vol. 53 (1989), no. 3
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aclu news
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Volume LIIl
ith massive marches in San Fran-
V cisco and Washington, D.C., full
page newspaper ads, hundreds of
thousands of letters to government offi-
cials, press conferences and legal briefs,
the voices of the burgeoning movement for
the right to choose reverberated throughout
the nation in the weeks preceding the U.S.
Supreme Court arguments in Webster v.
Reproductive Health Services, the case
which threatens to turn the clock back on
reproductive rights.
On April 2, 30,000 pro-choice support-
ers marched through San Francisco behind
banners representing women's groups, la-
bor, students, minority communities, and
local groups from all over the West Coast.
The ACLU-NC contingent - which ended
up sandwiched between the Revolutionary
Communist Party and the Republicans for
Choice - was a strong representation of
Board members, Chapter activists, staff
and volunteers. The ACLU-NC table at the
rally site was swamped with marchers
wanting to sign the letter to Attorney Gen-
eral Thornburgh urging him to reverse his
anti-choice stand.
The half-a-million marchers for "Wom-
May 1989
Groundswell of Support for a
Woman's Right to Choose _
Abortion Rights Battle on
Federal, State Levels
en's Equality and Women's Lives" in
Washington, D.C. the following week also
included a large contingent from the ACLU
which had moved its national Board meet-
_ ing to Washington, D.C. to coincide with
the march. ACLU-NC National Board
members Barbara Brenner and Anne Jen-
nings and Field Representative Marcia Gal-
lo represented the affiliate at the national
march.
Gallo also attended a national confer-
ence "In Defense of Roe"
in Washington on the eve of the march. The
conference, which was organized by the
ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, the
Women of Color Partnership Project and
the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights,
focused on the need to broaden the pro-
choice movement to address vital issues -
such as access to health services, coerced
sterilization, teen pregnancy, and prenatal
health care - which are of special impor-
tance to minority women and their commu-
nities.
The ACLU-sponsored letter to Attorney
General Thornburgh has generated an enor-
mous response. The ACLU-NC placed a
full page ad in the Bay Guardian and re-
, which was held.
No. 3
The April 2 March for Women's Equality Women' s Lives in San Biadetsce drew
30,000 pro-choice supporters.
ceived over 2,500 letters. Many people pho-
tocopied the newspaper ad and distributed
- dozens of the letters in their workplaces and
campuses. The letter was printed in the New
York Times by the national ACLU and in lo-
cal newspapers across the country by
ACLU affiliates. The national ACLU turned
in 200,000 letters to the Attorney General
on April 20.
On April 25, the ACLU-NC participat-
ed in a San Francisco press conference
sponsored by the Bay Area Civil Rights
Coalition which affirmed support for Roe v.
Continued on p. 8
Trial Opens in Challenge to Searches of Prison Visitors
: long-awaited trial in a lawsuit filed
A 1986 by the ACLU-NC and the
Prison Law Office opened on April
7 before. Marin County Superior Court
Judge Richard H. Breiner. The lawsuit
charges that the California Department of
Corrections policy of searching inmates'
visitors and their vehicles without probable
cause is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of six
persons who visit relatives in California |
prisons, an inmate, and two taxpayers.
One of the visitors said that the experi-
ence was so traumatic that she visits her
husband less often.
The case is being argued by Prison Law
Office attorney Donald Specter and ACLU-
NC cooperating attorneys Richard Goff,
Jon Hayden, Richard DeNatale, and Jo Ker-
linsky of the San Francisco law firm of
Heller, Ehrman, White and McAuliffe.
Under the search policy implemented by
the CDC in 1985, prison visitors and their
vehicles in prison parking lots are subjected
to random and indiscriminate searches by
armed guards, narcotics officers and police
dogs. The searches are carried out on ran-
dom Saturdays, the busiest visiting day of
the week at CDC prisons including San
Quentin, Duell Vocational Institute, Vaca-
ville, Soledad and Folsom.
Police dogs
"Armed guards and police dogs subject
prison visitors, including children, to a
frightening, humiliating, and blatantly ex-
cessive invasion of personal liberty," said
Specter. "In doing so, the CDC obstructs
and deters prison visits, and indeed, under-
mines the values which visits are intending
to foster."
Attorney Goff described the search pro-
cedures: ""When arriving at the prison park-
ing lot, visitors are confronted with a con-
tingent of armed prison guards, uniformed
and plainclothes police officers, Sheriff's
Department narcotic squad officers and
trained German shepherd police dogs.
"At random, or with predetermined fre-
quency, the officers stop some or all of the
cars entering the lot. All occupants of the
cars - including children and non-visitors
- are ordered out. The officers have no
probable cause to stop the cars, nor any in-
dividualized suspicion to do so.
"Visitors are not given any reason for
the search, and are told they may not enter
the prison to visit area without being
searched," Goff said. Under the original
CDC regulation, visitors were not told that
they had a right to leave the prison area if
they did not want to be searched. However,
a preliminary injunction issued in May
1986 now requires that those who do not
wish to be searched are told that they may
leave.
`All of the compartments of the cars and
their contents, and all of the visitors' wal-
lets, handbags, and other personal belong-
ings - none of which typically enter the
Continued on page 6
aclu news
may 1989
Death Threats, Bomb Scares and Censorship: the Hidden
Dangers of the First Amendment
by Dorothy Ehrlich
ACLU-NC Executive Director
that morning on KPFA. I was to ap-
I was ill prepared for the radio program
pear as a member of a panel focused
on the Salman Rushdie affair. The live pan- (c)
el was scheduled to follow immediately the
_ airing of a tape made of a public reading of
Rushdie's controversial new novel, The Sa-
tanic Verses, which had been held at the
San Francisco Public Library the previous
Friday. A "balanced" panel of pro- and
anti-Rushdie speakers was invited to at-
tend.
The balance was upset, however, when
' the other "pro-Rushdie" panelist was called
_ out to deal with an emergency - his book-
store had been bombed, apparently because
they were selling the Rushdie book. The
equilibrium was further jolted by the an-
nouncement that the radio station - just a
few blocks from the bombed bookstore -
had also received bomb threats that morn-
ing.
The tension created by the bomb threat
was quickly overwhelmed by the depth of
the disagreement that existed between the
three panelists who spoke against the publi-
cation of The Satanic Verses and me, as-
A little book banning seems pale in
comparison to a multi-million dollar
reward for the murder of an author.
serting the right of booksellers to sell and
readers to read the controversial novel free
from intimidation.
`Weeks later, now that the uproar has
died down, the lessons learned from that
panel and the many more that were to fol-
low, have become exceedingly clear.
The first lesson has to do with intoler-
ance. This is an accusation we freely as-
cribe to our adversaries - those who would
threaten to execute a writer for a book they
find offensive. But there was more to be.
learned about intolerance - and some of it
was my own. For the gulf of misunder-
standing that separated the two sides of this
debate was so wide, that it initially prevent-
ed us from hearing each other.
To drive home the fact about just how
offensive the Rushdie novel is to some, I
was asked to put myself in their position
and consider what steps I would take if
Letters
Death Penalty
I want to congratulate and encourage
Michael Laurence on his heading up of the
Death Penalty Project as reported in the
ACLU News.
When the State kills a human being, I,
unable to halt it, become a most unwilling
accomplice. So are we all made murderers,
willy-nilly. This is the basic reason the
death penalty must be outlawed. But there
is another, slightly lesser, reason that ought
to be researched and widely discussed, one
that might help sway the minds and hearts -
of some.
Do we have definitive information on
how many people are wrongfully convicted
of crimes. What percentage of all convic-
tions? When a person has falsely lost years
in prison, we cannot fully reverse that
dreadful miscarriage of justice. But if that
person has been killed, we can not even
start to amend the error. And it does hap-
pen!
It will take much legal effort and a
great deal of public education, but surely,
in the name not only of justice but our own
morality, we must eliminate the death pen-
alty.
Ruth G. Cates
Weott, CA
Norman Reider
Norman Reider, M.D., a distinguished
San Francisco psychiatrist and educator,
died recently at the age of 81. He was an
outspoken and effective supporter of free-
dom and civil liberties and especially of the
American Civil Liberties Union of North-
ern California to which he was a generous
contributor.
Dr. Reider was a great help to me in the
1960's as an expert witness when the
sors all over northern California who want-
ed to repress expressions of human sexuali-
ty, calling it "pornography."
With warm wishes for his spirit and
knowing that this will carry on his work
and hopes, I enclose this donation and trust
his friends and admirers will add to it.
Marshall Warren Krause
Larkspur, CA
Krause is the former Legal Director of
the ACLU-NC and is currently on the
Board of Directors.
Red Scare
I am working on an oral history of the
McCarthy era. There are many volumes on
the history of this era, but what is missing
are the individual experiences of those who
were involved. My project would be a book
of memories, rather than hard facts and sta-
tistics. It would represent the voices of ordi-
nary men and women as they recall the
years their government and their neighbors
turned against them - an oral history of
The Great Fear.
It would, as much as possible, represent
the diversity of those caught up in the
witchhunts, the panorama of American so-
ciety.
I would appreciate hearing from anyone
who was blacklisted, jailed, subpoenaed be-
fore a government committee, or in any
way harassed for their politics or associa-
tions during the Red Scare of the Truman
and Eisenhower era (1945-1961). If inter-
ested, please send a brief outline of experi-
ences in a letter to Griffin Fariello, PO Box
640533, San Francisco, CA 94164-0533.
Requests for anonymity will be respected.
Thank you very much.
_ Griffin Fariello
San Francisco, CA
ACLU-NC was fighting know-nothing cen-
someone defaced my flag, or wanted to dis-
tribute racist or anti-Semitic literature, or
materials that debased women, even por-
nography. Wouldn't I demand some drastic
action to prevent this kind of insult?
The point that this list reads like a copy
of our annual docket of ACLU cases may
have been lost in the charged atmosphere of
this debate.
Symbolic exercise
What I learned was that, for many peo-
ple, supporting the First Amendment - be-
ing in favor of free expression - is largely
a symbolic exercise, like saluting the flag.
In fact, my opponents dutifully prefaced
each remark in favor of censorship with the
disclaimer, "While I support and believe in
the First Amendment..."
That is how I came to perceive my own
intolerance and to understand the fragility
of free expression.
Free expression is most often revered as
a concept, a guiding principle which can be
applied effortlessly to all forms of bland
speech, rather than as a conviction which
means that all expressions have a right to
exist, even the most offensive ones. In fact,
the ACLU is largely misunderstood when it
defends offensive speech. We find that peo-
ple's faith in the First Amendment is easily
shaken, for everyone has something they
would like to see banned or censored.
In the case of The Satanic Verses there
was, at the beginning, very little under-
standing of how offensive this book was to
the millions of Moslems living in a world
which seemed to grow much smaller during
the course of the debate.
The Rushdie controversy follows a long
and unfortunate tradition of finding that the
speech that is most worthy of violent con-
demnation is speech which demeans any
major religious group.
It is a supreme irony that the Rushdie
incident provoked a far greater understand-
ing and appreciation of Islamic religion and
culture. In that sense, the Rushdie contro-
versy became a triumph for the proposition
that the cure for offensive speech - wheth-
er it demeans a religious group, or women
or flag saluters is to call for more speech.
It was also an opportunity for a tremen-
dous outpouring of support for the First
Amendment as Presidents joined poets and
intellectuals in support of our theoretical
belief in free expression.
Ironically, in the midst of this contro-
versy, the attempt by public officials in
Napa County to prevent a white suprema-
cist group from gathering was rather lost in
the fanfare of support for the First Amend-
ment. And how many people were aware
that a few weeks later, pressure would be
put on the Hayward Public Library to pre-
vent another hate group from using that
public facility; or that a Catholic university
in San Francisco would prevent pro-choice
groups from circulating petitions on its
campus, because their views conflicted
with the school's religious principles. How
many joined the ACLU in speaking out
against these homegrown acts of censor-
ship?
All of these examples serve to illustrate
how, despite eloquent testimony to the con-
trary, the desire to censor is woven deeply
into the fabric of our society. Did the Rush-
die matter revitalize our attachment to the
principal of free expression? Perhaps it did.
Reassertion of our faith in this fundamental
right is a worthwhile exercise. But turning
the concept into reality is a far more diffi-
cult battle.
Finally, did the debate and avowals
around Rushdie leave us feeling smug
about the safety of free expression in this
country? After all, a little book banning
seems pale in comparison to a multi-
million dollar reward for the murder of an
author.
Will the efforts of fundamentalist
Christians in this country to remove books
- ranging from the Wizard of Oz to life-
saving materials about how to prevent the
transmission of AIDS - seem tame com-
pared to those less "civilized" threats from
the other side of the world?
Now that the headlines have subsided,
there may be a chilling effect that will
largely go unmeasured. Perhaps publishers
will avoid any treatment of Islamic religion
or culture, for fear of offending. Or, they
may steer clear of other explosive topics in
order to safeguard their businesses, or to
avoid the incalculable expenses incurred
through such a controversy. )
There is, after all, nothing uniquely Is-
lamic about this debate. Salman Rushdie
and his predecessors - from Frank Baum
to James Joyce to Dante - all serve to re-
mind us of the virtue and the wisdom of in-
sisting upon the protection of free expres-
sion and the dangers inherent in doing so.
aclu news
issues a year, monthly except bi-monthly in January-February, June-July, August-
September and November-December.
Published by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California
H. Lee Halterman, Chairperson
Dorothy Ehrlich, Executive Director
Elaine Elinson, Editor
Marcia Gallo, Field Page
ZesTop Publishing, Design and Layout
1663 Mission St., 4th Floor
San Francisco, California 94103
(415) 621-2488
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.
aclu news
may 1989 3
Police Tactics Bring Renewed Protests
ven as the civil rights community
H was smoldering over the Police
2 Commission's refusal to hold a dis-
ciplinary hearing for the officer who
clubbed UFW leader Dolores Huerta dur-
ing an anti-Bush demonstration in Septem-
ber, a new clash between police and dem-
onstrators brought renewed criticism of the
San Francisco Police Department's crowd
control tactics.
ACLU-NC Police Practices Project Di-
rector John Crew charged that at the March
20 demonstration at the Federal Building
against U.S. policy in El Salvador some of-
ficers "used tactics that created confusion
and may have caused - instead of pre-
vented - some of the violence."
At that demonstration, undercover offi-
cers, without identifying themselves as po-
guaranteed in the Bill of Rights...and to
ensure that those who wish to exercise their
rights are able to do so, without interfer-
ence by the government, as guaranteed by
the First Amendment.
"The ACLU does not have, or seek to
have `influence' over people who are orga-
nizing to express themselves under the
First Amendment," Ehrlich explained.
In addition, at a March 27 Board of Su-
pervisors meeting called by Supervisor
Terence Hallinan to investigate the police
tactics used on the demonstrators, attorney
Crew criticized the macing of the legal ob-
server and called on Police Department to
adhere to crowd control practices which
protect, rather than hinder, First Amend-
ment rights.
Less than two weeks later, however, at
Community and civil rights activists were angered by the Police Commission vote.
Closed door meeting
That decision came out of a closed door
session at the Hall of Justice. Outside the
meeting room, 75 protesters held a vigil
and a press conference calling for justice
for Huerta, who lost her spleen and suf-
fered broken ribs when she was clubbed at
the September anti-Bush demonstration
outside the St. Francis Hotel.
On March 8, International Women's
Day, the Board of Supervisors honored Do-
lores Huerta and Mayor Agnos proclaimed
"Dolores Huerta Day" in San Francisco.
That evening, however, the Police Com-
mission voted 4-1 against holding the disci-
plinary hearing.
Jose Medina, the only Commissioner to
Barbara Maggiani
lice, waded into the crowd and grabbed
protestors. "This is a very dangerous tactic
which we complained about in 1984 during
the Democratic Convention protests. Until
now, we hadn't seen this tactic used since
then," Crew said.
In addition, even though the Depart-
ment has a clear policy that restricts the use
of Mace as a defensive weapon, at least
one officer deliberately sprayed individuals
who posed no threat to public safety, Crew
charged.
A legal observer, Diana Bullock of the
National Lawyers Guild, was sprayed in
the face with Mace by an undercover po-
liceman as she was taking notes on the
demonstration. :
On March 22, Mayor Agnos held a
press conference where he stated that "Po-
lice played by the rules, demonstrators did
not," and blamed "`irresponsible demonstra-
tors" for the violence that occurred at the
Federal Building. In addition, the Mayor
stated, "I am calling on the ACLU... to use
their influence to ensure that demonstra-
tions are properly planned by sponsoring
groups."
ACLU-NC Executive Director Dorothy
Ehrlich responded with a letter to the
Mayor explaining that "the purpose of the
ACLU is to protect and defend the liberties
another demonstration on April 5 in front
of the Salvadoran Consulate on Market
Street, a police officer posed as a TV cam-
eraman and videotaped protestors.
A news producer from KGO-TV spot-
ted the imposter. "The guy had a press cre-
dential that said KING-TV. Well, we know
that station is in Seattle and we couldn't
imagine them covering this small demon-
stration," said KGO's John Montroni.
Police Chief Frank Jordan admitted that
the man with KING-TV credentials was ac-
tually police officer Ken King.
"This sort of surreptitious videotaping
of demonstrators is another example of
why there is currently a huge polarization
between the police and those seeking to ex-
ercise their First Amendment rights," said
Crew, who filed a Public Records Act re-
quest to get a copy of the tape.
"We tried two years ago to have the po-
lice establish a formal policy on videotap-
ing because of our fear that these tapes
might be used for intelligence purposes,"
added Crew.
These new incidents came against the
backdrop of the Police Commission's deci-
sion not to hold a disciplinary hearing, as
advocated by the Office of Citizen Com-
plaints but opposed by Police Chief Jordan, -
for the officer involved in the Huerta case.
vote against the Police Chief's recommen-
dation, said, "To not hear this case goes
counter to the spirit of the Charter amend-
ment that created the Office of Civilian
Complaints and which calls for civilian re-
Police Commissioner Jose Medina cast
the sole dissenting vote when the Com-
mission voted not to hold a disciplinary
hearing for the officer in the Huerta case.
view of police misconduct cases.
`To not hear this matter calls into ques-
tion the viability, not only of the OCC, but
of the Police Commission itself," Medina
said.
In a letter to Mayor Agnos following the
Police Commission vote, Crew wrote, "The
ACLU is deeply concerned that public con-
fidence in the OCC had been badly shaken
by the handling of the Huerta case.
"Just when the OCC had begun to oper-
ate in a fashion visibly independent from
the police department, there is a perception
that this new-found independence will not
be encouraged or adequately supported by
_ the political leadership of the city," Crew
stated.
He encouraged the Mayor to "demon-
Strate his support for the OCC in very
meaningful ways" by appointing a Police
Commissioner (to replace the departing
Gayle Orr-Smith) who has a demonstrated
understanding of the OCC and civilian re-
view, by hiring additional OCC investiga-
tors, and by urging the Commission to
adopt a policy which directs that all con-
flicts between the Chief and the OCC be re-
solved by the Police Commission "after a
full and fair review of all the evidence ina `
disciplinary hearing."
The ACLU-NC Public Infor-
mation Department is in des-
perate need of a few "tools of
the trade" to help us track our
media work. We need:
~ Portable, color
television set
VCR (to tape programs
and replay TV
appearances)
- Portable AM/FM radio
~ Cassette player and
recorder
Spokespeople from the
Attention Media Freaks
ACLU-NC are appearing more ~
and more on radio and TV.
With good quality equipment
we can use the tapes of ap-
pearances for speakers' train-
ing sessions, Field Program
events, and even some inves-
tigative work! :
- If you can donate any of the
above items, please contact
Elaine Elinson, Public Infor-
mation Director at 415/621-
2493. :
We can arrange pick-up of
any item. The items can be
used but should be in good
working condition.
aclu news
may 1989
High Court OK's Drug Tests for
Rail, Customs Workers
G OH seat teaches that grave
threats to liberty often come in
times of urgency, when consti-
tutional rights seem too extravagant to en-
dure."
With this profound warning, Justice
Thurgood Marshall penned his dissent to
the March 22 United States Supreme Court
ruling which allows drug testing of workers
in the railroad industry.
The decision came in the case of Skin-
ner v. Railway Labor Executives Associa-
tion, in which the ACLU-NC had submit- .
ted an amicus brief challenging drug testing
on behalf of the rail workers' union federa-
tion.
The lawsuit originated when the rail-
workers' unions challenged 1986 Federal
Railroad Administration regulations requir-
ing mandatory drug and alcohol tests of all
railroad workers following an accident or
rule violation.
-After a U. S. District Court ruled that
the tests may be done without probable
cause or individualized suspicion, the
ACLU-NC in 1986 filed an amicus brief in
support of the rail workers in the Ninth Cir-
cuit Court of Appeals.
Unreasonable search
In February 1988, the Court of Appeals
agreed, in a 2-1 decision, with ACLU argu-
ments that the drug testing was unconstitu-
tional. The appellate court ruled that such
drug tests represent an unreasonable search
and seizure in violation of the Fourth
Amendment of the U.S. Constitution be-
cause they allow workers to be tested with-
out any reasonable suspicion of drug use.
The Department of Transportation then ap-
pealed the case to the nation's highest
court.
Groups Oppose Ethnic
Exclusion of Jurors in
Death Penalty Case
n March 10, ACLU-NC Death Pen-
QO alty Project attorney Michael Laur-
ence filed an amici brief in the Cal-
ifornia Supreme Court on behalf of a wide
range of public interest organizations pro-
testing a District Attorney's ethnic exclu-
sion of jurors in a capital punishment case
and urging the Court to reconsider its opin-
ion upholding a sentence of death.
Groups represented in the friends of the
court brief are the American Jewish Con-
gress, Asian American Bar Association,
Charles Huston Bar Association, La Raza
Lawyers Association, NAACP, and South-
ern Christian Leadership Conference. "This
unprecedented breadth of opposition to a
court ruling underscores just how serious
the discrimination of the prosecutor was in
his jury selection procedures," said Laur-
ence.
In the case of People v. Johnson, the
defendant is Black, his attorney is Jewish
and the victim was white. During jury se-
lection, the prosecutor used his peremptory
challenges to exclude every prospective
juror who was Black, Jewish, or Asian.
Although the defense attorney objected
to this obvious ethnic discrimination, the
District Attorney attempted to rationalize
his actions with such subjective reasoning
as he did not feel he could communicate
with a Black woman juror and he thought
another juror did not make eye contact with
him. =
The defense attorney rebutted the ob-
jective reasons by noting that the District
Attorney had not struck white jurors with
similar characteristics, but the trial court
overruled the defense objections.
On February 23, the California Supreme
Court rejected the appellant's claim that he
was entitled to a new trial, although the
court majority acknowledged that the facts
demonstrate discrimination in the peremp-
tory challenges. The Court noted the 1978
landmark decision in, People v. Wheeler,
which states, "the circumstances of the case
show a strong likelihood that such persons
[were] being challenged because of their
group association rather than because of
any specific bias," and a 1985 case People -
v. Trevino, which recognized that the rea-
sons advanced by the prosecutor to justify
his challenges were inadequate to rebut the
presumption of unconstitutionality.
The Supreme Court's response, howev-
er, was to reverse Trevino, rather than John-
son's death sentence.
Call for rehearing
The ACLU-NC amici brief called on the
Court to grant rehearing and reconsider its
Opinion, citing numerous arguments against
the District Attorney's subjective and ra-
cially discriminatory peremptory challeng-
es.
"In addition," Laurence said, "our brief
points out that the range of reasons found |.
acceptable by the Court may themselves
bespeak unconscious racial or ethnic preju-
dices and have often been used - con-
sciously or unconsciously - to perpetuate
discrimination."
The 7-2 Supreme Court decision, which
was accompanied by a 5-4 decision up-
holding drug tests for certain categories of
U.S. Customs Service employees who ap-
ply for promotions or transfers, was written
THS SHER DY
FOR URINALS,
pas
by Reagan-appointee Justice Anthony Ken-
nedy. "The expectations of privacy of cov-
ered employees are diminished by reason of
their participation in an industry that is reg-
ulated pervasively to insure safety," Kenne-
dy wrote.
ACLU-NC staff attorney Ed Chen, who
helped write the amicus brief filed in the
Supreme Court, criticized the decision.
"The Court not only approved testing with-
out `individualized suspicion,' much of its
language in the two cases was sweeping,
threatening the vitality of the Fourth
Amendment.
"Most disturbingly, the Court has taken
a substantial step in reading the Fourth
Amendment requirements of a warrant and
probable cause out of the Constitution,"
Chen added.
Wide impact
"The effect this ruling will have on
numerous categories of workers in any sit-.
uation deemed `safety sensitive,' is still
uncertain. The Court did not resolve the is-
sue of random testing, but its sweeping
analysis is troubling" Chen noted.
The ACLU-NC has a number of drug
testing challenges pending in state and fed-
eral courts, on behalf of oil refinery work-
ers and applicants for jobs at a publishing
firm, among others.
In the Customs Service employees case,
the Court upheld testing of workers apply-
ing for promotions and transfers to
positions involving drug enforcement or
use of firearms, but did not accept all of the
government's proposed testing. The Court
- noted that the government had not demon-
strated that employees seeking positions
which allow access to classified informa-
`tion should be subject to mandatory drug
testing.
The Court indicated the permissibility
of testing would turn on the employees'
expectation of privacy, the nature of the in-
formation involved, and the actual degree
of access permitted to that information.
Chen acknowledged that the rulings,
though confined to specific categories of
workers, could have a broader impact as
both public and private employers will look
to the high court decision as a basis for
their own drug testing programs.
However, Chen said, "I am hopeful that
the decisions will not apply to random drug
testing and that the independent right to
privacy under the California Constitution
will be held to offer greater protection."
Chen agreed with Justice Marshall's
dissent that the Court's majority was
"swept away by society's obsession with
stopping the scourge of illegal drugs."
Marshall said he feared that the "first
and worst casualty of the war on drugs will
be the precious liberties of our citizens."
New HIV Test Laws
Under Fire
laws requiring involuntary HIV tests
for certain arrestees, the ACLU-NC
has argued in courts in San Francisco and
Santa Clara that such testing is useless as
well as unconstitutional.
Following a thrice-postponed hearing in
San Francisco Municipal Court, Judge Per-
ker Meeks ordered an HIV test for Johnetta
Johnson. Johnson is accused of biting a San
Francisco Deputy Sheriff who tried to
forcefully eject her from a courtroom fol-
lowing a hearing in which she was denied
custody of her child.
Johnson's attorney, Public Defender
Grace Suarez, joined by ACLU-NC coop-
erating attorneys Rochelle Alpert and Ruth
Borenstein of Morrison and Foerster and
staff attorney Matthew Coles, has sought
review of that decision in the state Court of
Appeal. The ACLU-NC appeared as friend
of the court in Municipal Court.
"The Department is seeking to force
this woman to have a test without any
showing that there is probable cause to be-
lieve that she engaged in conduct that may
have exposed the Deputy to the AIDS vi-
rus," said Borenstein.
The Department is asking for the test
I n the first efforts to undo new state
under new provisions of the Health and
Safety Code which became law on January
1, 1989 following the passage of Proposi-
tion 96 in the November elections.
No risk
Coles, citing leading national public
health experts, many of whom provided af-
fidavits in support of the ACLU position,
stated that since the AIDS epidemic started
eight years ago, there has not been a con-
firmed case of HIV transmission through
biting.
"Given the evidence that saliva does not
transmit HIV and the evidence that infec-.
tion through a cut on the skin will not occur
without exposure to infected blood, one
person biting another creates no real risk of
infection," Coles said.
On March 30, the Court of Appeal al-
lowed Johnson to be tested for AIDS but
ordered the results sealed while it considers
the case. That ruling prevents the deputy
sheriff and her employers from learning the
results of Johnson's test until the court de-
cides whether the test is constitutional.
In a second case, People v. Rice, ACLU-
Continued on page 5
omestic partnership legislation,
D sponsored by Supervisor Harry
Britt, was introduced at a San Fran-
cisco Board of Supervisors meeting in
April after more than a year of preparation.
Mayor Art Agnos has indicated that he will
support the legislation.
ACLU-NC staff attorney Matthew
Coles, who helped draft successful domes-
tic partnership legislation for the cities of
Berkeley and West Hollywood, has been
working with Supervisor Britt on San Fran-
cisco's ordinance.
"Legislation like this is an important
step in ensuring that benefits are allocated
fairly to all workers without discriminating
against some on the basis of sexual orienta-
tion or the kinds of families they choose,"
said Coles. _
The San Francisco bill contains the fol-
lowing provisions:
1. A definition of domestic partnership
which will include shared living quarters
(while allowing separate residences as
well) and a commitment to share basic liv-
ing expenses (food, shelter, and medical if
one of the partners receives health cover-
age from the other.)
2. A system for filing domestic partner-
ship statements with the County Clerk and
Domestic Partnership Law
Proposed for San Francisco
a requirement that to qualify for benefits,
one need not file with the County Clerk
(i.e., simply presenting a statement will do.)
3. A policy forbidding discrimination
against domestic partnerships by the City
(although this will not make city health
plans available to domestic partners of city
employees right away, see below.)
4. Policies extending bereavement leave
and visitation in health care facilities to do-
mestic partners.
5. A requirement that domestic partners
be treated as family in leases.
6. Creation of a task force to study ways
in which alternative families are disadvan-
taged in the City and to recommend ways to
end discrimination.
According to Coles, "The toughest
problem in getting a bill ready has been
steering through a thicket of state, federal
and local charter law while trying to make
sure people are not misled about what the
bill will and will not do."
The City Charter states that only the
Health Service Systems Board (and not the
Board of Supervisors) can make changes in
health benefits for city employees. That
Board will be approached after the ordi-
nance is passed by the Supervisors, Coles
explained.
In addition, federal law states that the
City can not pass legislation on medical,
-disability, pension, vacation, day care and a
host of other benefits if they are connected
with employment by any private or govern-
mental entity other than the City itself.
State law mandates that the City cannot
pass rules on conservatorships, powers of
attorney, and employment discrimination
based on marital status. State law also re-
quires that declarations filed with the Coun-
ty Clerk be public.
"In spite of these obstacles," Coles said,
"we are very optimistic that this legislation
will succeed in San Francisco.
"In March, the Human Rights Commis-
aclu news
may 1989
Barbara Maggiani
Supervisor Harry Britt
sion held hearings on the problems this leg-
islation is aimed at addressing, and it
seemed clear that an ordinance that protects
at least some of the more basic rights of al-
ternative families is long overdue," Coles
stated.
Cross Lighting Sparks Controversy
people of San Francisco. The
problem with a religious sym-
bol in a public park is that it makes some
people feel like outsiders in their own
parks,in their own cities."
With this testimony before the San
Francisco Recreation and Park Commis-
sion on March 16, ACLU-NC staff attor-
ney Margaret Crosby spoke in opposition
to the General Manager's recommendation
to illuminate the cross on Mt. Davidson on
Easter Sunday.
"The ACLU litigates difficult issues,"
Crosby said, "but this is not one of them.
The cross on Mt. Davidson is plainly un-
constitutional under both the United States
and California Constitutions."
The ACLU argues that the cross on
publicly-owned Mt. Davidson violates the
federal Establishment Clause and the state
Establishment clause as well as state con-
stitutional prohibitions against aid to relig-
6 6 P- are meant to be for all the
ion and against government showing of a
preference for a particular religion.
"The illumination makes the constitu-
tional violation more apparent," Crosby
said.
At the hearing, the Commission adopt-
ed General Manager Mary Burns recom-
mendation to light the 103-foot cross for
two hours before sunrise as a "safety meas-
ure to guide participants to the scene."
Each year, the San Francisco Council of
Churches organizes a climb up Mt. David-
son for Easter sunrise services. Although
Crosby commended the General Manager's
recommendation for serving a "limited,
secular purpose," she argued that "the fact
remains that the City of San Francisco is
lighting a cross which is "an inherently re-
ligious act."
The lighting of the cross was also op-
posed by Al Walker of Americans United
for Separation of Church and State and Joel
Brooks of the American Jewish Congress,
Newsrack Law
Unconstitutional, ACLU
Charges
harging that an Alameda ordinance
effectively banning certain news-
racks is unconstitutional, the
ACLU-NC and the California Newspaper
Publishers Association filed an amici brief
in the state Court of Appeal in February.
The ordinance, parading as a "time,
place and manner" restriction, in fact only
affects newsracks which distribute publica-
tions dealing with sex, the suit charges.
"The ordinance in question is a flat prohi-
bition on newsracks based on their content,
and is thus impermissible," the brief states.
The amici brief was authored by
ACLU-NC cooperating attorneys Karl Ol-
son and Martin Kassman of Cooper, White
Cooper.
; According to Olson, "The Alameda or-
dinance's restrictions on newsrack place-
ment do not apply to newsracks without re-
gard to the content of the newspapers sold
in them. They do not apply, for example, to
newsracks containing general-interest daily.
newspapers. They do not apply to news-
racks containing specialty publications
about the business world, entertainment or
the arts. They apply only to newsracks con-
taining publications that focus on the sub-
ject of sex. It could hardly be clearer that
the ordinance differentiates among publica-
tions based on their content."
The brief notes that "time, place and
manner" restrictions on newsracks, such as
the City of Alameda has had in effect since
1981, are permissible under the state and
federal Constitutions. However, as the new
Continued on Page 6
among others. Brooks told the Commis-
sion, "Our group opposes the placement of
religious symbolic displays of any kind, in-
cluding Jewish, on public property.
"The Constitution clearly states that the
government may not endorse or show pref-
erence for any religion," Brooks testified.
Although the lighting of the cross was
approved by the Commission, "the larger
issue - of the City being involved with a
religious symbol - is still at hand," Cros-
by said.
"The important problem is the presence
of the cross on public land. It is time for
this Commission to address this ongoing
constitutional violation," she added and
urged the Commission to calendar a future
hearing on the broader issue.
HIV Tests ...
Continued from p. 4
NC attorneys Coles, Alpert and Frank
McGuire, also of Morrison and Foerster,
again acted as a friend of the court in seek-
ing to halt an HIV test for a man who alleg-
edly "might have" bled on a Sunnyvale po-
lice officer as he was being arrested. Rice
was cut when the officer smashed the win-
dow of his car and dragged him out after a
chase.
The HIV test was demanded by the po-
lice officer under a section of the California
Penal Code, passed by the Legislature
shortly before the adoption of Proposition
96. The law allows judges to issue search
warrants for AIDS tests if the judge finds
that there is probable cause to believe that
the defendant committed the crime and
probable cause to believe that blood, semen
or another fluid capable of transmitting the
virus was transferred from the accused to
the victim.
Coles explained the ACLU arguments:
"Our experts first showed that the defen-
dant could be infected even if he tested neg-
ative because recently infected persons test
negative. Therefore, a negative test would
not mean that the victim could engage in
unsafe practices.
"They then showed that the only medi-
cal treatments for a recently infected person
should not begin until after that person has
been tested him/herself. The experts ac-
knowledged the debate about the experi-
mental use of immediate AZT therapy for
recently infected persons," Coles added,
"but noted that the request in this case came
long after the therapy could have been ef-
fectively used." 7
Building on that testimony, the ACLU
argued that since the test could not be used
in any medical or disease prevention deci-
sions by the victim, the state's interest in
forcing a test did not outweigh the victim's
Fourth Amendment and privacy rights.
"An HIV test for Rice would be useless
to the officer," argued McGuire, "as it can
take as long as six months to detect the an-
tibodies indicating AIDS."
Although a municipal court ruling al-
lowing the test was originally stayed by
Superior Court Judge Jeremy Fogel for ten
days, the stay was lifted, and a test was or-
dered, on March 29.
ACLU-NC attorneys were outraged at
the violation of the defendant's privacy
rights during the course of the hearings. Al-
though Rice wanted to waive his right to
appear in open court to protect his privacy
during this controversial case, Municipal
Court Judge Steven Manley ordered him to
appear in person - in shackles - to make
the request, despite the presence of a dozen
news reporters and cameras. Rice was
shackled because the Sheriff put him in
isolation pending the test; he is not violent.
The Superior Court barred news came-
ras, but when the bailiffs took the defen-
dant out of the courtroom, they led him
through a public hall crowded with news
media rather than through the private back
exit.
The fear of further violation of his pri-
vacy rights is one of the reasons that Rice
has decided not to appeal the court's deci-
sion, Coles explained.
The ACLU-NC, which opposed both
the Hart bill and Proposition 96 as uncon-
stitutional, is now pursuing litigation to in-
validate the forced HIV testing called for.
by the new laws. Coles said he hopes the
Court of Appeal will examine the constitu-.
_ tionality of Proposition 96 in the Johnson
Case.
aclu news
may 1989
_ ACLU Membership Soars
_by Sandy Holmes
ACLU-NC Membership Coordinator
eorge Bush's campaign attacks on
GG": ACLU have backfired. The
ACLU-NC has seen an extraordi-
nary and unprecedented surge of 6,000 new
members since his "card-carrying" accusa-
tions first surfaced. Across the country,
more than 45,000 people have joined the
organization-since October - putting the
national ACLU membership at a record
300,000.
"The presidential election campaign
had the effect of `spontaneous combus-
tion,'" said ACLU-NC Executive Director
Dorothy Ehrlich. "It is rare for so many in-
dividuals to contact us, unsolicited, asking
to join." Ordinarily, new members join as a
result of ACLU recruitment drives.
But last fall, hundreds of people called
the ACLU on their own initiative to ask -
how to become "card-carrying members of
the ACLU." Extra staff, students and vol-
unteers were assigned to the Membership
Department to respond to the requests and
handle the enormous volume of member-
ships that arrived in over-stuffed mail sacks
each week.
By December 31, the ACLU-NC had
grown to 22,912 members - a gain of over
8,000 members in a 12-month period.
Recruitment drive
A second wave of close to 2,000 new
members joined in response to an advertis-
ing campaign and local mailing and tabling
efforts.
The Gay Rights Chapter recruited 80
new members in a single afternoon of ta-
bling at a community fair. The Santa Clara
Valley, Monterey, Earl Warren and Sonoma
Chapters also had exceptional responses to
their local recruiting efforts.
The ACLU-NC also placed full-page
membership ads, carefully timed to coin-
cide with George Bush's inauguration, in
the Bay Guardian and the New York Times.
As a result, newspaper clip-out applications
poured in - a large number had been pho-
tocopied and reproduced several times.
ACLU's visibility was especially suc-
cessful in "jump-starting" lapsed members:
nearly 500 former ACLU members rejoined
during this period.
Prison Visitors ...
Continued from p. 1
secured part of the prison - are searched,"
Goff added.
Frightened children
"These searches and the manner in
which they are conducted succeed in ha-
rassing and frightening the visitors, particu-
larly the children who come to visit their fa-
thers," said Specter.
"The harshness of the guards and their
lack of respect for the visitors, the calculat-
ed show of force by prison staff and their
open display of weapons, the fierceness of
the dogs - all of these combine to create a
most intimidating atmosphere," he said.
The suit charges that these measures are
Newsrack Law ...
Continued from Page 5
ordinance attempts to regulate the content
of publications, it is in violation of both
federal and state constitutional law.
The original case was brought against
the City of Alameda by Sebago Publica-
tions which publishes a sexually oriented
newspaper The Spectator. The trial court
held that the ordinance violated the free-
dom of press guaranteed by the U.S. and
the California Constitutions; the City of Al-
ameda appealed the judgment.
According to Olson, "California courts
have upheld the rights of publishers, under
both the United States and California Con-
stitutions, to distribute their newspapers by
way of newsracks located on public streets.
The United States Supreme Court has very
recently made it clear that content-based
discrimination, or even a strong potential
_ for it, will not be tolerated in the licensing
of newsracks. The ordinance is plain and
simple content-based discrimination."
The suit is asking that the decision of
the trial court be upheld.
unconstitutional and unnecessary for prison
security. All visitors are routinely subject to
metal detector screening and examination
of all belongings when they enter the prison
gates, which, the suit states, is a reasonable
security precaution to prevent contraband
from coming into the prison.
At a press conference prior to the open-
ing of the trial, Barbara Sianez, the wife of
a Folsom Prison inmate and a plaintiff in
the case, spoke about her experiences. "I
had been visiting my husband for a number
of years, so in May 1985 when a guard
pulled me over and told me our car would
have to be searched, I thought something
out of the ordinary - like an attempted es-
cape - had happened. ~
"T was with my 8-month old daughter
and my mother, who was just dropping us
off and not going into the prison," Sianez
said. "They searched the car, including my
baby's belongings, and they pat searched
me and my mother in front of all the male
guards. All the while, I asked them what
was going on and they would not answer
my questions. My mother has high blood
pressure, and I was especially concerned
that this would be upsetting to her," she
added. :
Sianez said that she brought the suit be-
cause, as her husband's sentence is life
without possibility of parole, she does "not
want to keep facing this - nor to face the
possibility of her daughter being strip
searched."
The charges in the suit are backed by a
declaration from Raymond Procunier, for-
mer director of the California Department
of Corrections and director of prisons in
three other states. Procunier stated, ""These
procedures...serve more to harass and deter
visitors than to deter narcotics or contra-
band."
The suit is seeking an injunction prohib-
iting searches of visitors, their cars and
their belongings without probable cause,
and a declaration from the court that the
search policy is unconstitutional.
The defendant in the suit is the current
Department of Corrections Director James
Rowland. The trial is expected to last sever-
al weeks.
A Will to Give to the ACLU
For more than half a century, the
ACLU of Northern California has
fought to defend the Constitution
and the Bill of Rights. Through the
pages of history - redbaiting, vigi-
lantes, WWII internment camps,
' HUAC, the Free Speech Movement,
Vietnam, civil rights, the fight for le-
gal abortion, gay rights and more -
the ACLU has pioneers the fight for
individual liberties.
You can do something now to in-
sure that the ACLU will continue to
fight - and win - ten, twenty, and
fifty years from now, through a sim-
ple addition to your will.
Every year, thoughtful civil liber-
tarians have, through their bequests, -
provided important support for the
ACLU. In 1988, bequests from our
supporters contributed $75,000 for
the work of the ACLU Foundation.
Making a bequest is simple: you
need only specify a dollar gift or a
portion of your estate for the Ameri-
can Civil Liberties Union Foundation
of Northern California.
If you need information about
writing a will or want additional infor-
mation, consult your attorney or
write:
Bequests
ACLU Foundation of
Northern California
1663 Mission Street
Suite 460
San Francisco, CA 94103.
aclu news
may 1989
Pena, New ACLU Legislative Director
argaret Pefia, the recently-
M appointed ACLU Legislative Di-
rector, is a newcomer to the com-
mittee rooms of the Capitol in Sacramento,
but she is no newcomer to lobbying. For
the past four years, Pefia has been walking
the halls of Congress as the Legislative
Representative of the American Federation
of Government Employees, AFL-CIO.
"Almost every federal employee issue
involves civil liberties," said Pefia, noting
that she had very much appreciated work-
ing with national ACLU lobbyists in Wash-
ington, D.C. "We worked together on leg-
islation protecting whistleblowers,
opposing drug testing and promoting a re-
form of the Hatch Act." Under the Hatch
Act, federal employees are currently pro-
New Legislative Director Margaret Pena joins Francisco Lobaco in lobbying for civil
liberties in the state capital.
Union Maid Photos
hibited from actively participating in parti-
san politics. "We were able to pass reforms
through the House in the 100th Congress
which would have allowed them to partici-
pate. Unfortunately, the bill never reached
the floor of the Senate. Hopefully the legis-
lation will be successful this year," Pefia
said, adding "This important legislation
would extend fundamental First Amend-
ment rights to government employees."
Political campaigns
Pefia, a San Diego native and a graduate
of the University of California at Berkeley
and Georgetown University Law Center in
Washington, D.C., is also no newcomer to
the political process. Last summer and fall
she worked on the national advance staff of
the Dukakis/Bentsen Campaign, coordinat-
ing political, logistical and media arrange-
ments for campaign events across the coun-
In 1984, she worked on the national ad-
vance staff of Vice-Presidential candidate
Geraldine Ferraro.
Prior to her national lobbying work for
AFGE, she served the union as Staff Coun-
sel in the General Counsel's Office repre-
senting federal employees in federal and
state courts and in arbitration proceedings.
Pefia also did a stint with the Environmental
Protection Agency, assisting in enforcing
the Clean Air Act provisions for automobile
/
emission controls.
And what brings Pefia from the national
center of power to Sacramento? "`T liked the
idea of working for the ACLU," she said.
"There is no compromising on crucial is-
sues, and, as a "`watchdog organization,'"
we serve as a conscience for legislators. I
very much admired the ACLU lobbyists I
worked with in Washington, and they were
known for working very hard."
Given the legislative agenda in Sacra-
mento, Pefia will also be working very
hard. There have already been 4000 bills
introduced this session, about half of them
are on the ACLU "watch list."
"The California Legislature takes on a
full agenda," she noted. "Right now, we are
active on legislation concerning reproduc-
tive rights, the death penalty, criminal jus-
tice, voting rights and the California Public "
Records Act, to name just a few."
Although Pefia, who joined the Legisla-
tive Office in February, says that she is
currently primarily concerned about learn-
ing the issues, she has a long term commit-
ment to promoting grassroots organizing.
"The more ACLU members there are that
are involved in lobbying legislators on the
local level, the easier it is for us here in
Sacramento to make our issues priorities
and to make our points more forcefully."
Pefia replaces Marjorie Swartz as the
Legislative Director of the ACLU. Work-
ing with Legislative Advocate Francisco
Lobaco, she lobbies for the ACLU affili-
ates of Northern and Southern California.
Swartz, who was with the ACLU for five
years, left in November to become a lobby-
ist for the California Medical Association.
by Francisco Lobaco
ACLU Legislative Advocate
alifornia is facing a severe financial
C crisis. The latest fiscal projections
indicate that the 1989-90 Budget
will be $1 billion to $1.6 billion short of
the money needed to maintain the existing
level of essential services. Responding to
this shortfall, Governor George Deukmeji-
an has proposed balancing the budget by
dramatically slashing existing social pro-
grams for California's neediest residents.
The ACLU, will actively oppose these dra-
conian cuts which will harm civil liberties.
Among the major cuts proposed is the
elimination of $272 million in cost of liv-
ing adjustments (COLA) for AFDC and
SSI recipients. These programs provide as-
sistance to meet the basic economic needs
of the poor, aged, and disabled. For many,
the COLA could mean the difference be-
tween affording rent or going homeless.
Family planning
Health services are also earmarked for
substantial cuts. For example, the Governor
is proposing to eliminate the Office of
Family Planning, which provides informa-
tion and services for low-income women.
A recent study showed that the elimination
of the OFP would result in over 90,000 un-
wanted pregnancies in the coming year.
Studies indicate that the OFP services save
more than $6.00 in future health and wel-
fare costs for every dollar spent.
SB 1680 (Doolittle) is the legislation
seeking to eliminate the statutory authority
for the Office of Family Planning. Al-
though the bill is unlikely to pass, the Gov-
ernor has declared that if it does not pass,
he will line-item veto two-thirds of the
OFP's $36 million budget. The ACLU
strongly opposes efforts to eliminate and/or
defund the OFP.
The Budget axe also targets the Medi-
Balancing the Budget on
the Backs of the Poor
cally Indigent Service Program. This pro-
gram reimburses the counties for providing
medical services to the poor. The Governor
has proposed to use virtually all of the
Proposition 99 (cigarette tax increase) reve-
nue to fund this and other existing health
programs.
Critics note that the intent of Proposi-
tion 99 was to provide additional revenue
for health programs - not to replace mon-
ey lost from General Fund cuts.The In-
Home Support Services Program which al-
lows elderly and disabled recipients to live
in their own homes rather than nursing
homes or state hospitals is also threatened.
Likewise, the Budget guts the County Juve-
nile Justice Subvention Program (CJJSP) by
eliminating most of its funding. CJJSP pro-
vides state funds to counties for support of
the local alternatives to incarceration for
youthful offenders. Without state funding,
counties would be forced to close juvenile
camps and ranches and commit young of-
fenders to California Youth Authority insti-
tutions. The CYA sites are already grossly
overcrowded and cannot provide young
people with needed services and programs.
Veto threat
The Governor has announced that if he
does not get these and other related budget
cuts from the Legislature, he will line-item -
veto millions of dollars from mental health,
drug and alcohol treatment, Alzheimer's
and senior nutrition programs. Assembly
member John Vasconcellos characterized
the Governor's stance as "Do as I say, or
I'll shoot!"
The current financial crisis stems in
large part from 1987 legislation which
sought to bring California into conformity
with new federal tax laws. This legislation,
which reduced the tax rate for the wealthi-
est taxpayers, resulted in a $1 billion struc-
tural deficit because the offsetting revenues
expected from closing loopholes in capital
gains somehow never materialized.
In the long run, it appears that only an
increase in state revenues coupled with an
increase in the state's authority to spend
(through some modification of the Gann
limit) can provide a realistic solution to the
financial crunch.
Meanwhile, the Governor will continue
to pursue - and the ACLU will continue
to oppose - balancing the Budget at the
expense of the poor, the sick, the young
and the elderly.
Gallo Honored for
CLU-NC Field Representative
. Marcia Gallo was honored on
March 15 for her "`outstanding con-
tribution to defending the reproductive
rights of women" by Men Who Care About
Women's Lives. The award was presented
to Gallo by Oakland City Council member
Wilson Riles, Jr., a co-chair of the newly
formed pro-choice organization.
Gallo organizes the ACLU-NC Pro-
Choice Action Campaign which for many
years has galvanized ACLU members into
action around reproductive rights issues.
The Campaign mobilizes grassroots lobby-
ing on choice issues, conducts a public ed-
ucation effort with newspaper ads, forums
and speaking engagements, and, in coali-
tion with other pro-choice groups, com-
memorates the January 22 anniversary of
Pro-Choice Effort
Roe v. Wade with a creative lobbying cam-
paign in the state capital every year.
Councilman Riles noted that Gallo's ef-
forts "have contributed significantly to the
ability of all women - rich or poor - to
have access to safe, legal abortions.
`Rather than just being concerned about
the battle on the legal side, Marcia Gallo
has done exceptional work in moving our
community to organizing around this issue
and has made some significant differenc
es," Riles said.
Other pro-choice advocates honored by
Men Who Care About Women's Lives in-
cluded San Francisco Supervisor Nancy
Walker, attorney Roberta Achtenberg, and
Fay Wattleton, National Director of
_ Planned Parenthood.
aclu news
may 1989
Fight for Abortion Rights ...
Continued from page |
Wade and for reproductive choice for all
women.
On April 3, the national ACLU and the
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
announced the results of their coordinated
efforts to engage a broad range of national
organizations in support of the right to le-
gal abortion.
More than 300 organizations, including
the National Education Association, the
American Medical Association, the Ameri-
can Library Association and the AFL-CIO
joined one or more of the 31 amicus curiae
briefs sent to the Supreme Court in the
Webster case. The broad coalition of organ-
izations asked the high court to reject the
Missouri law - which restricts the right to
abortion in public health facilities, declares
life begins at conception, and seeks to pro-
hibit the use of public funds for abortion
counseling - on several constitutional
As the Legislature prepares the 1989-90
Budget Act, the fight for Medi-Cal abortion
funding again looms as the major reproduc-
tive rights battleground in the state. Each
year, since 1978, the ACLU-NC has suc-
cessfully challenged the cuts in Medi-Cal
funding for abortion, maintaining funding
through court orders for the 100,000 wom-
en each year who seek abortions in Califor-
nia.
Last year, the battle for funding was lost
by only one vote in the Legislature, and
pro-choice advocates are hopeful that this
year the Budget will include full funding
for abortion.
The ACLU-NC Pro-Choice Action
Campaign and ACLU-NC Chapters are en-
couraging members to write thousands of
letters to Legislators urging them to ensure
that reproductive choice is a reality for all
women - rich or poor - by casting their
vote for Medi-Cal abortion funding in the
Barbara Maggiani
_Marchers filled the Civic Center Plaza as politicans, activists, and entertainers - like
Ladies Against Women, pictured here - pledged "We will not return to the days of
back alley abortion."
grounds.
ACLU national president Norman Dor-
sen, coauthor of the brief in Roe v. Wade,
said, "While the court's decision represents
the most serious threat since 1973 to the
right for women to choose an abortion, the
reaction from religious, professional, medi-
cal and public service organizations, as
well as international groups and academia,
demonstrates a strong public sentiment to
preserve the constitutional principles in the
original Roe decision."
Budget Battle
As the country braces for the Supreme
Court decision, intensive work is continu-
ing in California to ensure that abortion re-
mains safe, legal and accessible to all
women in this state.
Budget Act.
The ACLU-NC Pro-Choice Action
Committee held a Speakers Training Ses-
sion on April 6, where over 40 supporters
prepared themselves to speak on reproduc-
tive rights issues at schools, community
groups and other public meetings.
The Gay Rights Chapter is publishing
ads in several gay newspapers around the
State explaining why abortion is a gay rights
issue, and calling on the gay community to
become actively involved in the pro-choice
campaign.
For more information on the Pro-
Choice Action Campaign, please contact
Marcia Gallo at 415/621-2493. If you
would like to schedule a pro-choice
speaker, please contact Mila De Guzman
at 415/621-2493.
Lesbian and Gay Families
Non-Fiction Writing Contest
The ACLU-NC Gay Rights Chapter and
OUT/LOOK magazine are co-sponsoring
the 1989 Lesbian and Gay Families Non-
Fiction Contest. According to contest coor-
dinator and Gay Rights Chapter Board
member Mike Williams, "Lesbians and gay
men have created, and are evolving, rela-
tionships that expand traditional notions of
families.
"We are seeking manuscripts that ex-
plore or celebrate the diversity and richness
of lesbian and gay families, both families of
origin and by choice. Writers of all racial
and cultural backgrounds are encouraged
to enter," Williams said.
The judges are gay historian Alan Be-
rube, poet and playwright Judy Grahn, and
writer and publisher Barbara Smith.
Two prize winners will receive $500 and
memberships in the Gay Rights Chapter;
three runners-up will be awarded $100 and
Chapter memberships.
Manuscripts must be typed and double-
spaced and no longer than 4,000 words (16
pages). The deadline is August 11.
_ For a copy of the contest rules and an
entry form, please write to: Non-fiction
Contest, Gay Rights Chapter, ACLU-NC,
1663 Mission Street, #460, San Francisco
94103.
Field Program
Monthly Meetings
Chapter Meetings
(Chapter meetings are open to all inter-
ested members. Contact the chapter acti-
vist listed for your area.)
Berkeley - Albany - Richmond - Kensing-
ton Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth
Thursday) No meeting in May. Thursday,
June 22. Members are encouraged to join
the Chapter Board, help staff the hotline,
and organize activities in the Berkeley
area. Contact Tom Sarbaugh 415/428-
1819 (day) or Florence Piliavin 415/848-
5195 (eve.).
Earl Warren (Oakland/Alameda Coun-
ty) Chapter Meeting: (Usually second
Wednesday) Wednesday, May 10 and
June 7. Join the fight to have a strong
Citizens Review Board to monitor police
practices in the East Bay. For more infor-
mation: contact Abe Feinberg, 415/451-
L122,
Fresno Chapter Meeting: (Now first
Tuesday of the month) Contact Mindy
Rose, 209/486-7735 (eve.).
Gay Rights Chapter Meeting: (Usually
first Wednesday) Wednesday, June 7, 7
pm, ACLU office, 1663 Mission Street,
Suite 460, SF. Lesbian and Gay Free-
dom Day Parade Sunday, June 25. Look
for the Chapter booth at the fair. If you
are interested in staffing the table, con-
tact Doug Warner, 415/621-3900. Death
Penalty Action Campaign Workshop
with Amnesty International at the July
Sth meeting.
Marin County Chapter Meeting: (Usu-
ally third Monday) Monday, May 15,
7:30 pm, Citicorps Savings, 130 Throck-
morton, Mill Valley. Annual Meeting
and Potluck, Sunday, June 4, noon, Do-
minican College, will feature Death Pen-
alty Action Campaign Workshop with
Amnesty International. Contact Eileen
Siedman, 415/383-0848.
Mid-Peninsula (Palo Alto area) Chap-
ter Meeting: (Usually fourth Wednes-
day) Wednesday, May 25 and June 28,
8:00 pm, All Saints Episcopal Church,
555 Waverly, Room 15, Palo Alto. Con-
tact Leona Billings, 415/326-0926.
Monterey Chapter Meeting: (First
Tuesday of the month) Tuesday, June 1,
7:30 pm, Monterey Library, Pacific and
Jefferson Streets, Monterey.
Mt. Diablo (Contra Costa County)
Chapter Meeting: (Third Thursday of
the month) Please call for dates of May
and June meetings. Watch for news of
the Mt. Diablo Chapter Theater Party.
Contact Beverly Bortin 415/934-1927.
North Peninsula (San Mateo area)
Chapter Meeting: (Usually third Mon-
day) Monday, May 15 and June 19. Con-
tact Ward Clark, 415/593-1260.
Sacramento Valley Chapter Meeting:
(Usually second Wednesday) Wendes-
day May 10, 6:30 pm followed by a
Neighborhood Meeting on the Death
Penalty at 7:30 pm, 2222 D Street, Sac-
ramento. All members are encouraged to
attend. Watch Chapter Newsletter for de-
tails. Contact Joe Gunterman, 916/447-
8053.
San Francisco Chapter Meeting: (Note
Change: Now fourth Monday of the
month) Monday May 22, and June 26,
ACLU office, 1663 Mission Street, Suite
460, San Francisco. Death Penalty Ac-
tion Campaign Workshop tentatively
set for May 24. For more information,
contact Marion Standish, 415/863-3520.
Santa Clara Chapter Meeting: (Usual-
ly first Tuesday) Attention Chapter
Members! - Please mark your calendar
for the Annual Meeting, Thursday, May
18, 7:30 - 9:30 pm, Los Gatos Neighbor-
hood Center, 208 East Main Street, Los
Gatos (corner of E. Main and Fiesta).
Elections, movie, great refreshments.
We need your support. Contact Christine
Beraldo, 408/554-9478.
Santa Cruz County Chapter Meeting:
Members urgently needed to serve on
chapter board, staff hotline, help plan
chapter activities in the Santa Cruz area.
Contact Bob Taren, 408/429-9880.
Sonoma County Chapter Meeting:
(Usually third Thursday) Thursday, May
18, no June meeting. Join The Human
Race - walk-a-thon fundraiser for the
Chapter, Saturday, May 13. Contact
Judy McCann, 707/527-9381 (days).
Yolo County Chapter Meeting: (Usual-
ly third Wednesday) Wednesday, May
17 and June 21. Contact Casey McKeev-
er, 916/666-3556.
FIELD COMMITTEE
MEETINGS
Death Penalty Action Campaign: Sat-
urday, June 3, 10:30 am, ACLU Office,
1663 Mission Street, San Francisco.
Pro-Choice Action Campaign: Wed-
nesday, May 3, 6:00 pm, ACLU Office,
San Francisco
Student Outreach/Organizing Com-
' mittee: Saturday, May 6, 10:30 am. -
ACLU Office, San Francisco.
For more information or to RSVP, call
Field Representative Marcia Gallo at
415/621-2493.