vol. 57, no. 5

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Volume LVII

September-October 1993

No. 5

David Mason Executed

``May Be the Last Person to Die in

California Gas Chamber"

6 6 ny reporter who says he or

she does not believe this is

cruel and unusual punish-

ment is deluded," wrote journalist Marsha

Ginsburg in the San Francisco Examiner

after witnessing the gas chamber execution

of David Mason.

Ginsburg was one of seventeen media

witnesses who sat in the San Quentin

viewing room outside the half-century old

gas chamber as the invisible cyanide gas

slowly poisoned David Mason, minutes

after midnight on August 24.

"David Mason may be the last person

"The prisoner experiences the terror of air

hunger, a sense of strangulation, and desperate

gasping for breath for a period extending up to

several minutes..."

to die in California's gas chamber," said

Michael Laurence, Director of the ACLU-

NC Death Penalty Project. "Use of lethal

gas constitutes the unnecessary infliction

As David Mason was executed in San Quentin's gas chamber on August 24,

abolitionists kept a vigil outside the gates of the prison.

Frederic Larson/ San Francisco Chronicle

Vote on Nov. 2

California

Equal Education for Everyone

Prop. 174 Violates the Constitution,

Will Destroy California's Education System

and Cost Taxpayers Billions of Dollars

Neve!

Q and A on Proposition 174

ee pages 4-5

San Francisco

No on Proposition V

This proposal to force welfare recip-

ients to be fingerprinted would infringe on

the civil liberties of the poorest San

Franciscans. The $1 million fingerprinting

program is a humiliating invasion of pri-

vacy that will further "criminalize" the

poor, discourage people in need from

seeking benefits, and lead to more home-

lessness.

of pain and torture. The state of California

must be stopped from any further utiliza-

tion of this barbarism." :

The ACLU-NC class action lawsuit,

Fierro v. Gomez, challenging the use of

the gas chamber for state executions, is set

for trial in U.S. District Court on October 25.

The lawsuit was originally filed in

April 1992, just days before Robert Harris

became the first person to be executed in

the state of California in a quarter century.

U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall

Patel issued a stay of execution at that time

to determine whether or not lethal gas was

cruel and unusual punishment. That stay

was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court

only hours before Harris was killed in the

gas chamber in the early morning hours of

April 21, 1992.

Although Harris was executed, the case

remained in federal court, awaiting the

passage of state legislation that provided

lethal injection as an alternative method of

execution as well as the resolution of

Campbell vy. Blodgett, a Washington case

charging that execution by hanging is cruel

and unusual punishment, pending before

the Ninth Circuit.

- Dr. Howard Kornfield

However, when an August 24 execu-

tion date was set for Death Row inmate

David Mason who had dismissed his attor-

ney and his appeals and said that he

"wanted to die," it was imperative that the

ACLU-NC challenge be heard. Staff attor-

neys Laurence and Matthew Coles and

cooperating attorney Warren George of

McCutchen, Doyle, Brown and Enerson,

filed an application on July 13 with Judge

Patel asking that she grant a preliminary

injunction ordering the state not to use

lethal gas to carry out executions.

At a hearing on July 28, Judge Patel

stated that she would hold an evidentiary

hearing to decide whether the gas chamber

was in violation of the Eighth Amend-

ment's prohibition on cruel and unusual

punishment. However, she also said that

NANCY

415 621 2493

she would allow David Mason to opt out

of the class action lawsuit if she were sat-

isfied that he was competent and fully

aware of the consequences of his decision.

She required him to submit an affidavit

with responses to 17 detailed questions

about the gas chamber and the challenges

to it.

"Prison officials lied to David Mason

when they told him that lethal gas was less

painful," charged Laurence. He noted that

the evidence in the ACLU-NC lawsuit

includes hundreds of pages of declarations

from numerous doctors, witnesses to lethal

gas executions including prison officials

and journalists, as well as Holocaust survivors.

"The prisoner experiences the terror of

air hunger, a sense of strangulation, and

desperate gasping for breath for a period

extending up to several minutes," states

Dr. Howard Kornfeld in support of the

suit. A San Francisco physician certified

to treat victims of cyanide poisoning, Dr.

Kornfeld compares death in the gas cham-

ber to "a simultaneous stroke and heart

attack.' Dr. Terence Allen, a forensic

pathologist, describes death by gas as

excruciatingly painful and "the slowest

method of execution currently in use." i

TICKETS AVAILABLE NOVEMBER 1ST

$20 EACH;

$8 SENIORS, LOW INCOME, STUDENTS (18 + OLDER)

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ACLU FIELD REPRESENTATIVE

OTTO

aclu news

september - october 1993

ACLU Blasts Official "Cover Up" of

SFPD Spy Scandal

ment released on August 31, the

ACLU-NC criticized a report of the

Police Commission-mandated investiga-

tion into the "Gerard/Bullock/ADL" spy

scandal, calling it an attempt to conceal a

"conspiracy of silence" around violations

of the intelligence guidelines.

The official report is the product of an

investigation that "seemingly had a pre-

determined outcome," and ignored even

I n a scathing, detailed 46-page docu-

the "most basic steps necessary for a thor- -

ough and independent investigation," said

ACLU-NC Police Practices Project Director

John Crew about the "Civil Disturbance

Section Guidelines Report to the San

Francisco Police Commission Review

Committee," prepared by A and M Associates

at the request of the Commission and

released on August 2.

According to Crew, the A and M report

fails to even identify most of the 15 clear

violations of the San Francisco Police

Department's own guidelines on intelli-

gence gathering. These violations range

from a failure to notify the Police

Commission of an intelligence investiga-

tion in May 1992 by _then-Inspector

Thomas Gerard to improper use of infor-

mation obtained from an infiltrator to a

failure to even distribute copies of the

guidelines to intelligence officers.

In addition, the Commission-mandated

report "carefully avoids assigning respon-

sibility for even the most obvious and

egregious of the violations, conveniently

blaming all significant errors entirely on

the retired Gerard," Crew added.

Crew charges the department with a

"conspiracy of silence" to undermine the

major intelligence reforms adopted in 1990

as the Civil Disturbance Section Guidelines.

"These guidelines were explicitly intended

to provide accountability over the depart-

ment's intelligence work," said Crew, "but

it is now obvious that these reforms were

never fully implemented and every one

knew it.

"The intelligence officers, including

Tom Gerard, knew that no one had both-

ered to train them, that the required Review

Committee did not even exist, and that no

meaningful audit had ever been performed.

Everyone knew about these violations and

apparently no one tried to stop them,"

Crew charged.

A and M Associates' methodology in

preparing the report also came under attack

as sloppy and inadequate. "Why did A and

M fail to seek out sources independent

from the police officials whose own con-

duct was at question? Why do they base

sweeping conclusions and findings com-

pletely on anonymous claims from those

under investigation?" Crew asks. "Their

own cavalier attitude about the Guidelines

became evident when the public release of

the report itself recklessly violated the

Guidelines by exposing sensitive, personal

CDC

Ordered to

Limit Parole

Searches

by Jean Field

n August 17, Contra Costa

Superior Court Judge Peter

Spinetta ordered the California

Department of Corrections to follow strict

guidelines during parole searches in order

to protect the civil liberties of people liv-

ing with parolees.

"We are very gratified with the final

judgment. To our knowledge it is first

such verdict against the Special Services

Unit of the California Department of

Corrections," said ACLU-NC cooperating

attorney Mark Schallert of Pillsbury,

Madison and Sutro.

The August 17 order in Davis v.

California Department of Corrections was

the latest victory fora Richmond family

held at gunpoint while their home was ran-

sacked by law enforcement officers con-

ducting a parole search involving one of

the residents. It followed a December 10,

1992 jury verdict that awarded Bettye

Davis and her children $668,000 for dam-

ages they suffered; an earlier settlement

with the Richmond Police Department

also included monetary damages and lim-

its on police searches.

"These guidelines hopefully will

change the way law enforcement officials

treat the families of parolees,' said

ACLU-NC staff attorney Ed Chen. "What

happened to the Davis family should never

happen again."

The ACLU-NC filed the lawsuit as a

result of a September 1988 search, in

which 12 CDC and Richmond Police offi-

cers broke down the doors of the Davis

home. The officers, accompanied by a TV

. violations.

and private information about several indi-

viduals who were in the intelligence files."

Crew, who was invited by the Police

Commission to respond in writing to the A

M report, warns that the Commission

and the Police Department must keep their

word on the issue of intelligence. "This

report does not fulfill the Commission's

promise of a thorough and independent

investigation. It is a feeble attempt to

explain away the egregious mistakes of the

past. "The Commission's reaction to this

patently inadequate report will determine

whether or not these mistakes will be

repeated," Crew said.

Court Rules Police Officers Can't

Retaliate for Brutality Case

by Jean Field

n August 2, Alameda County

`Superior Court Judge James

Lambden issued a ruling that

effectively limits the ability of police offi-

cers to file retaliatory lawsuits against peo-

ple who sue them for civil rights

Judge Lambden ruled that

Alameda City police officers cannot sue an

Alameda family for "malicious prosecu-

tion" based on an earlier brutality suit filed

by one of the family members against the

police. The brutality suit was settled out of

court.

"This is an extremely important rul-

ing," said Barbara Winters of the law firm

Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady,

Robertson, Falk and Rabkin. "It effectively

- limits the ability of police officers to retali-

ate with lawsuits against people who feel

they have suffered at the hands of the

police." Winters, acting as an ACLU-NC

cooperating attorney, represented Virlee

crew, had no warrant, gave no warning and

did not properly identify themselves. They

handcuffed Davis and her 18-year-old son,

detained her 15-year-old son outside, and

at gunpoint ordered her 5-year-old son to

sit on the couch. For more than an hour,

officers searched the house, which Davis

shared with a parolee. They destroyed the

family's personal belongings, confiscated

Davis's credit cards, and scattered the ashes

of her deceased former husband on the

bedroom floor.

"The guidelines instituted by Judge

Spinetta, which include a mandatory train-

ing program for all CDC parole agents,

uphold the fundamental rights of people

who live with parolees," said Ed Chen,

who represented Davis along with cooper-

ating attorneys Schallert, John Leflar and

Bernard Zimmerman of Pillsbury, Madison

Sutro. "Living with, or being married to

New ACLU-NC Board Members

he following were elected by the

ACLU-NC membership to serve

three-year terms on the Board of

Directors (* denotes an incumbent):

*Barbara A. Brenner, *Tony Bustamante,

Robert P. Capistrano, *Janet E. Halley,

_ Charis Moore, Laurence W. Paradis,

*Marcelo Rodriguez, *Margaret Russell,

Ethan P. Schulman, *Fran Strauss.

In addition, the ACLU-NC Board of

Directors appointed two new Board mem-

bers to fill interim vacancies left by the

resignations of Margaret Jakobson and

David Drummond. Abby Abinanti is the

Legal Director of the National Center for

Lesbian Rights. Kathi J. Pugh, an attor-

ney at Morrison and Foerster, is on the

Board of Directors of the Center for

Independent Living; Pugh was the first

UC-Berkeley student elected to public

office when she became a Berkeley Rent

Board commissioner.

Berry and her family in the malicious

prosecution suit, along with ACLU-NC

staff attorneys Ann Brick and Ed Chen

and Howard, Rice attorneys Jerome Falk

and Annette Hurst.

"The use of defamation and malicious

prosecution suits has become an increas-

ingly popular tactic of retaliation by police

_ Officers trying to stop people from suing

the police for civil rights violations,"

added Brick. "This ruling confirms that

citizens can bring and then settle civil

rights suits without fear of a retaliatory

lawsuit by police officers," she said.

In February 1987 Ms. Berry filed a

civil rights suit in U.S. District Court

against the City of Alameda, the chief of

police and police officers Heriberto

Fuentes, Robert Villa and Ronald Jones,

alleging that she was beaten by the offi-

cers after she failed to follow their instruc-

tions to stop her car.

In her suit, Ms. Berry alleged race dis-

crimination by the police department and

a parolee is not a crime, and the guidelines

reinforce the fact that people who do so

haven't abandoned their due process rights.

Law enforcement officers may not wan-

tonly vandalize people's property and self-

respect."

The guidelines, issued in the form of

an injunction, state that CDC agents may

not force their way into a home without

giving occupants time to respond, and only

the areas and items that officers reasonably

suspect are owned or controlled by the

parolee may be searched. Furthermore, the

guidelines state, people other than the

parolee may not be detained or subjected

to a patdown search unless they interfere

with the search or pose a threat to the

safety of the officers, and care must be

used to avoid injury to individuals or property.

brutality by the arresting officers. On the

eve of the trial, in November 1988, the

City agreed to settle the suit for an undis-

closed sum of money. In exchange, the

City required Ms. Berry to dismiss the

case in its entirety, including her claims

against the individual officers.

In July 1989, the three officers brought

a malicious prosecution action against Ms.

Berry, her husband Edward and her sister

Betty Williams. The officers' Superior

Court suit, Fuentes v. Berry, sought both

compensatory and punitive damages.

When the Berrys and Ms. Williams could

not afford to hire an attorney to defend

against the lawsuit, the ACLU-NC stepped

in and enlisted the Howard, Rice firm to

represent the family on a pro bono basis as

ACLU cooperating attorneys.

The Superior Court originally granted

summary judgment for the Berrys and Ms.

Williams in 1990, but the California Court

of Appeal reversed' in January 1991

because it felt factual questions regarding

the settlement needed to be pinned down.

After resolving those factual questions, the

Berrys and Ms. Williams again sought

summary judgment against the officers.

On August 2, 1993 the Superior Court dis-

missed the officers' case, holding that the

earlier settlement precluded the officers'

lawsuit.

This latest ruling follows a March 1992

decision in Villa v. Cole, another case in

which the ACLU-NC and Howard, Rice

represented an individual sued by an

Alameda police officer for malicious pros-

ecution after settlement of a police brutal-

ity suit against the officer. In Villa, the

Court of Appeal held that where a settle-

ment requires the dismissal of the entire

lawsuit, all defendants - regardless of

whether they were parties to the settlement

- are barred from bringing a malicious

prosecution action.

aclu news

6 issues a year: January-February, March-April, May-June, July-August,

September -October, and November-December.

Published by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

Milton Estes, Chairperson

Dorothy Ehrlich, Executive Director

Elaine Elinson, Editor

Nancy Otto, Field Page

ZesTop Publishing, Design and Production

1663 Mission St., 4th Floor

San Francisco, California 94103

(415) 621-2493

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.

by Yana Wirengard

6 he area of police practices

shows the conflict between

the overwhelming power of

the state and the way people confront the

power of the state - where the rubber hits

the road, so to speak." With this, Milton

Estes, chair of the ACLU-NC Board of

Directors, opened the 1993 Activist Confe-

rence, "Breaking the Code of Silence:

Fighting for Police Accountability in Our

Communities."

Over 200 people attended the July 16

to 18 conference on the UC Santa Cruz

campus, which was sponsored by the

ACLU-NC Field Committee. Estes noted

that the priority area for the Field Com-

"mittee this year is police abuse and

accountability. The Field Department and

the Police Praetices Project have been

working with ACLU Chapters and other

community organizations throughout north-

ern California to push for civilian review

boards.

During the three days of plenary ses-

sions and workshops, the political acti-

vists, attorneys, community leaders and

policy makers who are part of these cam-

paigns shared an enormous amount of

experience and insight about a wide range

of issues including the civil liberties viola-

tions of the "War on Drugs," violence

against women, gang profiles and law

enforcement bias against young men of

color, rising attacks against immigrants,

and the rights of homeless people.

"The notion of ridding the neighbor-

hood of the scourge of drugs and crime is a

good notion. What we must question is the

idea that we must compromise the Bill of

Rights to do so,' charged ACLU-NC

Executive Director Dorothy Ehrlich at the

opening plenary, "The Constitutional Toll

of the Raging War on Drugs." Ehrlich was

joined by Mark Allen, Executive Director

of East Oakland's Fighting Back Project;

attorney Anna Caballero, a member of

Salinas City Council; and Elliot Currie,

UC Berkeley professor and author of

Confronting Crime and Reckoning.

City Councilwoman Caballero criti-

cized the policy of classifying people with

Council, and U.C. Berkeley professor and author Elliot

Currie spoke of the constitutional toll of the War on

Drugs.

Attorney Anna Caballero, member of the Salinas City

dwindling resources.

Workshop panelists (1.-r.) Steve Fabian of the Sonoma Chapter Board,

Villy Wang of the San Francisco Chapter Board, and ACLU-NC Field

Director Marcia Gallo listen to Santa Cruz Chapter Board member

Simba Kenyatta's experiences of working with teens in programs with

Union Maid Photos

Force.

aclu news

september - october 1993

3

ACLU-NC Chair Milton Estes (1.) with keynote

speaker Professor Jerome Skolnick, author of

Above the Law: Police and the Excessive Use of

ACLU Annual Activist Conference

Focuses on Police Practices

severe drug problems as criminals: "The

current priority is to build prisons and

imprison drug users. But the cost of impris-

oning an individual for one year is $25,000

- the same as one year at Stanford. If a

choice between the two were given, the

benefits to society of the latter would be

much greater. It's critical that we get peo-

ple out of prison and into rehabilitation to

deal with the disease aspects of addiction."

War on Drugs

"The war on drugs does resemble a

war,' asserted community organizer Allen.

"The violence is out of control. Violence is

the number one killer of our young males.

The very fabric of our communities is

being torn apart.

"Putting young people in prison is not

the answer," Allen charged, it merely trains

them into a fundamentally inhumane sys-

tem that is then exported out into commu-

nities as a method of operation."

The plenary "Discri-mination and Bias

in Law Enforcement" focused on the dis-

proportionate level of police abuse on

minority communities including people of

color, immigrants, les-

bians and gays, home-

less people and women

victims of domestic

violence. "The police

department is a micro-

cosm of society as a

whole," said police

officer Con Johnson,

President of Officers For

Justice in San Francisco.

"The foundation of law

enforcement is eroded

away by the toxic force

of racism."

Attorney Jacqueline

Agtuca, Senior Program

Specialist for the Family

Violence Prevention

und Tepored. aA

study in 1990 revealed

that 63% of all female

homicides in San Fran-

cisco were due to domes-

tic violence. Nonethe-

less," she added, "some

police departments still

contend that domestic

Moderator Eleanor Eisenberg, Co-chair of the Conference

Planning Committee, and Juan Haro, Chair of the San

Jose Direct Action Alliance, discuss strategies for civilian

review boards.

Mark Allen, Director of East Oakland

Fighting Back Project

Union Maid Photos

violence is unpredicta-

ble and random."

Dania Torres Wong,

Oakland attorney John Burris (center), Luis Gonzales of the

Stockton Human Rights Task Force and moderator Donna

Yamashiro, attorney with the Asian Law Alliance and a

member of the ACLU-NC Board, address the impact of police

racism.

- has

attorney for California Rural Legal

Assistance, attacked law enforcement's

practice of harassing anyone who looks

Latino or Asian. "The border patrol targets

health services. Because of their raids, peo-

ple do not go to the clinics. There are even

teachers in elementary and high schools

calling the INS on their students. The

response of high school students? They're

stunned."

Policing the Police -

Concrete strategies for involving local

citizens in the civilian review of police

were shared by experienced activists from

San Jose to Stockton. "Civilian review

boils down to who should police the

police," said John Crew, Director of the

ACLU-NC Police Practices Project, who

worked with ACLU-NC chapters

throughout northern California in fighting

for civilian review.

"We felt that the community of San

Jose should have power to hold police

accountable. Without civilian review, that

can't happen," said Juan Haro, chair of

Direct Action Alliance' in San Jose.

Describing the educational forums, street

actions and civil disobedience his organi-

zation has led over the past six months,

Haro noted, "We've really focused on

keeping the issue alive and in front of the

politicians. We're going to keep at it until

we have a civilian police review in San Jose."

John Malkin, an organizer for the Santa

Cruz Coalition for a Police Review

Commission, emphasized that police

review represents only one step towards

the goal of ending police brutality. Though

his organization has not yet succeeded in

implementing civilian review in Santa

Cruz, he said, There are voices being

heard on the issue of police abuse that

were not being heard before and they are

making an impact."

His message was borne out by the

experiences of former and current civilian

review board members. Dan Silva, former

Chief Investigator of San Francisco's

Office of Citizen Complaints (OCC),

pointed out the danger of allowing police

to police themselves. "There are many

examples of extreme police misconduct

that go unquestioned simply because the

incident represents the officers' version of

community policing." Current OCC Senior

Investigator Barbara Attard agreed: "Our

system is very closed. As the result of the

police lobby, the

penal code strongly

protects police offi-

cers' privacy."

Gang profiles

The panelists

for the plenary,

"Stopping Gang

Violence: Remedies

vs. Rights,' cri-

tiqued some of the

more popular meth-

ods of law enforce-

ment school

locker searches and

metal detectors,

dress codes and

gang profiles - to

deal with the grow-

ing problems of violence and safety in

schools.

Evelyn Ramirez Claire said that her

14-year-old son's was stopped, ques-

tioned, and ejected from a San Mateo -

shopping mall because he ostensibly fit a

"gang profile." The only thing that distin-

guished him from other teenage shoppers

was his skin color. "I believe that there is

a gang problem out there, but not all

minority youths are gang members," she

said. `

"This is not an isolated problem. Gang

profiles are becoming increasingly system-

atized and entrenched," added ACLU-NC

staff attorney Ed Chen. "The. war on gangs

ultimately it damages the civil liberties of

all of us."

Colette Winlock, Executive Director of

Oakland's Fighting Back Youth Fellows

Program, said that many of today's youth

are angry at adults and reminded her adult

listeners to "remember what it was like

when we were teenagers - we wore crazy

things, we said crazy things - but we

weren't necessarily treated like pariahs."

Winlock underscored her point by

holding up two fingers in the familiar

Vietnam-era peace sign. "Was that a gang

signal?" she asked, "Did that mean we

were dangerous?"

"We have to listen to the young people,"

emphasized Winlock, whose Oakland-

based project provides internships for at-

risk teens to become involved in social

projects in their community.

Seaside City Council member Helen

Rucker emphasized the underlying racism

of some school officials solutions to vio-

lence on campus. "This safe schools com-

mittee looked at a laundry list of things we

could do to make our schools safe. You

are talking about a school where kids are

sharing books and they want to spend

$9,000 to buy locks so that you can search

their lockers. They took out the person

who would provide other activities. They

took out prejudice reduction.

"How racist the people sounded when

they talked about making their schools

safe! They think that if they get the black.

and brown kids out of their hair, their

problems will be solved. This isn't true,"

Rucker stated.

Attorney and ACLU-NC Board

Member Luz Buitrago discussed the con-

stitutional implications of metal detectors

and student searches. "The relationship of

a student to a school is not the same as

that of an attorney to a courtroom or a

traveller to an airport.

"An ACLU-SC study in Los Angeles

reported that students required to enter

school through metal detectors felt like

they were animals and like they were

going to jail. The same report suggests

that what really needs to happen is that we

need to look at what's happening in the

communities - that we need to make

routes kids take to school safe and provide

other creative ways of dealing with the

problem."

The closing keynote speaker U.C.

Berkeley professor Jerome Skolnick, co-

author of Above the Law. Police and the

Excessive Use of Force, said that the vide-

otaped beating of Rodney King by LAPD

Continued on page 8

(c)

4 aclu news

september - october 1993

The School Voucher Initiative Threatel!

System with Bankruptcy, Fals

Vote No

It's a question many peo-

ple are asking this year about the

school voucher __ initiative,

Proposition 174. It's critical for

our children to have the best pos-

sible education-not just for their

individual futures, but for the

future of our democratic society.

Shouldn't parents and students

have asay?

Unfortunately, Prop. 174

doesn't give them that say. Prop.

74'S sponsors call it the "Parental

Choice in Education Initiative."

But that title is so deliberately

misleading the Secretary of State

refused to use it as the official

ballot title. Under Prop. 174,

schools would have the right to

choose-not parents or students.

Prop. 174 means no choice at

Why Shouldn't We Have a

"Choice" In Our Schools?

all for the majority of students in

our public education system. It

does mean a windfall-from your

tax dollars-to families that can

already afford exclusive schools. It

also means:

+ Relegating children from

poor families and communi-

ties to schools that have

been financially devastated.

+ Discrimination based on

gender, religion, income,

physical disability, sexual

orientation and more.

Use of tax dollars to fund

religious schools in violation

of the First Amendment and

the California Constitution.

Q: Would this initiative allow schools

to discriminate?

A: Yes. Public schools accept and teach

all students. Many court and legislative

battles have been fought to open pub-

lic schools to all. These victories would

be nullified if Prop. 174 passes.

Q@: Does Prop. 174 have provisions to

prevent discrimination?

A: There are no provisions to prevent

Prop. 174 schools from discriminating

based on religion, gender, family

income, language fluency, sexual

Segregation

Q: Would Prop. 174 lead to greater

segregation of California schools?

"A: Yes. In California, academically

oriented private schools commonly

charge tuition ranging from $4,000 to

$10,000 a year. A voucher would defray

slightly less than $2,500.

Obviously, the poorest parents-

disproportionately people of color-would

be unable to use vouchers to'send their chil-

dren to most private schools. The net effect

would be to restrict the vast majority of

African-American, Latino, Native American

and Asian-Pacific Islander children to exist-

ing neighborhood public schools, whose

financial bases would be devastated.

Private schools would remain dominantly

orientation, 1Q or physical or mental disa-

_ bility.

Q: Wouldn't Prop. 174 schools be pro-

hibited from racial discrimination?

A: The initiative claims to prohibit racial

discrimination, but it is full of loop-

holes. The initiative would not stop

thousands of parents from claiming

credits for tuition paid to racially dis-

criminatory private schools. According

to a federal study of private schools,

63% enroll no African-Americans and

80% enroll no Latinos. Vouchers will

only make it easier to maintain many of

these nearly segregated schools, with

taxpayer support.

wealthy and white, further increasing segre-

gated education.

Q: Are there other aspects of Prop.

174 that increase segregation?

A: Yes. Many academically rigorous pri-

vate schools are distant from poor

neighborhoods. In fact, the first so-

called "choice" program in the country

provided white students in Virginia

with public funds to avoid attending

public schools with African-American

children. Transportation would be

essential for most poor students who

wished to attend private schools, but

Prop. 174 provides no transportation

financing.

Equal Education for Everyone

Prop. 174 Violates the Constitution,

Will Destroy California's Education System

and Cost Taxpayers Billions of Dollars

URE:

Q: How else could Prop. 174 schools

discriminate against students?

A: Public schools must accept and edu-

cate every student. But private Prop.

174 schools could reject or expel virtu-

ally any child they didn't want. The ini-

tiative says a voucher school can expel

any student deriving "no substantial

academic benefit." What this means is

schools could throw out any "problem"

Q: How will this affect students with

special needs?

A: If private schools want to up their prof-

its, there is nothing to stop them from

rejecting students who: require costly

but critical services like special or reme- |

dial education, bilingual instruction

and accessible classrooms.

Q:

Would Prop. 174 violate the consti-

tutional separation of church and

state?

~

A: Yes. Nationwide, 83% of private

schools are religiously sponsored. For

these schools, education and religion

are virtually inseparable. That is why

the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down -

every attempt to send general educa-

tion dollars to parochial schools.

Q@: How else would Prop. 174 violate

the U.S. Constitution?

A: The central principle of religious liberty

Discipline and Expulsion

Ignoring Students with Special Needs

The Separation of Church and State

student without due process. But the school

would retain much of the voucher money it

received for educating that child.

A student could be expelled if she/he -

doesn't conform to a Prop. 174 school's

arbitrary code of performance, appear-

ance, religious observance or other

standards. Prop. 174 schools would be

accountable to no one.

Q@: Why assume Prop. 174 schools will

discriminate?

A: A study of school districts in states

where voucher systems have been

implemented found they created "a

new improved method of student sort-

ing," in which minority students, low-

income students, students with absence

and behavior problems, disabled stu-

dents and limited English proficiency

students have little chance of admission

to high quality academic programs.

is violated. when tax money supports

schools where education is inseparable

from the teaching of religion. There is

nothing more fundamentally un-

American than government sponsoring

the teachings of a particular religion.

Q: Couldn't voucher money be used for

the part of the curriculum that isn't

religious?

A: Prop. 174 would not require parochial .

schools cashing vouchers to separate

religious content. To do so would also

violate the constitutionally protected

aclu news 5

september - october 1993

ens to Destroy California's Education

religious freedom of those institutions.

Q: Hasn't this come up before?

A: The issue of funding religious educa-

tion is hardly new. Even before the

Constitution was written, the Virginia

legislature tried to enact legislation to

provide support to Christian schools.

Thomas Jefferson saw the danger of

state-sponsored religion and blocked

it. Later, when the Bill of Rights was

The Need to

Improve Public

Schools

Q: There are serious problems in our

schools. Shouldn't we at least try

Prop. 174?

A: Frustration over public schools is,

unfortunately, commonplace.

However, the situation is hardly sur-

prising. For at least the last 15 years,

California has starved its public schools

of financial resources.

It's a given that our public schools

need a lot of improvement and a lot

more resources-financial and other-

wise. But of all possible reforms, Prop.

174 is one of the few that would actu-

ally make things much worse.

California's public schools-even those

supported by vouchers-would be

caught in an even worse financial

squeeze. The curricula taught to our

children would become even weaker,

and there would no longer be effective

educational standards-much less any

way to enforce them. Prop. 174 would

create two-tiered education: Separate

and unequal.

Q: How would public schools lose

financially under Prop. 174?

A: At least $1 billion of taxpayers' money

would be siphoned off to private

schools. Even if vouchers were only

given to students now in private

schools, Prop. 174 would still soak up

10% of the state's public school budget.

Worse, the individual voucher would be

good for about $2,500, but the public

school system would have to return the

same amount to the state treasury for

each voucher issued. Thus, each

voucher would take about $5,000 out of

public education, devastating what

remained.

Prop. 174 would also allow the state to

slowly reduce education -_ funding.

Gradually, the value of each voucher would

drop, its education purchasing power

would decline and our schools would be

worse than ever. A study by the California

Dept. of Education estimates that public

schools would lose $7.8 billion by the turn

of the century if Prop. 174 passes.

Q: Wouldn't Prop. 174 schools be just

like state Charter Schools?

A: Absolutely not. Charter schools must

guarantee they will not discriminate

against any protected groups-from

disabled and physically challenged

children to minorities. Prop. 174 schools

would be permitted to discriminate.

Charter schools have to design their

academic programs to target student

groups that historically have had low

achievement. They must help such chil-

dren improve. Prop. 174 schools could

refuse to enroll such children alto-

gether. The student bodies of charter

schools must reflect the racial diversity

of their districts. Prop. 174 schools

could be predominantly white. Charter

schools can only hire qualified, creden-

tialed teachers and administrators.

Prop. 174 schools could hire anybody.

Charter schools must respect the separ-

ation of church and state. Prop. 174

schools could ignore it. Charter schools

can't charge tuition. Prop. 174 schools

can charge whatever they want-with

no limit.

No School.

Accountab

Q: Would Prop. 174 schools he regu-

lated? :

A: No. According to the California

Department of Education, our private

schools are already "among the least

regulated in the country." Their build-

ings don't even have to meet earth-

quake standards. |

Under Prop. 174, any new oversight of

private schools would require an unat-

tainable three quarters vote of the

Legislature. Local attempts to regulate

private schools would be even more

difficult, requiring both a two-thirds

vote of the elected body enacting the

regulation and a 50%-plus-one major-

ity of all registered voters-not just

those casting ballots.

Advocates of private school oversight

would be required to prove legally that

their proposals would not "harass,

injure or suppress" private schools-

whatever that means.

Q: Would schools receiving voucher

payments have to disclose their

finances?

A: Mo. Prop. 174 schools could keep their

financial records secret. Public school

records must be open. Private schools

would be financially accountable to no

one other than themselves. Details of

internal operations could be withheld

from the public, parents and children.

What is a `Private

School?'

developed, it incorporated Jefferson's

principles in the First Amendment.

Q: Is the term "private school" defined

comprehensively in Prop. 174?

ise Hopes and Discrimination

A: No. To be eligible for a Prop. 174 wind-

fall, a private school entrepreneur-or

absolutely anybody, for that matter-

would only have to establish that she/

he had enrolled at least 25 students.

~ Such schools could be exclusively relig-

ious or political. Prop. 174 would mean

that publicly funded private schools

would not be required to provide in-

depth instruction in math, science or

history. Their teachers would not be

required to meet minimum professional

qualifications-or even to be college

graduates.

Prop. 174 schools could literally teach -

anything, including science courses

based on the belief that the earth is flat

or that all living systems on Earth (c)

evolved in just seven days. They could

teach any doctrine-even science based

on astrology-as if it were established

Public School

ostile Takeov

Q: Under Prop. 174, could neighbor-

hood public schools become exclu-

sionary?

A: Yes. Under Prop. 174, a neighborhood -

school could be targeted for takeover

by individuals or groups. After such a

takeover, local residents might not be

able to continue to send their children

to the previously public school, which

would then be exempt from safety and

_ professional standards.

"a

6 aclu news -

~ september - october 1993

Annual Bill of Rights Celebration

Honors Fight For Student Rights

n Sunday, December 5, the ACLU-

NC will celebrate the youthful

spirit of the two-centuries-old Bill

of Rights by honoring leaders in the struggle

for student rights. At the 21st Annual Bill of

Rights Day, the Earl Warren Civil Liberties

Award will be granted to Dr. Kenneth Clark,

whose psychological studies on the effects of

segregation were cited in the landmark case

Brown v. Board of Education; Melba Beales,

one of the "Little Rock Nine" who as a stu-

dent fought integrate the high school in Little

Rock, Arkansas; and Mary Beth Tinker,

whose case asserting the right to wear black

armbands to school in protest of the Vietnam

War prompted the Supreme Court to safe-

guard First Amendment rights of students in

the case Tinker v. Des Moines.

The event, which represents the culmina-

tion of the ACLU-NC Foundation's annual

fundraising campaigns, will also feature

entertainment and the videos, tapes and art-

work of students participating in the San

Francisco Chapter's Freedom of Expression

Juried Art Show (High school students: for

information on how to enter the show, see

Calendar, page 8.). The program, preceded

by a no-host 4 PM reception, begins at 5 PM

in the newly renovated Grand Ballroom of

the Hyatt Regency at San Francisco's

Embarcadero Center. (For ticket information,

see ad page 1.)

"By honoring leaders in the fight for stu-

dent rights, we're celebrating all the inspira-

tional people - both young and old - who

have propelled the Bill of Rights into the next

generation," said ACLU-NC Chair Milton

Estes. "Although today's students face a dif-

ferent world, with gang profiles and manda-

tory music labelling, their problems are all

too familiar. Discrimination, censorship and

denial of due process con-

fronted my generation and

fhe oucs belore il.

Thankfully, young people

are still willing to stand up

and fight for their constitu-

tional rights."

ACLU-NC Executive

Director Dorothy Ehrlich

explained that from its

inception, the ACLU-NC

has defended young peo-

ple throughout northern

California from encroach-

ments on their constitu-

tional rights. In 1936, the

organization represented

9-year-old Charlotte

Gabrielli in her challenge

to compulsory flag salute

at her school. ""Today, this

focus has been expanded.

through the extensive edu-

cation and outreach pro-

grams of the Howard A.

Friedman First Amend-

ment Education Project,"

Ehrlich said.

"We hope that many

of our current clients and

student advisory commit-

tee members will be

present at the Bill of

Rights Day Celebration.

We are encouraging

organizations to buy tables and donate a seat

to young civil libertarians," Ehrlich added.

Educator Kenneth Clark, who will speak

at the Celebration, receives the Earl Warren

Civil Liberties Award in recognition of his

groundbreaking and heroic work to expand

Bill of Rights Fund

Campaign is Launched

by Lisa Levy

Development Staff

he fall fundraising Bill of Rights

Campaign will kick-off on

September 27 with a special

"Phone Nite' at the ACLU-NC San

Francisco office. "Our goal is to contact as

many ACLU members as we can and ask

them to give whatever they can to the Bill

of Rights Campaign," said Bill of Rights

Campaign Chair Marlene De Lancie.

"Membership dues only provide a frac-

tion of the income we need to keep all of

our programs vital,' she explained. "Who

understands better than our members the

importance of fighting for civil rights and

liberties? With the largest membership of

any ACLU affiliate in the country, we're

talking about an enormous volunteer effort.

The more phoners we have, the better!"

The ACLU Foundation needs and wel-

comes your participation in the Bill of

Rights Campaign. Phone bank nites have

been scheduled all over the Bay Area,

starting from September 27. Volunteers

will be given background materials and

pointers to encourage the support of the

members they call. This year's campaign

plans to raise $110,000 to keep the ACLU-

NC's litigation and public education pro-

grams strong.

Volunteers can choose the site which is

most convenient for them, regardless of

chapter involvement or affiliation. If you

-would like to volunteer or would like more

information about activities in your area

- phone bank nites are still being sched-

uled by the Fresno, Earl Warren (Oakland/

Alameda County), Sacramento/Yolo,

Santa Clara Valley, and Mid-Peninsula

Chapters - please call Development

Associate Sandy Holmes at 621-2493, or

write to ACLU-NC, 1663 Mission Street,

San Francisco, CA 94103. @

Bill of Rights Campaigners (I.-r.) Louise Rothman-Riemer, Marlene De Lancie,

Campaign Chair, Sandy Holmes, Miriam Rothschild and Bill Carpmill tvast a

successful fundraising campaign.

Union Maid

Dr. Kenneth Clark, educator and civil rights pioneer, will .

be honored with the Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award.

the civil. liberties of African American chil-

dren. Clark, a graduate of Howard University

who received his Ph.D. in experimental psy-

chology from Columbia University in 1940,

worked with the Swedish sociologist Gunnar

Myrdal on the influential study of the "Negro

in America." In 1942 he joined the faculty of

the College of the City of New York, where

he later became the first African American to

receive a permanent teaching appointment in

the city university system, and continued his

research into the effects of racial discrimina-

tion and ghetto life.

Clark's 1950 study on how segregation

adversely affected the psychological develop-

ment of black and white children provided

the evidence necessary to overturn the doc-

trine of "separate but equal" in the education

system. Clark provided extensive research

and innovative support to Thurgood

Marshall, then an attorney for the NAACP,

who coordinated the legal challenge to segre-

gated schools; the U.S. Supreme Court cited

Clark's work in the landmark case Brown v.

Board of Education.

Ten years later, Clark described the deci-

sion as one that recognized that "a racist sys-

tem inevitably destroys and damages human

beings; it brutalizes and dehumanizes them,

blacks and whites alike."

His work as an activist and author has

inspired and led the movement for educa-

tional equality. In 1962 he helped organize

Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited

(HARYOU), a program designed to reduce

the number of unemployed young people and

dropouts. HARYOU became the prototype

for antipoverty organizations funded by the

Johnson Administration. His books include

Prejudice and Your Child, Dark Ghetto, A

Relevant War Against Poverty. Clark has

been honored with the Springarn Award, the

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Four Freedoms

Award and the National Medal of Liberty.

Currently, Clark is the president of

Kenneth B. Clark and Associates, Inc., which

provides professional consultation to educa-

tional institutions, private corporations, and

government agencies on personnel matters,

with particular emphasis on human relations,

race relations and affirmative action programs.

For more information, table reserva-

tions and tickets, call Field Representative

Nancy Otto at the ACLU-NC, 415/621-

2493.

Date and Location

SEPTEMBER

Monday, September 27:

*San Francisco Kickoff*

*All volunteers welcome !*

ACLU Office

Tuesday, September 28

North Peninsula Chapter

Wednesday, September 29

San Francisco Chapter

Marin Chapter

Lesbian/Gay Rights Chapter

OCTOBER

Monday, October 4

Earl Warren Chapter

(Alameda County)

North Peninsula Chapter

Tuesday, October 5

Mid-Peninsula Chapter

Tuesday, October 12

San Francisco Chapter

Sonoma County Chapter

Earl Warren Chapter

_ Wednesday, October 13

Mid-Peninsula Chapter

Tuesday, October 19

ACLU Office/All Chapter

Phone Nite

Bill of Rights Campaign

1993-94 Phone Nite Schedule

(partial listing)

Thursday, October 21

North Peninsula Chapter

Monday, October 25

Mid-Peninsula Chapter

Tuesday, October 26

Marin Chapter

NOVEMBER

Tuesday, November 9

San Francisco Chapter

Lesbian/Gay Rights Chapter

Wednesday, November 10

Sonoma County Chapter

Thursday, November 18

ACLU Office/All Chapter

Tuesday, November 30

ACLU Office/All Chapter

DECEMBER

Thursday, December 2

San Francisco Chapter

For additional phone nites and

for more information on loca-

tions and times, call your local

ACLU-NC Chapter or Develop-

ment Associate Sandy Holmes at

415/621-2493.

aclu news 7

september - october 1993

Wilson, Raft of Politicians, Scapegoat Immigrants

by Francisco Lobaco

Legislative Advocate

overnor Wilson's proposal

to deny citizenship to

; American-born children of

undocumented immigrants directly contra-

dicts the Fourteenth Amendment, which

states 'all persons born' in this country are

citizens," said ACLU-NC staff attorney

Alan Schlosser. "The Governor wants to

rewrite the U.S. Constitution in an attempt

to boost his political popularity."

In early August Governor Wilson, suf-

fering form the lowest approval rating of

any Governor in recent California history,

leaped on the immigrant-bashing bandwa-

gon and unofficially kicked off his reelec-

tion campaign by endorsing a series of

anti-immigrant proposals in a highly publi-

cized "open letter" to President Clin-

ton. Schlosser's denunciation of the

Governor's anti-immigrant proposals was

part of a broad response from civil rights

organizations, educators, health care work-

ers and community groups.

The Governor's proposals made head-

lines throughout the country. In addition to

denying U.S. citizenship to American-

born children of undocumented immi-

grants, Wilson recommended cutting off

emergency medical care and education to

undocumented immigrants. These propo-

sals would work to create a permanent

underclass and violate the constitutional

rights of undocumented children. What

mattered politically is that opinion polls

showed the Governor's approval rating

going up after his pronouncement.

Fuels hatred

"Imagine people dying on the streets

because they are unable to show the para-

medics an ID card, communicable dis-

eases untreated because sick people are

afraid to visit hospitals, and children who

eventually become citizens prohibited

from attending public schools," said

ACLU-NC Executive Director Dorothy

Ehrlich. "This sort of anti-immigrant legis-

lation leads to an increase in discrimina-

tion against citizens with Hispanic or

Asian surnames - and encourages the

sort of suspicion that fuels hatred and vio-

lence in our communities."

Unfortunately, the Governor is not

alone. The debate surrounding immigra-

tion has become the hot political issue in

Sacramento and throughout California.

Politicians of all political stripes are intro-

ducing bills and holding news conferences

pronouncing their own "solution" - the lat-

est being to impose asset forfeiture on

employers who hire undocumented work-

ers. The proposals raise serious concerns

for the civil rights and civil liberties of all

Californians.

The immigration debate surfaced early

this year in the Legislature with the intro-

duction of a package of bills attempting to

scapegoat immigrants for this state's many

social and economic ills. These bills,

authored primarily by conservative

Republicans, attempted to deny undocu-

mented immigrants basic services, such as

emergency health care and education. Most

of these bills were defeated or made into

two-year bills.

Asset seizure

But the Democrats' latest proposal is

also frightening. A measure, introduced

late in August, would empower state law

enforcement to seize _ the

California employers that repeatedly hire

undocumented workers.

While this proposal properly shifts the

debate away from scapegoating immi-

grants to a focus on employer actions, the

ACLU strongly opposes the bill because

employer sanctions in fact result in wide-

spread employment discrimination based

on national origin and citizenship status.

Imposing heightened criminal penalties

and asset forfeiture on employers will only

seriously exacerbate the existing discrimi-

nation against these groups. |

The General Accounting Office of

Congress and California's Fair

Employment and Housing Commission

have both concluded that employers' fear

of sanctions have resulted in widespread

patterns and practices of discrimination

against those who "appear or sound for-

eign." In fact the commission in 1990 rec-

ommended that a temporary moratorium

should be imposed on the enforcement of

the federal employer sanctions imposed by

the Immigration Reform and Control Act.

Strengthen labor laws

Employer sanctions are not the answer.

The Legislature should be strengthening

labor laws to ensure that employers are

upholding wage, labor, and workplace

safety rules. If these laws are adequately

enforced employers begin to lose the

incentive to hire and exploit undocumented

immigrants.

California must no longer blame the

Colorado Supreme Court

Blocks Anti-Gay Initiative

he Colorado Supreme Court on

July 19 upheld the preliminary

injunction which has so_ far

blocked "Amendment 2" from taking

effect. Amendment 2 is the measure

passed by the voters last November which

would have prevented the state from pro-

tecting lesbians and gay men from dis-

crimination. :

By a 6-1 vote, the court ruled that:

[T]he Equal Protection Clause of the

United States Constitution protects the

fundamental right to participate equally

in the political process, and that any

legislation or state constitutional

amendment which infringes on this right

by "fencing out" an independently

identifiable class of persons must be

subject to strict judicial scrutiny.

Amendment 2, the Court said, denies

lesbians, gay men and bisexuals "an effec-

tive voice in the governmental affairs

which substantially affect their lives"

because it prevents them from appealing

to state and local government for protec-

tion against discrimination. The Court

added:

No other identifiable group faces such

a burden - no other group's ability to

participate in the political process is

restricted and encumbered in a like manner.

The ACLU of Northern California

joined the ACLU of Colorado, and the

ACLU National LesbianGay Rights

Project in representing the plaintiffs in the

case. The plaintiffs were also represented

by Lambda Legal Defense and a group of

local volunteer attorneys.

Staff attorney Matthew Coles, who

worked on the case for the ACLU, said

that the July ruling will have repercussions

across the nation. "Initiatives similar to

Amendment 2 are being prepared for the

1994 election in at least 10 states.. This

clear, strong decision that you can't rig the

system to keep lesbians and gay men out

will be a big help in beating those initia-

tives, maybe even in keeping them off the

ballot."

The Colorado case now returns to state

District Court Judge Jeffrey Bayless, who

issued the preliminary injunction. A trial

to finally -decide the validity of

Amendment 2 is scheduled for November,

although Coles said that the state faces "at

best a very uphill fight.

"The standard set down by the court,"

Coles explained, "is that the state must

show that it has a compelling interest

which is unrelated to discriminating

against gay people. I think it is very

unlikely that it will be able to do that." @

assets of

immigrant, whether undocumented or

legal, for its economic problems. The

Latino and Asian immigrant communities

of California have endured this frustration

and nativism sentiment before. The

Chinese Exclusion Act, the internment of

Japanese-Americans during World War II

and the massive repatriation of Mexicans,

including United Sates citizens, during the

Great Depression, is evidence of the his-

tory of prejudice and xenophobia that has

accompanied the treatment of immigrants.

"Scapegoating immigrants is a heavy-

handed political tactic that re-emerges dur-

ing times of economic and social stress,"

adds ACLU attorney Schlosser. "But it

contradicts what history and several recent

studies show: Immigrants are good for the

country, they contribute billions of dollars

to our economy, which far exceeds their

share of social services."

The ACLU will strive to convince

political leaders and policy makers to

develop realistic, humane proposals to the

complex issues of immigration. Our

elected officials must recognize that these

types of short-sighted, xenophobic meas-

ures threaten the Constitutional protections

of equal protection and due process.

Otherwise politicians will continue to

avoid coming up with real solutions to the

problems of health care, education and

unemployment @

Stop Border Patrol Abuse

hile many California politi-

cians are clamoring for

increased militarization of the

border, the ACLU is calling for the pas-

sage of a new federal law to investigate

complaints of abuse by Border Patrol

agents. The Immigration Enforcement

Review Commission Act, HR 2119, currently

pending in the House of Representatives,

is a response to the documented pattern of

widespread abuse by Border Patrol and

other federal immigration law enforcement

personnel. The ACLU and other human

rights groups have documented reports of

beatings, verbal abuse, unjustified shoot-

ings, torture and sexual abuse.

"Many of the complaints come from

U.S. citizens who are subjected to abuse

because of their race, or because they are

in the wrong place at the wrong time," said

National ACLU Legislative Director Gene

Guerrero. "However, most victims of

ACLU

On

The

March

The ACLU-NC contingent in

the June 1993 Lesbian and

Gay Freedom Day Parade in

San Francisco drew cheers

and applause from

bystanders with its powerful

message of lifting the ban on

lesbians and gays in the

military. Board member Luz

Buitrago (1. to r.), staff

attorney Alan Schlosser, and

attorney Lynne Coffin were

among the dozens who

formed the ACLU-NC

contingent.

Photos by Mila de Guzman

abuse are the most powerless among us -

the undocumented who often do not know

how to complain or are fearful of retalia-

tion if they do so."

The bill would establish a new federal

commission to independently investigate

complaints filed against federal officials

who enforce immigration laws. If the

Commission finds that abuse occurred, it

can recommend disciplinary action to the

INS and other federal agencies. In addi-

tion, a Community Outreach Office would

be created to improve relations between

immigration officials and the public.

"Independent review of complaints

-is not the sole answer to the abuse prob-

lem," Guerrero said, "but it is one essential

step." Over 60% of U.S. big cities have

independent review of complaints against

their police; Canada and Mexico both have

commissions to investigate complaints

against their national police. Mf

: ee esx: 2 5 : 2 - i

On August 28, the ACLU-NC joined the San Francisco March and Rally

Commemorating the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs, Justice and Peace. Santa

Clara County Chapter Board Representative Larry Jensen (left) and Cindy Bossi

carried the banner as ACLU members handed out leaflets condemning Governor

Wilson's attack on immigrant rights.

8 aclu news

september - october 1993

- Obituaries

Addie Collins

Chapter Activist

Longtime ACLU-NC activist Addie

Collins died on July 14 in her home in

Berkeley after a short illness. Collins was

a member of the Board of Directors of the

Berkeley-Albany-Richmond-Kensington

Chapter of the ACLU-NC for many years.

"She was wonderfully generous and a

dear friend to us all," said fellow Chapter

leader Florence Piliavin, "she will be

deeply missed."

V.I. Wexner

Teacher and

ACLU Plaintiff

V.I. Wexner, plaintiff in a celebrated

ACLU-NC case challenging book censor-

ship in high schools, died at age 51 on

July 1 at his home in Redding after a short

illness.

The Alabama-born Wexner was a

developmental reading teacher in the

I I ee ee ee a

: i i ee ee ek

Tuesday, October 5 ACLUN_1981.MODS ACLUN_1981.batch ACLUN_1982 ACLUN_1982.MODS ACLUN_1982.batch ACLUN_1983 ACLUN_1983.MODS ACLUN_1984 ACLUN_1984.MODS ACLUN_1984.batch ACLUN_1985 ACLUN_1985.MODS ACLUN_1985.batch ACLUN_1986 ACLUN_1986.MODS ACLUN_1986.batch ACLUN_1987 ACLUN_1987.MODS ACLUN_1987.batch ACLUN_1988 ACLUN_1988.MODS ACLUN_1988.batch ACLUN_1989 ACLUN_1989.MODS ACLUN_1989.batch ACLUN_1990 ACLUN_1990.MODS ACLUN_1990.batch ACLUN_1991 ACLUN_1991.MODS ACLUN_1991.batch ACLUN_1992 ACLUN_1992.MODS ACLUN_1992.batch ACLUN_1993 ACLUN_1993.MODS ACLUN_1993.batch ACLUN_1994 ACLUN_1994.MODS ACLUN_1995 ACLUN_1995.MODS ACLUN_1996 ACLUN_1996.MODS ACLUN_1997 ACLUN_1997.MODS ACLUN_1998 ACLUN_1998.MODS ACLUN_1999 ACLUN_1999.MODS ACLUN_ladd ACLUN_ladd.MODS add-tei.sh create-bags.sh create-manuscript-bags.sh create-manuscript-batch.sh fits.log 9:00 AM - 2:30 PM

ASUC Building/UC Berkeley

FREE

Workshops on:

What are "Journalistic Standards?" How to Fight the Censors

Breaking through the Barriers of Racism, Sexism and Homophobia

Student Press/Student Activism Creating Alternative Media

Debate:

Student Expression - What are the Limits?

This conference is open to all high school students currently enrolled in

a journalism class or interested in journalism - but you must register in

advance.

For more information and to register,

contact Marcia Gallo at the ACLU-NC 415/621-2493.

Sponsored by the Student Advisory Council, Howard A. Friedman

- First Amendment Education Project, ACLU-NC.

Anderson Union High School District who

used books by Pulitzer Prize winning

author Richard Brautigan in his classes. In

1978, the school board voted to remove

the Brautigan works from the classroom

and the school library. Wexner, along with

another teacher, three students and a pub-

lisher of the books, challenged the validity

of the Board's action.

After a decade of litigation, the

California Court of Appeal in a unanimous

decision ruled that the board lacked any

`statutory authority to remove the books,

stating, "Book banning is the archetypical

symbol of repression of free speech." In

1989, that ruling was upheld by the

California Supreme Court.

ACLU-NC staff attorney Ann Brick,

who was on the team of attorneys repre-

senting Wexner, said, "V.I. was an extra-

ordinary person. His willingness to bring a

lawsuit over the banning of the Brautigan

books reflected both the depth of his con-

cer for his students and his commitment

to First Amendment values. It was a privi-

lege to be his lawyer and his friend."

Wexner, who graduated from Princeton

University and received an M.A. from

Stanford, later became head of the Shasta

Union High School English Department.

He is survived by his wife Dr. Millicent

Whinston and two children.

SS SS

Writing Your Rights

A Conference for High School

| Journalists

Fw A I i A a

Activist Conference ...

Continued from page 3

officers was a wake-up call to look for

solutions to the pervasive problem of

police brutality.

Skolnick charged that the beating of

Rodney King was an indication of the sys-

temic nature of police brutality. "This isn't

a wilding. This is cops teaching a lesson of

compliance. The cops doing the beating

could count on the dozen cops standing

around watching to back up what they

were doing and the dozen cops could

depend on the higher ups. This is a sym-

bolic lynching, almost a real lynching."

Skolnick emphasized that law enforce-

ment must be accountable to the communi-

ties they serve. He urged that the press

persevere in its role as watchdog over the

police and supported the use of public doc-

umentation, such as videotape recordings,

to further open police to public surveil-

lance. "Police are there to serve the pub-

lic,' he concluded. "We need to take

affirmative steps toward opening up law

enforcement so that it will be multi-racial

and multi-class."

The conference was organized by

Field Representative Nancy Otto and the

1993 Conference Planning Committee, co-

chaired by Eleanor Eisenberg, Affiliate

Representative of the Santa Cruz Chapter

and Michelle Anderson, Affiliate Represen-

tative of the Yolo Chapter. Members of the

Planning Committee included John Cox,

Chair of the Santa Clara Chapter; Dick

Criley, Executive Director of the Monterey

Chapter; Gerald Ellersdorfer, Affiliate

Representative of the Marin Chapter;

Alyssa Friedman, Chair of the Lesbian and

Gay Rights Chapter; and Phil Mehas,

Chair of the San Francisco Chapter. The

Conference was hosted by the Santa Cruz,

Santa Clara and Monterey ACLU-NC

Chapters

The Conference Crew included Otto,

Field Director Marcia Gallo, Program

Assistant Michele Hurtado, and volunteers

Cindy Bergantz, Debra DeRose, Susan `

Lee, Joseph Murray, Libby Piliavin, Abby

Rozen, Christina Wiellette, Yana Wirengard,

and Lisa Yasuda. @

Yana Wirengard is an intern in the

Public Information Department. Additional

reporting for this article was done by

ACLU-NC staff members Michele Hurtado

and Lisa Maldonado.

' Phyllis Burke,

Field Program Monthly Meetings

Chapter Meetings

(Chapter meetings are open to all interested

members. Contact the Chapter activist listed

for your area.)

B-A-R-K (Berkeley-Albany-Richmond-

Kensington) Chapter Meeting: (Usually

fourth Thursday) Volunteers needed for

the chapter hotline - call Florence

Piliavin at 510/848-5195 for further

details. For more information, time and

address of meetings, contact Julie Houk,

510/848-4752.

Earl Warren (Oakland/Alameda County)

Chapter Meeting: (Usually second

Wednesday) Meet on Wednesday, October

13 and November 10 at 7:30 PM in the

basement of the Temescal Branch of the

Oakland Library, 5205 Telegraph Avenue.

(use the rear entrance). The Earl Warren

Chapter will hold its Annual Meeting on

Sunday, October 17 at 2:00 PM at Lake

Temesacal Park in Oakland. For more infor-

mation, call Jim Murphy at 510/787-1472.

Fresno Chapter Meeting: (Usually third

Wednesday) Meet on Wednesday, October

20 and November 17 at 7:00 PM at

Glendale Federal Bank/Community Room,

4191 N. Blackstone at Ashland, Fresno.

New members welcome! For more informa-

tion call Nadya Coleman at 209/229-7178

(days) or A.J. Kruth at 209/432-1483 (even-

ings) or the Chapter Hotline at 209/225-

3780.

Lesbian and Gay Rights Chapter

Meeting: (Usually firstThursday) Meet on

Thursday, October 7 and November 4 at the

ACLU-NC Office, 1663 Mission Street,

#460, San Francisco.

Mailings and other activities start at 6:30

PM. Speakers at 7:00 PM. Business meeting

starts at 7:30 PM. For more information,

contact Alissa Friedman 510/272-9700. The

Lesbian and Gay Rights Chapter will hold

its Annual Meeting on Sunday, September

19 from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM at the home of

263 Castro Street, San

Francisco. The featured speaker will be

ACLU-NC staff attorney Matt Coles who

will speak on Legal Recognition of

Lesbian and Gay Relationships: What

the Future Holds. For more information,

contact Jeff Hooper at 510/460-0712.

Marin County Chapter Meeting: (usually

Third Monday) Meet Monday, September

20 and October 18 at 7:30 PM, West

America Bank, 1204 Strawberry Town and

Country Village, Mill Valley. For more

information, contact Richard Rosenberg at

415/434-2100.

Mid-Peninsula (Palo Alto area) Chapter

Meeting: (Usually fourth Thursday) Meet

Thursday, September 23 and October 28 at

7:30 PM at the California Federal Bank, El

Camino Real, Palo Alto. New members

welcome! For more information, contact

Paul Gilbert at 415/324-1499 or call

Chapter Hotline at 415/328-0732. The Mid-

Peninsula Chapter will hold its Annual

Dinner Meeting on Wednesday, November

10 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM at Chez Louis,

4170 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. Cost for

dinner is $30.00 per person. The featured

speaker will be Judge LaDoris Cordell

who will be speak on Civil Liberties and

the Judiciary. For more information, con-

tact Iris Barrie at 415/856-0193.

Monterey County Chapter Meeting:

(Usually third Tuesday) Meet Tuesday,

September 21 and October 19 at the

Monterey Library, Community Room,

Pacific and Madison Streets, Monterey. For

more information, contact Richard Criley,

408/624-7562. The 17th Annual

Celebration of the Monterey Chapter will

be on Sunday, October 24 at 2:00 PM at the

Classic Residence by Hyatt, 200 Glenwood

Circle, Monterey. Helen Rucker, a member

of the City Council of Seaside, will receive

the 1993 Ralph Atkinson Civil Liberties

Award. For reservations, call Dick Criley,

408/624-7562.

Mt. Diablo (Contra Costa County)

Chapter Meeting: (Usually third

Thursday) For more information, call

Hotline at 510/939-ACLU.

North Peninsula (San Mateo area)

Chapter Meeting: (Usually third Monday)

Meet on Monday, September 20 and

October 18 at 7:30 PM. at Planned

Parenthood. For more information, contact

Audrey Guerin at 415/574-4053.

North Valley (Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama

and Trinity Counties) Chapter Meeting:

(Usually. fourth Wednesday) Meet on

Wednesday, September 22 and October 27

at 7:00 PM at The Buckeye School in

Redding. For more information write to:

Tillie Smith, P.O. Box 2503, Redding, CA.

96099. :

Redwood (Humboldt County) Chapter

Meeting: (Usually third Monday) Meet

Monday, September 20 and October 18 at

715 PM at the Arcata Library. The

Redwood Chapter needs volunteers to help

staff a table at the North Country Fair,

September 18 - 19. For more information

contact Christina Huskey at 707/444-6595.

Sacramento Valley Chapter Meeting:

(Usually second Wednesday) Meet on

Wednesday, October 13 and November 10

at 7:00 PM at the S.M.U.D. Building,

Training Room A, 1708 59th Street,

Sacramento. The Sacramento Valley

Chapter will hold its Annual Meeting on

Friday, October .15 at 7:00 PM at the

@oloma Genter 4623 ale Street

Sacramento. There will be a panel discus-

sion on the School Voucher Initiative. For

more information, contact Ruth Ordas, 916/

488-9956.

San Francisco Chapter Meeting: (Usually

third Tuesday) Meet on Tuesday, September

21 and October 19 at 6:45 PM at ACLU

Office, 1663 Mission, #460, San Francisco.

For more information, call the Chapter

Information Line at 415/979-6699. There

will be a benefit for the ACLU-NC San

Francisco Chapter, An Evening With

Robert Fulghum on Tuesday, September

28 at 8:00 PM at the Masonic Auditorium,

San Francisco. General Admission is $15.00

at BASS Ticket Outlets. Premium seating

and reception with the author following the

program is $50.00. For more information,

call the number above.

Call for Entries for the Freedom of

Expression Juried Art Show for San

Francisco High School Students The

Chapter is seeking high school student art

work in the Visual Expression Categories of

video, works on paper/canvas, murals, and

mixed media and the Audio Expressions

Category of songs, stories, comedy and

poetry on the theme of "We Have Rights

Too...But What Are They?" Exhibition and

Cash Purchase Award Presentation will be

at the Bill of Rights Day Celebration on

December 5. Entries are due on Saturday,

November 6, 9 AM to 1 PM at 398 11th

Street (near Harrison). For more informa-

tion call: Roberta or Phillip at the San

Francisco Chapter: 415/979-6699.

Santa Clara Valley Chapter Meeting:

(Usually first Tuesday) Meet on Tuesday,

October 5 and November 2 at the

Community Bank Building, 3rd Floor

Conference Room, corner of Market/St.

John Streets, San Jose. Contact John Cox at

408/226-7421, for further information.

Santa Cruz County Chapter Meeting:

(Usually third Tuesday) The Santa Cruz

Chapter will have a panel discussion on

Civil Liberties v. Civil Rights, on

Thursday, October 21 at 7:30 PM at the

Louden Nelson Center, Santa Cruz. The |

focus of the discussion will be blocking

abortion clinics. Contact Simba Kenyatta,

408/476-4873 for further information. :

Sonoma County Chapter Meeting:

(Usually third Wednesday) Meet on

Wednesday, September 15 and October 20

at 7:30 PM at the Peace and Justice Center,

540 Pacific Avenue, Santa Rosa. The

Sonoma County Chapter will have a table at

the Harvest Fair on October | - 3 at the

Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa.

Please join the Sonoma County Chapter at

monthly death penalty vigils on the 21st of

every month at 5:30 PM at Courthouse

Square, downtown Santa Rosa. Call Steve

Thornton at 707/544-8115 for further infor-

mation.

Yolo County Chapter Meeting: (Usually

third Thursday) Meet on Thursday,

September 16 and October 21. The Yolo

County Chapter will sponsor a informa-

tional panel on the School Voucher

Initiative in October. For more informa-

tion, call Natalie Wormeli at 916/756-1900

or the Chapter Hotline at 916/756-ACLU.

Field Action Meetings

(All meetings except those noted will be

held at the ACLU-NC Office, 1663 Mission

Street, #460, San Francisco.)

Student Outreach Committee: Meet on

Saturday, September 18 at 2:00 PM at the

Firehouse Building, Fort Mason Center, San

Francisco. Contact Marcia Gallo at ACLU-

NC 415/621-2493, for more information.