vol. 45, no. 6
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Inside-History from the pages of the ACLU News
aclu news
Volume XLV znae -September 1980 No.6
Abortion Funds Cut Challenged i m High Court
After two years of lower court battles
and appeals, on September 2 the ACLU
challenge to cuts in Medi-Cal abortion
funding will be heard before the
California Supreme Court.
The most recent lawsuit, Committee
to Defend Reproductive Rights v.
Unruh, filed on July 24 to block the
Legislature's 1980 budget cuts, will be
fed along with the 1978 and 1979
challenges (CDRR v. Myers and CDRR
v. Cory). The cases are part oi a con-
tinuing effort by the ACLU and five
other public interest law firms to
maintain Medi-Cal funding for
abortion despite the California
Legislature's budget cuts and the recent
U.S. Supreme Court ruling with-
In a major decision which will ef-
fectively revamp the bail system in San
Francisco and throughout the state, the
California Supreme Court ruled on July
3 that the current San Francisco system
- was discriminatory to the poor and
outlined new procedures to make the
bail system more equitable.
The ACLU entered the challenge to
the bail system, Van Atta v. Scott, in
1977 as friend of the court in the state
Court of Appeal and in the California
Supreme Court. The amicus briefs were
written by cooperating attorneys Henry
Ramsey, Jr. and Linus Masouredis.
The suit claimed that the bail system
in San Francisco violated both equal
protection and due pees guarantees
of the constitution.
Under the monetary ta system, the
amount of bail is directly correlated to |
the offense charged rather than to an
individualized evaluation of the
arrestee's probability of appearing at
trial; thus, people were incarcerated or
_ July pro-choice demonstration in San Fran-
cisco Photo: Courtesy CDRR
Ruling Revamps Bail System
released according to their degree of
indigency or wealth.
This discrimination on the basis of
financial standing had a detrimental
rippling effect: not only did pre-trial
detainees (the majority of them poor)
suffer loss of liberty without being
proved guilty of any crime, but also,
being confined, they had more difficulty
in preparing an adequate defense.
Additionally, the plaintiffs argued
that judges' decisions whether to release
an arrestee on Own Recognizance (OR)
were often arbitrary, and thus violated
due process. Frequently, judges did not
state any reason why OR was being
denied.
On reforming the pretrial release
system, the Supreme Court stressed
that "An individual's interest in his
freedom has always been held
sacrosanct. For this reason, it has been
a basic tenet of our society that "it is far
wotse to convict an innocent man than
continued on page 4
You are invited to our 60th Anniversary
ACLU Benefit Film Premiere s .
The
Department's
Trials of
ALGER HISS
..and to join us for a discussion
CLAY TH es .
2261 Fillmore
San Francisco
and reception with New York
producer, director
John Lowenthal
WED.. SEPT. 17
7:30 p.m.
Medi-Cal funding for abortion has
been available to California women
despite the state legislature's 1978, 1979
and 1980 cuts solely because of court
orders issued in the lawsuits.
Legislature's budget restrictions are
allowed to go into effect, over 8000
women a month who depend on Medi-
Cal for health care will be deprived of
sate and effective medical treatment to
terminate unwanted pregnancies.
The `most recent order came from
California Supreme Court on July 28
following the filing of CDRR v. Unruh.
The 1980 cut-off was due to be im-
plemented on August 16.
The stay, signed by Acting Chief
Justice Wiley Manuel, enjoined the
implementation of the funding cuts and
ordered the state to refrain from
mailing out notices to Medi-Cal
recipients that abortion funding was no
longer available.
Notices Mailed
Despite the court order, the
Department of Health Services mailed
out notices to the state's 2.5 million
Medi-Cal recipients that funds for
abortion would be cut off on August 16.
After learning of the Health
action, ACLU . staff
attorney Margaret Crosby wrote to the
Supreme Court seeking immediate
rectification.
`We are truly appalled that the state
not only consciously disregarded an
order of this Court - in direct con-
tradiction to repeated promises from
the Attorney General's office that a
mandate from this Court restraining
the notification would be honored -
but that the state attorney feels that he
has discharged his duty by advising this
Court in writing that its order has been
ignored.
If the
- imitations
restrictions
Attorney General, this Court will not
view casually a conscious decision by
state officials 1) to disregard a judicial
order and 2) to mislead indigent
women concerning the health care
benefits to which they are entitled,"'
Crosby concluded.
Though the state responded by .
claiming that an additional mailing to
Medi- Cal recipients would be a
"prohibitive expense"' to the taxpayers,
on August 6 the Supreme Court ordered
the Health Services Department ``to
immediately inform all female Medi-
Cal recipients in English and Spanish
and by first-class mail, that the notice
mailed to such recipients on or about
July 28, 1980 regarding funding
s on Medi-Cal abortions"
should be disregarded and that Medi- ~
Cal funds continue to be available for
such abortions."
The lawsuits, filed on behalf of a
coalition of ten welfare rights
organizations, women's rights groups,
civil rights associations, health care
providers, Medi-Cal recipients and
taxpayers, claim that the Legislature's
decision to restrict abortion coverage
intrudes into the most personal and
private areas of poor women's lives and
infringes on their rights to privacy,
equal protection and due process of the
law as guaranteed by the state con-
stitution.
The petition asks the California
Supreme Court to stop the grave in-
juries that medically indigent women
needing abortions will suffer by ruling
that the state must continue Medi-Cal
funding for abortion services. It also
asks the Court to rule the Budget Act
unnonstitutional and to
reaffirm that constitutional rights
cannot be denied to women just because
they depend on Medi-Cal.
_ continued on page 4
"A BRILLIANT EVOCATION OF A
MOST ANXIOUS AGE. Fascinat-
ing, rueful, epic, ambitious and
complex.''-vincent candy, New York Times
"Great drama. Speil binding.
-~Robert Hatch, The ue
FOR TICKETS:
"Send $15 and a self-addressed stamped enve-
lope to ACLU, 814 Mission St.,
call (415) 777-4545 (includes film and reception).
S.F. 94103, or
ACLU to also sponsor premiere of THE WOBBLIES, November 12, York Thosisn San. Francisco - details will follow.
aciu news
Aug-Sep 1980 .
Draft Update
By Mark Morodomi
Although registration of 19- and 20-
year old men officially ended on August
2, the Selective Service has yet to
disclose the number of people
registered. Following the close of
registration, Selective Service Director
Bernard Rostker said the final ac-
counting would not be available for 90
- days.
However, an estimated 30% non-
compliance rate in the Bay Area and a
20% to 30%
nationwide was announced by the
Registration Education
(REC), a Bay Area umbrella group of
anti-draft organizations including the
ACLU, at an August 5 press con-
ference. es
- During registration, 500 leafletters
from the REC were able to cover 23 post
_ offices in the San Francisco area alone,
' giving information to draft-age men on
their alternatives and recommending
counseling before registration.
Speaking of the postcard campaign
to register against the draft, (see ACLU
News, Special Edition), Aida Bound, of
the Washington-based National
Committee Against Registration and
the Draft (CARD) said that 50,000 anti-
non-compliance rate |
Committee -
draft postcards have already arrived at
CARD headquarters in Washington,
D.C. with about 5,000 coming in every
day. e
During July and Nugust, the ACLU-
NC Draft Desk, staffed by field interns
Howard Levine and Mark Morodomi,
answered over 900 calls on the draft and
registration. :
Anticipating _ potential _-_ conflict
between anti-registration demon- "
strators and post office officials, the
ACLU-NC prepared a legal manual
The Rights of Anti-Draft Protesters.
Over 1200 copies of the manual were
distributed thoughout the country.
"Most. problems that arose with
postal officials were cleared up by a
phone call from an ACLU attorney,"
said ACLU volunteer lawyer Francisco
Lobaco.
When representatives of the ACLU of
Southern California went to negotiate
on behalf of protestors in Los Angeles,
postal officials brought along their own -
_ copy of the ACLU-NC manual.
Lawsuits
Rese ation was nearly halted the
Friday before it began when a
unanimous three judge district court in
Philadelphia permanently enjoined
draft registration, ruling it un-
constitutional on sex discrimination
grounds. The next day U.S. Supreme
Court Justice William Brennan stayed
Letters
I am a counselor for teen-age girls
who live in a resident placement facility
in Oakland. These girls are wards of the
court and their health care is paid for
by Medi-Cai. The girls who live in this
program are "emotionally disturbed."
They are the victims of parents who
could not or would not care for them
properly, as defined by the courts. Some
of them are victims of physical and
sexual abuse; all of them suffer from
psychological abuse.
Their unenviable position has been
worsened by an extremely callous and
un-humanitarian decision by 5S justices
on the Supreme Court (upholding the
Hyde Amendment).
Unless the California Supreme Court
reaches a less repressive conclusion on
the Medi-Cal abortion issue, the
consequences for teen-age girls like
those I work with will be unfortunate
indeed.
If these girls become pregnant -
some of them eleven or twelve years old.
- then Medi-Cal funding is the only
way these teen-agers will be able to get
the abortion they need. I say need
because they are in no way prepared for -
the physical and psychological burdens
of childbirth and childrearing. They are -
children themselves, aistunyet ones at
that.
Unless the state wants to pay the
expense of keeping these girls under
lock and key (that is th only way to
prevent pregnancy absol tely), I urge
ee eee Sue 1 Onsider the
plight of teen-age girls.
Child abuse is passed down from
generation to generation. Studies show
that today's victims, if victimized again
by unfair legislation on abortion, may
well be tomorrow's offenders. Can
society benefit from unwanted children
due to lack of abortion funding for
teen-age pregnancy?
Janna Katz
Berkeley
I am extremely disappointed that the
ACLU is defending a 16-year old high
school student's right to wear a button
to school saying "Fuck the Draft." This
is not a freedom of speech issue. The
message could be as well phrased
"Defeat the Draft'' or "No Draft Now"
without changing its meaning and
offending teachers and fellow students.
As Justice Holmes pointed out, the
right to say whatever one wishes is not
absolute, and in this case I believe the
right of others not to be offended by a
word - not a political or social
statement, but a single word - must
prevail.
Neils T. Michelsen
Berkeley
You may associate clearcutting with
the lumber industry: the efficient
technique used to cut valuable timber
from a parcel of land and burn the rest,
leaving stumps and desert. In the. in-
terest of future harvests, they "renew"'
the area with seedlings and fertilizer.
But the concept of clearcutting for
fun and profit extends beyond the stand
of pine.
The military clearcuts, and they are.
now making noises about clearcutting
the boy crop. Peruse our country's use
of this resource in this century alone;
1900 - Spanish American War; 1918 |
- World War I; 1941 - World War
II; (1950 - the Korean War); 1961 -
the Vietnam War. Interesting that we
seem to go to war roughly every 200x00B0
years. That's how long it takes to raise a
boy.
The use-it-now crowd is in the
business of raising armies. It's
profitable - a boy's family bears the
cost of food, clothing, shelter and
education for 20 years. The family is
given a yearly tax break. Physical
fitness training, ROTC and hot lunch
programs are supported in schools
the injunction, allowing registration to
proceed.
The Supreme Court will hear the
case, Goldberg v. Rostker, in October
when it reconvenes. Staff counsel
Amitai. Schwartz estimates that a
decision will be handed down in
January at the earliest.
The ACLU suit, Barnett v. Kostker,
which also challenges draft registration
on sex discrimination grounds, was
filed in U.S. District Court in
Washington D.C. on June 26. The
Court will probably wait for the
Supreme Court Goldberg decision
continued on page 3
our membership and seek your help.
know why.
resulted from our request that you
month's issue of the ACLU News.
port.
Open Letter to ACLU Members
from ACLU Executive Director Dorothy Ehrlich
I hate to alarm you, but I want to bring to your attention a problem Th
Although the ACLU of Northern California remains the third largest affiliate
in the nation - with nearly 20,000 members - we fear that fewer of you are re-
newing your ACLU memberships this year. What's even worse - we don't
We are hoping that you didn' t decide to leave the ACLU but hae your ab-
sence is a result of some horrible computer failure, and that you never actually
received a letter from national asking for your annual membership dues. So,
this time we ll be writing to you directly from the San Francisco office in an at-
tempt to solve this problem. We can't afford to lose touch because each member
is critical to the survival of this organization.
We are pleased that the names of nearly 1,000 potential new ACLU members .
"turn in your five best friends"'
But just adding new members won t solve our problems becaine each ACLU
member is irreplaceable - as the challenges which face us become more fierce
and demanding, our any to respond effectively is a direct result of your sup-
We ll be ashing many of you to help us in September. If you have already re-
newed your membership - we ll be asking you to see us through this difficult
period. And if you haven't yet renewed v
the special request you will be receiving Ce this month.
We're hoping the computer has been telling lies, and that you still support
the efforts of the ACLU. I will anxiously await your response.
in last
sur membership - Pies respond to
Mill Valley
by the government. A_ relatively
peacetul hiatus ot approximately 20
years is managed to nourish the new
boy crop.
Every ten years they take a census to
see how the crop is growing - any
additions, losses. This year, the
clearcutters must have been encouraged
by the numbers they saw. The boy crop
must be near harvest quantity.
Now they are specifically counting
the 19- and 20-year old boys. If the
harvest looks good they may feel they
can risk playing games for some greedy
end.
There is hope that we who witnessed
a less-than-honorable Vietnam War
will not readily sacrifice such a precious
resource again for the greed of the
clearcutter crowd. They leave too many
scars.
War is a most effective way to cut
down boys, leaving stumps and a dearth
of sons - but-then, a new crop is on the
way.
Gail Bartholomew
Three federal judges in Philadelphia,
presumably weighing the arguments
with the utmost care, have delivered a
decision that male draft registration
alone is unconstitutional.
Whatever the merits, Mr. Brennan
chose to suspend that decision because
1) "Considerable resources have been
spent' (that could OK _ countless
illegalities and 2) "... suspension of
registration might frustrate coordinate
branches in shaping foreign policy."
Why couldn't the registration be
delayed 2 months while the court
_considered the Philadelphia ruling?
Because. Mr. Brennan assumes he
knows better? Perhaps, like me, he
finds sending women to war offensive.
But being offensive doesn't make it
unconstitutional.
Can it be that Mr. Brennan (and his
associates) will be willing to suspend the
Constitution because of money or to
prepare us for another war?
Paul J. Palmbaum, MD
Walnut Creek
e(R) @ @
The ACLU News special edition on
the draft is great. I'd like to get ad-
ditional copies.
If you decide to do a second edition,
you may want to add that the
Sacramento Peace Center is doing draft
counseling.
Pat McDonald
Sacramento
Ed. Note: Address of Sacramento Peace
Center is 1917A 16th St., Sacramento
95814. Telephone: (916) 446-0787.
8 issues a year, monthly except bi- -monthly i 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 {
Elaine Elinson, Editor Michael Miller, Chapter Page iz
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 50 cents is for the national ACLU-bi-monthly publication, Civil Liberties.
Spain Conviction `Disgrace'
On July 24, the state Court of Appeal,
in an unpublished opinion, denied that
there was any "miscarriage of justice"
in the conviction of San Quentin 6
defendant Johnny Larry Spain. During
the course of his trial, which was the
longest and most expensive in the
history of the state, Spain, a Black
Panther Party member, was shackled to
his chair in the courtroom and one of
the jurors told the trial judge in
chambers that her close friend had been
`murdered by a Black Panther Party
member.
The ACLU entered the case as a
friend of the court, arguing that due
process violations during the trial
should merit a reversal of Spain's
earlier conviction of offenses arising out
of the 1971 uprising at San Quentin
Prison in which George Jackson, two
other prisoners and three prison guards ~
were killed.
The
Eugene G. Iredale for the ACLU and
California Attorneys for Criminal
Justice, cited the shackling of the
defendant to his chair during the trial
and the improper contact beteween the
judge and a juror asa blatant disregard |
of due process.
- upholding
LNS Graphics/Peg Averil!
The Court of Appeal, however, in
Spain's conviction,
discounted these due process violations
as harmless errors which did not alter
the conclusion of guilt. The Court
addressed itself to the shackling of the
defendant, dismissing that apparent
maltreatment in a single paragraph o
the opinion.
Cooperating attorney Iredale ex-
plained, `The court's use of the
"harmless error' doctrine comes very
close to a holding that all error is per se
harmless.
"For the court to have held that in a
trial involving a member of the Black
Panther Party, the undisclosed in-
formation of the juror concerning her
own extremely negative experience with
the Party was not relevant, is an
exercise in Alice-in- Wonderland
manipulation of legal concepts and a
complete derogation of the reality that
was perceived by the defendants and
would have been perceived by anyone
even reading the transcript of the trial."
Spain's attorney, Deptuty State
Public Defender Ezra Hendon, has
filed a petition for rehearing with the
Court of Appeal.
Hendon explained, `During the
extended period the Court took to
resolve the case, Spain comforted
himself with the belief that he would at
least receive the benefit of a careful,
deliberate decision. What he has
received instead is a disgrace.
"The court has effectively insulated
this performance from public scrutiny
by burying it in an unpublished
opinion. For a case of this magnitude
and involving such dire consequences to
the appellant, to have been treated in
this way is neither fair to him nor
worthy of the Court."
`Victorian' Rape Law Challenged
California's statutory rape _ law,
characterized by ACLU attorney
Margaret Crosby as "a relic of Vic-
torian attitudes toward female chastity"
is being challenged on equal protection
- grounds before the U.S. Supreme court
in the case of Michael M. v. Superior
Court.
The law, California Penal Code
Section 261.5 punishes men who have
sexual intercourse with girls under 18
years of age, and entirely permits
women to have intercourse with boys
under 18.
Michael M., who has been accused of:
"unlawful sexual intercourse" and
faces a potential three-year prison term
for the offense, was 17'4% years of age
at the time of the alleged crime and his
"victim" was 16%.
In an amicus brief prepared by
national staff counsel Charles Sims, the
ACLU argues that the California
statutory rape law is invalid under the
equal protection clause for two in-
dependent reasons.
First, the law discriminates on the
basis of gender without satisfying a
legitimate governmental purpose. The
brief argues, ""`The purpose asserted,
prevention of pregnancy, is only a
hindsight rationalization; the statute's
actual purpose, the protection of female
virtue, is constitutionally im-
permissible."'
Second, .Michael M., like his "`vic-
tim,"'
alleged crime. The brief states,
"California has advanced no reason
justifying holding only under-age
males, and not under-age females
culpable for consensual sexual in-
tercourse with an under-age partner."'
The majority of jurisdictions have
Statutory rape laws which are sex
neutral. Most states have statutes which
prohibit intercourse with children, male
or female, recognizing that minor males
can and do suffer from sexual in-
tercourse harm as grave as, albeit
different from, that suffered by minor
females.
"The law is dangerous because it pro-
vides an opportunity for discriminatory
prosecution against young males.
"In a state where over 27,000
adolescent girls obtained Medi-Cal
abortions last year, this law is obviously
widely ignored. Thus, the police may
use the statutory rape law selectively to
incarcerate `unpopular' youths,"
Crosby explained.
Crosby cited the example of a 15-year
old boy prosecuted by the Sonoma
juvenile authorities in 1977 under
Section 261.5 for an act of sexual in-
tercourse with a 17-year old girl, who
was clearly the agressor: the male was
black and the female white.
The case will be heard before the
U.S. Supreme Court in the fall.
was a minor at the time of the |
aciu news
Aug-Sep 1980
Police Libel Suit Threatens Press Freedom
A small, family-run newspaper in
San Leandro may be forced to shut
down its presses for criticizing the local
police. a
In 1974, The Friday Observer, a
weekly newspaper serving southern
Alameda County, printed a critical
editorial entitled, ""How Good Are the
San Leandro Police?"
The editorial accused the police of
"overacting during certain situations,"
being "`punch-happy and officious"' and
asked that San Leandro policemen
"show more respect for individual
rights."'
A police officer pictured in an ac-
companying photo, George Gomes,
sued the paper for libel.
-When the case went to jury trial,
Observer editor Ad Fried and his son,
publisher Michael Fried, represented
themselves. The jury awarded Officer
Gomes damages of $170,000, including
$75,000 in punitive damages.
Faced with an order for financial
damages which would have im-
mediately closed the paper down, the
Frieds contacted the ACLU for legal
help. -.In March. 1980; ACLU
cooperating attorney, Boalt Hall
professor Stephen Barnett, and staff
counsel Amatai Schwartz, made a
motion for a new trial, raising a variety
of First Amendment arguments that
had not previously been considered.
On the motion for a new trial, the
Superior Court reduced the damage
award from $170,000 to $35,000, but
did not grant a retrial. .
However, serious legal problems
emerged in trying to seek a stay of the
money judgment pending appeal.
Under California law, an appellant
cannot obtain a stay of judgment for
money unless a bond for twice the
amount is posted.
Draft Update from page 2
before taking any action.
In another attempt to halt
registration, the national ACLU office
filed a challenge to the government's
requirement of Social Security numbers
on draft registration forms.
Under Selective Service regulations,
failure to correctly complete the
registration card, including omitting
the Social Security number, could result
in fine and/or imprisonment. However,
the Privacy Act of 1974 forbids .
government agencies, without consent
of federal statute, to coerce people to
give their Social Security number. The
Selective Service System has no such
consent. :
`Though U.S. District Judge Gerhard
A. Gesell denied the ACLU motion for
a temporary restraining order, Rostker
announced ``We want it (the Social
Security number) but prudence dictates
that if people don't have it, we're not
going to prosecute them."'
Judge Gesell will hear the case in the
fall.
Registration resumes on January 5,
1981, when young men born in 1962 will
be given a one week period to register.
The REC will continue to provide
draft information to those of
registration age. The REC is also
planning special outreach to minority
communities, training Black, Chicano
and Asian leaders in draft counseling at
a conference to be held in the fall.
In practice, insurance companies will
not give bonds under these cir-
cumstances unless the defendant can
_ post full cash collateral.
In the case of The Friday Observer, it
was impossible to obtain such a bond:
there was no way that the Frieds could
financially obtain a stay without giving
up the newspaper.
The ACLU attorneys then took the
case to the Court of Appeal. In late
May, the court granted a stay without a
money bond.
Staff counsel Schwartz explained,
"The situation faced by the Observer
presented serious First Amendment
problems.
"Although the jury had found the
editorial to be libelous, there had not
been a final determination of libel
because the determination is subject to
review or appeal.
"If the newspaper had been shut
down in order to pay the damages
awarded, and the Court of Appeal later
determined that the editorial was not
libelous, freedom of the press would be
lost,'' Schwartz said.
"We argued that forced payment of
damages in a libel case operates as a
prior restraint until all-appeals have -
been exhausted. -
"In this case a newspaper would have
been put out of business while the
newspaper's legal right to criticize the
police was still being considered by
higher courts," Schwartz concluded. -
No hearing date for the appeal has
been set.
With just a phone call, you can
participate in a unique opportunity
- the first of its kind - you can
convey a message to the readership
of the ACLU News by purchasing
space in a special 60th Anniversary
Ad Program, a centerfold pull-out of
the November ACLU News and the
annual Bill of Rights Day booklet.
All the proceeds will directly benefit
the efforts of the ACLU of Northern
California. Your message will reach
the eyes of at least 44,500 individuals
(29,000 in the Bay Area) with space
costing as little as $75. Interested?
Call Sherrie Holmes at 777-4880.
Deadline is October 15.
Congratulatory messages com-
mending the ACLU's persistence -
from 1920-1980 would be a nice -
touch, but don't let us put words in
your mouth!
aclu news
Aug-Sep 1980
Abortion Funds Srom page 1
The September hearing follows
closely on the heels of the June 30 U.S.
Supreme Court decision cutting
federal funds for abortion.
Crosby explained, `Our lawsuits
focus, and have always focused, on the
privacy and equal protection
guarantees of the California Con-
stitution which are more protective than
their counterparts in the U.S. Con-
stitution. The state constitution is
particularly more protective of the
rights of the poor, and that is the
central issue of this litigation,"' she said.
In addition to arguing that the
California guarantees of privacy,
equality and due process are more
expansive than their federal coun-
terparts, the ACLU claims that the
interlocking criminal and _ welfare
statutes in California directly prohibit
an indigent woman from obtaining an
abortion in the private sector.
`The lives of the poor are very tightly
regimented in this state," Crosby said.
"The web of legal regulations and
restrictions on income and expenditure
amount to a criminal law which
proclaims that the poor may not
exercise their right to abortion.
"Our comprehensive analaysis of the
California state welfare scheme was
never attempted in other suits, or
presented to the U.S. Supreme Court.
We think that this evidence alone -
which the state has not disputed -
compels invalidation of the Budget Act
restrictions of abortion funding,"
Crosby added.
Crosby pointed out that adolescents
especially will suffer if the funding
restrictions go into effect. Last year over
27,000 teenagers received state financed
abortions which is why the National
Center for Youth Law is co-counsel to
the lawsuit.
`Pregnant teenagers will drop out of
school, run away from home, or
jeopardize their survival by attempting
self-induced abortions," Crosby said.
"Every day that the legal issues
presented in this action await
`resolution. the health - indeed the
lives - of women in this state will be
threatened should the budget cuts take
effect,'' Crosby concluded.
Medi-Cal funding for abortion will be
maintained at least until the Supreme
Court makes its final ruling in the case.
The decision is not expected until early
next year.
Bail System
to let a guilty man go free."'
from page I
The court stated that approximately
one-half of all detainees in San
Francisco are unable to post bail and
are not released on their own
recognizance, yet that many of these
_ persons could safely be released on OR.
The city's own witness, professional
bail bondsman, Al Graf, testified that
`the people who are being released are
the affluent - the poor are staying in
jail."
The Court also acknowledged that in
other jurisdictions, notably
Washington, D.C. and _ Portland,
Oregon, which operate under systems
that create a presumption in favor of
OR release, there is uncontradicted
Gay Rights
Public Meeting. Monday, October
20, 7:30 p.m., Women's Building
3543 18th St., San Francisco.
Speakers: Gays and the Draft with
Anthony Ricco and Patrick Delaney
of Gays Against the Draft and the
American Friends Service Com-
mittee.
Santa Clara
Upcoming Events. A Forum on
Registration and the Draft is being
planned for the fall. For details call
Aurora Sallitto (408) 356-3280. In
December, the Chapter will be
having a fundraiser at the Bill Cosby
performance with block seats
Performing Arts. An ACLU cocktail
party with special guest Cosby will
follow the show. For details call
George Green (408) 354-9313.
statistical evidence that despite the
greater rate of OR release, the failure-
to-appear rate for those released on OR
was no higher than in San Francisco.
Indeed, it was often lower.
The decision will result in many more
detainees being granted OR, regardless
of their financial standing.
The detainee must prove that he or
she has ties to the community which
would encourage appearances at trial.
Proof of family relationships, em-
ployment, school attendance, receipt of
Calendar:
Conference Rm., Madison and Pacific. .
Panel:
available at the San Jose Center for :
Yolo 2
Rummage Sale. Sunday, September
28, 9-4. Central Park, Sth and `B'
Sts., Davis. Please save your saleable
rummage to benefit the ACLU. Call
Chris Dearth (916) 753-4147 for pick-
up or more information.
Monterey
Public Meeting. Tuesday, September
23, 8 p.m., Monterey Public Library |
Update' on
Registration.
Annual Award Celebration. Sunday,
October 5, 1:30 p.m., Santa Catalina
School, off Mark Thomas Dr., -
Monterey (near Aguijito Rd. exit on
Highway 1). Ralph Atkinson Civil
Liberties Award will be presented to
the Reverend Howard Matson. Din- j
Draft
ner and bar. For more information:
408-624-7855.
welfare benefits that depend on
residency, would all indicate to the
court that the person is not likely to flee
if released on OR.
Once community ties are established,
release without money bail should be
granted unless the prosecution can
prove that the arrestee is an escape risk.
The prosecution must show. that the -
detainee's record of non-appearance at
prior court hearings, and the severity of
potential sentence prove that the ac-
cused will fail to appear at trial.
1979 Conference photos by Michael P. Miller
Aliens
Juveniles
Speakers
Lively
Learned
`Medical Patients
Erwin Knoll - Editor, `"The Progressive'
Peter Schrag - journalist and author
Pauline Tesler - Natl. Cent. for Youth Law
Rodolfo Alvarez - Chair, ACLU of So. Cal.
and others to be announced
Laidback
Panels, "The Rights of.. .
, Films -
"Operation Abolition'
`Operation Correction'
'- HUAC in S.F.
'- Our response
Point Bonita Outdoor Center
Fri., (eve) Oct. 3 to Sun., Oct. 5
e You can join ACLU leaders, activists, staff and special guests for a
weekend of education, entertainment, good company, good food,
lodging and recreation (hiking, jogging, volleyball, and more).
e In the Marin County headlands, just 20 minutes from San Francis-
co, overlooking beaches, bay, and ocean.
Registration Information:
e Call or write: Michael P. Miller, ACLU- NC, 814 Mission St., Suite
301, San Francisco 94103, 415-777-4880. !
Childcare available, wheelchair accessible.
1980 Chapter/ Board Conference
AMERICAN
CIVIL LIBERTIES
UNION-NEWS
"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
"This branch sprung into being
as a result of the San Francisco
General Strike in 1934. That
strike was marked by destructive
vigilante raids on the headquarters
of labor and radical organizations.
Chester Williams and I were
sent by the national ACLU to
oppose the reign of lawlessness
that was tolerated, and many times
participated in, by law enforcement
Photo: courtesy Dispatcher/ILWU
officers."
le Ernest Besig
During the 1934 dock strike, local police attacked. Executive Director ACLU,
strikers with tear gas and bullets. : 1935-1971 |
Vol Il.
ss
Court Orders Eight Syndicalism
Victims Discharged From Custody
SACRAMENTO, Sept. 28.-The Third District Court of Appeal today reversed the
conviction of the eight Sacramento criminal syndicalism victims, because the verdicts ren-
dered by the jury were inconsistent. The case was not sent back to the lower court for
a new trial. Instead, the appellants were ordered discharged from custody because "No
good will be subserved by a second trial. We are of the opinion the verdict of. acquittal
which was rendered by the jury on the sec- oo
ond indictment will furnish conclusive proof acquitted by the jury of resorting to writ-
- of a former acquittal of the charges con- ten or spoken language or personal conduct,
tained in the first indictment." to advocate, teach, aid or abet criminal
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, MAY, 1938
Vol. III.
Assaults A.C.L.U. Director
And S.i. News Cameraman
Camera-Shy Stanley Doyle, professional red-baiter and former Communist Party
stoolpigeon, went berserk during the course of a demonstration before the Nazi Con-
sulate in San Francisco on Saturday, April 23rd, and assaulted Ernest Besig, local director
of the Civil Liberties Union, and Carl Bergmark, photographer for the San Francisco
NEWS. Doyle and 4n unidentified companion destroyed motion pictures taken by Besig,
but failed in an attempt to ruin a picture
taken by Bergmark showing the destruc-
tion of Besig's films.
two shots which apparently escaped Doyle's
attention.
History from the pages of the ACLU News 1936-
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, OCTOBER. 1937
FREE SPEECH
FREE PRESS
@
LAL
86
1980.
Photo: courtesy Dispatcher /{LWU
On Bloody Thursday, July 5, 1934, a longshore-
man and a cook from the strike kitchen, were
_ felled by police bullets.
No. 10
The Story of Tessie
Tessie Palmaymesa won't be six years old
until November 14. She's pretty, with black
hair and dark eyes, and quite bright, too.
And, what's more, Tessie is a good little
girl-she obeys her mother. For that rea-
son she was made the innocent victim of
the following flag salute incident:
Registered in the first grade of San Lean-
dro's Roosevelt School, her teacher noticed
that she failed to join the other pupils in
the flag salute ceremony. "Why won't you
salute the flag.' Tessie was asked. "Be-
cause my mother told me not to,'"' she re-
enandad Taccia'a taanhar wae inranaad end
No. 5
SS
IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL
DRAWN INTO CALIF.
"RED NETWORK"
Another amendment has been tacked un
to the $5,100,000 complaint filed by Ivan
Francis Cox, erstwhile International Long-
shoremen Workers' Union official, who
claims he was ousted from his job as the re-
sult of a state-wide red plot engaged in by
more than five thousand named and un-
named defendants.
It charges that Edward W. Cahill, Com-
FREE ASSEMBLAGE
1930's
_ Birth of the ACLU-NC
Vol. I.
SI
Six Santa Rosa tar and feather party vigilantes were acquitted of criminal charges
in 16 minutes by a Sonoma County jury on October 26. Only two ballots were necessary.
The first stood 11 to 1 for acquittal, while the second liberated the defendants. A ser-
vile judge set the pace for the jury by dismissing charges against six others, though
they were all identified by state's witnesses.
Of course, no one expected convictions
in mob-ruled Sonoma County. But what
was hoped for, if not expected, was a com-
petent and diligent prosecution of the case
by the Attorney General's office, and an
impartial and fair judge to preside at the
trial. Our hopes were smashed; we got
neither.
"I remember waking up and
sensing that something was
terribly wrong in the house. I went
to the bathroom and the tub was
an inch thick with grease, oil
and feathers.
Then, I saw my father, he was
all black and blue and clumps of
his hair had been ripped out.
I was seven years old."
George Green
Secretary, Santa Clara Chapter
ACLU. Son of Santa Rosa
vigilante victim Jack Green
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, APRIL, 1938
Tom Mooney Asks
Your Help
We urge our readers to respond to the
following appeal for help received from
Tom Mooney: .
Through the energetic, consistent support
of our many friends throughout the coun-
try and in Congress, a Sub-committee of the
Judiciary in the House of Representatives
has finally been appointed to conduct hear-
inbs on and consider the Murray-O'Connell
Resolution. (Memorializes the Governor -
of California to pardon Tom Mooney.)
May I once more indulge upon your good
nature and your sincere and expressed in-
terest in our cause, and request you to write
to the Congressman from your State who
is on this Sub-committee? (Hon. John H.
`Tolan, House Office Bldg., Washington,
D.C.). Please request them to conduct the
hearings at once. Ask them to call me to
Washington as a witness to testify in my
own behalf.
Last week, in an unprecedented, history-
making action, I was called to Sacramento
and there I told the story of the frame-up
to the California Assembly, which later
voted 41 to 39 to grant me an immediate
legislative pardon, which Resolution, how-
ever, was tabled by the reactionary Senate.
If this could be done in California, where
I have been kept prisoner for twenty-two
years and where the forces against me are
strong and organized, it certainly can be
done in the United States Congress, where
we have a host of friends. San Francisco
`SSS ETS NSIS SDE NSE IE SES ISTE SG RGSS Ie Re a ae ee ee ee
organizer Tom Mooney, imprisoned for over 20 years on a framed-up bomb ihreying
charge, talks with early ACLU activist Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. C. 1930
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, NOVEMBER, 1936
SACRAMENTO FLAG SALUTE TRIAL
SET FOR NOVEMBER 5
The Gabrielli flag salute case goes to
Photo: ACLU New.
Sol.
Nitzberg
and
Jack Green
leading
procession
of vigilantes
out of
Santa Rosa,
and who,
it is now
claimed,
"did pull,
push,
jerk,
jostle
and
strike"'
the
vigilantes
who
tarred and
feathered
them.
Photo: courtesy California Historical Society
-1940's.
Losing Liberty By Duress
Vol V.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, JANUARY, 1940
FO
Aiding Fellow Migrants To Enter
State Becomes Deportable Offense
- The Oakies and other dust-bowlers are being deported from California. In Tulare
and Kings County welfare authorities and district attorneys, without fanfare, are prose-
cuting anyone who assists an indigent person in entering the State, under an obscure
California law which makes such an act a misdemeanor. Under threat of imprisonment,
such persons are generally compelled to return the migrants to their former homes.
During the: past couple of months, we are (c)
informed about a score of cases have QOakland, so the criminal action merely
arisen. The A.C.L.U. has announced that stimulated their intention.
Vol. VI SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, DECEMBER,
(R)
x
aa @
Sa
`
A. C.L. U. Test of Calif. Law Ends
Successfully in U. 5. Supreme Court
The almost two-year effort of the American Civil Liberties Union in challenging the
constitutionality of California's "anti-Okie law", making it a misdemeanor to aid an in-
digent to enter the state, ended successfully on November 24 when the United States
Supreme Court reversed` the conviction of Fred F. Edwards of Marysville and held the
statute to be unconstitutional. While the decision was unanimous, the members of the
court differed as to why the law was. in-
~ valid.
1941
SEES
4 BS . Ao Ee
, ee e
5 eo
Citizenship Hened Pomner
Reader of Radical Paper
Because more than seven years ago
George Bogunovich subscribed to the Croa-
tian newspaper "Radnik," organ of the
Communist Party, he was denied citizen-
ship by Superior Judge James in San Jose
on December 21. At the same time, the
court granted citizenship to Mary Boguno-
vich, his American born wife, who lost her
citizenship when she married the alien in
1920. The court, however, did so reluct-
antly, although the only evidence against
aS eS
No. 12
Fed. Court Bans Segregation
Of Mexican School Children
Segregation of children of Mexican descent by
officials of four school districts in Southern Cali-
fornia was ruled unconstitutional when the Ninth
Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in San Fran-
cisco on April 14 upheld a similar decision by
Federal Judge Paul J. McCormick. The ACLU
and three other organizations had filed briefs as
friends of the court supporting Judge McC
mick's ruling.
Man wsmanimano Aaniainn af than aaAwan Wadannnt
Vol. IX
-No. 3
SAN FRANCiSCO, CALIFORNIA, MARCH, 1944
Servicemen Freed After Driving
Car on Sidewalk and Killing Negro
A Negro was killed in San Francisco on February 14, and another injured, when
two servicemen' drove their car onto the sidewalk and ran them down. The police,
Vol. VI
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, OCTOBER, 1941
50 Negro Seamen Convicted
Of Mutiny Restored to Duty
Court martial sentences of 8 to 15 years im-
posed on 50 Negro sailors for alleged mutiny
at a munitions loading port in California in
1944 were set aside and the men restored to
duty by Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal
1en -lomscen. fal near mn nvorart' AB o7tee
No. 10
Public and Private Buildings -
SAN FRANCISCO, JULY, 1947.
Legislature Leaves A Poor
Closed To Anti-War Groups Record In Civil Liberties Field
Discrimination in the right of assemblage in public buildings is becoming an increas-
)
The California Legislature adjourned late last
month with a poor record of accomplishment in
3
1940's
Losing Liberty By Duress
Vol. IX
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, MAY, 1944 No. 5
Wayne Collins Will Argue Korematsu
Before Supreme Court On May f
Union Condemns Suits To
Disfranchise American-
Born Japanese
Two injunction suits were filed in the
Vol. IX SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, AUGUST, 1944 No. 8
18 Citizens Imprisoned Without
Charges For Over Eight Months
The American Civil Liberties Union charged last month that citizens of Japanese an-
cestry at the Tule Lake Segregation Center are being denied the constitutional right to
counsel. Ernest Besig, local director of the Union, declared that he and his secretary
were ordered to leave Tule Lake by the project director, Mr. R. R. Best, after spending
two days there, but without being allowed to interview most of the citizens who had re-
quested counsel. Two armed members of
the Internal Security (Caucasian) police
escorted the Union's representatives from
the Center after the camp director declared
that their presence was interfering with an
investigation of a recent murder.
Gestapo-like conditions at the Cen-
ter can be judged by the fact that
someone there poured a sack of sugar
into the gas tank of Mr. Besig's car.
While the ancient car misbehaved on
the more than 400-mile return trip to
San Francisco, the cause of the diffi-
culty was not discovered until two |
weeks later when the car finally broke
down. The gas tank will have to be
removed and thoroughly cleaned.
Photo: courtesy JACL
have since been accused of other brutali-
ties. This aspect of camp administration
had not been fully investigated when Di-
rector R. R. Best ordered the Union's rep-
`resentatives to leave.
"... most of those evacuated will (c)
never see their homes again...and
that while the group is tucked away
in the limbo of these camps, the
Native Sons of the Golden West
and others of their ilk are going to
muster up sufficient popular
support to disenfranchise us."
Letter to the ACLU from a
woman detainee at the
Tanforan Assembly Center
May 21, 1942
SAN FRANCISCO, FEBRUARY, 1946
No. 2
Slave Labor Racket Enjoyed by Caucasians
At Tule Lake Concentration Camp
War Relocation Authority employees at the
`Tule Lake Center are exploiting the Japanese
under their charge as virtual "slave labor." That
fant urna jnet Aicaanwarad Auring tha nact manth
Auto repair and car washing used to be
handled for the camp's personnel by the same
slave labor. In general, it is interesting to note
Photo: courtesy JACL
The March of Civil Liberties Through the Decades
The headlines and the stories that appear in this special
historical issue of the ACLU News come exclusively from
' past issues of the ACLU News, the organ of the ACLU of
Northern California. The News. has been in continuous
publication since January 1936 and contains an overflowing
storehouse of the vital civil liberties issues which have
emerged in this state for nearly 50 years.
Examining the history of the ACLU of Northern
California is like looking into the social history of the state
of California itself. Since its founding in 1934, the ACLU-
NC has been involved in the major struggles of the people of
this state against repression and for the preservation and
extension of our basic freedoms.
In 1934, one of the most dramatic labor struggles in the
United States took place in San Francisco. In an attempt to
gain union recognition and improve the notoriously bad
working conditions on the waterfront, Bay Area
longshoremen went out on strike.
After vicious police attacks on strikers, culminating i in
Bloody Thursday when two trade unionists were shot in the
back and killed outside the union hall on Mission Street, a
general strike was called by other San Francisco unions to
support the longshoremen.
Governor Merriam called in the National Guard who
posted themselves on top of the piers and the Ferry Building
with machine guns. Police and private vigilante groups
attacked union halls, strike kitchens and strikers' homes
with teargas, bullets and bricks.
The national ACLU, then 14 years old and based in New
York, sent two southern California organizers, Chester
_ Williams and Ernest Besig, to help combat the wholesale
attack on workers' civil liberties.
- Chester Williams recruited the first Board of Directors for
the ACLU including Dr. Alexander Meikeljohn, Mary
Hutchinson, Helen Salz and Dr. Charles A. Hee who
became its first Chairperson.
One of the first actions of the local ACLU was to seek
redress of workers' grievances by hitting the city where it
hurt - the city pocketbook. The ACLU-NC sued the cities
of San Francisco and Oakland, among others, for not
protecting the strikers' First Amendment rights to free
speech and.assembly - and won.
_- When the Holmes-Eureka lumber strike broke out,
ACLU co-founder Salz requested Besig to go north to in-
vestigate. Three pickets had been killed, eight wounded by
company goons and over 150 persons had been arrested. No
attorney in Humboldt County was willing to defend the
strikers, so the ACLU-NC undertook to supply legal counsel
and to oppose the reign of terror in the community.
Besig was assigned to Eureka for 30 days. But his 30 days
extended to a lifetime of service to the ACLU and he served -
as the Executive Director of the affiliate from 1935 until
1971,
ILWU members in Labor Day March, San Francisco 1939.
In 1937, the ACLU-NC procured full pardons for 22
members of the I.W.W. (Wobblies) who, between 1919 and
1925, had been convicted under California's criminal
syndicalism law.
The affiliate also aided in the defense of Tom Mooney and
Warren Billings, San Francisco labor leaders falsely con-
victed of the 1916 "Preparedness Parade" bombings. After
a massive campaign for their release, which eventually
reached around the world, Mooney and Billings were
pardoned, having served over 20 years in San Quentin for
_ the frame-up.
In the 1940's, the ACLU-NC succeeded in having the U.S.
Supreme Court overturn the state's infamous "`anti-Okie"'
law which prohibited indigents from entering California.
The ACLU was one of the few early fighters against race
discrimination in the state, challenging segregation of
Mexican school children and denouncing the race bar and
subsequent mob violence directed at blacks in the Madera
public swimming pool.
One of the proudest episodes of ACLU-NC history was
our challenge to the World War II relocation and forced
detention of Japanese Americans from the West coast.
The Korematsu case, the first to challenge the con-
stitutionality of the internment of Japanese Americans, was
argued by ACLU counsel Wayne Collins before the U.S.
Supreme Court in 1944.
The ACLU-NC also filed amicus briefs and provided .
further support in three other challenges, Yasui,
Hirabayashi and Endo.
The ACLU-NC argued that the exclusion and detention
laws violated basic constitutional rights, depriving citizens
and aliens of liberty and property, subjecting them to
unreasonable search and seizure, denying them a speedy
and public trail, and without justification labeling them
"suspects, disloyals and criminals."
Despite these strong constitutional arguments, the
Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against the ACLU and upheld all
of the war measures on the grounds of military necessity in a
time of immediate danger.
Unfortunately, the ACLU national office disagreed with
ACLU-NC's strong stand against Japanese-American
detention and did not support the affiliate's litigation. The
deep disagreement over this egregious issue produced long-
standing strain between the affiliate and the national office.
That the ACLU-NC never capitulated to pressure from
the government, the general wartime anti-Japanese hysteria
or the ACLU national office is truly a credit to the local
organization.
Apart from litigation, the affiliate also investigated and
publicized the `"`Gestapo-like"' conditions at the con-
`centration camps. Detainees at Tule Lake, Manzanar,
Tanforan and other so-called Assembly Centers turned to
the ACLU-NC for help in improving conditions at the
camps.
Exclusion and detention were not the only unpopular
wartime issues that the ACLU-NC championed. The af-
filiate also fought for the rights of conscientious objectors
(as the national ACLU had done since its inception). As the
ACLU-NC fought for the rights of atheists to be con-
scientious objectors on moral, as opposed to the traditional
religious grounds, this issue became quite controversial.
The affiliate also sued on behalf of groups advocating peace
to use public facilities to hold their meetings.
The end of the war presented new dangers for civil
liberties as the Cold War on the home front gave rise to an
era of political suppression.
`the ACLU-NC successfully defended hundreds of victims
of post-war federal "`loyalty and security'' programs. It
opposed the witch-hunting activities of congressional and
state legislative committees.
Through litigation, the affiliate obtained state and U.S.
Supreme Court decisons striking down various types of
loyalty oaths - from those required by taxpayers in order to
get exemptions (1938), through those requiring recipients of
unemployment benefits to take government jobs requiring -
loyalty oaths (1960) to the Levering loyalty oath exacted of
all public officials and employees in California (1967).
After HUAC held its widely disapproved-of hearings in
1960, and anti- HUAC demonstrations on the steps of San
Francisco City Hall were broken up by police firehoses,
' HUAC issued a distorted propaganda film Operation
Abolition. To counter the HUAC film, the ACLU-NC
produced a refutation called Operation Correction which
was distributed nationwide.
The widespread political ferment of the 1960's brought
new challenges to the ACLU. In 1964, the Free Speech
Movement at U.C. Berkeley set off campus demonstrations
around the state and country. The ACLU went to battle with
university officials in an attempt to protect the rights of
students and academic freedom.
The affiliate also became propelled into the growing civil
rights movement. On the grounds of equal protection of the
law, the ACLU-NC joined other organizations in
challenging the 1964 statewide referendum permitting
discrimination in the sale or rental of private housing. The
affiliate was also successful in obtaining religious freedom
rights for Black Muslim inmates in California's prisons.
The first challenge to the constitutionality of the state's
death penalty came from the ACLU-NC in conjunction
with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. In 1967, in the
Anderson case. the California Supreme Court halted all
executions in California.
Women's rights also became a major area of concern for
the ACLU. An early advocate of reproductive freedom, the
affiliate defended the right of two women to disseminate
_ information about abortion techniques.
The ACLU also became involved in gay rights, including a
legal challenge to the Briggs initiative (1978), a measure
which would have prohibited homosexuals from teaching i in
the public school system.
In attempts to redress past wrongs, the ACLU-NC
supported affirmative action programs in education and
unemployment, and pursued both litigation and legislation -
to protect school desegregation programs.
The affiliate took many cases to defend the rights of
prisoners, including protection against cruel and unusual
punishment, access to counsel, and the right to read. The ~
affiliate also challenged the massive burdensome govern-
mental security surrounding political trials, particularly of
black activists.
As governmental surveillance became increasingly ex-
posed to the public eye through the Nixon era, the ACLU _
campaigned for restrictions on wiretapping and other"
surveillance by the FBI and other agencies.
In 1974 the ACLU-NC's successful arguments before the
California Supreme Court in Burrows ensured that the
police may not obtain an individual's bank records without
uthorizatio bya judge. The affiliate i is still campaigning to
Anti-War Protest, San Francisco 1971
The Vietnam War and. opposition to it generated ACLU
support on behalf of demonstrators as well as conscientious
objectors. The ACLU vigorously opposed peacetime draft
and registration as well as the military's abridgement of the
constitutional rights of service people.
_ . Looking back on ACLU history, there are many -
perhaps too many - recurring themes. Police brutality
against strikers in the 1930's continues against black people
in Oakland in the '80's. Sex and race discrimination have
been legislated against, but continue to recur: gains made
through affirmative action programs are currently under
attack. The suppression of civil liberties under the guise of
national security affects Iranian visa holders now as it did
Japanese Americans during World War II. The ACLU
continues to fight against capital punishment, abortion
restrictions, government surveillance and censorship. The
affiliate continues to fight for the rights of privacy, equal
protection and the basic First Amendment guarantees of
free speech, free press and free assemblage.
There are many lessons to be learned from our history. A
major lesson articulated by the late Edison Uno, an ACLU-
NC Board member, when he was awarded the Meikeljohn
Civil Liberties Award on behalf of the Japanese American
Citizens League in 1972, can serve as a guide for the future:
Uno said, `"We may have eliminated the statutory
provisions for detention camps, but we must always
remember it takes eternal vigilance to improve democracy.
We must struggle to eliminate the camps of poverty. . . and
the psychological camps of fear, hate, racism and
repression." September, 1980
This special historical issue of the ACLU News was
prepared by editor Elaine Elinson. Grateful thanks for their
invaluable help and information to Ernest Besig, Germaine
Bulcke, George Green, Leo Nitzberg, Michael Ungar, the
Japanese American Citizens League, the California
Historical Society, the Dispatcher/IL WU, Enlisted Times
and all former editors of the ACLU News whose zealous and
careful reporting throughout the decades have provided us
with the living history we have today.
ee ee
Join the ACLU
Name
Address
City Zip
Membership: Single $20, Joint $30.
Send with check or money order to ACLU-NC,
814 ne ats S.F., CA 94103.
}
Or