vol. 68, no. 3

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

AC

WHAT'S INSIDE

BECAUSE FREEDOM. .C AN

ney

PAGE 6

"Less Safe, Less Free": Terrorism Expert

Richard Clarke at the ACLU Conference

STAND UP FOR FREEDOM

2,000 ACLU MEMBERS GATHER IN SAN FRANCISCO

By Jeff Gillenkirk, Guest Editor

PROTECT

Dis EEE

5

VOLUME LXIV ISSUE 3

Se

PAGE 9

"War is not a blank check"

-U.S. Supreme Court

PAGE oD

November Election:

/YES@on 66, N@i on 69

PAGE 4

Literary Lights Defend

Classroom Expression

PAGE 3

Federal Abortion Ban

Struck Down

na passionate address, executive director Anthony D. Romero opened

the ACLU's 2004 membership conference by characterizing those

assembled as "guardians of liberty [who] not only have the right to

disagree with our government-we have the responsibility."

Close to 2,000 ACLU members and supporters converged

on San Francisco July 6-8 for the organization's second annual

membership conference, gathering to plan and mobilize for

protecting civil liberties at a time when the federal government

is curtailing those liberties in the name of national security.

The intensive three-day con-

ference at the downtown Hil-

"LOOK ACROSS THIS

ROOM AND YOU KNOW

THAT FAILURE IS NOT

AN OPTION."

-ANTHONY ROMERO,

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,

ACLU

ton Hotel was a feast of inspir-

ing speeches on critical social

issues, and practical workshops

on legal strategy and organiz-

ing. ACLU president Nadine

Strossen, ACLU of Northern

California (ACLU-NC) direc-

tor Dorothy Ehrlich, and other

ACLU leaders were joined by

former

Vermont Governor

Non-Profit

Organization

U.S. Postage

PAID

Permit No. 4424

San Francisco, CA

ACLU.

PN eh Ae RT ea Te

Howard Dean, former White House terrorism czar Richard

Clarke, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, "Vagina

Monologues" author and performer Eve Ensler, San Fran-

cisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and others. The mood at the

conference was upbeat after recent U.S. Supreme Court rul-

ings allowing foreign captives at Guantanamo Bay and U.S.

"enemy combatant" Yaser Hamdi to have access to the court

system (see page 9 for more on these rulings).

"President Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft

received a much-needed tutorial on the separation of pow-

ers," Romero declared in his keynote speech. "The Su-

preme Court stepped forward to remind the nation that a

person's basic rights cannot be swept away by the stroke of

a politician's pen."

Opening night featured a moving film tribute to the

ACLU's 84-year history of defending the Constitution and

Bill of Rights. Singer-songwriter Steve Earle later showcased

ACLU of Northern California board chair Quinn

Delaney speaking at the ACLU's second annual

membership conference in San Francisco.

those hard-earned freedoms by singing a song dedicated to

Lenny Bruce with the refrain, "Fuck the FCC... Fuck the

FBI... Fuck the CIA..." But the opening plenary belonged

to Romero, who called on participants to use this election

year to "challenge both Democrats and Republicans to build

a broad consensus for freedom and liberty."

SPEAKERS CROSS PARTY LINES

In the tradition of ACLU's non-partisan defense of civil

liberties, the conference included participation by Wayne La

Pierre, Jr., executive vice president and CEO of the National

Rifle Association; former independent counsel Kenneth Starr;

former Georgia congressman and conservative gadfly, Bob

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

SAVE THE DATE! am a era

THE ACLU OF NOTHERN CALIFORNIA'S 2004 BILL OF RIGHTS DAY CELEBRATION :

IN SAN JOSE THIS YEAR, on SUNDAY, DECEMBER uo

AT THE FAIRMONT HOTEL IN SAN JOSE

RECEPTION AT NOON, PROGRAM AT 1 p.m.

HONORING JULIAN BOND, CHAIRMAN OF THE NAACP

SUSANA MILLMAN

MEMBERSHIP CONFERENCE continuen From pace 1

Barr; and the Republican governor of Colorado, Bill Owens,

who defended the Patriot Act in a debate with former presi-

dential hopeful Dean.

"PRESIDENT BUSH AND Wednesday's Gala Dinner

ATTORNEY GENERAL showcased investigative jour-

JOHN ASHCROFT

RECEIVED A MUCH-

NEEDED TUTORIAL ON

THE SEPARATION OF

POWERS..."

nalist Seymour Hersh, humor-

ist Sandra Tsing Loh, who

spoke about her termination

from Santa Monica's National

Public Radio affiliate after using

an expletive in a pre-recorded

commentary, and writer-direc-

tor John Sayles, who discussed

his upcoming film, "Silver City," a satirical allegory of George

W. Bush's Texas gubernatorial campaign. Hersh, who won the

Pulitzer Prize in 1970 for his coverage of the My Lai massacre in

South Vietnam, forced the Abu Ghraib prison scandal into the

public eye after disclosing a report by Major General Antonio

Taguba detailing criminal abuses by U.S. military and contract

personnel in Iraq.

"What happened at Abu Ghraib...

crimes by this administration," said Hersh. "It's not an aca-

was a series of massive

demic debate about the Geneva Conventions. We have to ask

ourselves the tough questions: are we doing what the Argen-

tineans did? Are we disappearing people?"

Numerous "breakout sections" provided practical advice

from experts in human genetics and civil liberties, politics

and the Internet, reproductive freedom, immigration rights,

and domestic spying. The conference also offered an "Action

Center" that included a direct link by telephone to members

of Congress. Volunteers staffed booths offering in-depth infor-

mation about current topics such as racial profiling, marriage

equality, the Patriot Act, and abolition of the death penalty.

MEMBERS ENERGIZED

The conference attracted a wide range of people, for a wide

range of reasons. "I'm so energized being here," said Natalie

ADAM FOREST

fighting for gay rights.

and lives in San Francisco.

CARD CARRYING AND PROUD

On June 27, an ACLU contingent of over 50 people-more than half of them students-marched proudly

at the annual San Francisco Gay Pride Parade, carrying signs chronicling the ACLU' five-decade history of

`Tt was very empowering," said marcher Mike Chan, 21, who attends Bowdoin College

"People were holding their fists in the air or shouting, ACLU rocks!"

Marriage equality was the main theme of the march. The ACLU of Northern California is presently working

for marriage equality in two lawsuits brought by the ACLU and its coalition partners in California courts.

The first defends Mayor Gavin Newsom's authority to grant same-sex marriage licenses; the second argues that

denying licenses to same-sex couples violates the California State Constitution. 0x2122

provi ded, , together swith those | persons nominated ce peti-

_ tion as hereinafter provided i in Section 4.

tions are bes i Board shall, be written baller, elect a a

slate of nominees with each member cmitied to cast a

Article VI, oS 4: Recommendations and Nomina

Wormeli from ACLU-NC's Yolo County Chapter. "I learned a

lot more about racial profiling, which is helpful because we're

starting a racial profiling campaign in Davis." Andre Mercado,

from Mujeres Unidas Y Activas in Oakland, came to "learn

about immigrants' rights and civil liberties issues." Laura

Tischauser, a Lieutenant in the Cook County (Illinois) Sheriffs

Department, came to attend panels on domestic spying, racial

",.. THE SUPREME COURT

STEPPED FORWARD T0

REMIND THE NATION

THAT A PERSON'S

BASIC RIGHTS CANNOT

BE SWEPT AWAY BY

THE STROKE OF A

POLITICIAN'S PEN."

-ANTHONY ROMERO,

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,

ACLU

profiling, and the Patriot

Act

dealing with in the police

. "Those are issues were

department," she said.

Five hundred conference

delegates were members

from the northern Cali-

fornia region, as befits the

ACLU-NC's status as the

largest affiliate. "It was a

great privilege to welcome

so many members from

the region and from across

the nation, to our home

city," said the ACLU-NC's

Ehrlich.

proved the perfect breeding

"San Francisco

ground for thoughtful discussion, invigorating debate, and

the hatching of new strategies to reclaim civil liberties."

`The passion of Romero's keynote address echoed throughout

the three-day conference. "The people in this room know that

we're pushing uphill and fighting the tide of conventional wis-

dom," he said. "But look across this room and you know that

failure is not an option." 0x2122

MEMBERS SAID:

"I'M HERE FOR ACTIVISM.

COMING TO THIS

CONFERENCE WAS A WAY

FOR ME T0 FIGURE OUT

WHAT | CAN BE DOING

MYSELF."

- OLIVER GRAVES, SAN

FRANCISCO

`GIGI PANDIAN

"I'M SO ENERGIZED T0 BE

HERE."

- NATALIE WORMELI,

ACLU-NC YOLO COUNTY

CHAPTER

"WE RENEWED FRIENDSHIPS

WITH OLD FRIENDS WE'VE

MET THROUGH THE ACLU

OVER THE YEARS. IT RENEWS

YOUR ENTHUSIASM AGAIN T0

SPREAD THE WORD"

- PAT AND HERBERT NELSON,

REDBLUFF, CA

GIG] PANDIAN

For more conference coverage, see page 6.

ACLUnews

THE QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

Membership ($20 and up) includes a subscription to the

ACLU News. For membership information call

(415) 621-2493 or visit www.aclunc.org/join.html.

Quinn Delaney,

Dorothy Ehrlich,

Rachel Swain,

Jeff Gillenkirk,

Gigi Pandian,

CHAIR

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

EDITOR

GUEST EDITOR

DESIGNER AND

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

1663 Mission Street #460, San Francisco, CA 94103

(415) 621-2493

2 | ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF

=z

=s

Sa

=z

=

s

S

FEDERAL ABORTION BAN STRUCK DOWN

by Stella Richardson, Media Relations Director

In a major victory for reproductive rights, Judge Phyllis (CMA) as a friend of the court. ACLU cooperating attorneys

Hamilton ruled on June 1, 2004, that the first-ever federal ban Curt Kalia, Evan Cox and Tara Steeley of the law firm of Coy-

on abortion is unconstitutional. ington and Burling authored the amicus brief.

"THE JUDGE SAW The decision striking down the In a detailed, 117-page decision, the judge ruled that the

so-called "Partial Birth Abortion Act violated the Constitution

THROUGH THE Act of 2003" came after a trial for three independent reasons:

MISLEADING in San Francisco federal courton The law unduly burdens

RHETORIC TO THE the impact of the ban on women women's right to reproductive

REALITY: THAT and their doctors. Planned Par- _ privacy because it bans 95 per-

enthood brought the case against cent of safe and legal abortion

CONGRESS WAS Attorney General John Ashcroft. methods after the first trimes-

PLAYING POLITICS "This law made abortion as ter.

early as 12-15 weeksacrime," said _ @ The law is unconstitutionally

WITH WOMEN'S ACLU-NC attorney Margaret vague because doctors must

y 8 g

HEALTH." Crosby. "The judge saw through guess at where the prohibited ACLU-NC staff attorney

Y- judg gh 8g Pp

the misleading rhetoric to the _ line exists. Margaret Crosby

-ACLU-NC STAFF reality: that Congress was play- 1 Finally, the law is unconsti-

ty g play ye

ATTORNEY ing politics with women's health." _ tutional because it lacks any exception for pregnant women's

The ACLU-NC represented the health, and the banned procedures are - contrary to congres-

MARGARET CROSBY California Medical Association sional findings - sometimes the safest method available.

According to the CMA,

decisions involving preg-

nancy and medical care are

among the most serious a

woman will make in her life,

and should be made with-

out political interference.

The 2003 law "prevents

physicians from exercising

their best medical judgment

to preserve the health and

well-being of their patients

[and] dangerously intrudes

on a physician's ability (and

duty) to provide medical

care,' CMA told the court

in an amicus brief.

The San Francisco case

is one of three cases filed to

EVELINE CHANG

challenge the Act; another

Pro-choice forces march in Washington, DC for reproductive freedom. Women won an . on :

sf and COE fi is the ACLU's challenge and are awaiting decisions. All three courts issued orders pre-

important victory when the U.S. District Court of Northern California recently struck

down the so-called "Partial Birth Abortion Act of 2003." The ACLU-NC represented the

California Medical Association as a friend of the court in a case that pitted Planned

Parenthood against Attorney General John Ashcroft.

on behalf of the National venting the government from enforcing the ban until consti-

Abortion Federation in tutional challenges are complete.

New York. Trials in those `The government is expected to appeal the San Francisco

cases have been completed ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

oa LEGAL BRIEFS 3 le

- IMMIGRANTS" RIGHTS

Israel Mendez and Miguel Perez, two San face iy

with fo ian for the en fee oft Ine laborers, have not received thousands of dollars in wages

ternet a se April: 14, (2004, the Court earned over four months working ; as carpet layers in Bay

c o gr Wo nthal, Area homes and hotels. In an effort to recoup their pay,

a ae involving the i issue of whether. a 1996 federallaw the laborers, along with La Raza Centro Legal's Day Labor

protects Internet users from civil liabiliey for oe a __ Program, filed a complaint with the Labor Commission _

- third-party' s statements on the Int | ad launched public campaigi includ ling picketing the . it

In January 2004, the Court of ` Appeal for the ae Dis- | home of their former `employer Marvin a oe _ = na

i: rict overrul d the dismissal of a di famati 1 lawsuit filed dre e _

: haven a Rosenthal.

ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF | 3

WHEN IS A POEM MORE THAN A POEM?

FREE EXPRESSION IN THE CLASSROOM

n a unanimous decision this July, the California Supreme Court

issued a staunch defense of free expression in the post-Columbine

classroom, quashing the conviction of a San Jose schoolboy for

writing a poem that a lower court deemed a "criminal threat." Here,

the ACLU News explores a case that has galvanized some of the

nation's leading literary lights.

When can a poem become a criminal threat?

As the California Supreme Court considered that question

in July, a Pulitzer Prize winner, a Nobel laureate in literature,

and other notable writers mounted a vocal and impassioned

defense of a high school student's freedom of expression.

"IF WE PUT THIS

KID IN JAIL OVER A

VIOLENT POEM, IT

WOULDN'T BE HARD

TO ARGUE THAT WE

SHOULD PUT MOST

OF OUR BEST-

KNOWN AUTHORS

THERE, T00."

-TOBIAS WOLFF

In the spring of 2001, George

"Julius" T., a San Jose 15-year-old,

who had only recently transferred

to his new high school, asked a

classmate in his honors English

class to read a poem he had written.

The poem, entitled "Faces," talked

about his feelings of alienation and

ended with the lines:

the next kid to bring guns to kill

"For I can be

students at school." (see sidebar for

full text of the poem).

`The student told a teacher that

she was frightened by the poem.

In the highly-charged post-Col-

umbine climate, the police were

called in and before he knew it George T. found himself con-

victed of violating California's criminal threats statute, and

sentenced to 100 days in juvenile hall. As the challenge to

George T.'s conviction moved before the state Supreme Court,

an array of literary heavyweights and free speech advocates

quickly sprang to his defense. Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coe-

tzee, Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, and Virginia's for-

mer Poet Laureate, George Garrett, are among the writers who

joined with the ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC),

the First Amendment Project, PEN USA and other groups in

filing a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that his conviction

must be overturned.

NOT A TRUE THREAT

At the heart of the issue was whether the

poem can be considered a "true threat." The

ACLU's brief argued that "creative works

such as a poem or painting cannot, on their

face, constitute a true threat."

"Only the circumstances surrounding the

communication of a poem or other creative

work can transform it from protected expression

into an unprotected true threat," the brief said.

Drawing on eclectic sources-from Chau-

cer, to Shakespeare, to Eminem-the brief

examined the long-standing literary tradi-

tion of violent imagery and the exploration

of dark themes in poetry. It also used the

expertise of literary critics to explain that poetry must not be

interpreted literally, and that first-person narration is a literary

device-not a signal to interpret the poem as containing the

thoughts, desires, or intentions of the author.

STATE SUPREMES UNANIMOUS

In a resounding victory for students' First Amendment

rights, the California Supreme Court agreed on Thursday, July

22, ruling that the poem was too ambiguous and equivocal to

constitute a criminal threat. "What is apparent is that much

of the poem plainly does not constitute a threat," wrote Justice

Carlos Moreno for the unanimous, seven-member court.

"The court's decision makes clear that students' creative

works deserve the same high level of First Amendment protec-

tion from criminal prosecution as that accorded to established

poets, authors, and artists," said Ann Brick, staff attorney with

4 | ACLU pecause FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF

Author Michael Chabon, who

wrote a New York Times op-ed

about George T.' case.

the ACLU-NCG, and one of the co-authors of the brief. "This

case provides much-needed guidance to both school officials

and law enforcement in responding in a sensible and measured

way when confronted with student work that raises questions

about safety. As the court so rightly noted, school safety and

protecting freedom of expression need not be `antagonistic

goals'," she added.

WRITERS MOBLIIZE

George T. won his day in court-but he is not alone in

being punished for violent expression in the post-Columbine

era. In Atlanta, a 14-year-old honor student was expelled for

writing a fictional story in her journal about a student who

dreamed she killed a teacher. In Texas, a 13-year-old received a

IN ATLANTA, A

14-YEAR-OLD

HONOR STUDENT

WAS EXPELLED

FOR WRITING A

FICTIONAL STORY

IN HER JOURNAL

ABOUT A STUDENT

WHO DREAMED SHE

KILLED A TEACHER.

passing grade-and six days in jail

-for writing a "scary" Halloween

story about shooting up a school.

In 2002 a California appellate

court overturned the conviction of

a high school student who painted

a picture for his art class showing

him shooting a police officer who

had earlier cited him for possess-

ing marijuana.

Alarmed by the specter of

classroom censorship, the literary

community has mobilized. Writ-

ers have turned out to protest the

Academy of Art University, where

two students were recently expelled after submitting creative

writing assignments that administrators deemed violent. Mi-

chael Chabon recently wrote a New York Times op-ed about

George T.'s case. And Chabon and other

renowned writers recently converged in San

Francisco at the First Amendment Project's

"Fighting Words: Violent Passages From Ac-

claimed Literature," an evening of readings

designed to draw attention to the issue.

For, as horror writer Peter Straub writes:

"The ability freely to represent terrible and

distasteful subjects is essential to my purpose,

which, largely speaking, concerns the moral

significance of emotions such as grief and the

pain of loss."

Perhaps Tobias Wolff, professor of Eng-

lish and creative writing at Stanford and an

award-winning author, put it best when he

told the San Jose Mercury News, "If we put

this kid in jail over a violent poem, it wouldn't

be hard to argue that we should put most of our best-known

authors there, too."

CRIMINAL?

/ _ s lot of oe think thar. . what I say on records

OF talk about ona - that 1 do i in real life

/ Or that i - in it _

THE POST-COLUMBINE CLASSROOM

FACTS AND FEARS

The school shooting at Columbine High occurred

in):

FEAR: WHEN ASKED WHAT WORRIED THEM THE

MOST, THE SECOND MOST FREQUENT

RESPONSE BY PARENTS POLLED IN 1999

WAS THAT "CHILDREN ARE NOT SAFE IN

THEIR OWN SCHOOLS."

FACT: SCHOOL-ASSOCIATED VIOLENT DEATHS

BETWEEN 1997-1999 DECREASED 407.

FEAR: 71% OF RESPONDENTS TO THE 1999 POLL

SAID A SCHOOL SHOOTING WAS "LIKELY"

IN THEIR COMMUNITY.

FACT: THE CHANCE THAT A SCHOOL CHILD WILL

DIE IN A SCHOOL IN 1998-99 WAS ONE IN

TWO MILLION.

FEAR: THE NUMBER OF EXPULSIONS HAS

DOUBLED SINCE THE 1970S: FROM 1.3

MILLION STUDENTS IN 1974 T0 3.2

MILLION STUDENTS IN 1998.

FACT: OVER THE SAME PERIOD, SCHOOL CRIME

HAS NOT INCREASED.

Justice Policy Institute: School House Hype, Two Years

Later, www.justicepolicy.org.

YOUR VOICE HEARD IN SACRAMENTO

WHEN HUNDREDS OF ACLU MEMBERS EMAILED ATTORNEY GENERAL BILL LOCKYER, HIS OFFICE RESPONDED-PERSONALLY

The online campaign was the latest from the ACLU of

Northern California (ACLU-NC)'s Action Network, whose

members received an email action alert asking them to

contact the Attorney General and urge him to investigate

wrongful police surveillance of community groups.

`The campaign began when the local group Peace Fresno

(featured in the Michael Moore film, Fahrenheit 9/11)

realized it was under surveillance by the Fresno Sheriffs

Department. Peace Fresno and the ACLU-NC then filed a

formal complaint, calling on Lockyer to investigate.

Thanks to the hundreds of emails sent by Action Net-

work members, the campaign is succeeding. Lockyer's office

replied to each email, stating in a June 15th letter that his

office "will be conducting an investigation into the alleged

undercover surveillance of Peace Fresno during 2003."

You can join the ACLU-NC Action Network for

ACLU SAYS "YES" ON 66

THREE STRIKES REFORM

In 1994, Californians overwhelmingly passed a "Three

Strikes and Youre Out" law, believing it would target

violent and serious felons. In fact, more than half of the

people punished under Three Strikes are convicted of

non-violent offenses. Consider the following examples:

@ Robert Blasi received a 31-year sentence for stealing a

pair of AA batteries.

m Nathan Thomas shoplifted three packs of T-shirts from

J.C. Penny and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Fortunately, sensible reform is on the ballot this fall.

Proposition 66 will make Three Strikes sentencing more

reasonable, and save the state hundreds of millions of

dollars in the process. The ACLU-NC strongly encour-

ages its members to vote "yes" on Proposition 66.

AND "NO" ON 69

THE "GUILT BY ARREST" INITIATIVE

This proposition would dramatically expand California's exist-

ing criminal DNA database to include more people's DNA-

including people who have not committed any crime. The

initiative mandates the collection of DNA from "any adult

person arrested or charged with any felony offense." In other

words, someone arrested for shoplifting $401 in merchandise

or for writing a bad check for $201 (both felony crimes)-but

who is not charged and is released -would have her DNA col-

lected and stored in a criminal database.

For more information on Propositions 66 and 69 go to

www.aclunc.org, and see our next issue of the ACLU News.

access

free. Members receive an Action Alert email once or twice

a month. A quick point-and-click is all it takes to defend

civil liberties.

To sign up for free,

1. Go to www.aclunc.org/takeaction.html, or

2. Fill out the form below and mail it back to us.

ee

TAKE ACTION

ae ee a |

Fill out this form to receive email action alerts from the ACLU-NC once or twice a month.

O Sign me up for the ACLU-NC's Action Network!

| Name |

Address City State

Email (required) Zip (required)

| Return to: ACLU-NC Action Alert Sign-Up |

1663 Mission St. Suite 460, San Francisco, CA 94103

ee a en ee ee ee ee

IS OUR GOVERNOR A CIVIL LIBERTARIAN?

By Jeff Gillenkirk

The ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC) has scored a

number of impressive victories in the state legislature this year,

with at least five important bills making their way towards a

showdown with our new governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Francisco Lobaco, ACLU-NC's legislative director in Sacra-

mento, says that while

he expects these bills

to eventually pass the

legislature, what hap-

pens when they reach

the Governor's desk is

anybody's guess.

"These kinds of is-

sues haven't come to

him yet," Lobaco said.

"Well see where he

stands on civil liber-

ties with his reactions

to these bills." As with

: most things in Sacra-

California Governor Arnold

Schwarzenegger.

mento, strong public

input could be a key

factor in determining

whether he stands with us-or against. Lobaco believes that

Schwarzenegger, unlike former Governor Gray Davis, won't

have to prove he's tough on crime.

SACRAMENTO REPORT

ATHLETIC EQUITY

The "Gender Equity for Community Athletics" bill (As-

sembly Bill (AB) 2404 (Steinberg)), requires that local

governments not discriminate on the basis of gender in the

allocation of athletic resources. "Discrimination against

girls in community youth athletics is routine,' says Valerie

Small Navarro, ACLU legislative advocate in Sacramento.

"Cities and counties often provide more and better facili-

ties, equipment, funding, and services

to girls' sports."

"He [Schwarzenegger] has made some indications

he's willing to take a more rational view on criminal

justice issues than Gray Davis, who was so intent on ap-

pearing tough on crime

that he was unwilling

"HE'S CLEARLY A

GOVERNOR WILLING

TO LISTEN - AND T0

CHANGE HIS MIND IF

ENOUGH PRESSURE IS

BROUGHT."

-FRANCISCO LOBACO,

ACLU LEGISLATIVE

DIRECTOR

to make any reform

in the criminal justice

area, Lobaco said. "For

example, he's permitted

some inmates to be pa-

roled, which Gray Davis

wouldn't do."

Because Schwarzeneg-

ger ran for office on a

platform of open gov-

ernment-and with so

much publicity about

prison abuse and cover-

up-Lobaco _ believes

that public pressure could play a key role in whether he

signs some key ACLU-supported measures (see Sacra-

mento Report, below, for discussion of specific bills and

how to take action).

"He's clearly a governor willing to listen-and to

change his mind if enough pressure is brought," Lobaco

concluded. @

ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF | 5)

HIGHLIGHTS:

OF THE 2004

MEMBERSHIP CONFERENCE

2

S

=

=

oS

"MORE THAN 500 OF THE MEMBERS HERE

TODAY ARE FROM NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. |

ESPECIALLY WANT 10 WELCOME THEM."

-DOROTHY EHRLICH,

ACLU-NC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

"FREEDOM IS NOT

A SELF-EXECUTING

PRINCIPLE. IT HAS

TO BE FOUGHT FOR."

-EVE ENSLER,

PLAYWRIGHT

"SAME-SEX

MARRIAGES ARE

ON THE ROAD TO

HELPING US BECOME,

REALLY BECOME,

FULLY HUMAN... NO

ONE SHOULD HAVE

TO SUFFER THE

INDIGNITIES OF BEING

_-_ DEHUMANIZED "

_BOB BARR,

FORMER REPUBLICAN

CONGRESSMAN FROM

GEORGIA

"PERSONALLY, | OWE

ALOT TO THE WORK

OF THE ACLU; ITS

BECAUSE OF THE

ACLU THAT | CAN

SHAKE PEOPLE UP

BY SAYING A WORD

LIKE "VAGINA."

_REVEREND CECIL

WILLIAMS, pastor,

GLIDE MEMORIAL UNITED

METHODIST CHURCH, SAN

FRANCISCO

SUSANA MILLMAN

GIGI PANDIAN

MEMBERS ATTENDED WORKSHOPS SUCH AS THIS ONE

ON SAFE SCHOOLS, WITH ACLU-NC FRIEDMAN YOUTH

PROJECT DIRECTOR EVELINE CHANG AND ACLU-NC

CLIENT FREDDIE FUENTES.

6 | ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF

"LESS SAFE,

LESS FREE

FORMER TERRORISM CZAR BLASTS

POST-9/11

The Bush administration's actions since 9/11 have fanned the

flames of anti-U.S. hatred, carved deep divisions at home and

abroad, and turned al Qaeda into a "hydra-headed monster,"

charges Richard A. Clarke.

Clarke should know. As one of the nation's foremost experts

on terrorism, he served under Presidents George H.W. Bush,

Bill Clinton and George W. Bush before resigning as the Na-

tional Security Council's counterterrorism czar in 2003. Clarke

has described his frustrated efforts to warn President Bush of

the dangers of al Qaeda

before 9/11, and to focus

the administration on the

terrorist threat thereafter

in a tell-all book, Against

All Enemies, and in tes-

timony before the 9/11

commission. He was

also the first government

official to issue a public

apology to the families of

9/11 victims.

Less well known is

one of Clarke's other

affiliations: he revealed

being an ACLU mem-

ber since 1971. While

he does not agree with

all ACLU positions, he

takes extremely seriously

SUSANA MILLMAN

his oath of office: to pro-

tect and defend the U.S.

Constitution "against all enemies, foreign and domestic."

On July 8, more than a thousand ACLU members listened

intently as Clarke described how observing that oath today

means defending Americans both against terrorists and

against their own government. High on Clarke's list of policy

missteps since 9/11 is the Bush administration's decision to

invade Iraq. Besides diverting

resources from efforts to elimi-

TERRORIST ATTACKS

LAST YEAR WERE AT

AN UNPRECEDENTED

HIGH, WITH TWICE THE

NUMBER OF ATTACKS

AROUND THE WORLD

IN THE 34 MONTHS

SINCE 9/11 AS IN THE

34 MONTHS BEFORE.

nate al Qaeda and protect the

homeland, he contends, the

invasion of an oil-rich Arab

nation squandered goodwill to-

ward the U.S. in the aftermath

of 9/11, playing into the hands

of the terror network's leaders.

A recent Pew Center poll

shows hatred of the United

States at an all-time high, a

situation that has been com-

pounded by revelations of

abuses of Iraqi prisoners. Ter-

rorist attacks last year were at

an unprecedented high, with twice the number of attacks

around the world in the 34 months since 9/11 as in the 34

months before.

DIVIDED ABROAD AND AT HOME

As threats mount abroad, the Bush administration has also

divided the country at home by engaging in illegal and extra-

legal moves, Clarke charged.

There is nothing in the USA Patriot Act, or any piece of law,

he notes, that justifies what happened to Jose Padilla. Padilla,

the U.S. citizen who was suspected of attempting to build a

"dirty bomb," was arrested at Chicago's O' Hare Airport, classi-

fied by the Justice Department as an enemy combatant, trans-

ferred to a Department of Defense military brig and denied

due process rights, including the right to counsel and to know,

or challenge, the charges against him.

"I don't like Mr. Padilla. I don't like what he stands for.

I don't like who he associates with. I don't like what he

might have been trying to do," said Clarke. But, "If they

WANT TO SUPPORT THE ACLU? GIVE ONLINE AT

Former national counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke

speking at the ACLU Membership Conference.

BLUNDERS

can pluck him from the streets of Chicago... then they can

do it to you."

In addition, Clarke questioned Section 215 of the Patriot

Act, which permits the government to scrutinize personal

library records without probable cause, noting that the FBI

could not envision a situation in which they would need the

provision. If we don't need it, asks Clarke, why do we have

it in law?

"The whole point of fighting Jihadists is to fight a group

who would take away all of

our civil liberties," he said.

"Tt makes no sense for us to

do their work for them and

to divide the country by

taking away civil liberties."

Glark exhorted the ACLU

to continue to challenge

the erosion of liberty. "It's

not unpatriotic to question

the administration's con-

duct after 9/11," he said.

OTHERS ECHO CLARKE'S

VIEW

Clarke was far from alone:

Many other distinguished

panelists did exactly that.

Former U.S. Representa-

tive Bob Barr (R-GA), now

a consultant to the ACLU

on privacy issues, took aim

at the Matrix Program, CAPPS I, the "sneak and peek" pro-

visions of the Patriot Act, and other proposals that threaten

Americans' privacy rights.

"For the first time in history we will be color coded, might

as well wear an armband," he said of CAPPS II, the airline

profiling plan that would pool personal data from airlines,

the government, and private industry, and assign a color

code to passengers based on their perceived security risk.

"This has nothing to do with legitimately protecting the

airlines and preventing someone from bringing explosives

on our planes. It has everything to do with the government's

insatiable desire to know everything there is to know about

we as citizens and people lawfully in America."

Coleen Rowley, the FBI whistleblower who was named

Time Magazine' woman of the year after writing a 13-page

memo exposing grave operating flaws within the agency, em-

phasized the need for transparency in increasingly secretive

times. Rowley pointed to a surge in requests for warrants to

monitor communications or conduct searches from the secret

FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) Court-from

900 in 2001 to 1,728 in 2003-as a sign of potential abuse.

Reminding Americans that "the bedrock of democracy rests

upon the informed (Rowley's em-

phasis) consent of the governed,"

"JOHN ASHCROFT IS

ONE OF THE MOST

DANGEROUS MEN

EVER T0 HOLD

OFFICE IN THIS

COUNTRY."

-ATTORNEY JAMES

BROSNAHAN

Rowley urged increased whistle-

blower protection, noting that

it is currently very risky to speak

out, but that "the public needs to

now how the nuts and bolts of

this `war' are being carried out."

Prominent trial attorney James

Brosnahan described the country

as having been brought "to the

edge of a precipice" by a govern-

ment that believes the President's

executive power must not be re-

viewed. "John Ashcroft is one of the most dangerous men ever

to hold office in this country," said Brosnahan, a partner in the

San Francisco law firm, Morrison and Foerster. "He's also a

perfect foil. God has provided someone who has no idea what

he's doing."

SAY "I DO:

MAYOR NEWSOM

WOWS ACLU CROWD

Almost 2,000 ACLU members erupted in cheers as Dorothy

Ehrlich, executive director of the ACLU of Northern Cali-

fornia (ACLU-NO), introduced one of the conference's most

popular speakers: Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco.

The mayor, who was catapulted into the national headlines

when he instructed city officials to begin marrying same-sex

couples early this year, thrilled ACLU loyalists with an inside

view of the City's bold stand in a keynote speech on July 7.

All mayors, Newsom said, take an oath to "bear true

faith and allegiance to the Constitution of their state and

WHEN PRESIDENTBUSH ranma. aes

VOICED HIS SUPPORT FOR sion to begin granting

ABSTINENCE-ONLY SEX

EDUCATION, DRUG TESTING,

AND A CONSTITUTIONAL

AMENDMENT BARRING

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE,

NEWSOM FELT THAT THE

PRESIDENT WAS MAKING AN

ELECTION CAMPAIGN SPEECH

"TO THE TEN PERCENT [OF

AMERICANS] ON THE FENCE

IN 17 STATES."

amendment barring same-sex marriage, Newsom felt that the

same-sex marriage li-

censes was an attempt

to fulfill that oath.

The idea began to

germinate in Newsom's

mind after House Mi-

nority Leader Nancy

Pelosi flew him out to

DGE= to

watch President Bush's

Washington,

State of the Union ad-

dress. When President

Bush voiced his support

for abstinence-only sex

education, drug testing,

and a constitutional

President was making an election campaign speech "to the ten

percent [of Americans] on the fence in 17 states."

Deeply troubled, Newsom asked his staff to research what

CIVIL LIBERTIES: THE NEXT GENERATION

By Amelia Rosenman, Friedman ae Youth Activist Committee

"Oe 300 ut libertarians in their teens and twenties at-

tended this year's National ACLU Membership | Conference.

GIGI PANDIAN

The large contingent of youth at the conference brought _

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom brought ACLU

members to their feet.

it would take to grant same-sex marriage licenses in San

Francisco. His staff returned that they need simply change

the language on the computer screen. After consulting with

attorneys from the ACLU-NC and the National Center for

Lesbian Rights, and carefully selecting the day, and the couple,

the first marriage license was issued to Del Martin and Phyllis

Lyon-a couple of 51 years-on February 12.

Newsom was on tenterhooks that day, fearing that a court

would halt the weddings before the first marriage took place.

But the weddings didn't end that day. In fact 4,021 marriage

licenses were granted to couples from 46 states and eight

countries before the California Supreme Court issued a stay

directing San Francisco to stop issuing marriage licenses to

same-sex couples.

Months later, the most remarkable thing, Newsom said,

"is how unremarkable it has been.... People are going back

to their lives and realizing that their [heterosexual] marriages

haven't dissolved because gays and lesbians are married."

Newsom believes that we will look back at laws against

same-sex marriage with the disbelief that we look at laws bar-

ring interracial marriage now -- "but I don't think it's going to

take 20 or 30 years."

"Separate is never equal,

" he concluded. "You know that

better than anyone else."

and Haycock completed extensive research before creating

their film, which covers the Sacco and Vanzetti trial during

the red scare of the 1920s. Enthused by the box-office popu-

_ fresh energy, enthusiasm, and insight to the three-day rally

for freedom, participating in general Plenaries as well as ses-

sions specifically

to youth.

`The conference close

oriented

_ with a panel discussion of

"The" Next Generation of

Civil Libertarians" featuring

- five youth present - Niko

Bowie,

Soples X N

advising Free Trade Area of

the Americas (FTAA) pro-

larity of recent documentaries, including Michael Moore's

"Fahrenheit 9/11," Bowie commented: "reality is as goed as

"

a feature film.

Thomas Woodrow is

also a filmmaker. His work, (c)

"Truth Is Not a Four Let-

ter Word," won the ACLU (c)

College Freedom Public

Ann uncement _

_ Service

testers about their First Ancadac: oe Said Narain: a _ of 1

se cuts across all barriers." He called the FTAA protests

"4 beautiful demonstration of people from all over the world ;

coming together."

Panelists Niko Bowie and Tome Wooden fe both |

expressed political messages through film. Bowie's docu- _

mentary, "The Fog of Fear: Exchanging Liberty for Security

in the World War I Era," was produced ir in collaboration with t

classmate Nick Haycock and claim

2 ton fon for the 2004 His

WANT TO SUPPORT THE ACLU? GIVE ONLINE AT

HIGHLIGHTS

OFTHE 2006

`MEMBERSHIP CONFERENCE

"YOU READ THE DECLARATION [OF

INDEPENDENCE] AND YOU SEE THAT

BASICALLY ITS A LEGAL CASE FOR

REVOLUTION. JEFFERSON CREATED A

DOCUMENT THAT NOT ONLY PROCLAIMED

OUR FREEDOM FROM AN AUTOCRATIC

KING, BUT ALSO OUR DEVOTION 10 THE

RULE OF LAW."

-ANTHONY ROMERO,

ACLU EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

"THE WHOLE POINT

OF FIGHTING [AL

QUAEDA] IS TO

FIGHT A GROUP

WHO WOULD TAKE

AWAY ALL OF OUR

CIVIL LIBERTIES...

IT MAKES NO SENSE

FOR US TO DO THEIR

WORK FOR THEM."

SUSANA MILLMAN

-RICHARD CLARKE,

FORMER NATIONAL

COUNTERTERRORISM

CZAR

"WE NEED TO TALK

ABOUT WHAT WE CAN

DO ABOUT [RACIAL

PROFILING]. IT IS

-APROBLEM; IT IS fi

REAL; THE DATA TELL [iam

THE TRUTH." CHARLES MOOSE, -

FORMER POLICE CHIEF,

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD

"| BELIEVE ALONG ;

| WITH THOMAS

JEFFERSON THAT

DISSENT IS THE

HIGHEST FORM OF

i PATRIOTISM."

SUSANA MILLMAN

_NADINE STROSSEN,

ACLU PRESIDENT

MEMBERS OF THE UC BERKELEY ACLU STUDENT CLUB

ATTENDED THE CONFERENCE.

ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF | 7

'

THE COST OF FREEDOM?

GOVERNORS OWEN

AND DEAN DEBATE

O renew or not to renew, that was the question. On the final day

of the ACLU membership conference, executive director Anthony

Romero moderated a spirited debate on renewal of key provisions

of the USA Patriot Act. The debate pitted a fervent proponent of the

Act, Colorado Republican Governor Bill Owens, against former Gov-

ernor of Vermont, Howard Dean.

Named the "best Governor in America' by the conserva-

tive National Review, Owens led off the debate by raising the

specter of "cold-blooded killers [who] promise to use every

weapon known to man" against America. Declaring the Pa-

triot Act an essential tool

in the war against terror-

ism, Owens said he was

prepared to defend it "line

by line." Dean, a physician

by training who sprang to

national prominence last

year as a presidential hope-

ful and vocal critic of the

invasion of Iraq, linked the

Act's

measures with other Bush

most controversial

SUSANA MILLMAN

administration assaults on

civil liberties. Here are some

highlights of the debate:

GOVERNOR OWENS: I believe that the greatest danger we face

to civil liberties and civil justice is what I fear would follow

another successful terrorist attack - anthrax in our water sup-

ply, four or five suicide bombers, the destruction of a sports

arena with 50,000 people inside. Think for a moment what

would happen then. These are important questions we're fac-

ing today - the balance between liberty and order, between

freedom and security. I believe we're striking the right balance

in the Patriot Act.

GOVERNOR DEAN: He [Owens]

did not talk about the most

egregious parts of the Patriot

Act. It is the groundwork of

"IT 1S THE GROUNDWORK

OF THIS COUNTRY THAT

PEOPLE CANNOT BE

IMPRISONED WITHOUT

KNOWING WHY. THE

ABILITY OF THE

GOVERNMENT TO LOCK

YOU UP WITHOUT DUE

PROCESS IS A SLIP

TOWARDS AN AMERICA

THAT HAS NOT EXISTED

FOR 226 YEARS."

-GOV. HOWARD DEAN

this country that people can-

not be imprisoned without

knowing why. The ability of

the government to lock you

up without due process is a

slip towards an America that

has not existed for 226 years.

OWENS: Let me address some

other areas of the Act that

have gotten some of you a bit

overheated. The idea of our

government rifling through

America's

without a court order, build-

treading choices

ing a criminal case on what

they find, scares people. And

it should scare people. The

problem is, that's not in the Patriot

Act. The law can be used only for na-

tional security investigations, not for

domestic terrorism, and not for ordi-

nary crime. To date, not one library

record or bookstore record has been

sought under the Patriot Act.

[editor's note: An October 29, 2003,

FBI memorandum obtained by the

ACLU under the Freedom of Informa-

tion Act acknowledges that the Patriot

SUSANA MILLMAN

Howard Dean

Act can be used to obtain information

about innocent people-contradicting the government' re-

peated assertion that it can be used only against suspected ter-

rorists. A report released by Attorney General Ashcroft on July

8 | ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF

ACLU executive director Anthony Romero (center) moderated

the debate between Bill Owens (1) and Howard Dean.

14 confirmed that the Patriot Act has been used to investigate

ordinary crimes. ]

DEAN: The Patriot Act has a different standard, a lesser stan-

dard, for obtaining information from video stores and libraries

-who are not allowed

to tell me that they've

been visited by the FBI.

`That should not be. The

government itself is

trying to take away the

very freedoms that ter-

rorists would deny us.

OWENS: I only wish back

to September of 1963

that federal authorities

could have prevented

the

sion of the 16th Street

Church in Birmingham

dynamite explo-

that took the lives of those four young girls... or the assassina-

tion of Martin Luther King, in 1968.

DEAN: Governor Owens mentioned the bombings at the 16th

Street Church in Birmingham, and the assassination of Dr.

King. And he implied if only we had had these laws, then these

tragedies could have been avoided. Let me remind you that the

THESE AREIORTANT Nol HPD Es

QUESTIONS WE'RE FACING

TODAY - THE BALANCE

BETWEEN LIBERTY

AND ORDER, BETWEEN

FREEDOM AND SECURITY. |

BELIEVE WE'RE STRIKING

THE RIGHT BALANCE IN THE

PATRIOT ACT."

-GOV. BILL OWENS

wiretapping Dr. King.

OWENS: `The fact is, we

have not had a terror at-

tack in the United States

since Sept. lly 200Ks al

don't believe this is just

luck. Law enforcement

has testified that specific

powers in the Act have al-

ready helped prevent ter-

rorist attacks, and I think

that this fact deserves very

serious examination from

those who would erase

every word of this Act from our federal statutes.

DEAN: The problem is, if somebody here gets arrested in the

middle of the night for speeding by somebody who doesn't

happen to like you and you get charged with domestic terror-

ism instead of speeding, you're done. Because your due process

just went out the window. Every day that John Ashcroft is At-

- ~~____ torney General, we're creeping

closer to that day.

OWENS: It's a very dangerous

world out there. And there

are people who are trying to

take away not only our civil

liberties, they're trying to take

our right to life. There was an

article in the Wall Street Jour-

nal that quoted the head of the

Iranian Office of Doctrinaire

SUSANA MILLMAN

Bill On

Affairs saying, "we have a strategy drawn up for the

destruction of Anglo-Saxon civilization."

DEAN: This argument is not about Democrats or Repub-

licans. This argument is about standing up for American

freedom, or sacrificing American freedom for short-term

political gains.

"WAR IS NOT A BLANK CHECK FOR THE PRESIDENT0x2122

By Adam Forest, ACLU Intern

The U.S. Supreme Court term that ended June 29 will long be

remembered for its emphatic repudiation of the Bush adminis-

tration's claim that it can conduct the war on terrorism as it sees

fit, with virtually no opportunity for meaningful judicial review.

Insisting that a system of checks and balances is essential to safe-

guarding both liberty and security, the Court ruled that foreign

citizens detained at Guantanamo Bay and American citizens

detained in military brigs are both entitled to their day in court.

"These are truly historic decisions," said Steven R. Shap-

iro, the ACLU's national legal director. "The administration

has treated the rule of law as

an inconvenience in the war

against terrorism. In response,

the Supreme Court has sent a

powerful message that the end

does not justify the means,

and that it will not sit on the

sidelines while the rule of law

is ignored."

ACLU legal director Steven

Shapiro

Writing that "a state of war

is not a blank check for the

President when it comes to the

rights of the nation's citizens," the Court ruled 8-1 that plain-

tiff Yaser Esam Hamdi, a U.S. citizen seized in Afghanistan,

has the right to fight his detention in a federal court.

In a separate case, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the

GIGI PANDIAN

- U.S. SUPREME COURT

600 men from 42 countries detained at Guantanamo Bay,

Cuba, can also contest their treatment.

"These decisions reflect the growing momentum, fueled by

the ACLU, to ensure that the voices of those who disagree with

this administration's policies are heard loud and clear," said

Dorothy Ehrlich, executive director of the ACLU of Northern

California (ACLU-NC). "The ACLU's message - that unre-

strained government power is a threat to fundamental freedom

- is reflected both in the Supreme Court's end-of-term deci-

sion, and is a growing concern in the court of public opinion.

Two years ago, it would have been hard to imagine this victory

without the groundwork that has been laid."

Hamdi's family says that the Saudi-born 20-year-old relief

worker was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he

was arrested in Afghanistan by the Northern Alliance in late

2001. The Bush administration alleges he was carrying a gun

and fighting with a Taliban unit. After his arrest, Hamdi was

shipped to Guantanamo Bay and eventually transferred to a

Navy brig in South Carolina after authorities verified that he

was indeed a U.S. citizen. Since his arrest, he has been inter-

rogated repeatedly, but has only recently been allowed to meet

with lawyers.

In both Hamdi's case and that of the Guantanamo de-

tainees, the administration contended that the men being

held are neither prisoners of war-and thus protected by

the Geneva Conventions-nor common criminal suspects

with automatic rights to an attorney or to know the charges

against them.

The Supreme Court disagreed. "Striking the proper con-

stitutional balance here is of great importance to the nation

during this period of ongoing

conflict," wrote Justice Sandra

Day O'Connor in the majority

"TIF THIS NATION IS

TO REMAIN TRUE

TO THE IDEALS

SYMBOLIZED BY ITS

FLAG, IT MUST NOT

WIELD THE TOOLS OF

TYRANTS EVEN T0

RESIST AN ASSAULT

BY THE FORCES OF

TYRANNY."

-JUSTICE JOHN PAUL

STEVENS

opinion in the Hamdi case. "But

it is equally vital that our calcu-

lus not give short shrift to the

values that this country holds

dear or to the privilege that is

American citizenship."

Ina third ruling, the Court vot-

ed 5-4 to dismiss on a technicality

the case of Jose Padilla, an Ameri-

can citizen arrested at O'Hare

Airport, Chicago, and classified as

an `enemy combatant.'

"At stake in this case is noth-

ing less than the essence of a free

society," wrote Justice John Paul

Stevens in an emotional dissent.

"For if this nation is to remain true to the ideals symbolized by

its flag, it must not wield the tools of tyrants even to resist an

assault by the forces of tyranny." @

Retired U.S. Navy Admiral John Hutson is the

new face of the ACLU's "Scrapbook for Free-

dom" advertising campaign. In the advertisement,

which has appeared in The Economist and the New

York Times Magazine, Hutson is featured with the

headline, "How can we fight to uphold the rule of

law if we break the rules ourselves?"

"Today we are conducting the war against ter-

rorism in a manner that is inimical to those values

of freedom and justice," Hutson says in the ad. "It

is weakening our cause at home and around the

world....Fortunately, the American Civil Liberties

Union is speaking out for American values."

ACLU AD FEATURES NAVY ADMIRAL

TAKE ACTION

GOOD BILL/BAD BILL

TWO BILLS IN CONGRESS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO

SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT CIVIL LIBERTIES IN THE U.S.:

The SAFE Act of 2003 (S. 1709 / HR 3352) is an

important bill that would roll back some of the

Patriot Act's worst excesses.

The CLEAR Act (HR 2671) is antithetical to civil

liberties. It would require state and local law en-

forcement agencies to enforce federal immigration

laws or risk losing federal funds. It is also known as

the Homeland Security Enhancement Act (S. 1906)

inthe WS. Senate.

`Ten Members of Congress from northern California

have cosponsored the SAFE Act, and twelve have

stated their opposition to the CLEAR Act. They

deserve our thanks.

Cosponsoring the SAFE Act:

Nancy Pelosi m Barbara Lee # Lynn Woolsey m Pete Stark

Sam Farr @ Mike Honda # Tom Lantos @ Bob Matsui

George Miller # Mike Thompson

Opposing the CLEAR Act:

Nancy Pelosi @ Barbara Lee # Lynn Woolsey

Pete Stark m Sam Farr @ Mike Honda Tom Lantos

Bob Matsui @ George Miller # Mike Thompson

Zoe Lofgren # Anna Eshoo

Unfortunately, U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and

Barbara Boxer have not taken a similar stand.

Please call Senators Feinstein and Boxer today.

Urge them to:

= Cosponsor the SAFE Act, S. 1709.

Oppose the Senate version of the CLEAR Act-the

Homeland Security Enhancement Act, S. 1906.

Senator Feinstein: (415) 393-0707

Senator Boxer: (916) 448-2787

ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF | 9