vol. 42, no. 6

cl

YHOW 3c

Volume XLII

September 1977

NO. 6

~ Protest Against Death Penalty

On Augie 23, the SOth anniversary -

of the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti,

the ACLU, along with the Coalition

Against the Death Penalty, sponsored a

rally outside the gates of San Quentin

prison to denounce the California

Legislature's decision to reinstitute the

death penalty.

Sacco and Vanzetti, two anarchist

Italian immigrants convicted of murder

and robbery in an emotional 1920's trial

riddled with political and

prejudice, have become a_ national

symbol of the inherent injustice of the

death penalty.

A hard fought campaign was waged

by the ACLU and the Coalition to

persuade the California Assembly to

sustain Governor Brown's veto of S.B.

155 - the death penalty measure.

Defeat came, however, on August 11, by

a margin of one vote, when only hours

before the final decision, death penalty

opponent Frank Vicencia (D- Compton)

changed his position and voted in favor _

of the override.

In response to the new death penalty

law a crowd of more than four hundred

people gathered to hear stirring appeals

from fifteen speakers representing

labor, religious, legal and political

forces, led by folksingers Joan Baez and

Mimi Farina. :

_ The 54 member organizations of the

Northern California Coalition Against

the Death Penalty chose the site of San

Quentin prison, where 501 persons have

been put to death by the State.

racial

a

"The new law still has tobe

challenged in the courts,' according to

Paul Halvonik, California State Public

Defender and former ACLU Legal

Director, who characterized capital

punishment, as "ritual slaughtering."'

Halvonik warned the crowd that

`opponents of the death penalty have

relied on the courts for too long. We've

got somehow to go and carry out the

word to the community,

slaughter of humans by the state will

- not be allowed."

Randy Stallings speaking on behalf

of the Coalition as its Chairperson

recommitted the organizations to a

fight to ``bring California to its senses"'

that the-

Joan Baez and Mimi Farina lead protest outside San Quentin gates.

with a state-wide public education

campaign debunking the myth that the

death penalty serves as a deterrent to

crime.

"But capital punishment, was not

put back on the books by just 54 or 70

people (in the Assembly), Assembly

member John Vasconcellos (D-Santa

Clara) claimed. "It's probably three--

fourths of our brothers and sisters in

California. It is the response of a

`frustrated' and `scared' society to its _

fear of crime."

The SQ-year anniversary of the

-execution of Sacco and Vanzetti was

marked by vas tributes throughout

continued on page 4

`Saltzman elected to Chair

A new Chairperson of the ACLU of

Northern California's Board of

Directors, Warren Saltzman, will of-

ficially begin his term of office this

month. Saltzman, an active member of

the Board of Directors, who served as

its secretary-treasurer during the past

year was elected to the board's highest

post at its June meeting.

Richard De Lancie, who devoted five

years of his long service to the ACLU of

Northern California as Chairperson of

the Board will continue to serve on the

Executive Committee.

A San Francisco attorney in private

practice, Warren Saltzman has been

participating in. ACLU activities with

the San Francisco Chapter, as well as

the affiliate Board for nearly eight

years. He brings to the ACLU's policy

making body an intimate knowledge of

the organization and its Board's

function.

Increasing channels of effective

communication with ACLU members

regarding board policies - and why the

ACLU takes certain positions - is

re

ranked as Mr. Saltzman's first priority.

"Dissent within the organization is

healthy,' according to Saltzman who

said, ``My own inclination is generally

to resolve all close questions in favor of

ACLU participation; after all, we only

argue constitutional cases to the courts,

and it is the courts that ake the

decisions."

`Controversial matters in the past

have included the exclusion of persons

DeLancie/Mayer Photographics

of Japanese ancestry from the West

Coast, and the exclusion of Com-

-munists from the ACLU itself. Here in

northern California, thanks largely to

the leadership of ACLU-NC's former

continued on page 4

"Bugs" out

of jail

Devices used to ``bug'' inmate

conversations on public pay phones in

the San Mateo County jail are illegal, as

the result of a recent Superior Court

decision in a class action suit brought

by the ACLU of Northern California in

an effort. to halt electronic .

eavesdropping on inmates awaiting

trial.

The use of a taped elton con-

versation between Patricia Hearst and

her friend Patricia Tobin during

Hearst's. September, 1975 trial,

prompted the ACLU lawsuit.

In a complaint filed last November,

the ACLU charged that conversations

on pay telephones in. the San Mateo

County-Jail are often monitored and

recorded, and that microphones are

used for recording conversations

between inmates awaiting wet and

their visitors.

In June, responding to the ACLU's

law-suit, San Mateo County jail officials.

admitted they monitored pay phone

conversations. The devices were not

dismantled, however, until ACLU |

brought further legal action. One week

before the scheduled hearing, jail of-

ficials conceded the system "might''

violate federal law, and had it

disconnected.

To ensure that it is not reconnected,

ACLU attorneys obtained a preliminary

injunction from San Mateo Superior

Court Judge William Lanem, for-

bidding jail authorities to resume this

practice.

Throughout the proceedings, Sheriff

department officials insisted the jail

monitoring devices were necessary for

"security" reasons. ACLU Volunteer

Attorney Tom Nolan, however,

discovered an _ inter-office Sheriff's

Department communication sum-

marizing an inmate's phone con-

versation with a friend which had been

continued on page 3

Celebrate Your Anniversary! |

In 1977 the ACLU embarked upon

a new plan - asking our members to

renew their ACLU membership on

the anniversary of the momentous

occasion when they joined the civil

liberties union (or for friends who

have been with us for many years, on

the anniversary of when they last

renewed). We used to just ask every

member to renew at the beginning of

each year.

As you know, membership con-

tributions keep the wheels of civil

_ liberties moving. We depend upon

your renewal to support our efforts

on behalf of the Bill of Rights. And

that's why we worry when we don't

hear from you...

If you haven't renewed yet for

1977, we ask you to do so, or if you

have any questions about your

membership, please contact us and

we'll try to straighten it out

(sometimes it seems that we're better

at doing civil liberties work than we

are at operating computers)! -

Celebrate your anniversary - and

continue your relationship with the

ACLU. We're counting on you.

If you have a question, please call

the ACLU at (415) 777-4545 or send (c)

a note to the attention of Les Sch-

midt at 814 Mission St., Suite 301,

San Francisco 94103.

) September 1977 - 2

aclu news

The 50's-

: by David M. Fishlow

Executive Director

A mixed record

by David M. Fishlow

Executive Director

"For about seven years in the

1950's, a number of officials of

the American Civil Liberties

Union gave the Federal Bureau.

of Investigation on a continuing

basis information about the

organization, its activities and

some of its members, according.

to materials obtained from the

bureau's files."

Such was the tenor of news stories

(this one ran in the New York Times on

August 4) which greeted ACLU

members when they opened their daily

_ newspapers during the first weeks of

last month.

If ever we had egg on our face, this

_ was the moment. The details, however,

turned out to be not quite so bad as the

headlines had implied.

The whole issue of involvement,

contact, infiltration, and relationships

between the ACLU and the FBI came

up when the national office and the:

Illinois affiliate filed Freedom of

Information Act requests for the FBI's

file material dealing with the ACLU.

The first batch of files given us by the

Bureau, covering the twenties and

thirties, revealed FBI infiltration and

surveillance of the ACLU.

A Chicago Daily News reporter

put it, "The FBI infiltrated the

American Civil Liberties Union

beginning in 1920 and kept

dossiers on its leading members, __

including Felix Frankfurter

[`considered a dangerous man by

United States government

employees'], Helen Keller [a -

`writer on radical subjects'), Jane

Addams [a `zealous and con-

sistent supporter of radical and

revolutionary movements',

Upton Sinclair (`working to build |

up a fat hidden bank account in

Toronto'] and Clarence Darrow

(`capitalizing ... on evolution

and gaining entree ...to certain -

coveted circles hitherto closed to

ACLU propaganda'|.

A second batch of files, however,

revealed that several former ACLU staff

members had maintained voluntary

contact with the FBI, regularly for-

warding information about the ACLU

and some of its members, to the

Bureau.

As national Executive Director Aryeh

Neier wrote, ``The files show that on a

number of occasions, almost entirely

during the McCarthy era, certain

: persons who were then ACLU officials

were in contact with the FBI to provide

or obtain information about the

`political beliefs or affiliations of other

ACLU members and officials, par-

ticularly those who were thought to be

Communists."

Specifically, according to the FBI's

~ version in the files, Irving Ferman, who

was the ACLU's chief lobbyist in

Washington from 1953 to 1959, had

amaintained a very close relationship

with the FBI, regularly forwarding

documents and information to the

Bureau, and Herbert Monte Levi, a

staff iawyer in the national office during

the fifties, had a more limited contact

with the Bureau.

The files also report a single FBI

phone conversation with John de J.

Pemberton, national executive director

from 1962 to 1970, `regarding the

activities of one ACLU member

Pemberton suspected of Communist

leanings."

After reviewing the bulk of the

_ files in question, New York

Times reporter Anthony Marro

came to this conclusion: "It

appears that much of the

material was given to the bureau

by a small number of ACLU

officials who feared that

members of the Communist

Party were gaining influence over -

ACLU state affiliates or who

wanted to alert the bureau to

what it considered anti-FBI

positions being taken by some of

the ACLU's members."

In hindsight, of course, we can say

this was shameful, outrageous conduct.

"Whatever their motive, such contacts

with the FBI were wrong, inexcusable

and destructive of civil liberties

principles,'' wrote Neier and national

Chairperson Norman Dorsen. a

Still, we may take some solace in

some of the following facts:

e The ACLU has, in the sixties and

seventies, led the fight to control the

intelligence agencies, and these few

early errors may be greatly outweighted

continued on page 4

Harrises have right to counsel

Bill and Emily Harris have a right to

court-appointed counsel of their choice,

the California State Supreme Court

ruled August 24. While the Court

stopped short of declaring that every

indigent defendant could. have counsel

of his or her own choice, the-court did

indicate that a defendant's preference

was an important factor to be con-

sidered in making court appointments.

The Harrises were represented by the

ACLU of Northern and Southern

' California on the right to counsel issue

before the state high. court. The

decision allowed the

pointments of Leonard I. Weinglass

and Susan B. Jordan as defense counsel

in the upcoming trial in Alameda

County.

In criminal cases poor defendants are

provided with private defense attorneys

when a `"`conflict'' exists on the part of

the public defender. However, stan-

dards for making such appointments

have been the source of confusion.

' Although the Harrises claimed that

Weinglass and

established ``relationship of trust'' and

an `intimate knowledge'"' of their case,

court ap- -

Jordan had, an

a lower court had denied the ap-

pointment. The Supreme Court

characterized the lower court decision

as "an abuse of sound judicial

discretion."'

While the decision to appoint private

counsel rests within a judge's

discretion, the Supreme Court said, and

is not merely to be based on "a

defendant's bare statement of personal

preference,'' when ``the statement of

preference ... is supported by objective

considerations,'' such as the attorney's

familiarity with the facts of the case and

a pre-existing attorney-client

relationship, ``and where there are no

countervailing considerations of

comparable weight, it is an abuse of

sound judicial discretion to deny the

defendant's request to appoint the

counsel of his preference."

"The constitutional right to counsel

presumes a relationship of trust and

confidence between attorney and client,

and

afford to hire attorneys of their choice,"'

according to ACLU staff counsel Alan ~

Schlosser.

Teachers gain rights

An applicant for a_ teaching

credential, who was previously con-

victed of a misdemeanor sexual offense

is entitled toa fair hearing to determine

whether he is presently fit to teach,

according to a recent ruling by the

California Supreme Court.

The Justices found that William W.

Newland was denied equal protection of

the laws because the education code

only provided for ``fitness hearings'' in

cases involving teachers who were

previously convicted felons. Newland

had committed a misdemeanor in 1967,

and therefore was not eligible to

petition for a certification, of

rehabilitation, for obtaining a teaching

credential.

ACLU volunteer attorney Samuel R.

Miller had submitted a friend of the

court brief to the California Supreme

Court in January, 1977. Miller argued

that the Education Code section which

precludes a teacher convicted of a

misdemeanor from a fair hearing,

ordinarily granted to a _ previously

convicted felon, was violative of the due

process clause of the California Con-

stitution and the Fourteenth Amend-

ment to the United States Constitution.

Major law suit attacks bail system

San Francisco's money oa system is

unconstitutional because it allows for.

the accused to be released from jail

solely on the basis of wealth, according .

to arguments submitted by the ACLU

of Northern California in a tax-payers

suit which seeks to fundamentally

overhaul the current bail system.

_ The ACLU's amicus curiae (friend of

the court) brief argues that the U.S.

Constitution guarantees the right to-

bail, but that this right is applied

unequally in San Francisco, since

criminal defendants are incarcerated

before trial because they lack bail

money.

A lower court in 1976 ruled against

the tax-payer plaintiffs' claim that the

system denied equal protection to the

accused, but did agree that the system

failed to provide due process. The

decision has been challenged by both

defendants and plaintiffs, and is now

before the California Court of Appeal.

Very few defendants, according to

the plaintiffs' brief, actually need to be

held in jail to assure their appearance at

trial. Nevertheless, in San Francisco

roughly half of all arrested persons

`remain in jail before trial for want of

bail.

At the 1976 trial, plaintiffs found

that the bail system unfairly in-

carcerates thousands of persons each

year in the San Francisco City Prison,

without regard to the circumstances of

the crimes charged, the prior record of

the accused or the risk of non-

appearance. "Actual release is obtained

solely on the basis of the accused's

ability to pay a bail bondsman a non-

refundable premium of 10% of the

bond amount and to furnish such

security as the bondsman requires," the

suit claims. `Massive number of in-

digent arrested persons, unable to post

a bail bond, remain in custody."

There are other alternatives to the

money bail system, according to the

tax-payer plaintiffs who are represented

by San Francisco law firms Morrison

and Foerester and McCutchem, Doyle,

Brown and Enerson. Rather than

simply declaring the system invalid, the

suit asks that pre-trial freedom be

granted through ``own recognizance"'

releases.

"Some form of `O.R.' should

be a right of the accused, not simply

discretionary with the court," the suit

claims.

Witnesses: at the original trial

uniformly agreed that incarceration -

subjects presumably innocent defen-

dants to the punitive conditions of jail,

creates prejudice at all stages of the

criminal process, and often, when a

defendant is proven innocent, he or she

leaves confinement stigmatized by the

experience, including possible loss of

employment and valuable connections

with society.

The ACLU's brief asserts that if the

lower court decision is allowed to stand, _

"it will mean that the State of

California is free to deny persons who

have not been convicted of an offense,

and who are presumed to be innocent,

. their liberty for no reason other than

their inability to pay money bail."

Volunteer attorney Henry Ramsey, a

law professor at Boalt Hall handling the

case on the ACLU's behalf, urged the

Court of Appeal. to recognize the

fundamental right to pretrial release

and asked that they adopt a system

which meets constitutional standards,

and is not based on the defendant's

wealth.

this right applies to indigent

`defendants as well as to those who can

-

.phone

September 1977

aclu news

You can fight the State Capitol-and win!

`What is the best strategy for

effecting legislation in the State

- Capitol? Many ACLU members

have asked in light of the recent

approval of a death penalty

measure which hundreds of

ACLU members attempted to

defeat. We asked the Speaker of

the Assembly, Leo McCarthy for

his opinion on what the best

tactics are for the ACLU's

Legislative network. Speaker

McCarthy submitted the fol-

lowing response.

By Leo T. McCarthy

Speaker of the Assembly

California Legislature

Death and taxes, subjects which are

always with us, occupied a major share

of the 1977 legislative session. Each

generated: thousands of letters and

calls to members of the

Legislature.

Tke key vote on the decision to

override Governor Brown's veto of

death penalty legislation came as a

direct result of such citizen action.

Assemblyman Frank Vicencia received

more than 2,000 letters and calls asking

his support of the override. He

responded to constituent demands with

a vote in favor.

While I personally am opposed to the

death penalty, as Speaker I recognize

that every member responds to par-

ticipation by citizens in his district or

throughout California. Your calls and

~ letters do count!

In my nine years as a legislator, there

have been numerous instances where a

single, well-reasoned letter directly

affected my vote on an issue.

Maximum impact by a letter, call or

other correspondence is determined by

the tone of the contact. An informed,

specific and individual letter is read and

considered by a legislator. -

On .the other hand, petitions with

thousands of names have very limited

impact on most legislators.' One

questions what thought was given by

petition signers as individuals. Often

the petition represents the limited views

FBI and CIA-Control is Crucial

By Richard Criley

_ Effective control over the federal

intelligence agencies, including the FBI

and CIA, may be the most critical civil

liberties battle of the 95th Congress.

The Federal Intelligence Agencies

Control Act (HR 6051), the com-

prehensive reform measure backed by

some fifty concerned national

Organizations, has not received the

support of the Carter Administration.

Instead, a series of separate measures

which fail to address the basic civil -

liberties issues, are being introduced.

Only the first, the Foreign Intelligence

Surveillance Act (S. 1566) is in bill form

and will shortly be acted upon by the

Senate Judiciary Committee. A ten-

tative draft charter for the CIA is being

prepared by the Senate Intelligence

Committee. The proposed charter for

the FBI has not yet been unveiled.

' Immediate efforts must be made to

stop passage of S. 1566 in its present

form, which would sanction secret

wiretapping for gathering information, (c)

without a standard of criminal violation

required by the Fourth Amendment.

There are other serious defects.

HR 6051 would institute major in-

stitutional changes. The ~ Carter

Administration proposals to date are

limited to cosmetic "reforms.'' To

understand the gap between the two

approaches requires a brief statement

of the magnitude of the problem.

House and Senate hearings, sup-

plemented by private law suits, reveal

several decades of lawless practices by

`government intelligence agencies at

home and abroad. A vast network of

U.S. citizens has extended from the

White House and federal agencies down

to local and state agencies, employing

an army of political informers and

agents provocateurs. Illegal wiretap-

ping, burglaries and blacklisting were

routine procedures; more spectacular

measures went all the way to political

assassination. The cloak of secrecy to

conceal government operations bred

official lies (``cover stories') to

misinform the public. `National

x

Richard Criley is the Director of the

Northern California National Committee -

Against Repressive Legislation (NCARL), the :

acting Chairperson of the Coalition Against

Government Spying and the chairperson of

_the Monterey ACLU Chapter's Leelsalive

Committee.

security" became the official rationale

for the creation of an illegal and un-

constitutional government operation,

which threatens to destroy the foun-

dation of constitutional democracy.

The premises of HR 6051 are that the.

law must prohibit government practices

which are in inherent conflict with

constitutional government - covert

operations (``dirty tricks") . abroad,

political spying against persons who are

not violating the law, secret budgeting

- and charters for intelligence agencies.

In contrast, the Carter Adminis-

tration accepts the premise that in-

telligence agencies should be auth-

orized to continue such functions.

Secrecy should be tightened to prevent

revelation of government actions which,

if discovered, would cause `"`grave

damage to the U.S.' Some par-

ticularly scandalous abuses would be

prohibited, such as the assassination

abroad of a "`foreign official" because -

of his or her ``political views, actions or

statements" and the overthrow of the

"democratic government of any

country." It is doubtful if such limited -

prohibitions would even hold for an

attempted assassination of Fidel Castro

or the overthrow of the Allende

government in Chile. It is futile to

propose such periferal prohibitions,

while sanctioning the basic practices

which are at war with standards of a

democratic society. Administrative self-

policing within the agencies which

remain veiled in secrecy provides no |

assurance: that even the most limited

_ reforms will in fact be effectuated. The

glaring inadequacies of the draft CIA

charter, illustrated above, offer little

hope that the forthcoming charter for

the FBI will provide any greater

safeguards for our most basic con-

stitutional freedoms.

TAKE ACTION - See P. 4

- commercial

(Ellis) amends current misdemeanor ~

to ACLU's general

of a few individuals.

As Assembly Speaker, I receive mail

from throughout the state. This year

most letter writers made arguments for

or against the death penalty,

homeowner/renter tax relief or com-

' mented on how to best meet the court

mandate for providing equal financing

for education statewide.

_ Weare increasingly concerned in

the Legislature with the right to privacy.

_ As the number and use of computerized

information centers increases, the

ability of an individual to protect his or

her private life from scrutiny becomes

increasingly difficult.

Financial, medical and other per-

sonal records are increasingly available

to anyone with access to a computer

service. The Legislature has a

responsibility to preserve the right of

privacy and this will undoubtedly be a -

major issue.

Suis) a two-year Pidy of tort

reform is underway by the Legislature.

We'will, as legislators, become deeply

involved in determining where the fine

line of individual rights and public

interest should be drawn.

We will be(R) struggling with such

problems as how to preserve full access

to the courts by any citizen without

jeopardizing the ability of others to

perform vital services such as medical

or dental care. `

_ We will continue our fight to open |

the process. Watergate was an object

lesson to all of us in public service. We

have moved a long way towards opening

the process in our Legislature and

making it more available and

responsive to public need.

On these and literally hundreds of

other issues, your input is welcomed.

The more specific and well reasoned

your letter or call, the better and greater

its impact. I look forward to hearing

from many of you as we move into the

second year of our session.

Bugs i continued from page I

placed in the inmate's court file. The

communication was turned over to the

court by a Sheriff's deputy who noted

that "this . information might be

valuable ... or could be of some in-

terest to the probation department if

the inmate is placed on probation."'

Last March, similar surveillance

equipment located on the sixth floor of

the San- Francisco County jail was

dismantled at the request of the ACLU

by San Francisco Sheriff Richard

Hongisto and Police Chief Charles

Gain.

`Legislative update

By Brent Barnhart ACLU Legislative Representative

The first year of the California

Legislature's two-year session

ends September 15th. All bills"

which are to become law on

January 1, 1978, must be passed

by both houses of the Legislature

before adjournment on that date.

`As the ``one-year bills'? enter the

final stretch, two major civil

liberties issues confronted by the

ACLU's. Legislative Office

because of their effect on the First

Amendment, are child por-

nography and "terrorist threats''.

Child Pornography

~ Three bills passed out of Assembly

Criminal Justice in response to general

public outrage at the use of children in

pornographic movies and publications.

AB 702 (McVittie), supported by

_ ACLU, makes it a felony to employ

minors to perform specified sex acts in

productions. AB _ 1580

provisions prohibiting the distribution

of obscene material, making such

distribution a felony if the material |

distributed depicts minors performing

specified sex acts. And SB 817 (Presley)

requires that distributors of films,

photographs and magazines determine

and record the names and addresses of

persors from whom the distributor

obtained material:in which minors are

depicted performing specified sex acts.

The records of the names and addresses

must be made available to peace of-

ficers upon demand. (c)

_ ACLU did not support AB 1580, due

policy against

obscenity laws, but withdrew opposition

when the measure was narrowed to

include the requirement that the ob-

" jectionable material depict specific sex

= acts:

$

the original Ellis measure in-

cluded overbroad provisions: ``other

sexual acts'' and `"`simulations of ...

other sexual acts."" ACLU opposed SB

817's provision that peace officers may

demiand access to distributors' records

upon demand - in line with ACLU's

policy that `government search of

private papers and effects must be

conditioned upon observance of -

procedural due process protections.

Terrorist Threats

Over the strong opposition of the

ACLU, the Assembly Criminal Justice

Committee, passed SB 923 (Carpenter)

which makes it a felony to utter

"terrorist threats" or {as i in the case of

news media) to ``communicate"'

terrorist threats. The Committee

normally demonstrates a healthy

sensitivity to First Amendment

protections, but SB 923 passed with the

necessary five votes under enormous

pressure from law enforcement, San

Francisco DA, Joe Freitas, Supervisor

Diane Feinstein, and PG E. ~~

The bill forbids threats which

"terrorize'', and "`terrorize'' is defined

as ``.. . (creating) a climate of fear and

intimidation by means of threats or

violent action, causing sustained fear

for personal safety in order to achieve

social or political goals."

' Inapress release issued: August 15th,

the ACLU said: ". . . the bill reaches far

beyond the illegal activities of small.

bands of would-be terrorists and

threatens open communications be-

tween legitimate protest groups and

government." SB 923, authored by

Senator Dennis Carpenter, a former -

FBI agent, goes to the Assembly

Revenue and Taxation Committee on

- August 29th; that committee is chaired

_by Assemblyman Willie Brown.

September 1977

aclu news

CHAPTERS

San Francisco

The Annual Meeting of the San

Francisco Chapter is scheduled for

_ Sunday, October 16th at the Fireman's

Fund Auditorium, California St. near

Presidio Ave. Election. of members to

the Board of Directors will be held at

that time.

Nominations to the Board will be

accepted until October 1, 1977. A

biography (maximum 50 words) of the

ACLU member being nominated

should be mailed to the Nominating

Committee of the Chapter, 814 Mission

St., Suite 301, San Francisco 94103.

Further annual meeting details will

be forwarded to you shortly. Mean-

while,

Gay rights

`The chapter will have its next

meeting on Thursday, September 15th

at 8 p.m. in the offices of the ACLU in

San Francisco (814 Mission Street,

Suite 301). Brent Barnhart, the ACLU's

Legislative Advocate in Sacramento,

will talk about.current legislation as it

affects gay rights.

Barnhart's talk will focus on the

present status of Senate. Bill 27, the

proposed omnibus revision of the state' S

criminal code.

Members of this ACLU chapter ie

also be voting at this meeting to ap-

prove the chapter by-laws.

Legal, Legislative, and Membership

committees of the ACLU Gay Rights

Chapter have started functioning in

their respective areas. In addition,

public information subcommittees have

been working on an_ educational

brochure, in developing material for

programs and _ speeches and in

beginning plans for a chapter bulletin.

Santa Clara

A survey of local police department

policies regarding the maintenance of

citizen complaint records has been

initiated by the Santa Clara Valley

Chapter.

An allegation that records of the

Internal Affairs Department in the

custody of the San Jose Police

Department were destroyed has

prompted an effort by two local at-

torneys to have criminal charges against

their clients dropped. Claiming a denial

of due process, the attorneys say the_

records which were allegedly destroyed

are essential to their clients' defense,

according to a report given to the

Chapter Board by attorney Tom

Ferrito. -

Former San Jose Police

Murphy and members of the Internal

Affairs Department reportedly

destroyed the records shortly after the

California Supreme Court decision in

Pitchess yv. Los Angeles County

Superior Court. The Pitchess ruling

gives defense counsel, in cases involving

criminal charges of resisting arrest or

battery on police officers, access to the

records of arresting officers, so that

defendants can develop evidence which

would help a jury evaluate the officers'

testimony and credibility.

A~ grand jury

currently underway.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Chief.

investigation _ is

Berkeley-Albany-

Kensington

The _Berkeley/Albany/Kensington

Chapter purchased and donated eight

sets of books in the ACLU's "Rights of"

series to various libraries in the East

Bay. Five. sets were presented to the

Berkeley public library and its four

branches; one was presented to the

University of California library; and the

`remaining two were given to the public

libraries in Albany and Kensington.

ACLU members living in Berkeley,

Albany and Kensington are invited to

examine and use these books.

The Chapter Board is in the process

of nominating the candidates to serve.

on the Board from December, 1977 to

December, 1980. Persons who wish to

be nominated may petition to be on the

`ballot. A petition must be signed by 15

chapter members and must be mailed

to the Chapter - P.O. Box 955,

Berkeley, Ca. 94701 - by October 14,

1977. In addition persons who wish to

be considered for nomination by the -

Nominations Committee or who wish to

suggest a nominee should call the

Nominations Committee Chairperson,

Tom Suhr, at 465-3833 (days) no later

than October 1, 1977.

Finally, the Berkeley/Albany/Ken-

sington Chapter is looking for

volunteers to help run- our Complaint

and Information Service. Anyone in-

terested in learning more about the

service or wishing to volunteer should

call Marjory Gelb at 655-5211.

Sonoma

The Chapter's annual Picnic-Art

Auction will be held on September 18th

at the Founders Grove at the county

Fair Grounds from 12 noon to 5 pm.-

Bring your family and friends.

Four of our State Representatives

voted against the Death Penalty both

before and after Governor Brown's

veto. No other ACLU chapter can make

that claim. (c)

Fishlow continued from page 2

by our subsequent ``good works."'

e We have learned an important

lesson. When we devote our efforts to

proving that we are not something (not

Communists, not Nazis), we lay our-

selves open to the danger of failing to do

our work on behalf of the Bill of Rights.

That lesson will likely be well learned -

and long remembered.

e Maybe a little solace can be taken

from the fact that during this period,

the ACLU of Northern California and

some other affiliates and individuals

_were vehement in their denunciation of

witch-hunting and loyalty oaths within

the ACLU; eventually their views

prevailed. We may be - even those of

us who weren't around at the time -

very proud of that part of the record. _

A bay area Coalition to Stop

Government Spying which in-

cludes the ACLU of Northern

California is involved in effecting

legislation to control the activities

of federal intelligence agencies. _

For further information, or if

you are interested in _ par-

ticipating, please contact Dorothy

Ehrlich at the ACLU office -

777-4545.

Death Penalty

continued from page 1

the country on August 23 which was

_proclaimed ``Sacco and Vanzetti Day"'

by Massachusetts Governor Michael

Dukakis, who recently charged that the _

two men had been denied a fair trial.

A National Coalition Against the

Death Penalty, spearheaded by the

- ACLU, contributed a message to the

`protesters which recalled ``The tragedy

of the executions of the good cobbler

and poor fish peddler in Massachusetts

fifty years ago."

"Bigotry made them victims, history

has made them heroes. Their fate

exemplifies even today the brutality of

the death penalty, which we. impose

only upon the despised of our society.

We are with you in the pursuit of a

human and life-enhancing social order,

~ one which does not kill its citizens."

- Many of the prominent death penalty

opponents. who addressed the group

shared the impact which the Sacco and

Vanzetti executions had on their lives.

Defense attorney Charles Garry

recalled that the event inspired him_to

pursue his career as a defense attorney;

and Byron Eshelman remembered

Sacco and Vanzetti's execution day as.

`one which would long haunt him, when

he later was to become the death row

Chaplain and witness the deaths of 94

persons in 11 years at San Quentin.

"This gathering,' according to

Marlene De Lancie, who coordinated

the rally on the ACLU's behalf, "`is just

the very beginning of the Coalition's

campaign to stop the death penalty

from being imposed."

David Fishlow, ACLU's Executive

Director; Walter Johnson, President of

the Retail Clerks Union (Local 1100);

Howard Wallace of Gay Action; Sandy

Porter, representing Student Coalition

Against Racism; Willie Holder,

Director of the Prisoner's Union; Rabbi

Sam Broude, Father Donald

MacKinnon and the Rev. John

Deckenback also spoke out against the

death penalty during the widely

publicized rally.

ACLU members interested in

participating in the Coalition

Against the Death Penalty are urged

to contact Marlene De Lancie at the

ACLU, 777-4545 for further in-

formation. The next meeting of the

Coalition will be held at 7:30 p.m., at

the ACLU offices, 814 Mission

Street, Suite 301 on Wednesday,

September 14.

=

Saltzman

continued from page |

Executive Director Ernie Besig, we went

against the national organization's

position on these matters, and today the

national organization is proud that we

did.

`We cannot be certain what issues of -

today will become the most significant

from a historical perspective," claims

Saltzman, ``but it's better that we

participate in a case than to miss one

that may prove to be essential in the

- struggle for the Bill of Rights."

Working to eliminate racial

segregation and separation is a

passionate goal of the ACLU's new

Chairperson who traveled to the south

to work as an attorney during the civil

rights movement of the 1960's. Salt-

zman first- became involved with the

ACLU when he served as Chairperson

of California's State Commission on

Equal Opportunity in Education, an

organization dedicated to promoting

integration in the public schools.

"The ACLU must play an important

role in making sure that government

puts no road blocks in the way of people

exercising their constitutional rights, or

being able to participate effectively in

the decision making process of a

democratic society,' Saltzman said.

_ Other officers elected at the Board's

June meeting included Naomi Lauter,

currently ACLU's Legislative Com-

mittee Chairperson who was elected to

serve as Vice-Chairperson of the Board;

Fran Strauss, who has served as the

coordinator of ACLU's Bill of Rights

celebration for the past three years, and (c)

is a past president of the San Francisco

Chapter, who was elected to serve as

Secretary-Treasurer; and Irving Cohen

was elected to continue to serve as the

Northern California representative on

the National Board.

Along with the Board's officers,

Bernard Bergesen, Richard De Lancie,

Neil Horton, Carol Nagy Jacklin, Ruth

Jacobs and Eva Jefferson Patterson

were chosen to participate as at-large

members of the ACLU's Executive

Committee.

Professor Anthony A ciseidam and

Jerome Falk were added to the ACLU's

Advisory Counsel, joining former

ACLU Chairperson Howard Jewel,

Coleman Blease and- Ephraim

Margolin.

Two interim vacancies on the Board

of Directors were filled by the Board's

June election of Pat Schultz and James

Goodwin.

~

aclu news

8 issues a year, monthly except bi- monthly i in January-February, M. arch-April,

July-August and November-December

Second Class Mail privileges authorized at San Francisco, California

Published by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

Warren Saltzman, Chairperson David M. Fishlow, Executive Director

Dorothy Ehrlich, Editor

7 Publication Number 018040.

814 Mission St. - Ste. 301, San Francisco, California 94103 - 777-4545

Membership $20 and up, of which 50 cents is for a subscription to the aclu news

and 50 cents is for the national ACLU bi- monty BE Civil Liberties.