer who has

focused her formidable energies on Black

women and African American politics over

the past three decades." Beal was cited for

her history of work with the Student

Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the

Third World Women's Alliance, where she

was the editor of the newsletter Triple

Jeopardy, and the National Council for

Negro Women, where she edited The Black

Woman's Voice. Beal has worked in the

Legal Department of the ACLU since 1987.

MARGARET CROSBY

ACLU-NC staff attorney Margaret Crosby is

being honored by the Exploratorium for

her significant con-

tributions in impro-

ving the health and

lives of women.

Crosby was nomi-

nated by Charlotte

Newhart, Director

of the American

College of Obste-

tricians and Gyne-

cologists, as "the

leading attorney in California on issues of

reproductive rights," and "a passionate

leader for the adolescent and women's

health care movement." Crosby has been

on the legal staff of the ACLU-NC since

1976 and has successfully fought to pro-

tect reproductive rights, including litigat-

ing the case that secured Medi-Cal

funding for abortion for indigent women

and the one that struck down a law requir-

ing teenagers seeking abortions to have

permission from their parents or a judge.

A statement about Crosby's work will

be on display at the Exploratorium as part

of an exhibit "The Changing Face of

Women's Health," which will run until the

end of the year. The exhibition contains a

mixture of interactive exhibits, art pieces,

and personal stories to provide a focused

examination of the issues and scientific

research around women's health.

For information on hours and loca-

tion, call the Exploratorium at 415/

563-7337.

AUNDRE HERRON

ACLU-NC Board member Aundre Herron

was honored for her outstanding abolition

work - _ both

inside and out-

side of the court-

room. at the

"Committing to

Conscience" con-

ference on Nov-

ember 18 in San

Francisco.

Herron is on

the legal staff at

the California

Appellate Project where she represents

Death Row prisoners. In addition, she

GRAND PRINTS

serves on the Board of Death Penalty

Focus, a statewide abolitionist organiza-

tion. The national conference, sponsored

by the American Friends Service

Committee, Death Penalty Focus and the

National Coalition to Abolish the Death

Penalty, was attended by more than 500

death penalty activists from around the

country.

In addition to her legal work and anti-

death penalty advocacy, Herron - known

as Aundre the Wonder Woman - is stand-

up comedienne who wows audiences with

her comically caustic routines.

MICHELLE WELSH

ACLU-NC Field Committee Chair and

veteran Monterey County Chapter leader

Michelle Welsh, will receive the Baha'i

Human Rights" award in honor of her

outstanding contributions to human

rights. The award will be presented at a

luncheon, G0-

sponsored by the

United Nations

Association, Am-

nesty Interna-

tional, and the

Baha'i community

of Monterey Bay,

on December 2 at

the Elks Lodge in

Monterey. Welsh

was nominated unanimously by the

Monterey Chapter for "giving hours and

hours of time to causes of racial, social

and economic justice and religious free-

dom," said past Monterey Chapter Chair

Jan Penney. "If Mickey is on your side,

you can feel assured you are on the side

of justice!"

For more information and reserva-

tions, please contact Lorita Fisher at

831/375-8301.

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Planned Parenthood Does Not Have to Yield

Names, Addresses of Staff to Anti-Choice Picketers

BY JENESSE MILLER

n August 28, the California Court of

(pines ruled that Planned

Parenthood Golden Gate does not

have to disclose private information about

Planned Parenthood staff and volunteers to

anti-abortion advocates. The order came in

`the case of Planned Parenthood v. Superior

Court, a case arising out of an anti-choice

protestor's suit against clinic escorts whom

they claim abused them when they picketed

outside the Planned Parenthood clinic.

The ACLU-NC supported Planned

Parenthood's appeal of an earlier ruling by

the San Mateo Superior Court that Planned

Parenthood Golden Gate must divulge the

names, home addresses and home tele-

phone numbers of clinic staff and volun-

teers to anti-choice activists suing Planned

Parenthood.

In vacating the lower court ruling, the

Court of Appeal stated: "The court failed to

balance the constitutional privacy inter-

ests...against the state's interest in com-

pelling disclosure of the information at

issue."

"This is a very important decision," said

ACLU-NC staff attorney Margaret Crosby,

author of the ACLU amicus brief. "The

court recognized that the privacy of our

homes is a value to be cherished, and that

the courts must guard the residential pri-

vacy of abortion providers with particular

zeal, because of the concerted campaign of

violence and terrorism against them."

An anti-choice activist who pickets out-

side Planned Parenthood clinics in San

Mateo, Menlo Park and Redwood City "on a

regular basis" alleged that escorts who vol-

unteer to assist Planned Parenthood

The courts must guard the residential privacy

of abortion providers with particular zeal,

because of the concerted campaign of violence

and terrorism against them.

patients facing a phalanx of anti-choice

demonstrators had engaged in misconduct.

In September 1998, Planned Parenthood

filed a cross-complaint against the anti-

choice activists alleging that demonstrators

- harass and intimidate Planned Parenthood

staff, volunteers, patients and their com-

panions while protesting at clinics.

In the discovery requests that followed,

anti-choice activists argued for the disclo-

sure of residential addresses and telephone

numbers of clinic staff and volunteers that

were not party to either suit. Planned

Parenthood refused on the basis of the con-

stitutional right to privacy. The Superior

Court ordered the information revealed.

In its appeal of the ruling, Planned

Parenthood argued there is no compelling

reason to disclose the personal information

of Planned Parenthood staff and volunteers

to individuals and attorneys involved in anti-

abortion activities and the court agreed.

"California's constitutional right to privacy is

even broader and more protective of privacy

than federal protections, " Crosby said. The

court held that the disclosure order infringes

on the rights of people not named in the law-

suits to freely and privately associate with

Planned Parenthood, violating the First

Amendment right to freedom of association.

"The privacy interests at issue are par-

ticularly strong because the consequences

of disclosure of the private information are

profound, " the court stated in its 25-page

ACLU News = NoVEMBER-DECEMBER 2000 = Pace 2

opinion. "Human experience compels us

to conclude that disclosure carries with it

serious risks which include the nationwide (c)

dissemination of the individual's private

information...and the infliction of threats,

force and violence." The court also noted

that an Internet website entitled the

`Nuremberg Files' "is specific evidence

that Planned Parenthood's staff and volun-

teers could well face unique and very real

threats not just to their privacy, but to

their safety and well-being if personal

information about them is disclosed."

"A court order handing over the home

information about clinic staff to anti-abor-

tion activists would have a chilling effect on

people's willingness to work or volunteer at

family planning clinics," explained Crosby.

Federal and state laws have been

passed in the wake of anti-abortion vio-

lence. The Freedom of Access to Clinic

Entrances (FACE) Act of 1994, which

established federal criminal penalties for

violent and obstructive actions. A

California law, which makes it unlawful to

intentionally prevent an individual from

entering or exiting a health care facility,

directs courts to safeguard the privacy of

patients, doctors and health care facility

staff and clients.

"The court's decision creates a wel-

come safe haven in the unrelenting storm

of violence and harassment experienced

by the people who make reproductive

rights a reality," Crosby said.

Jenesse Miller is an intern in the ACLU-

NC Public Information Department.

ACLU Protects Speech on Internet

unheard, then it is important that the ACLU step in to be sure that those

The ability of ordinary people to use the Internet is increasingly coming

under attack," charges ACLU-NC Ann Brick. "Tf the Internet is to fulfill its

promise as providing a forum for those whose voices would otherwise go

voices are not silenced." In the cases described below, Brick stepped in to

Send off the censors from Alpine County to Fresno to San Francisco.

OF DOSKRESHESSSHRSSHS SOG SSSHESPSOFESOSHESSHESSSRSSHESSFEARSSHESOFHRSSHESSHERSSCHSSFSSSCHPSSHESSCSHSSH#SSSRSHSOHEROSHRSSCHE ISS SSHSCHSE SHE HRSOSCHSSCH SESS HE GS EG

Profs Agree to Dismiss

Suit Against "Teacher

Review' Webmaster

in San Francisco Superior Court, the

ACLU-NC won a victory in Curzon

Brown v. San Francisco Community

College District. when City College profes-

sors Daniel Curzon Brown and Jesse David

Wall voluntarily agreed to dismiss their

lawsuit against the operator of an Internet

website where students can post critiques

of their teachers. The defendant, Ryan

Lathouwers, was represented by Bernard

Burk and Amy Margolin of Howard, Rice,

Nemerovski, Canady, Falk and Rabkin, and

ACLU-NC staff attorneys Ann Brick and

Margaret Crosby.

The Teacher Review website, which

Lathouwers created while a City College

student in 1997, provides an online

resource for students trying to decide

which teachers and courses to select.

Lathouwers, who left City College in 1998,

has continued to maintain the site without

compensation as a service to the City

College community. Curzon Brown and

Wall, who had among the lowest overall

ratings of the over 600 City College instruc-

tors reviewed on the site, were suing

Lathouwers, the site's "webmaster," over

their objections to comments about them

that had been posted on Teacher Review,

and over their objections to Lathouwers'

administration of the site.

"The dismissal of this case is a victory

for free speech on the Internet," said attor-

ney Bernard Burk. "It fulfills the promise

Congress made to Internet site and service

providers in enacting the Communications

Decency Act, and the promise the

Founders made to everyone in adopting

the First Amendment."

"The dismissal of this lawsuit is a true

vindication for Ryan Lathouwers and for

the hard work he has done in providing

students at City College with an effective

Ji days before'a scheduled hearing

way to share information about teaching at

the school," said ACLU-NC staff attorney

Ann Brick. "It is also a real victory for the

many working students at City College who

would have lost a valuable resource had

the plaintiffs succeeded in their lawsuit.

This lawsuit threatened one of the most

important and fundamental functions of

the Internet: providing forums for the

expression of opinion."

"Tm very glad the law provided the

protections I needed to continue to offer

Continued on page 8

Justice Department Says

INS Can't Shut Down

Agent's Website

en Border Patrol agent John

Crockford set up his personal

website "devoted to promoting the

work of the men and women who staff the

Fresno Border Patrol station," he did not

expect that his employer of 23 years would

order him to shut it down.

But after Crockford, who was the

Patrol Agent in Charge of the Fresno Office

of the Border Patrol, posted a Fresno Bee

article reporting that employer sanctions

had decreased since the INS took over the

investigations from the Border Patrol,

that's exactly what happened.

When Crockford's grievance to the INS

brought no results, ACLU-NC staff attorney

Ann Brick wrote several letters to the INS

on behalf of Crockford, explaining that the

agency's order to remove the website vio-

lates the First Amendment.

"Public employees have the First

Amendment right to speak on matters of

public concern," explained Brick, "and as a

general rule, the government may not pun-

ish a public employee's speech on such

issues. Agent Crockford's posting of infor-

mation about the Fresno Border Patrol

Office - which had already run in the news-

paper - is certainly a matter of public con-

Cena 4

In a September 1 letter from the

General Counsel of the INS, Crockford's

rights were vindicated. The INS agreed

with the ACLU that the agency had "acted

precipitously" in ordering Crockford to

close his website, and issued a directive

allowing him to resume publication.

In addition, the INS agreed to draft a

revised policy on employee websites, and

disseminate it to field operations person-

nel, in order to "avoid this type of problem

in the future."

"Our efforts to prevent website censor-

ship were particularly important in this

case," explained Brick, "where the censor's

gag was being wielded by the government.'

Ne ea Oe 2000 = Pace 3

Court Lifts Gag Order:

Public Documents on the

Internet Are Protected

n September 13, the Alpine County

O Superior Court vacated a "gag"

order that required all public court

documents to be taken down from a con-

troversial website, www.smalltownjustice.

com, put up by Karl and Judy Hoelscher.

The court's action came in response to a

Rick ROCAMORA

ruling in August by the Third District

Court of Appeal agreeing to review the con-

stitutionality of the gag order unless it was

vacated by the Superior Court. The ACLU-

NC filed an amicus brief in the appellate

court in support of the Hoelschers' bid to

have the gag order lifted.

"We are extremely pleased that the

court has vacated its order," said ACLU-NC

staff attorney Ann Brick. "All of the docu-

ments affected by the order were available

to anyone who asked to see them at the

courthouse. The website simply opened

the courthouse door to the rest of the

world."

The dispute over the website began

shortly after Karl Hoelscher put the site up

in 1997, after his wife, Judy Komaroni

Hoelscher, was sentenced to four months in

jail as the result of a car chase with police.

Their website was highly critical of both

the CHP officer Gregory Mason who con-

ducted the arrest and the manner in which

the judicial system dealt with her case.

When Mason and his wife sued the

Hoelschers for libel and invasion of priva-

cy, the Hoelschers began posting docu-

ments filed in the case on their website. At

the Masons' urging, the Alpine Superior

Court issued a "gag" order on April 28

ordering the Hoelschers to remove all the

of the court filings in the case from the

website. The Hoelschers then asked the

Court of Appeal to overturn the order.

"The court order reaffirms that individ-

uals who publish websites are entitled to

Continued on page 8

ACLU Urges Appeals

Court to Reconsider

Napster Ruling

CITES CENSORSHIP EFFECT ON

INTERNET USERS

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on

August 25, the ACLU urged the court to

lift the injunction issued against Napster,

the popular music-sharing Internet site,

and to direct the lower court to hear evi-

dence in the case before deciding the diffi-

cult issues presented.

In the battle between giants in the

record industry and the Internet service

industry, the ACLU said in legal papers, "the

district court overlooked the effect of the

court's actions on individual Internet users."

"Whenever speech is enjoined, it is a

matter of constitutional import," said Ann

Brick, a staff attorney with the ACLU of

Northern California, which filed the brief

which together with the national ACLU in

A M Records v. Napster.

"Although still in its infancy, the

Internet has become a medium of unprece-

dented, interactive mass communication.

The injunction in this case has the poten-

tial for affecting this vital new medium of

communication and cannot be taken light-

ly," she said.

l na friend-of-the court brief filed in the

The ACLU brief said that in order to

comply with the District Court's order,

Napster would have to stop most of the

music exchanges its users engage in, not

just those exchanges that are covered by

the music companies' copyright.

In effect, the ACLU said, the injunction

denies Napster users the opportunity to

share almost any music, regardless of

whether the exchange would violate the

record company's copyright. In doing so,

the injunction suppresses more speech

than necessary to protect the copyright

interests of the music companies and thus

is unconstitutionally overbroad.

The ACLU takes no position on the

underlying issue of whether or not the

Napster system violates the copyright laws.

"The court should not have issued an

injunction without first holding an eviden-

tiary hearing," said Chris Hansen, a senior

staff attorney with the national ACLU.

"In a case like this one where the evi-

dence is both voluminous and hotly con-

tested, it is crucial that there be a forum

Continued on page 8

2. Le 7},

Who is eligible to vote?

The by-laws of the ACLU of Northern California call for the at-large Directors of the

Board to be elected by the general membership. The general membership are those

members in good standing who have joined or renewed their membership within the

last twelve months.

The label affixed to this issue of the ACLU News indicates on the top line the year and

month when your membership expires.

If you are not eligible to vote, you may choose to renew your membership, and thereby

resume your membership in good standing, at the same time you submit your ballot.

If you share a joint membership, each individual is entitled to vote separately - two

spaces are provided on the ballot.

How are candidates nominated to run for

the Board of Directors?

The ACLU-NC by-laws permit two methods of nomination. Candidates may be nomi-

nated by the current Board of Directors after consideration of the Nominating

Committee's recommendations. Candidates also may be nominated by petition bear-

ing the signatures of at least fifteen ACLU-NC members in good standing.

Ballot Instructions

Candidates are listed on these pages in alphabetical order. After marking your ballot,

clip it and enclose the ballot and your address label from this issue of the ACLU News

in an envelope. Your address label must be included to ensure voter eligibility.

Address the envelope to:

Board Elections, ACLU of Northern California

1663 Mission Street, Suite 460, San Francisco, CA 94103

If you have a joint membership, you may use both of the columns provided, and each

of the members may vote separately.

If you wish to ensure the confidentiality of your ballot, insert your ballot in a double

envelope with the special mailing label in the outer one. The envelopes will be sepa-

rated before the counting of the ballots.

Ballots must be returned to the ACLU by noon on December 7, 2000.

There are ten candidates running to fill ten vacancies on the Board of Directors. You

may vote for up to ten candidates.

For your consideration, we are publishing brief statements submitted by the candidates

for election to the Board of Directors. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order.

rights organizations.

California is rapidly trans-

forming and the ACLU is at

| the forefront of ushering in

ie in my second year on the Board and currently

serve as a member of the Development and

Legislative Policy committees. I think that I am

most valued for my thoughtful contributions to

Board and committee discussions of ACLU-NC's sub-

stantive positions.

I grew up and attended public school in Richmond,

California where I learned much about poverty, racial

justice and civil rights issues. 1 graduated from

Harvard University in 1973 and Boalt Hall School of

Law in 1977. I have been a civil rights litigator for over

twenty years, primarily in the areas of prisoners' con-

stitutional rights and employment discrimination. |

am a trained and practiced mediator and early neutral evaluator of other lawyers'/liti-

gants' disputes. I am a former Co-Chair of BALIF, the Bay Area's g/I/b/t bar association,

and former Legal Committee member for The National Center for Lesbian Rights.

Nominated by: Board of Directors

Incumbent: Yes

Rini Chakraborty

s a graduate of the Friedman Project and former volunteer with the ACLU, I was

fortunate enough to grow up with the ACLU family and I owe much of my activist

core to the dynamic synergism of this organization's members and staff. Currently,

I work with the Califor-

nia Immigrant Welfare

Collaborative, a statewide

partnership of immigrant

a new era of civil liberties

and fundamental rights in

this state. 1 owe a lot to the ACLU, and I appreciate

this opportunity to give something back. | look for-

ward to this new role and working with all of you.

Thank you.

Nominated by: Board of Directors

incumbent: Yes

am very proud and honored to be a member of the

ACLU Board of Directors. As chair of the

Development Committee I have had the privilege of

working with an incredibly committed group of people

who work very hard to insure the success of this organi-

zation. Our efforts in connecting with our supporters

have strengthened the ACLU and helped grow the pro-

gram to make the ACLU the leader in the fight for jus-

tice, equality and free speech.

I am interested in continuing to reach out to our

supporters so that the ACLU will be able to expand its

program and continue its important work. A strong

ACLU is imperative to the protection of our civil liber-

ties and civil rights.

Nominated by: Board of Directors

Incumbent: Yes

-AGLU News = Novenser-DECEMBER rt.) eC

Martha Jimenez

66 ce speak a true word is to transform the world." In

my 15+ years of activism on behalf of immigrants, -

low-income communities, GLBT communities and com-

munities of color, I have taken to heart these words of

Paolo Freire and believe them to embody my approach

to the work I do and to the vision that the ACLU-NC is

carrying out in our state. In my experience, both as a

current member of the ACLU-NC Board and a former

civil rights litigator with the Mexican American Legal

Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), the ACLU

is often the only voice protecting all of our voices on

some of the most controversial issues of our time. I am

committed to this work and its continuation. Finally, as

a Latina, a lesbian, a civil rights attorney and currently, a program officer for The

Rockefeller Foundation examining the intersections of work and health in poor communi-

ties, I believe that I bring a perspective from these varied experiences that will enrich the

deliberations of the Board and ensure that the ACLU-NC continues to speak and protect

the words that transform our world. I am honored by this nomination and will do my best

to earn your support.

Nominated by: Board of Directors

incumbent: Yes

Jenny Kern

he ACLU's job of defending the rights of people

under the Constitution is as critical as ever in the

post-Propositions 187 and 209 California in which we

live. I am honored by the nomination and would be

pleased to re-join the ACLU-NC Board of Directors.

During my tenure as a Board member from 1994

through 1998 I served on the Legislative Policy

Committee and the Ad Hoc Committee on Poverty

and Civil Liberties bringing a disability rights per-

spective to the table. I chose the Bay Area as my

home because of its legacy of political activism,

including its pivotal role as the birthplace of the

Independent Living and Disability Rights move-

ments. The opportunity to support the ACLU-NC's work in defending the civil rights

and liberties of all Northern Californians with my time and energy is a privilege.

Thank you for your consideration.

Nominated by: Board of Directors

Incumbent: No

Steven L. Mayer

have been involved in the ACLU-NC for over twenty

years. I have served continuously on the Legal

Committee since 1977 and am currently its Chairperson.

I was a member of the ACLU-NC Board of Directors from

1980 to 1988 and rejoined the Board in 1998. As a consti-

tutional lawyer, I have also participated in many ACLU

cases, from fighting for the right of a gay employee of a

defense contractor to hold a security clearance to chal-

lenging drug testing to protecting the rights of tenants to

post political signs in their apartment windows.

I am currently working with the ACLU-NC in a chal-

lenge to Proposition 21, the horrendous "juvenile jus-

tice" initiative that was approved by the electorate last

March. I hope to continue my work of the ACLU-NC for three more years as a member of

its Board of Directors.

Nominated by: Board of Directors

Incumbent: Yes

Margaret Russell

am honored and delighted to run for re-election to

the ACLU-NC Board. The work of the ACLU-NC both

encompasses and fulfills many of the ethical, legal, and

political principles that I cherish most dearly: civil

rights, freedom of expression and belief, opposition to

the death penalty, the right to privacy, and other fun-

damental individual rights. I have been actively

engaged in the affiliate Board's activities since 1988,

and have served on every standing committee of the

Board. I have. chaired the Legislative Policy

Committee, the Legal Committee, and have served as

the affiliate representative to the ACLU National

Board. Since January 2000, I have been the chair of

the ACLU-NC Board, and have thoroughly enjoyed the

opportunity to immerse-myself in the policy, fundraising, finance, and other gover-

nance aspects of the organization. I look forward to a long and fruitful association with

this fine group of colleagues.

Nominated by: Board of Directors

incumbent: Yes

David Salniker

{2 honored to serve as a Board Member of the ACLU

of Northern California and to seek your vote for

another term. I am currently the Treasurer and Chair of

the Finance and Investment Committees of the Board.

As Treasurer, I also serve on the Executive Committee.

During the fight to save affirmative action in California,

I served as the National Lawyers' Guild representative to

the Northern California Civil Rights Coalition and on the

steering committee of the No On 209 campaign. The

affiliate, under Dorothy Ehrlich's leadership, has

emerged not just as legal guardian of our civil liberties

but as a strong coalition builder among civil rights,

youth and grassroots organizations.

In my "real job" as Executive Director of the Tides Center, our priority is providing

technical and financial assistance to social justice organizations.

lam very grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve this affiliate.

Nominated by: Board of Directors

Incumbent: Yes |

Frances Strauss

to 1972 and includes: being one of the founders of

the San Francisco Chapter; forming our ongoing

Counseling Desk, organizing what has become our tradi-

tional Bill of Rights Day Celebration and fundraising,

which in turn has grown into our Major Donors

Campaign. I have also served on the Executive, Field,

Annual Conference, Officer Nominating, and Student

Outreach Committees. I served a term as Chair of the

Development Committee, of which I have been a mem-

ber for a number of years. I am also a member of the

DeSilver Society.

In 1989, I was honored with the Lola Hanzel

Courageous Advocacy Award. For the year 1997, I was named "Board Member Emeritus."

With your cooperation I look forward to continuing to work for this great organization.

Nominated hy: Board of Directors |

Incumbent: Yes

Jon Streeter

|= partner with Keker and Van Nest in San Francisco,

specializing in complex civil litigation, primarily in

the area of intellectual property. I have been a member

of the ACLU-NC Board of Directors since 1997 and cur-

rently serve on the Legal Committee. A significant

component of my law practice involves pro bono and

public interest work. I am serving as cooperating coun-

sel for the ACLU in Rodriguez v. California Highway

Patrol, a racial profiling class action.

I have been nominated to become an officer of the

Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF) in 2001 and

will become its president in 2003. I am also on the

Leadership Committee of the Volunteer Legal Services

Program, the largest provider of legal assistance to the poor in the Bay Area. | am the past

Chair of the Northern District of California Lawyer Representatives to Ninth Circuit Court

of Appeals and a member of the American Law Institute.

I am a graduate of Stanford and Boalt Hall School of Law. | served as a law clerk to

Chief Judge Harry T. Edwards of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of

Columbia Circuit (1982-83), and as a law student extern to Judge Thelton E. Henderson of

the Northern District of California.

Or

Nominated by: Board of Directors

Incumbent: Yes

Please vote in the squares provided.

You may vote for up to ten

candidates.

000

allot

Q O Stevenl Mayer

O O Margaret Russell

QO O David Salniker

O O Frances Strauss

O O Jon Streeter

oint members use

both squares.

QO Q Donna Brorby

Q O Rini Chakraborty

QO O Quinn Delaney

QO (c) Martha Jimenez

0 O Jenny Kern

Please clip and send along with your address label to ACLU-NC Board

Elections, 1668 Mission Street, #460, San Francisco, CA 94108.

y past experience with the ACLU-NC reaches back |

Bea ee Oe ee oe

Back to School Without Books: Civil Rights

Groups Demand a Survey

t a news conference on September

12 at the ACLU-NC office, the ACLU .

nd other civil rights groups

announced that they filed a motion to

require that the State of California find out

whether public school students have books

to use in class and at home in each of their

core subjects. The motion asks the San

Francisco Superior Court to appoint a neu-

tral expert to design and carry out a survey

of California teachers asking them about

the availability of books in their classes.

In its response to requests for informa-

tion in the ACLU landmark education case,

Williams v. California, filed in May of this

year, the state responded that it does not

know whether public school students in

California have books to study and claimed

that it has no responsibility for ensuring

that they do.

"Students and teachers are back in

school," said Michelle Alexander, Director

of the ACLU-NC Racial Justice Project,

"but the State of California is nowhere to

_ be found. There's no control and no respon-

sibility, and as a direct result many of

California's students still don't have the

most basic of all learning tools: a book."

In fact, the defendants in the class

action lawsuit, State Superintendent of

Public Instruction Delaine Eastin, the

California Department of Education, and

the State Board of Education, confirmed

through their attorneys that "The extent of

educational materials in all districts is

unknown."

The California Legislature, on the oth-

Anti-Gay Harassment

Suit for H.S. Students

~ in Ninth Circuit

n October 5, the Ninth Circuit Court

QO of Appeals heard arguments in

Flores v. Morgan Hill Unified School

District on behalf of six South Bay high

school students who had been continually

and cruelly harassed because they were

perceived to be lesbian or gay.

The ACLU and the National Center for

Lesbian Rights repre-

sent six former students

Olivia Saunders and Silas Moultrie, students at Luther Burbank Middle School, with

their 1982 textbook.

er hand, has clearly recognized that the

California Constitution requires the state

to ensure that all students have textbooks

deserve the same protections."

The issue before the Ninth Circuit is |

whether the school administrators must |

face a trial on the students' claims against

them. The administrators argue that they

are immune from the lawsuit because they

could not be expected to know that their

deliberate indifference to the known anti-

gay harassment of the

students in their school

at Live Oak High School

who were the victims of

cruel and unrelenting

anti-gay harassment by

their peers. In 1997, the

students sued the

Morgan Hill Unified

School District and six

of its administrators in

USS. District Court alleg-

ing that the school dis-

trict discriminated

This case allows

the Ninth Circuit

to reaffirm that in

the public schools,

all students

deserve the same

protections.

violates the equal pro-

tection clause of the fed-

eral Constitution. Last

February, the district

court rejected that

defense and ruled that

the students are entitled

to a jury trial. It is that

ruling - that the admin-

istrators are not immune

from the suit - that is

before the Ninth Circuit.

against the students on

the basis of their sexual

orientation because of the administrators'

deliberate indifference to the known verbal

and physical attacks on the students.

"This case is important because it serves

as a reminder that public schools are

responsible for protecting students per-

ceived to be gay or lesbian from harass-

ment," said ACLU-NC staff attorney Bob

Kim. "These students faced continual

harassment and violent threats by their

classmates without any protection from

school authorities. Their pleas were ignored

and the harassment continued unabated.

This case allows the Ninth Circuit to reaf-

firm that in the public schools, all students

"It is troubling that

these school officials

continue to insist that the law permitted

them to ignore complaints of harassment

and violence simply because the students

lodging the complaints were lesbian, gay or

bisexual, or perceived to be," said Christine

Hwang of the National Center for Lesbian

Rights.

Cooperating attorney James Emery of

Keker and Van Nest argued the case on behalf

of the students. The students are represent-

ed by the American Civil Liberties Union of

Northern California, the National Center for

Lesbian Rights, the National ACLU

Lesbian/Gay Rights Project, and attorneys

at the firm of Keker and Van Nest, LLP. @

and other instructional materials.

In 1994, the Legislature declared that,

".education is a fundamental interest

which is secured by the state constitution-

al guarantee of equal protection under the

law, and...to the extent that every pupil

does not have access to textbooks or

instructional material in each subject, a

pupil's right to educational opportunity is

impaired."

"When schools fail, students have

rights guaranteed by California's

Constitution," said Michael Jacobs, at

Morrison and Foerster, pro bono co-counsel

in the case, "but the State's educational

agencies don't respond, and don't even

know when public schools fail to provide

every student with the books and materials

required for learning. The State should

have a system for finding that out, but it

doesn't. This motion seeks to address that

gap in basic accounting."

The suit was filed on behalf of more

than 100 student plaintiffs at 46 schools.

"We don't get to take the books home for

homework because there aren't enough

books," said Silas Moultrie, an eighth grad-

er at Luther Burbank Middle School in San

Francisco, who displayed his 1982 torn

Social Studies book at the news confer-

ence. "Without enough books, we're not

getting the education we should be get-

ting." Moultrie's book is six years older

than he is, and has lessons on the "current"

state of the Soviet Union and the Cold War.

"In my English class, we don't have our

literature books yet this year," said Olivia

Saunders, who is also an eighth grader at

Luther Burbank Middle School. "The

teacher already explained to us that when

we get the books, we won't be able to take

them home because we're not going to get

enough for all the students in the class-

rooms."

The suit was filed by the ACLU affili-

ates of California, Morrison and Foerster

LLP, Public Advocates, Inc., the Mexican

American Legal Defense and Educational

Fund, Center for Law in the Public

Interest, Lawyers' Committee for Civil

Rights, the Asian Pacific American Legal

Center and others.

Davis Denies Media

Access to Prisoners

BY PETER SUSSMAN

n the last day of the legislative ses-

sion, Governor Gray Davis vetoed

AB 2101, a bill to restore the right

of the news media to interview specified

prisoners face to face and to receive confi-

dential mail from inmates. This is the

third time such a bill has been vetoed and

the second time by Davis. The ACLU

Legislative Office worked closely with the

Society of Professional Journalists over

the past several years to win bipartisan

legislative support for the measure. This

year, the bill, authored by Assembly

Member Carole Migden, was watered

down in an attempt to meet the objections

cited by Davis for his previous veto.

Like its predecessor bills, AB 2101

passed both houses of the Legislature by

overwhelming, bipartisan margins and

with the vigorous editorial support of

most, if not all, of the state's daily newspa-

pers. One Republican legislator summa-

rized much of the legislative sentiment

when he said, "We do not hold prisoners

incommunicado in this country." In all

three of its incarnations, the bills would

have restored a system of face-to-face

interviews that worked successfully for

more than 20 years before it was ended

unilaterally by the Department of

Corrections - at first secretly, in late

1995, and then through emergency regula-

tions in 1996. The Department has been

unable to cite any untoward incident that

AGLU News = Novenser-DecEMBER 2000 = Pace 6

provoked the reversal of the decades-long

practice of media interviews with people

who are incarcerated.

"Apparently, Governor Davis wants to

keep Californians in the dark on what hap-

pens behind prison walls," said ACLU

Legislative Director Francisco Lobaco.

"The only plausible explanation why this

Governor wants to keep secret from the

public what happens in our prisons is that

he is afraid the truth will come out."

From the beginning of the five-year

dispute, much of the support for these reg-

ulations has been based on the content of

news coverage and on the views expressed

in interviews - which violates the First

Amendment, Lobaco explained.

"Public trials might also be painful for

victims and their families, but it would be

unthinkable to close trials because they,

like in-prison interviews, serve a public

good that outweighs the possible emotion-

al impact on victims and are constitution-

ally protected," Lobaco said. e

"This measure was a compromise that

would have simply allowed journalists the

opportunity to do their jobs when they vis-

it an inmate - conduct an interview with -

the `tools of their trade," he added.

Journalists, media organizations and

free press advocates plan to reintroduce

the legislation next year.

Peter Sussman is the former President of

the Society of Professional Journalists.

Help

Build the ACLU-NC

JOIN PHONE BANKS FOR BILL OF RIGHTS CAMPAIGN

e know your time is

valuable...so we

ask you to consider

joining us for just one

evening of our annual Bill of

Rights Pledge Campaign -

the money raised goes direct-

ly to support the ACLU's

proven three-part strategy of

legal advocacy, public educa-

tion and community organiz-

ing.

Thanks to dozens of vol-

unteer Advocates like Irving

Hochman and _ Florence

Moore (pictured at right)

who participated last year, the

ACLU-NC had the resources

necessary to defend the rights

of some of the most defense-

less people in our community.

This year, with your help, we'll

do even more to ensure that

we can assist those who need

our help.

You can support our work

by phoning members and taking pledges at

one of our four phone bank evenings listed

below. As a volunteer Advocate you'll

receive a choice of two special thank you

Francisco.

Florence Moore and Irving Hochman, active volunteers

in the Bill of Rights Advocates Campaign, at a thank-

you party for fundraising volunteers at Pauline's in San

gifts, a set of parchment and gold-leaf note

cards with the famous Jefferson quote,

"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of

Happiness," (originally printed to com-

ACLU Helps Defeat

S.F. Vehicle Forfeiture Law

CourT UPHOLDS OAKLAND ORDINANCE

y an 8 to 3 vote on September 25,

B the San Francisco Board of

Supervisors defeated a vehicle for-

feiture ordinance that would have allowed

the police to seize vehicles from persons

arrested - but not convicted - of soliciting

prostitutes or drugs.

"We are pleased that the Board recog-

nized that the proposed San Francisco

ordinance was fundamentally at variance

with basic civil liberties protections," said

ACLU-NC managing attorney Alan

Schlosser who testified against the mea-

sure, sponsored by Supervisor Amos

Brown.

A few weeks later, however, on October

17, the California Supreme Court denied

review of the ACLU-NC appeal of the

California Court of Appeal July ruling

upholding the Oakland asset seizure ordi-

nance (Horton v. City of Oakland). The

Oakland ordinance allows police officers to

seize automobiles allegedly used to solicit

acts of prostitution or acquire illegal drugs

- even in instances where there is no crimi-

nal conviction. In addition, the ordinance

allows the city to sell the seized vehicles,

with the proceeds of the sale going directly

to local law enforcement agencies, even if

the owner of the vehicle had no knowledge

that the car was being used for illegal

activity.

The ACLU-NC argued that the Oakland

law ignores basic legal standards estab-

lished by the state Legislature to protect

individual rights and innocent people,

especially when the vehicle owner was not

involved in the illegal activity or when the

vehicle is the family's only car. Under

California state law, vehicles may be for-

feited only under limited circumstances,

and state statute exempts innocent owners

and a family's only car. Under the Oakland

ordinance, the innocence of the owner and

the hardships of the family are irrelevant.

"Both the California Legislature and

Congress have recognized the well-docu-

mented history of abuse and excess in the

implementation of civil asset forfeiture.

Yet in enacting the first local forfeiture

ordinance in this state, Oakland has cho-

sen to impose forfeiture in its most expan-

sive and onerous form," said Schlosser. "It

is understandable that Oakland should

take measures to deter crime in its neigh:

borhoods. However, ignoring basic legal

standards established by the Legislature to

protect innocent people and prevent abus-

es is the wrong way to pursue this goal."

Schlosser noted that there were sever-

al other cases pending in the courts chal-

lenging various aspects of the Oakland

ordinance, including one where a judge

ruled that seizure of a $5,000 truck was dis-

_proportionate punishment for a $20 mari-

Juana buy.

"Unless other cities follow the princi-

pled example of the San Francisco Board

of Supervisors, we are likely to see a balka-

nized forfeiture system in this state, with

different communities competing to estab-

lish their own forfeiture operations,

prompted by political pressures and the

lure of revenue is generated from forfei-

ture sales," Schlosser added.

A bipartisan coalition in Congress

recently enacted the Civil Asset Forfeiture

Reform Act of 2000, which narrowed the

scope of federal forfeiture laws and provid-

ed property owners with procedural pro-

tections and defenses. The bill's author,

conservative Congressman Henry Hyde,

made clear the basis for this legislative

action: "Enlisted 25 years ago as a legiti-

mate auxiliary tool in the so-called war on

drugs, the legal doctrines of civil asset for-

feiture have since been perverted to serve

an entirely improper function in our demo-

cratic system of government -official con-

fiscation from innocent citizens of their

money and property with little or no due

process of law or judicial protection."

ACLU News = Novenser-DECEMBER 2000 = Pace 7

November

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12 13-14 15 17 18

19 20 21 22 23. 24 25

26 27 29 30

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December

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memorate the U.S. Bicentennial) or an

elegant Statue of Liberty bookmark in

etched metal with gold finish.

Think about it. The more members

we reach, the more money we raise -

the more effectively we can protect civil

liberties and guard the Bill of Rights.

ACLUN_1981.MODS ACLUN_1981.batch ACLUN_1982 ACLUN_1982.MODS ACLUN_1982.batch ACLUN_1983 ACLUN_1983.MODS ACLUN_1984 ACLUN_1984.MODS ACLUN_1984.batch ACLUN_1985 ACLUN_1985.MODS ACLUN_1985.batch ACLUN_1986 ACLUN_1986.MODS ACLUN_1986.batch ACLUN_1987 ACLUN_1987.MODS ACLUN_1987.batch ACLUN_1988 ACLUN_1988.MODS ACLUN_1988.batch ACLUN_1989 ACLUN_1989.MODS ACLUN_1989.batch ACLUN_1990 ACLUN_1990.MODS ACLUN_1990.batch ACLUN_1991 ACLUN_1991.MODS ACLUN_1991.batch ACLUN_1992 ACLUN_1992.MODS ACLUN_1992.batch ACLUN_1993 ACLUN_1993.MODS ACLUN_1993.batch ACLUN_1994 ACLUN_1994.MODS ACLUN_1994.batch ACLUN_1995 ACLUN_1995.MODS ACLUN_1995.batch ACLUN_1996 ACLUN_1996.MODS ACLUN_1996.batch ACLUN_1997 ACLUN_1997.MODS ACLUN_1997.batch ACLUN_1998 ACLUN_1998.MODS ACLUN_1998.batch ACLUN_1999 ACLUN_1999.MODS ACLUN_1999.batch ACLUN_2000 ACLUN_2000.MODS ACLUN_2000.batch ACLUN_2001 ACLUN_2001.MODS ACLUN_2002 ACLUN_2002.MODS ACLUN_2003 ACLUN_2003.MODS ACLUN_2004 ACLUN_2004.MODS ACLUN_2005 ACLUN_2005.MODS ACLUN_2006 ACLUN_2006.MODS ACLUN_2007 ACLUN_2007.MODS ACLUN_2008 ACLUN_2008.MODS ACLUN_2009 ACLUN_2009.MODS ACLUN_2010 ACLUN_2010.MODS ACLUN_2011 ACLUN_2011.MODS ACLUN_2012 ACLUN_2012.MODS ACLUN_2013 ACLUN_2013.MODS ACLUN_2014 ACLUN_2014.MODS ACLUN_2015 ACLUN_2015.MODS ACLUN_2016 ACLUN_2016.MODS ACLUN_2017 ACLUN_2017.MODS ACLUN_2018 ACLUN_2018.MODS ACLUN_2019 ACLUN_2019.MODS ACLUN_ladd ACLUN_ladd.MODS add-tei.sh create-bags.sh create-manuscript-bags.sh create-manuscript-batch.sh fits.log San Mateo

All phone banks are held at the

ACLU-NC office, 1663 Mission Street,

San Francisco, from 6pm - 9pm. There

is ample street parking and dinner is

provided each night.

For more information, contact Bill

Carpmill at 415/431-8651.

Diane R. Cash, Estate

planning attorney and

expert, will cover important

topics including:

m@ Goals of estate

planning

m The probate process

and how to minimize

its costs or avoid

probate altogether

m0x2122 Reducing estate taxes

m Providing more for the

people and organiza-

tions important to you

D? you want the government to distribute

your estate?

Without a properly executed estate plan,

that's what will happen.

To avoid this, please join us for a special

seminar on

The Basics

xO Estate Planning

Three Embarcadero Center,

' Directors of the Bay Area Lawyers'

At the law firm of Howard,

Rice, Nemerovski, Canady,

Falk and Rabkin

7th Floor, San Francisco

Diane R. Cash is a certified specialist in

estate planning, trust and probate law and

has been practicing law since 1982. She

opened her own law firm in 1994 after

working for many years at one of San

Francisco's largest law firms. She serves on

the Board of Directors of the AIDS Legal

Referral Panel, where she has been a volun-

teer for over thirteen years. She also serves

on the Executive Committee of the Board of

Committee for Civil Rights.

__ YES, I would like to attend The Basics of Estate Planning. Please reserve places.

_.__I CANNOT ATTEND, but please let me know if you plan to have another seminar.

NAME:

ADDRESS:

GUEEY: STATE: ANN

TELEPHONE: E-MAIL:

Please return to:

Stan Yogi, Director of Planned Giving. ACLU Foundation of Northern California

1663 Mission Street, Suite 460, San Francisco, CA 94103

f

LP PO DP

Welsh and Stoner Take

on Monterey

By MELISSA SCHWARTZ

CLU-NC Monterey Chapter activists |

since 1978, Mickey Welsh and Kathy |

toner have done it all. Partners for |

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

over 25 years, they have both served as |

Chapter chairs, members of the ACLU-NC |

Legal committee, cooper-

ating counsel (most

notably in the cases of

Bobb v. Superior Court,

which resulted in a pub-

lished opinion: prohibit-

ing sex discrimination in

jury selection, and

Ringler v. Monterey,

challenging the place-

ment of a nativity scene

in front of city hall),

helped with the chapter's

annual essay contest

(now in its 17th year) and

worked on every "No on

Prop" campaign since

they joined the chapter in

what they call a "lifelong

commitment to preserve and expand the

constitutional rights of all people."

Currently, Welsh is the Chair of the

Field Activist Committee, Chapter

Representative to the ACLU-NC Board, and

a member of both the Legal and Executive

Committees. Stoner serves on the Legal

Committee. They both are Monterey

County Chapter Board members.

Welsh and Stoner got involved with the

ACLU during the "NO on Prop 6" campaign

in 1978, the anti-gay rights ballot initiative

that would have barred teachers from dis-

cussing gay and lesbian issues in public

schools. "When we went looking to join a

coalition working to defeat the initiative,

we met Dick Criley and a bunch of other

straight ACLU activists," remembers

Welsh. "That's where we first learned

effective community organizing. Dick

Criley knew that the best way to involve

people in the ACLU was not to try to get

them to buy into `our issues' but to go to

them and work on theirs."

Welsh and Stoner are also active in other

community organizations. Welsh is a Board

member emeritus of Monterey College of

Law and Stoner is the current President of

the Girl Scout Board of directors. The have

both served as president of the Monterey

County Bar Association and the Monterey

County Women Lawyers Association. The

with the ACLU.

a

(Chapter meetings are open to all interested members.

Contact the Chapter activist listed for your area.)

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

ton) Chapter Meeting: (Usually first Wednesday)

For more information, time and address of meetings,

contact Diana Wellum at 510/841-2069.

Chico Chapter: If you are a member in the

Chico /Redding area, please contact Steven Post-Jeyes at

530-345-1449.

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, call Bob Hirth

209/225-6223 (days).

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender

Chapter For more information, contact Chloe Watts at

510/763-3910 or Jeff Mittman at 510/272-9380.

Michelle Welsh (left) and Kathy Stoner flank the late Dick

Criley, the mentor they met when they first volunteered

Chapter Meetings

couple founded and currently volunteer for

the AIDS legal referral panel.

Welsh and Stoner met in law school

and are graduates of the second class from

the Monterey College of Law, a non-profit

law school dedicated to community ser-

Dick GROSBOLL

vice, where they both are adjunct profes-

sors. Stoner also teaches mediation

through the Center for Mediation and Law

in Mill Valley

They founded and still work at the law

firm of Stoner, Welsh and Schmidt.

Both Welsh and Stoner have been rec-

ognized for their civil rights advocacy and

hard work. In 1992, Stoner was awarded

the "Lola Hanzel Courageous Advocacy

Award" at the ACLU-NC Bill of Rights Day

Celebration. She was honored for her

"tireless efforts within the Monterey

Chapter," especially the revamping of the

Chapter's complaint referral line and

coordination of a manual for complaint

line volunteers, which became a model

for other ACLU-NC chapters. Welsh will

be honored in December with the "Baha'i

Human Rights Award in Monterey (for

details, see article page 2).

"Chapter activists have become the

leading civil liberties campaigners in

their communities. Welsh and Stoner

set the standard with their work on the

"NO" campaigns for Propositions 209, 21

and 22," said ACLU-NC Field Director

Lisa Maldonado. @

Melissa Schwartz ts the Program

Assistant for the Field and Public Inform-

ation Departments of the ACLU-NC.

Marin County Chapter Meeting (Usually third

Monday) Meet at 7:30 p.m. at the Marin Senior

Coordinating Council, "Whistlestop Wheels,"

Caboose Room, 930 Tamalpais Ave., San Rafael For

more information, contact Coleman Persily at

415/479-1731.

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-

tact Ken Russell at 650/493-2437.

Monterey County Chapter Meeting: (Usually

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

more information, contact Lisa Maldonado at 415/621-

2493.

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/mpenaclu. For more information, contact Marc

Fagel at 650/579-1789.

ACLU News = Novemcer-DecemBeR 2000 = Pace S

Profs Agree to Dismiss...

Continued from page 3

the information and opinions Teacher | tary and sometimes offensive comments

Review makes available to the thousands |

of City College stu-

dents who consult

it every semester.

students had posted about them on the

website. They also

sought damages

from Lathouwers for

Teacher Review

may now continue

as an open forum

for the students

who find this web-

site useful," said

Lathouwers.

City College

English professor

Daniel Curzon

Brown filed the law-

suit in October 1999

on behalf of himself

and all other City

College employees

"who have been or

"This lawsuit

threatened one

of the most

important and

fundamental

functions of the

Internet: providing

forums for the

his administration

of the site and its

content, which they

claimed portrayed

them unfairly. The

ACLU-NC filed

motions to dismiss

the lawsuit showing

that the teachers'

claims had no prop-

er legal or factual

support, and seek-

ing payment of

attorneys' fees

under California's

anti-SLAPP suit

will be defamed by expression of statute.

the content of e is Rather than

Teacher Review." opinion. have the Court

His lawsuit sought

decide the motion,

monetary damages,

and an injunction

prohibiting the

posting of "defamatory" reviews on the

website and prohibiting either City College

or the Associated Students from linking to

Teacher Review.

Physics professor Jesse David Wall

joined the lawsuit last May, when a new

and different amended complaint was

filed. In the amended complaint, the two

professors sought damages from

Lathouwers for a variety of uncomplimen-

Curzon Brown and

Wall agreed to dis-

miss their case

unconditionally, and to pay the ACLU a

portion of Lathouwers' attorneys' fees.

They have agreed not to file similar law-

suits in the future against Lathouwers,

Teacher Review, or anyone involved in the

website's administration or content. They

also have agreed to stop posting anony-

mous reviews of themselves on the site,

which they admitted having done during

the litigation. @

Court Lifts...

Continued from page 3

the same full First Amendment protec-

tions for their Internet speech as the tradi-

tional media receive for `their

publications," said Roger Myers, a partner

with Steinhart and Falconer, who, with asso-

ciate Rachel Boehm, prepared the ACLU

amicus brief in support of the Hoelschers.

"One of the wonders of the Internet is that

it gives every individual with a computer

the ability to be heard on issues fundamen-

tal to democracy, such as how the courts

and the police are handling a given case.

"The gag order would have dramatical-

ly limited Internet speech on these issues,"

added Myers, "by allowing courts to pre-

vent websites from publishing court docu-

ments critical of law enforcement or the

judicial system, which is one reason it was

so important to have the order vacated."

Napster Ruling...

Continued from page 3

where disputed facts and expert opinions

can be fully explicated and tested," he

added. "This is especially true when the

court's decision has the potential to affect

a host of other file-transfer technologies

on the Internet."

Paul Robeson Chapter Meeting (Oakland):

(Usually fourth Thursday) For more information contact

Stan Brackett at 510/832-1915.

Redwood (Humboldt County) Chapter

Meeting: (Usually every third Tuesday) Meet at Fiesta

Cafe, 850 Crescent Way, Sunnybrae, Arcata at 7:00 PM.

For information on upcoming meeting dates and times,

please call 707/444-6595.

Sacramento Valley Chapter Meeting: For

more information, contact Lisa Maldonado at

415/621-2493.

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) or

www.ACLUSF org 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 chap-

The District Court granted the plain-

tiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction

against Napster on July 26. On July 28, the

day the injunction was to go into effect,

the Ninth Circuit issued a stay and ordered

that the appeal proceed on an expedited

basis, i.e., without an evidentiary hearing.

The ACLU brief was filed by Brick, and

national ACLU attorneys Hansen and Ann -

Beeson. @

Se

ter information contact Marie Crofoot at 408/

286-1581.

Santa Cruz County Chapter Meeting: (Usually

third Monday) Meet at 7:15 PM. For more information,

call the hotline at 831/429-2262.

Sonoma County Chapter Meeting: (Usually third

Tuesday) Meet at 7:00 PM at the Peace and Justice

Center, 540 Pacific Avenue, Santa Rosa. Call David

Grabill at 707/528-6839 for more information.

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.

Chapters Reorganizing

If you are interested in reviving the Mt. Diablo

Chapter, please contact Field Representative Lisa

Maldonado at 415/621-2493 ext. 346.