vol. 44, no. 7
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Inside - H-Bomb Case, Chapter Conference, No on Prop. 1
u news
Volume XLIX
October 1979
`No. 7
ACLU Suit Knocks Out Jail Bugs |
"Jules Feiffer
- Joan Baez
Bill of Rishts Award to Baez:
Feiffer Will Give Keynote
The seventh annual Earl Warren
Civil Liberties Award will be presented
to veteran activist and musician Joan
Baez at the Northern California
ACLU's Bill of Rights Day Celebration
on Sunday, December 16, at the Sher-
aton Palace Hotel, San Francisco. The
theme of this year's Bill of Rights Day
Celebration is ``Many a Mile to Free-
_dom,"' the title of a Baez composition
- which aptly describes the long and com-
plicated civil liberties battles that face
the ACLU today. The keynote speaker
for the event, who will address some of
these issues, is the noted cartoonist and
social commentator, Jules Feiffer.
The Board of Directors of the ACLU-
NC selected Joan Baez as the award
This year, Joan Baez will join the
ranks of distinguished recipients of
the Earl Warren Civil Liberties
Award (established 1973) who have
all made major contributions to the
cause of civil liberties and justice.
Previous recipients have been: jour-
nalist Carey McWilliams and
women's rights advocate Harriet
Pilpel (1978); ACLU attorney
Francis Heisler (1977); Supreme
Court Justice William O. Douglas
(1976); ACLU-NC founders Helen
Salz and (posthumously) Alexander
Meiklejohn (1975); former Cali-
fornia Supreme Court Justice Roger
J. Traynor (1974); and Stanford Uni-
versity law professor Anthony G.
Amsterdam (1973).
recipient last March. A singer by trade,
she is an activist by nature, and her civil
liberties record is laudatory. For 20
years, her familiar music has inspired
those fighting for freedom and has
educated the listening public on such -
issues as the rights of workers, free
speech, civil rights, abolition of capital
punishment and draft resistance.
In 1962, when she discovered on her
first national concert tour that she
could not perform for blacks at white
colleges in the South, she embarked on
a tour of only black colleges, thereby
successfully integrating Southern audi-
ences. In 1963, already an established
folksinger, she refused to appear on
ABC-TV because that network had
blacklisted Pete Seeger; the following
year she echoed that commitment to the
First Amendment by being actively in-
volved in the Berkeley Free Speech
Movement. During the Vietnam War,
Baez made hundreds of speeches
encouraging young men to resist the
draft, and in 1967 was herself arrested
and imprisoned for civil disobedience at
the Oakland Induction Center during
the draft resistance campaign.
In presenting the award to Joan
Baez, her noted involvement with the
ACLU of Northern California is of spe-
cial significance. In 1972; she volun-
teered a benefit concert to support the
ACLU-NC's campaign to defeat the
death penalty initiative. In 1977, Baez
participated in the ACLU-NC's Rally
Against the Death Penalty at San
Quentin. That same year, Baez sent a
(more page 8)
_ Privacy Rights
_ Due Detamees
People in jail who are awaiting trial
have a state-guaranteed constitutional
right to privacy, a California Court of
Appeal ruled on October 9, reversing 20
years of U.S. and California judicial
precedents.
The 2-to-1 decision came in response'
to an ACLU suit against the San Mateo
County Sheriff's practice of covert elec-
tronic monitoring and tape- recording
conversations between prisoners
awaiting trial and their visitors, as well
as conversations between prisoners in
their cells.
"The detained citizen does _not auto-
matically forfeit his basic civil rights as
soon as the jailhouse door clangs shut,"
said Presiding Justice John T. Racanelli
in the majority opinion.
The majority ruled that the Califor-
nia State Constitution guarantee of pri-
vacy extends to accused prisoners
awaiting trial in jail. The privacy pro-
vision was added to the state constitu-
tion by the voters in 1972.
"The decision is particularly signifi-
cant in light of recent U.S. Supreme
Court decisions which have disregarded
the constitutional rights of incarcerated
persons,' commented ACLU staff
counsel Alan Schlosser, who argued the
~ case before the Court of Appeal.
"It is a strong indication that the
California courts still continue to
recognize that prisoners have consti-
tutional rights, and that, until they
are convicted, California citizens must
be treated with the traditional
presumption of innocence,'' Schlosser
added.
Schlosser said that this was the first
case in the country to hold that jails
could not engage in systematic surveil-
lance of prisoners' conversations.
Justice Racanelli's opinion called
"Orwellian" the position of San Mateo
officials "`that every detained citizen has
no right to private conversation with
anyone other than counsel."'
The San Mateo practice of moni-
_ toring prisoners' conversations with
visitors first came to light in the course
of the Patty Hearst trial when San Ma-
- teo Sheriff John R. McDonald testified
that recording prisoners' conversations
with visitors was a routine practice.
The ACLU first brought suit in 1976
and argued that pre-trial detainees are
presumed innocent of a crime and did
not lose their constitutional rights just
because they could not afford to post
bail and, therefore, had to await trial in
jail.
In 1977, a San Mateo Superior Court
Judge, in response to the ACLU suit,
ordered the county sheriff to stop
monitoring prisoners' telephone
conversations, but the court rejected
(more page 6)
Court Accepts Challenge
To Abortion Funding Cuts
Medi-Cal financed abortions will
continue without restriction, probably
at least for another year, as a result of a
state Supreme Court decision on Sep-
tember 20 to accept ACLU-sponsored
challenges to the 1978 and 1979 State
Budget Acts.
The legislature cut Medi-Cal funding
for abortions by over 90% in each of the
_last two years. However, the cuts have
not gone into effect because of a series
of ACLU-initiated court actions.
ACLU Staff Counsel Margaret
Crosby, said, ``This decision will have a
great impact on thousands of California
women who depend on Medi-Cal
funding.
`"`Now that the Court has accepted
our petition to hear the cases (Commit-
tee to Defend Reproductive Rights y.
Myers, and Committee to Defend
Reproductive Rights v. Cory) their
August 9 order stopping the implemen-
tation of the legislature's cuts will re-
"main until the Court reaches its final
decision, which will no doubt be past
the end of the current state budget year
July, 1980," explained Crosby.
The ACLU, the National Center for
Youth Law, and four other public
interest law firms, first brought suit in
August, 1978, on behalf of a coalition
of Medi-Cal recipients, health care pro-
viders, taxpayers, women's groups and
welfare rights advocates when the state
legislature acted to restrict the Medi-
Cal funds. A second suit was brought in
early August, this year, after the
legislature repeated its 1978 action.
The ACLU argues that all women
have a constitutional right to choose to
have an abortion, but the state _politi-
cians are using their financial budgeting
power to coerce over 8,000 women a
month to continue unwanted pregnan-
cies.
October 1979
aclu news
Govt. Censors Bomb In California
but also their Monday afternoon announcement to drop their major case against
When the ACLU staff spent some hectic hours late on Saturday night and early
Sunday morning in mid-September planning how to fight a temporary restraining
order on The Daily Californian they never imagined that their work in those wee
hours would change the outcome of one of the major press freedom cases in U.S.
history.
But in fact, the announcement to the government by ACLU-NC staff attorney |
Amitai Schwartz and cooperating attorneys Steve Mayer and Mark Topel that
they would challenge the government injunction prohibiting the Daily. Cal from
`printing Charles Hansen's letter about the H-Bomb, and the simultaneous pub-
lication of that same letter by The Madison Press Connection, affected not only |
_ the government's Monday morning decision to drop the Daily Cal injunction,
by Elaine Elinson
When Federal judge Robert Warren
issued an injunction at the request of
the government of the United States
barring The Progressive from printing .
and distributing an article about the H-
Bomb, he said that he had "`agonized"'
over the decision and did not welcome
- the "notoriety" it would bring him.
Since that March order abridging by |
prior restraint the freedom of the press
notoriety has reached far beyond that
particular judge.
Though Progressive editor Erwin
Knoll justly celebrated the lifting of the
injunction as a "clear cut victory not
only for The Progressive but also for the
American people,'' those who concern
themselves primarily with the civil liber-
ties aspect of The Progressive case and
the legal actions it spawned including
the ban on the Daily Californian
publication of the Hansen H-Bomb
letter, must continue to agonize.
For the first time in U.S. history, a
prior restraint actually operated for six
months. The 1954 Atomic Energy Act
secrecy regulations remain unchanged.
The fact of that prior restraint and the
AEA regulations remain as dangerous
precedents for future use by other
administrations and other courts.
In the 1971 Pentagon Papers case,
when a temporary restraining order
remained in effect against The New
York Times for only two days while the
justices were examining the arguments,
the Supreme Court firmly adjudged
that the First Amendment guarantees
of freedom of speech and of the press
March: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- were
`specifically ruled out prior restraint.
Prior restraint can only be used in the
most explicit of circumstances, when
publication will "`surely result in direct,
immediate and irreparable damage to
our nation and its people.' Even the
government conceded that The
Progressive article did not fall within
this narrow restriction, and yet the
injunction remained.
The frantic response of some sup-
porters of the government position is
that general publication of The
Progressive article, Hansen's letter, or
other technical analyses of nuclear
weaponry threatens the future of civili-
zation by making this information
' available to ``unstable governments"' or
`nuclear terrorists."
The fact is that even according to
leading nuclear scientists, there is no
way that the technical concepts des-
cribed in the Morland article or the
Hansen letter could have been used as a
blueprint to actually produce a nuclear
weapon. Hansen, with his vast know-
ledge and technical expertise said, "I
don't even know how to make an H-
bomb. It would be much easier to steal
a bomb at some poorly guarded military
base."'
| The government supporters dismiss
the substantive question of freedom of
the press by asserting that if the press
`responsible', government
censorship would be unnecessary
because no publication would be reck-
less enough to print material on thermo-
nuclear weaponry.
If the press would only censor itself,
The Progressive magazine.
For the present, the litigation has ended, but the legal and constitutional issues
raised are still reverberating. When the government succeeded in winning an in-
junction against The Progressive's article on the H-bomb, they obtained the first
lengthy prior restraint order ever issued against the press. The fact that the article
was about nuclear technology is perhaps even more significant - evidence that the
nuclear age forebodes some of the gravest threats to civil liberties my which the
ACLU will have to contend.
An outline of the sequence of events in `"The H-Bomb Case", and an analysis of
the civil liberties issues involved follows below.
then the government would indeed be
put out of the censorship business -
that much is correct. But the social and
political costs would be direct, immed-
_iate and grave. The government would |
be left to monopolize information re-
motely technical on nuclear weaponry.
The technocrats would become the
political arbiters, and the press would
become the docile purveyors of infor-
mation which has been sanitized for
public consumption.
The Progressive and Daily Cal cases
have also lifted the lid on the whole
Pandora's box of secrecy regulations
particular to the nuclear industry.
Knoll has stated, "Our purpose has
been to raise the issue of secrecy and to
alert Americans to the nuclear arms
race.'
"We scientists ,
recognize our inescapable
responsibility to carry to
Ourfellowcitizensan -
understanding of the
simple facts of atomic
energy and its implications
for society ... There is no
secret and no defense;
there is no possibility of
control except through the
aroused understanding
and insistence of the
peoples of the world."
Albert Einstein
H-Bomb News Countdown
September 12: 7th Circuit Court of Appeals (Chicago)
`Hansen also explained, "`I'd like to
bring nuclear weapons out of the closet
and have open, public discussion about
them.'' Both men are echoing the
warning of Albert Einstein made
shortly after the discovery of the atomic
bomb that an informed citizenry is the
only defense. against nuclear destruc-.
tion.
One of the monsters that has fod
out of the box into public view is that
previously little publicized fine print of
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. It says
that any information pertaining to
nuclear weapons, nuclear materials, or
nuclear energy is data "restricted at
birth'', unless the government specifi-
cally declassifies that information.
__ This statute is at the heart of the gov-
ernment's case for censorship. It
mattered not that Howard Morland and
Charles Hansen researched unclassified,
publicly available data, analyzed it in the.
privacy of their own minds, and wrote up -
' their independent conclusions. The
restrictions of the Atomic Energy Act
_ meant that the dissemination of their very
thought processes was illegal.
The vigilance of the ACLU becomes
even more immediate as nuclear tech-
nology and its particular secrecy
become more common. As former U.S.
Attorney General Ramsey Clark
explains, `""The present [government]
policy of secrecy is a fatal abdication of
a founding principle.
"The U:S. Government has violated
the first right of the people - unfet-
tered communication - and threa-
tened our existence."'
The Progressive magazine plans to publish an article by freelance author
Howard Morland entitled "The H-Bomb Secret: How We Got It, Why We're
Telling It."
March 9: U.S. District Court (Western Wisconsin)
U.S. government seeks and obtains a restraining order prohibiting The
Progressive from printing Morland' s article.
March 16:
ACLU enters the case as amicus curiae at the request of The Progressive.
March 26: U.S. District Court (Western Wisconsin)
Court grants injunction barring the publication of Morland's article.
| April 5:
ACLU: agrees to represent Eerie editor Erwin Knoll and managing editor
Samuel Day.
May:
The Progressive May issue includes "T he pale Behind the H-Bomb Article
We're Not Allowed to Print."'
May 10: Los Alamos, New Mexico
An ACLU researcher examining data related to the H-Bomb witiele at Los
Alamos Scientific Laboratory has material taken from him by government
officials. :
May 12: Los Alamos, New Mexico .
The government closes public portion of the Los Alamos Scientific Lab er
August 27: Palo Alto
Charles Hansen, a computer programmer with an interest in nuclear weaponry
and government secrecy, writes an 18-page letter to Senator Percy (R.-IIl.) with
copies to several newspapers about the H-Bomb and criticizes government
classification of nuclear information.
The Progressive appeal hearings begin. Court rejects government motion to
close the hearings to the public.
September 15: Hillsborough, California
At the government's request, Judge Robert Schnake of the U.S. District Court
issues an order prohibiting the Berkeley student newspaper, The pay Cor
_ nian from printing Hansen's letter.
September 16: San Francisco
ACLU-NC attorneys announce that they will be seeking to vacate the temporary
injunction against the Daily Cal as soon as the court opens on Monday.
Madison, Wisconsin
The Madison Press Connection prints a special Sunday edition with the full text
of Hansen's letter.
- September 17: San Francisco
Government seeks to vacate the temporary restraining order against the Daily
Cal, prompted by the publication of the Madison Press Connection and the
ACLU-NC challenge. -
San Francisco
ACLU-NC holds a press conference to announce the lifting of the Daily Cal
restraining order by Federal Judge Sam Conti.
Washington, D.C. -
The U.S. Government announces that they will withdraw the case against The
Progressive and the Daily Cal.
Madison, Wisconsin
_ The Progressive announces that they will run the original Morland article | in 0x00A7.
their November issue.
September 18: Berkeley
Bay Cal eres a summary of Haney letter.
October 1979
aciu news
Street Ordinance
- Repealed in S.F.
On September 7, Mayor Dianne
Feinstein signed into law a new ordi-
nance to replace San Francisco Police
Code sections 20a and 20b which pro-
hibited obstructing sidewalks and
standing in doorways without oe
owners consent.
The old ordinances were repealed
after an ACLU-NC taxpayers suit
(Ramey v. Gain) was brought to protest
the unconstitutional sweeping nature of
arrests based on the vague and over-
broad restrictions of blocking the side-
walk and standing in doorways found in
the old law. In nearly all the arrests
made, charges were dropped and none
went to trial. Since ACLU first brought
the lawsuit in May, arrests under 20a
and 20b.decreased by 90%.
ACLU (c) staff attorney Amitai
Schwartz hailed the repealing of the old
ordinances as a victory and explained,
"The new law gives less discretion to the
police in picking up persons who are
allegedly obstructing the sidewalks, and
gives less discretion to prosecutors in
manipulating the treatment of those |
arrested. We will, however, be watching
the situation very closely as new police
practices unfold over the Coe
months."
Lobbyists' Rights
Freedom of political expression for
lobbyists has been extended as a result
of a recent California Supreme Court
decision. On August 23, in the case of
the Fair Political Practices Commission
_v. Superior Court, the Supreme Court
ruled in agreement with an ACLU-NC
amicus brief that a ban on political con-
tributions by lobbyists was unconstitu-
tional. |
The Court found that the ban, origi-
nally imposed. by Proposition 9 passed
in 1974 violated lobbyists' rights to free-
dom of association.
Cooperating attorney Ruth M. Simon
prepared the ACLU-NC's amicus brief.
Drug Clinic Raided, Records Seized
Police officers who raided a San
Francisco methadone clinic and seized
patients' records violated federal regu-
lations and the California Constitution,
claims the ACLU in a class action law-
suit filed on behalf of the patients on
August 28 in the San Francisco Superior
Court.
Working from an anonymous tip and
carrying a search warrant, San Francisco
and San Mateo police, who were investi-
_ gating a murder, raided the Methadone
Clinic at San Francisco General Hospital.
The murder case did not involve clinic
operations.
~The ACLU is representing several
clinic patients in a suit seeking to force
the police to return the records and
destroy all copies. The suit also seeks a
declaration that the raid was illegal and
seeks to protect the patients from any
police harassment for bringing the suit.
Staff counsel Amitai Schwartz said
that patients had volunteered for the
drug treatment program with the
understanding that their privacy as
guaranteed by the state and federal law
would be respected. "By invading this
clinic and seizing these patients'
records, the police have seriously hurt
the credibility of the clinic and may
have caused real harm to the patients."'
ACLU staff attorney Schwartz and
cooperating attorneys, Neil Horton and
Earl Osborne, are challenging the
methadone clinic raid on the grounds
that the. California Constitution guar-
antees of personal privacy and of
unwarranted search and seizure offer
protection to uninvolved third parties.
In addition, there are federal regula-
tions which specifically protect the pri-
vacy of patients in drug treatment pro-
grams.
In 1972, Congress passed legislation
which recognized that police interfer-
ence could hurt drug treatment pro-
grams. In 1975, the Secretary of Health,
_ Education and Welfare issued regula-
tions to carry out the act, which
required that whenever patients'
records are sought, the clinic be given a
chance to be heard in court with an
attorney.
The Methadone Clinic at S.F. Gen-
eral, run by the City and County of San
Francisco in conjunction with the Uni-
versity of California, operates a
federally funded methadone program
with volunteer patients.
"Our clients are afraid,' Schwartz
explained. ``They've had experience
with the police in the past. When they
entered this drug treatment program,
they thought they were taking a step
toward living a normal life.
"Now the police have their names
and photographs. Police agencies have
a practice of sharing all sorts of infor-
mation with each other, no matter what
the source.
"Who knows where the records of
these volunteer patients might end
up?"
Cop Search Challenged:
Attorney's Arrest Appealed
by Steve Arnold |
Eleanor Kraft, a Santa Clara attor-
_hey convicted of obstructing police
during a search of her client's home,
- will be represented in her apped by the
ACLU-NC.
Kraft was visiting her client's
Sacramento home when ten armed men
burst through the front and side doors.
`None of the men wore police uniforms.
They announced that they were police
and were going to search the house.
Kraft immediately announced that
she was an attorney and demanded to
see their search warrant. She was told
the warrant would only be presented
after the officers had secured the house.
"She repeated her demand to see the
warrant.
Her arrest for obstructing the police
in the discharge of their duties was
based on her repeated verbal demands
to see the warrant. She did not physi-
cally hinder the police, nor stand in
their way.
During her trial, the judge instructed
the jury that the police are not required -
to present a warrant at the poe of a
search.
The ACLU-NC is appealing the deci-
sion on the grounds that Kraft's
demands to see the warrant are pro-
tected by constitutional rights. Firstly,
the warrant should serve to assure the
householder that a police search is legal
and has been authorized by the courts.
Kraft was exercising her right for such
assurance that the plain-clothes officers
were indeed police with a legal warrant.
Secondly, whether Kraft was right or
wrong in her assertion. Her verbal
. protests were protected by the First
Amendment and cannot be grounds for
arrest.
She had the right to argue what she
believed to be questionable police con-
duct, so long as she did not physically
obstruct the officers.
The ACLU argument also asserts
that because the judge incorrectly
instructed the jury that police do not
have to show a warrant on demand, he
therefore prejudiced the case in favor of
the prosecution.
8 issues a year, monthly except bi-monthly in January-February, June-July,
August-September and November-December
Second Class Mail privileges authorized at San Francisco, California
Published by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California
Drucilla Ramey, Chairperson Dorothy Ehrlich, Executive Director (2)
Elaine Elinson, Editor Michael Miller, Chapter Page 2
ACLU NEWS (USPS 018-040)
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 S50 cents is for the national ACLU-bi-monthly publication, Civil Liberties.
New News Editor: From Magna Carta to Bill of Rights
Finding illustrations for ACLU News
stories is often difficult and more than
one editor has borrowed liberally from
the artful publication of the National
Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), the
British equivalent of the ACLU.
When the ACLU-NC went looking
several months ago for a new News
editor and public information director,
hiring former NCCL Public Relations
Officer Elaine Elinson seemed, well,
almost like hiring a friend of the family.
Elaine, the most recent addition to
the ACLU-NC staff, has had political
-and press experience on three con-
tinents.
Until last July, Elaine was the press
assistant for a 750,000-member British
public employees union.
; Before her union work, Elaine spent
_two years with the NCCL where she
took on publicity, membership, and
fund raising. She was also responsible
for NCCL "groups," similar to ACLU
chapters.
Elaine spent several periods with the
United Farmworkers, first as an
organizer in the United States, and
later as an overseas representative for
the grape boycott based in Great
Britain and Scandinavia.
Elaine's journalism career began
when she joined the small, but highly
respected San Francisco based Pacific
News Service, first as a writer and editor
and than as a correspondent from Hong
Kong, Japan, Okinawa, and _ the
Philippines.
The New ACLU public information
director graduated from Cornell
University in anthropology and Asian
studies.
"One problem I can foresee," said
the new editor, "is ridding my spelling
of the Anglicisms I picked up in
Britain. For example, `labor' oe does - ie
not look right without the `u'."'
"The most comforting thing about
coming back to the-U.S. and working
for the ACLU is having the Bill of (c)
Rights around again. In Britain it was
different. There they have the Magna
Carta and a long, long legal tradition."
Elaine told we ACLU News.
"My Soilesues at NCCL deoiaug
thought the British system was better. If
there were a Bill of Rights, they
reasoned, it could be very narrowly
construed by conservative judges. They
could never understand why I sat
through conferences open-mouthed in
astonishment while the National
Council for Civil Liberties argued:
against a Bill of Rights." she added.
Elaine Elinson
Photo by Michael P. Miller
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October 1979
aclu news
Conference: Forum for Rights Reform
eociciation
Disabled:
elt s a ay that people with disa-
bilities only want to associate and live
with other people who have disabilities,"
said Cy Hubbard at the Chapter Con-
ference panel on the `Rights of the
Elderly. and the Disabled".
Hubbard, executive secretary of the
California Governor's Committee for
the Employment of the Handicapped
and himself a parapalegic, criticized
"warehouses" and "ghettos" for the
disabled.
There is good state and federal legis-
lations mandating affirmative action
and physical access, but it is "`legisla-
tion before the fact'',
Hubbard, because facilities and
equipment do not exist for most handi-
capped people to travel to the jobs that '
are supposed to be opening up to them.
~ "You can have a Ph.D. and all the
job qualifications in the world, but if
there is no accessible public transpor-
tation, then what good is a job 20 miles _
away?' asked Hubbard.
Another panel member Jim Donald,
Deputy Director of the California
Department of Rehabilitation, pointed
out that cost is the usual excuse given
for not accomodating the handicapped.
-_ Donald replied, ``Cost is not the real
factor usually. People do not want to
have to deal with the disabled.
Donald said there are usually low
cost, "common sense"
access problems.
Donald added that access problems
are not limited to the disabled, ``Most
architects design buildings for males in
their early twenties. This virtually ex-
cludes women, children, and senior citi-
zens."'
Donald is a quadrapelegic.
The panel was organized by Michael
Vader, ACLU-NC board member and
Director of the California State Affir-
mative Action Program for the Dis-.
abled. Vader is also the founder of the
Sacramento Legal Center for the
Elderly and Disabled.
Vader noted that even defining
""handicapped'"' and `"`disabled"' is a
problem. ``We have a tendency to zero
in on physically disabled people in
wheelchairs, on crutches or blind
people. Most of the people who are dis-
abled, however, have hidden disabilities. -
These are persons with hearing condi-
tions, diabeties, epilepsy, and mental
retardation."
Vader said that federal laws relating
to employment of the handicapped do |
according to
ways to solve |
Conference.
chapter activities before.
ae
`speech.
The Marin Chapter started it all in 1965. -Mid-Peninsula
came next in 1960. By 1963, there were eight more ACLU-NC
chapters and 80 members attended the first Chapter
This year' s Chapter Conference was held the last weekend in -
September in the beautiful Marin County headlands with 110
people. at least 10 percent of whom had not been involved in
This special News section summarizes conference panels cent on
the disabled and nuclear power, plus presents the highlights of
national ACLU legislative ee: John Shattuck's keynote
1979 Chapter Conference: John Shattuck (upper rt.); Rights of the
Disabled and Elderly Panel with (1-r) Michael Vader, Jim Donald,
and Cy Hubbard (lower rt.); Legislative Committee discussion (left).
. Photos by Michael P. Miller
not have specific numerical require-
`ments. The only public or private
employer in the United, States which
has numerical goals and timetables is
the State of California.
The most important legislation af-
fecting disabled people is the federal
- Rehabilitation Act of 1973, sometimes
refered to as the "`civil rights bill for the
disabled"'.
Section 501 of the bill requires affir-
Suit Knocks Out Jail Bugs
(trom page 1)
the ACLU's arguments about prisoners'.
other conversations.
The appeal court agreed with the
ACLU, however, that the California
Constitution (Article I, Section I) pro-
- vides additional privacy protections not
found in the U.S. Constitution.
_ The appeal panel termed the San
Mateo system a ``wholesale indiscrimi-
nate intrusion' into a prisoner's private -
_conversations.
"Schlosser said he believes that the
practice of recording prisoners' jail con-
versation is ""commonplace." In March.
1977, the San Francisco County. Jail
telephone surveillance system was dis-
mantled at the request of the ACLU.
The plaintiffs in the ACLU action are
three taxpayers, ACLU-NC Board
members Marlene De Lancie and Emily
SkolInick and veteran ACLU-NC
member Lou Jones; a one-time accused
prisoner and his wife who visited him in
jail; and an attorney who has repre-
sented accused prisoners.
mative action in the federal government.
Section 502 requires that architectural
barriers be removed from projects re-
ceiving federal funds.
Section 503 says that every employer
doing business with the federal govern-
ment under contract for $2,500 or more
must take affirmative action to hire
handicapped people.
Section 504 requires that every insti-
`tution receiving federal financial assist-
ance must take steps to insure that
handicapped people are not discrimi-
nated against.
The Rehabilitation Act also requires
that employers make ``reasonable
accomodation'' for the handicapped.
Reasonable accomodation includes
making facilities used by all employees
accessible, such as restrooms, plus
making modifications in jobs, work -
schedules, equipment, and work areas.
In addition to federal legislation, the
State of California has passed a number
of laws to assist in integrating the
handicapped.
Nuclear Fallout:
Rights in Danger
"One of the main dangers facing us.
in the nuclear age, in addition to the
threat to our environment and health, is
the kind of police state that grows up
around nuclear power', according to
Linda Valentino, coordinator for the
Citizens Commission on Police.
Repression and participant in the
Chapter Conference panel on ``The
Flourescent Constitution: Nuclear
Power and Civil Liberties."'
Valentino cited policy documents
from the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission which stated that
electronic surveillance and infiltration
should be used as a matter of routine -
for gathering intelligence on groups
thought likely to have an interest in
nuclear energy.
Valentino also described. the
infiltration of the Abalone Alliance by
agent provocateurs from the Santa
Barbara and San Luis Obispo Sheriff's
Departments during the Diablo Canyon
Project demonstration and the courses
given on surveillance of ``nuclear
terrorists'' in government spy schools as
evidence that the development of the
nuclear industry was already generating
formidable police activity.
-- Her arguments were expanded: by
Dianne Thomas-Glass of the U.C.
Weapons Lab Conversion Project who
described the ``Pentagon take-over of
energy'. Though the Atomic Energy
Commission was supposedly
established to provide civilian control
over nuclear weapons and energy,
experience has shown that that body,
and the present Department of Energy
organized by President Carter are
dominated by pro-nuclear forces,
mainly from the Pepa met of
Defense.
Thomas-Glass pointed out that this
"cloak of legitimacy" has meant that
pro-nuclear forces have an undo
influence on government policy
decisions. She cited the fact that the
DoE budget request for fiscal year 1980
includes $5b for nuclear weapons
research, and $3b for general nuclear
power research, but only $700,000 for
other energy research.
John Shattuck, director of ACLU's
Washington office speaking in his
personal capacity felt that nuclear
power is "`the gravest issue in civil
liberties today - Watergate was small
potatoes compared to nuclear secrecy."
Shattuck explained that there are
civil liberties issues - such as due
process, police practices, and First
Amendment rights - that would be
jeopardized by the growth of the
nuclear industry.
"The growth of nuclear power,'' he
said, ``could involve police investigation -
of an entire community and security
clearances of the whole civilian nuclear
industry on the grounds oF ao)
security'.'"
It was the constitutional environment
that was in most danger of being
polluted Shattuck explained, adding,
"I'd rather read the Constitution by
candlelight than not read it at all." _
October 1979
aclu news
Politicat Challenge: A New ACLU
The following article has been edited
from the 1979 Chapter Conference
keynote speech by John Shattuck,
director of ACLU's Washington office.
_ by John H.F. Shattuck
The modern ACLU is no longer a
New York based lawyers' group which
defends civil liberties competently by
means of such devices as amicus briefs
to the Supreme Court, but an
organization which is prepared to take
direct action on the major political
issues which confront us today.
I want to look at the origin of the -
modern ACLU. Why are we so
interested in working in the political
process - in doing legislative work?
Isn't this something new? _
There are several factors which have
caused the ACLU to change its
direction over the past fifteen years.
_ Tremendous Growth
The first major factor is the
tremendous growth in membership.
The modern ACLU was built on the
politics of protest and direct action in
the 0x00B060's and early `70's. The
organization went from 30,000
members in 1965 to 275,000 in 1975.
During this period, the major issues
in this country were civil liberties and
human rights: issues which imposed
themselves on the consciousness of all
people. New members joined the ACLU
`because we were defending draft
resisters, working actively in the civil
rights movement, and organizing a
campaign to impeach Richard Nixon.
The ACLU changed its policy on
such issues as the membership and
leadership changed, but it was a slow (c)
process. For example, there was a
tremendous internal battle on whether
to enter the Coffin-Spock case. Was
there an inherent civil right involved in
resisting the draft, or to counsel such
resistance? This was a principal issue
before the national board in 1967. A.
year earlier, the board had debated the
` extent to which we should be involved in
direct action in the Southern civil rights
movement. :
The second major `factor is the
Burger Court. During the Warren
Court era, if we lost a case in the district
court, or the court of appeals, we knew
that ultimately we could take it up to
the ``big daddy'' and be sure of
winning. We had an eighty percent
success rate Cusine the Warren Court.
period.
But all that changed under. the
Burger court. During the '70's, it
became clear that federal courts were
no longer going to deal with the serious
allegations of political surveillance and
abuse of power in violations of the
``Watergate"' variety.
Therefore, at the national level one of |
our main strategies at this point must
be to try to overturn Supreme Court
decisions by means of legislation. We
are trying to do that with the Stanford
Daily case right now.
The politics of the 1980's conistitute
the third factor in our turn towards.
political action. The rights that were -
won during the Warren Court era are
all under tremendous attack. An
organized and often single issue
opposition is systematically attempting
to overturn the right to have abortions
funded, to stop the advance of the
ERA, and to overturn the constitutional
remedy for segregation embodied in
busing. It's the National Right to Life
Committee, it's the Howard Jarvis
`taxpayers' revolt,'' it's the people
anxious to roll back services and stop
the redistribution of resources to
minorities which is really what many
civil rights issues boil down to.
`""We Won"
The final reason we must respond is
that, through our action, we have
created a rising expectation that the
ACLU is capable of doing significant
work. In Washington, there is a real
perception that the ACLU stopped the
draft. We won in the House, much to
the astonishment of all the political
wags in Washington.
Where do we go from here? The
major issues for civil liberties in the
coming decades will be political. It's
wasting everybody's time to think we
can solve major political questions by
`operating as we have in the past. The
only way to deal with these problems is
to mobilize the sort of political -
lobbies that the ACLU has never
' systematically had up to now.
Membership Lobby
What are the main elements of a ou
liberties lobby?
First of all, we need a grassroots Bost
_ of members - twenty to thirty per cent
of our membership who are really
willing to write letters to Congress, meet
_with members of Congress, meet with
the press, and involve themselves in
direct political action within the
organization.
Second, we need cee coordin-
ators in every single Congressional dis-
trict.
Third, we need a much better .
method of communicating with our own
members. The Washington office
publication, Civil Liberties Alert is far
too narrow in its circulation. It must be
available free to 50,000 members.
We need to develop better access to .
the press, especially editorial writers.
Priorities
To make all this action effective. we
need to set national legislative
priorities. There are 25 civil liberties
issues pending in Congress, the
grassroots lobby cannot deal with all of
these. Which should come first?
Ultimately, our goal should be to link
the national ACLU legislative lobby
with a general leadership conference on
civil liberties from a coalition of groups,
strengthening our voice to its fullest.
All of this presents us with an
enormous challenge, the likes of which
the ACLU has never undertaken.
We must deal openly with the politics
of fear, or it will mean sinking back into
that terrible period, the McCarthy era,
when the ACLU stuck its head in the
sand and did not rise to the challenge.
We cannot afford to fail.
ACLU-NC members can' join the
Civil Liberties Lobby to work on both
national and state legislative issues. See
coupon on page 8 of the News.
Legislative Update
Draft Rejected
Anti-draft forces scored a significant _
and surprising, victory last month when
the House of Representatives voted
overwhelmingly (259 to 155) to delete
draft registration from the military ap-
propriations bill.
Instead, House members passed an
amendment directing the president to
study the registration question.
The registration provision, which
passed the Armed Services Committee
with little opposition last spring was
initially given a good chance to pass the
full House.
An intensive, nationwide organizing
campaign, with ACLU leadership,
made draft registration and induction,
which were suspended in 1975, too con-
troversial for many Congress members
to support.
Most Northern California Represen-
tatives received personal visits from
Civil Liberties Lobby members and all
received numerous letters and
telegrams.
The following Northern California
House members supported the amend-
ment to delete registration: Burton
(John), Burton (Phil), Clausen, Coelho,
- Dellums, Edwards, Matsui, McClosky,
Miller, Mineta, Panetta, Stark, and
Royer.
Abortion Funding
Last month the state legislature de-.
feated a pro-choice measure to release
about $12.5 million for unrestricted
Medi-Cal abortions starting in January,
1980.
Instead, the Geum passed a measure
' which would make permanent the
restriction on Medi-Cal abortions which
have been imposed through the budget
process for the last two years.
However, the Assembly refused to go
along with the Senate measure, so the
issue next goes to a conference com-
mittee when the legislature reconvenes
in January.
Northern California pro-choice sup-
porters in the state senate were:
Alquist, Garcia (Marz), Holmdahl,
Keene, Marks, Nejedly, and Petris.
Beacid Bidomced F. Sievers Boycott
`T testified before the National Tabor
Relations Board in September, two |
weeks before I went on pregnancy leave.
In January, when I was supposed to get
my job back, they told me there were no
jobs available. They fired my husband
after 25 years as a loom fixer. A new
baby and neither of us had a job. The
Stevens Company made it real clear
that they didn't like me ee the truth .
to the Labor Board."
_ This statement, ya a former LP.
Stevens worker in North Carolina, is
only one small example of the J.P.
Stevens' attitude toward union organi-
zing and the company's flagrant viola-
tions of the law. do ie |
Se 1963, when Stevens workers
began to exercise their right to be repre-
sented by the Amalgamated Clothing
and Textile Workers Union, the com-
pany has achieved the notorious distinc-
tion of breaking the nation's labor laws
more than any other company in
history. They have been found guilty of
more than 1200 separate violations of
numerous federal laws.
Stevens employees, many of whom
are rural women, work 8 hours a day,
six days a week with only one 20-minute
break for lunch. Thousands of workers
are victims of `"`brown lung'"'
(byssinosis), an illness contracted by
mill workers because of the cotton dust -
in the air. Stevens has still not complied
with 1970 OSHA regulations on limi-
ting the amount of cotton dust because
they claim it would be too expensive.
The fact that J.P. Stevens has made
the wholesale denial of fundamental
rights to workers into a profit-making
venture led the ACLU's Southern
Womens Rights Project to join a cam-
paign in support of the workers' union
drive and boycott of J.P. Stevens pro-
ducts.
Liz Wheaton of the ACLU Project
explained, "If Stevens can continue to
thumb its nose at federal laws and court
decisions while amassing record-
breaking profits at the expense of its
employees, the implications for all
American workers are ominous."'
In September, at the request of the
Project, the Board of the ACLU-NC
passed a resolution endorsing the boy-
cott of J.P. Stevens products which
urges the federal government and all
state and local governments to refrain
from doing business with the company
until a just and lasting resolution of
employees' grievances is achieved. In
_ addition to the basic resolution, which
has also been passed by all of the ACLU
Southern affiliates and by delegates to
the 1979 Biennial Conference, the
ACLU-NC passed two additional
amendments, calling on law enforcement
agencies such as the Justice Department,
to enforce the law against J.P. Stevens
and asking all ACLU-NC members to
support the Stevens boycott.
Boycott
J.P. STEVENS
PRODUCTS 3
TOWELS.
Fine Arts
Tastemaker
Utica
BLANKETS
. JP STEVENS Forstmann
WORKERS Utica
CARPETS
- Contender
SHEETS and PILLOWCASES Gulistan
Beauti-Blend Merryweather
Beauticale Tastemaker .
Fine Arts TABLE LINEN
ene strip figures) Sumi
Tastemaker HOSIERY
eae ach Finesse
tica and Mohawk pe
Designer Labels: a So
Yves St. Laurent pin
Angelo Donghia DRAPERIES _-
GEE 112 SR Stevens :
October 1979
aclu news
CHAPTERS
Bill of Rights Celebration:
Baez and Feiffer Featured tompase"
special taped message to our Bill of
Rights Day Celebration honoring
Francis Heisler, an active ACLU Board
member, will be presenting the award
to Joan Baez.
Jules Feiffer, who will be the princi- |
pal speaker at the Bill of Rights Day
Celebration, is also an artist who has
used his media - cartoons, novels and
plays - to provide insightful comment
on the foibles of society. As a cartoonist
- who is best known for his captions, a
satirist whose strong point is tenderness
and pity, and a humorist whose subjects
Board member Fran Strauss, who with
the assistance of Marlene De Lancie
and Virginia Fabian has been working
full-time on planning the December
event, said "`We are anticipating a very
lively and entertaining evening this
year. With Joan Baez as our award
recipient and Jules Feiffer as our prin-
cipal speaker, we will be spending the
evening with two people who are not
only noted crusaders in the arena of
civil liberties, but also talented artists in
their own right. It's a double whammy.
I can't think of a more enjoyable - or
Tribute Committee
This year, for the first time, a special Tribute Committee has been established
to sponsor and coordinate the fund-raising activities of the Bill of Rights Day
Celebration. The committee, composed of distinguished civic and community
leaders in Northern California with a vital interest in civil liberties, is being
co-chaired by former ACLU Board members, Howard J. Jewel, Ephraim
Margolin and Dorothy Patterson.
Speaking on behalf of the three chairpersons, Jewel explained, "Having
- participated in the worthy efforts of the ACLU-NC Foundation, we have agreed |
to serve as Co-chairpersons for the 1979 Bill of Rights Day fundraising drive.
"The Bill of Rights Day Celebration highlights the major annual fundraising
effort for the ACLU-NC Foundation. The tax deductible contributions virtually |
support the Foundations's entire litigation program. For the tremendous
amount of litigation which has been handled this year by the ACLU, including
many lengthy and complicated court cases like the challenge to the cut-off of
_ Medi-Cal funds for abortion, and the extensive docket of First Amendment
cases, the budget is extraordinarily low. However, financial support of this
indispensable program is needed to ensure that the Foundation can move
quickly when its services are in demand and when the unpredictable occurs."
`This year, members of the newly formed Tribute Committee will be expanding
the scope of the Bill of Rights Day fundraising by lending their names to the
appeal for contributions, and by asking their friends and associates to help
support the important work of the ACLU-NC Foundation. -
REED 95 RE SO SS SED sR A CE
include such mordant topics as nuclear
destruction and racial injustice, he has
been described by critic Gilbert Mill-
stein as being ``alone and unafraid in a
world made of just about all of the intel- ,
lectual shams and shibboleths to which
our culture subscribes."
Feiffer's poignant cartoons are syndi-
cated in newspapers throughout the
world, and he has "`the distinction of
being the only cartoonist to have a
- comic strip published by the New York
' Times, which commissioned him to
create his version of the kind of comic
strip the NYT might print if the NYT
printed comics.'' He is also the author
of four plays (including the award win-
ning ``Little Murders" and ""The White
House Murder Case''), two novels, two
screenplays, and ten books of collected
cartoons. Feiffer has been called ``the
most talented social commentator in
cartooning in our generation."'
Bill of Rights Day coordinator,
appropriate - way to celebrate the
188th Anniversary of the Bill of Rights."'
The Bill of Rights Day Celebration will
be held at the Sheraton Plaza Hotel, San
Francisco on Sunday, December 16 from
4 to 6 p.m. Tickets for the event are $5.00
each and are available from the ACLU
office. For further information, call
Marlene De Lancie (415) 777-4880.
Gay Rights
PUBLIC MEETING. Thursday,
October 25, 7 p.m., San Francisco
Metropolitan Community Church,
150 Eureka (between 18th and 19th)
parking is limited; take Muni buses
8, 24, 35, and 37 to Castro and 18th,
3 blocks east. Libertarian Party
| leader Eric Garris will speak on San
Francisco iniative to abolish the Vice
Squad. Coffee hour to follow.
Marin |
BOARD MEETING. Monday,
October 15, 8 p.m., Fidelity Savings
and Loan, 130 Throckmorton Ave.,
Mill Valley.
Monterey
ANNUAL AWARD CELEBRATION.
Saturday, October 20, 1:30 to S_
p-m., Santa Catalina School, off
Mark Thomas Dr., Monterey (near
_Aguijito Road exit on Highway 1).
Ralph Atkinson Civil Liberties
Award will be presented to Milton
Mayer, journalist, author, and
educator. Buffet dinner and no-host
bar; donations $13; mail to ACLU,
Box 528, Monterey, 93940. For.
information: 408-624-7562 or 408-
Legal Asst. Needed
ACLU Foundation of Northern
California, seeking experienced legal
secretary/assistant; for more
information call Donna Van Diepen,
415-777-4880.
GIMME SHELTER
ACLU-NC looking for office space
to rent or buy in downtown San
any bargains? Call Dorothy M.
Ehrlich, 777-4880.
Francisco, min. 4,000 sq. ft. Know |
Please send me
of $
Bill of Rights Celebration
_______ tickets at $5 each. I am enclosing an
additional tax-deductible contribution to the ACLU Foundation
____. Enclosed is my check for $
Address
City
Please make checks payable to ACLU-Foundation, NC, and mail |
State
Zip
to 814 Mission Street, Suite 301, San Francisco, CA 94103. Please i
enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope. ol
i
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I
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i
4A
i Name
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a GEIS MEE UE AES ER GR 2 BR aE IS Ge SER
S751 7
---- Calendar ---~+
ANNUAL POT-LUCK. Friday,
- October 19, First Unitarian Church,
-f:50 pm,
North Peninsula
PUBLIC MEETING. Thursday,
October 25, 8 p.m. Unitarian
Fellowship House, 300 E. Santa
Inez, San Mateo. `"`SWHAT'S
WRONG WITH PROPOSITION |
1;' ACLU-NC executive director
Dorothy M. Ehrlich, NAACP West
coast regional director Virna
Canson, and League of Women |
Voters spokesperson Mem Levin |
speakers. More information: Kay.
McCann, 415-344-7889.
Sacramento
2425 Sierra Blvd., Sacramento. No-
host cocktails at 6:30 p.m., dinner at
7:30 p.m. "Bill of Rights Orphans:
School Children, Prop. 1, and the
Voucher Plan," speech by ACLU-
NC executive director Dorothy M.
Ehrlich. Election of officers and
board members. More information:
Pat McDonald 916-455-4259.
BOARD MEETING. Wednesday,
October 17, Hearing Room No. 1,
Sacramento County Administration
Building, 700 H Street, Sacramento;
A
- Action/Reaction
ACLU, 1 - COPS, ZIP. Congratula-
tions to Santa Clara Chapter
negotiators who convinced the San Jose
Police and "`hooker patrol'? members
(see last ACLU News) to agree on
guidelines for police and patrol conduct
. Sacramento board members are
telling the local police chiefs and sher-
iffs that gay applicants should get equal
consideration. :
BITS AND PIECES. Gay Rights
members who do not receive the "GRC
Bulletin" should take their mailing
label from this ACLU News, mark it
`Please change to Gay Rights Chapter',
and mail to Hilary Crosby at ACLU-NC
. . . San Francisco is planning a benefit
evening at the One-Act Theater for Fay
Stender in mid-November. Chapter
members should watch their mail for 7
details.
~ NAME GAME. Chapter board and of-
ficer elections results continue to
swamp headquarters. Gay Rights
_ Chapter elected the following people to
new terms: Steve Block, Priscilla
Camp, William Ingersoll, Ann
Jennings, and Fred Rosenberg. Earl
Warren has three new officers: Liz
Figueroa is chair Massoud Kaviam is |
- vice-chair, and Dar Coppersmith is
secretary. New Earl Warren board
members include Rita Perry, Jo
Belmont, Gladys Ellis, Brenda
Thomas, and Tamara Ingram ... In
Marin Len Karpman and Leon Gins-
berg are new co-chairs, Ruth Jonas is
secretary, Connie Birkie is treasurer,"
and Bernard Moss is NC board rep. . .
Over in Mt. Diablo, Cleo Morales is
vice-chair and Guyla Ponomareff moves
to secretary.
IF ELECTED, I WILL ... Mid-
Peninsula recruited Frank Berry as NC
board rep .. . . Sidney Schieber is the
new vice-chair, Jeanne Caughlan is cor- (c)
responding secretary, and Mary Hollis
is NC board rep. for North Peninsula
... San Francisco's officers now are
Richard Weinstein, chair, Howard
Jones, Ist v.p., Arthur Brunwasser, 2nd
v.p., Esther Faingold, treasurer, and
Peggy Sarasohn, secretary ... Santa
Clara elected Larry Fleischer as their
new chair, Lynne Yates-Carter as 1st
v.p., and Vic Ulmer as 2nd v.p.....
Then there's Sonoma where John Miller
became vice-chair, June Swan,
secretary, and Allyson Chandler,
treasurer. New board members for
ACLU-NC's northernmost chapter are
_.Garford Gordon and Chester Bernie
. . . Finally, let's look at Yolo where we
find new board members Richard
Myers and Daniel Penerya.
ER ONE! CSR CA AT SR WE SER ASE GATS MERE ONES CRUEL] CERES SHERI IE COREE RENE! ERA EE SE, GE SER GREED SE EST
SIGN ME UP FOR THE CIVIL LIBERTIES LOBBY.
Name
Address
City Zip
_ Phone (h) ~ (w)
Return to:Lobby, ACLU-NC, 814 Mission St.,
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