vol. 68, no. 3
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AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
AC
WHAT'S INSIDE
BECAUSE FREEDOM. .C AN
ney
PAGE 6
"Less Safe, Less Free": Terrorism Expert
Richard Clarke at the ACLU Conference
STAND UP FOR FREEDOM
2,000 ACLU MEMBERS GATHER IN SAN FRANCISCO
By Jeff Gillenkirk, Guest Editor
PROTECT
Dis EEE
5
VOLUME LXIV ISSUE 3
Se
PAGE 9
"War is not a blank check"
-U.S. Supreme Court
PAGE oD
November Election:
/YES@on 66, N@i on 69
PAGE 4
Literary Lights Defend
Classroom Expression
PAGE 3
Federal Abortion Ban
Struck Down
na passionate address, executive director Anthony D. Romero opened
the ACLU's 2004 membership conference by characterizing those
assembled as "guardians of liberty [who] not only have the right to
disagree with our government-we have the responsibility."
Close to 2,000 ACLU members and supporters converged
on San Francisco July 6-8 for the organization's second annual
membership conference, gathering to plan and mobilize for
protecting civil liberties at a time when the federal government
is curtailing those liberties in the name of national security.
The intensive three-day con-
ference at the downtown Hil-
"LOOK ACROSS THIS
ROOM AND YOU KNOW
THAT FAILURE IS NOT
AN OPTION."
-ANTHONY ROMERO,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
ACLU
ton Hotel was a feast of inspir-
ing speeches on critical social
issues, and practical workshops
on legal strategy and organiz-
ing. ACLU president Nadine
Strossen, ACLU of Northern
California (ACLU-NC) direc-
tor Dorothy Ehrlich, and other
ACLU leaders were joined by
former
Vermont Governor
Non-Profit
Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 4424
San Francisco, CA
ACLU.
PN eh Ae RT ea Te
Howard Dean, former White House terrorism czar Richard
Clarke, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, "Vagina
Monologues" author and performer Eve Ensler, San Fran-
cisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and others. The mood at the
conference was upbeat after recent U.S. Supreme Court rul-
ings allowing foreign captives at Guantanamo Bay and U.S.
"enemy combatant" Yaser Hamdi to have access to the court
system (see page 9 for more on these rulings).
"President Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft
received a much-needed tutorial on the separation of pow-
ers," Romero declared in his keynote speech. "The Su-
preme Court stepped forward to remind the nation that a
person's basic rights cannot be swept away by the stroke of
a politician's pen."
Opening night featured a moving film tribute to the
ACLU's 84-year history of defending the Constitution and
Bill of Rights. Singer-songwriter Steve Earle later showcased
ACLU of Northern California board chair Quinn
Delaney speaking at the ACLU's second annual
membership conference in San Francisco.
those hard-earned freedoms by singing a song dedicated to
Lenny Bruce with the refrain, "Fuck the FCC... Fuck the
FBI... Fuck the CIA..." But the opening plenary belonged
to Romero, who called on participants to use this election
year to "challenge both Democrats and Republicans to build
a broad consensus for freedom and liberty."
SPEAKERS CROSS PARTY LINES
In the tradition of ACLU's non-partisan defense of civil
liberties, the conference included participation by Wayne La
Pierre, Jr., executive vice president and CEO of the National
Rifle Association; former independent counsel Kenneth Starr;
former Georgia congressman and conservative gadfly, Bob
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
SAVE THE DATE! am a era
THE ACLU OF NOTHERN CALIFORNIA'S 2004 BILL OF RIGHTS DAY CELEBRATION :
IN SAN JOSE THIS YEAR, on SUNDAY, DECEMBER uo
AT THE FAIRMONT HOTEL IN SAN JOSE
RECEPTION AT NOON, PROGRAM AT 1 p.m.
HONORING JULIAN BOND, CHAIRMAN OF THE NAACP
SUSANA MILLMAN
MEMBERSHIP CONFERENCE continuen From pace 1
Barr; and the Republican governor of Colorado, Bill Owens,
who defended the Patriot Act in a debate with former presi-
dential hopeful Dean.
"PRESIDENT BUSH AND Wednesday's Gala Dinner
ATTORNEY GENERAL showcased investigative jour-
JOHN ASHCROFT
RECEIVED A MUCH-
NEEDED TUTORIAL ON
THE SEPARATION OF
POWERS..."
nalist Seymour Hersh, humor-
ist Sandra Tsing Loh, who
spoke about her termination
from Santa Monica's National
Public Radio affiliate after using
an expletive in a pre-recorded
commentary, and writer-direc-
tor John Sayles, who discussed
his upcoming film, "Silver City," a satirical allegory of George
W. Bush's Texas gubernatorial campaign. Hersh, who won the
Pulitzer Prize in 1970 for his coverage of the My Lai massacre in
South Vietnam, forced the Abu Ghraib prison scandal into the
public eye after disclosing a report by Major General Antonio
Taguba detailing criminal abuses by U.S. military and contract
personnel in Iraq.
"What happened at Abu Ghraib...
crimes by this administration," said Hersh. "It's not an aca-
was a series of massive
demic debate about the Geneva Conventions. We have to ask
ourselves the tough questions: are we doing what the Argen-
tineans did? Are we disappearing people?"
Numerous "breakout sections" provided practical advice
from experts in human genetics and civil liberties, politics
and the Internet, reproductive freedom, immigration rights,
and domestic spying. The conference also offered an "Action
Center" that included a direct link by telephone to members
of Congress. Volunteers staffed booths offering in-depth infor-
mation about current topics such as racial profiling, marriage
equality, the Patriot Act, and abolition of the death penalty.
MEMBERS ENERGIZED
The conference attracted a wide range of people, for a wide
range of reasons. "I'm so energized being here," said Natalie
ADAM FOREST
fighting for gay rights.
and lives in San Francisco.
CARD CARRYING AND PROUD
On June 27, an ACLU contingent of over 50 people-more than half of them students-marched proudly
at the annual San Francisco Gay Pride Parade, carrying signs chronicling the ACLU' five-decade history of
`Tt was very empowering," said marcher Mike Chan, 21, who attends Bowdoin College
"People were holding their fists in the air or shouting, ACLU rocks!"
Marriage equality was the main theme of the march. The ACLU of Northern California is presently working
for marriage equality in two lawsuits brought by the ACLU and its coalition partners in California courts.
The first defends Mayor Gavin Newsom's authority to grant same-sex marriage licenses; the second argues that
denying licenses to same-sex couples violates the California State Constitution. 0x2122
provi ded, , together swith those | persons nominated ce peti-
_ tion as hereinafter provided i in Section 4.
tions are bes i Board shall, be written baller, elect a a
slate of nominees with each member cmitied to cast a
Article VI, oS 4: Recommendations and Nomina
Wormeli from ACLU-NC's Yolo County Chapter. "I learned a
lot more about racial profiling, which is helpful because we're
starting a racial profiling campaign in Davis." Andre Mercado,
from Mujeres Unidas Y Activas in Oakland, came to "learn
about immigrants' rights and civil liberties issues." Laura
Tischauser, a Lieutenant in the Cook County (Illinois) Sheriffs
Department, came to attend panels on domestic spying, racial
",.. THE SUPREME COURT
STEPPED FORWARD T0
REMIND THE NATION
THAT A PERSON'S
BASIC RIGHTS CANNOT
BE SWEPT AWAY BY
THE STROKE OF A
POLITICIAN'S PEN."
-ANTHONY ROMERO,
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
ACLU
profiling, and the Patriot
Act
dealing with in the police
. "Those are issues were
department," she said.
Five hundred conference
delegates were members
from the northern Cali-
fornia region, as befits the
ACLU-NC's status as the
largest affiliate. "It was a
great privilege to welcome
so many members from
the region and from across
the nation, to our home
city," said the ACLU-NC's
Ehrlich.
proved the perfect breeding
"San Francisco
ground for thoughtful discussion, invigorating debate, and
the hatching of new strategies to reclaim civil liberties."
`The passion of Romero's keynote address echoed throughout
the three-day conference. "The people in this room know that
we're pushing uphill and fighting the tide of conventional wis-
dom," he said. "But look across this room and you know that
failure is not an option." 0x2122
MEMBERS SAID:
"I'M HERE FOR ACTIVISM.
COMING TO THIS
CONFERENCE WAS A WAY
FOR ME T0 FIGURE OUT
WHAT | CAN BE DOING
MYSELF."
- OLIVER GRAVES, SAN
FRANCISCO
`GIGI PANDIAN
"I'M SO ENERGIZED T0 BE
HERE."
- NATALIE WORMELI,
ACLU-NC YOLO COUNTY
CHAPTER
"WE RENEWED FRIENDSHIPS
WITH OLD FRIENDS WE'VE
MET THROUGH THE ACLU
OVER THE YEARS. IT RENEWS
YOUR ENTHUSIASM AGAIN T0
SPREAD THE WORD"
- PAT AND HERBERT NELSON,
REDBLUFF, CA
GIG] PANDIAN
For more conference coverage, see page 6.
ACLUnews
THE QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.
Membership ($20 and up) includes a subscription to the
ACLU News. For membership information call
(415) 621-2493 or visit www.aclunc.org/join.html.
Quinn Delaney,
Dorothy Ehrlich,
Rachel Swain,
Jeff Gillenkirk,
Gigi Pandian,
CHAIR
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
EDITOR
GUEST EDITOR
DESIGNER AND
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
1663 Mission Street #460, San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 621-2493
2 | ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF
=z
=s
Sa
=z
=
s
S
FEDERAL ABORTION BAN STRUCK DOWN
by Stella Richardson, Media Relations Director
In a major victory for reproductive rights, Judge Phyllis (CMA) as a friend of the court. ACLU cooperating attorneys
Hamilton ruled on June 1, 2004, that the first-ever federal ban Curt Kalia, Evan Cox and Tara Steeley of the law firm of Coy-
on abortion is unconstitutional. ington and Burling authored the amicus brief.
"THE JUDGE SAW The decision striking down the In a detailed, 117-page decision, the judge ruled that the
so-called "Partial Birth Abortion Act violated the Constitution
THROUGH THE Act of 2003" came after a trial for three independent reasons:
MISLEADING in San Francisco federal courton The law unduly burdens
RHETORIC TO THE the impact of the ban on women women's right to reproductive
REALITY: THAT and their doctors. Planned Par- _ privacy because it bans 95 per-
enthood brought the case against cent of safe and legal abortion
CONGRESS WAS Attorney General John Ashcroft. methods after the first trimes-
PLAYING POLITICS "This law made abortion as ter.
early as 12-15 weeksacrime," said _ @ The law is unconstitutionally
WITH WOMEN'S ACLU-NC attorney Margaret vague because doctors must
y 8 g
HEALTH." Crosby. "The judge saw through guess at where the prohibited ACLU-NC staff attorney
Y- judg gh 8g Pp
the misleading rhetoric to the _ line exists. Margaret Crosby
-ACLU-NC STAFF reality: that Congress was play- 1 Finally, the law is unconsti-
ty g play ye
ATTORNEY ing politics with women's health." _ tutional because it lacks any exception for pregnant women's
The ACLU-NC represented the health, and the banned procedures are - contrary to congres-
MARGARET CROSBY California Medical Association sional findings - sometimes the safest method available.
According to the CMA,
decisions involving preg-
nancy and medical care are
among the most serious a
woman will make in her life,
and should be made with-
out political interference.
The 2003 law "prevents
physicians from exercising
their best medical judgment
to preserve the health and
well-being of their patients
[and] dangerously intrudes
on a physician's ability (and
duty) to provide medical
care,' CMA told the court
in an amicus brief.
The San Francisco case
is one of three cases filed to
EVELINE CHANG
challenge the Act; another
Pro-choice forces march in Washington, DC for reproductive freedom. Women won an . on :
sf and COE fi is the ACLU's challenge and are awaiting decisions. All three courts issued orders pre-
important victory when the U.S. District Court of Northern California recently struck
down the so-called "Partial Birth Abortion Act of 2003." The ACLU-NC represented the
California Medical Association as a friend of the court in a case that pitted Planned
Parenthood against Attorney General John Ashcroft.
on behalf of the National venting the government from enforcing the ban until consti-
Abortion Federation in tutional challenges are complete.
New York. Trials in those `The government is expected to appeal the San Francisco
cases have been completed ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
oa LEGAL BRIEFS 3 le
- IMMIGRANTS" RIGHTS
Israel Mendez and Miguel Perez, two San face iy
with fo ian for the en fee oft Ine laborers, have not received thousands of dollars in wages
ternet a se April: 14, (2004, the Court earned over four months working ; as carpet layers in Bay
c o gr Wo nthal, Area homes and hotels. In an effort to recoup their pay,
a ae involving the i issue of whether. a 1996 federallaw the laborers, along with La Raza Centro Legal's Day Labor
protects Internet users from civil liabiliey for oe a __ Program, filed a complaint with the Labor Commission _
- third-party' s statements on the Int | ad launched public campaigi includ ling picketing the . it
In January 2004, the Court of ` Appeal for the ae Dis- | home of their former `employer Marvin a oe _ = na
i: rict overrul d the dismissal of a di famati 1 lawsuit filed dre e _
: haven a Rosenthal.
ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF | 3
WHEN IS A POEM MORE THAN A POEM?
FREE EXPRESSION IN THE CLASSROOM
n a unanimous decision this July, the California Supreme Court
issued a staunch defense of free expression in the post-Columbine
classroom, quashing the conviction of a San Jose schoolboy for
writing a poem that a lower court deemed a "criminal threat." Here,
the ACLU News explores a case that has galvanized some of the
nation's leading literary lights.
When can a poem become a criminal threat?
As the California Supreme Court considered that question
in July, a Pulitzer Prize winner, a Nobel laureate in literature,
and other notable writers mounted a vocal and impassioned
defense of a high school student's freedom of expression.
"IF WE PUT THIS
KID IN JAIL OVER A
VIOLENT POEM, IT
WOULDN'T BE HARD
TO ARGUE THAT WE
SHOULD PUT MOST
OF OUR BEST-
KNOWN AUTHORS
THERE, T00."
-TOBIAS WOLFF
In the spring of 2001, George
"Julius" T., a San Jose 15-year-old,
who had only recently transferred
to his new high school, asked a
classmate in his honors English
class to read a poem he had written.
The poem, entitled "Faces," talked
about his feelings of alienation and
ended with the lines:
the next kid to bring guns to kill
"For I can be
students at school." (see sidebar for
full text of the poem).
`The student told a teacher that
she was frightened by the poem.
In the highly-charged post-Col-
umbine climate, the police were
called in and before he knew it George T. found himself con-
victed of violating California's criminal threats statute, and
sentenced to 100 days in juvenile hall. As the challenge to
George T.'s conviction moved before the state Supreme Court,
an array of literary heavyweights and free speech advocates
quickly sprang to his defense. Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coe-
tzee, Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, and Virginia's for-
mer Poet Laureate, George Garrett, are among the writers who
joined with the ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC),
the First Amendment Project, PEN USA and other groups in
filing a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that his conviction
must be overturned.
NOT A TRUE THREAT
At the heart of the issue was whether the
poem can be considered a "true threat." The
ACLU's brief argued that "creative works
such as a poem or painting cannot, on their
face, constitute a true threat."
"Only the circumstances surrounding the
communication of a poem or other creative
work can transform it from protected expression
into an unprotected true threat," the brief said.
Drawing on eclectic sources-from Chau-
cer, to Shakespeare, to Eminem-the brief
examined the long-standing literary tradi-
tion of violent imagery and the exploration
of dark themes in poetry. It also used the
expertise of literary critics to explain that poetry must not be
interpreted literally, and that first-person narration is a literary
device-not a signal to interpret the poem as containing the
thoughts, desires, or intentions of the author.
STATE SUPREMES UNANIMOUS
In a resounding victory for students' First Amendment
rights, the California Supreme Court agreed on Thursday, July
22, ruling that the poem was too ambiguous and equivocal to
constitute a criminal threat. "What is apparent is that much
of the poem plainly does not constitute a threat," wrote Justice
Carlos Moreno for the unanimous, seven-member court.
"The court's decision makes clear that students' creative
works deserve the same high level of First Amendment protec-
tion from criminal prosecution as that accorded to established
poets, authors, and artists," said Ann Brick, staff attorney with
4 | ACLU pecause FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF
Author Michael Chabon, who
wrote a New York Times op-ed
about George T.' case.
the ACLU-NCG, and one of the co-authors of the brief. "This
case provides much-needed guidance to both school officials
and law enforcement in responding in a sensible and measured
way when confronted with student work that raises questions
about safety. As the court so rightly noted, school safety and
protecting freedom of expression need not be `antagonistic
goals'," she added.
WRITERS MOBLIIZE
George T. won his day in court-but he is not alone in
being punished for violent expression in the post-Columbine
era. In Atlanta, a 14-year-old honor student was expelled for
writing a fictional story in her journal about a student who
dreamed she killed a teacher. In Texas, a 13-year-old received a
IN ATLANTA, A
14-YEAR-OLD
HONOR STUDENT
WAS EXPELLED
FOR WRITING A
FICTIONAL STORY
IN HER JOURNAL
ABOUT A STUDENT
WHO DREAMED SHE
KILLED A TEACHER.
passing grade-and six days in jail
-for writing a "scary" Halloween
story about shooting up a school.
In 2002 a California appellate
court overturned the conviction of
a high school student who painted
a picture for his art class showing
him shooting a police officer who
had earlier cited him for possess-
ing marijuana.
Alarmed by the specter of
classroom censorship, the literary
community has mobilized. Writ-
ers have turned out to protest the
Academy of Art University, where
two students were recently expelled after submitting creative
writing assignments that administrators deemed violent. Mi-
chael Chabon recently wrote a New York Times op-ed about
George T.'s case. And Chabon and other
renowned writers recently converged in San
Francisco at the First Amendment Project's
"Fighting Words: Violent Passages From Ac-
claimed Literature," an evening of readings
designed to draw attention to the issue.
For, as horror writer Peter Straub writes:
"The ability freely to represent terrible and
distasteful subjects is essential to my purpose,
which, largely speaking, concerns the moral
significance of emotions such as grief and the
pain of loss."
Perhaps Tobias Wolff, professor of Eng-
lish and creative writing at Stanford and an
award-winning author, put it best when he
told the San Jose Mercury News, "If we put
this kid in jail over a violent poem, it wouldn't
be hard to argue that we should put most of our best-known
authors there, too."
CRIMINAL?
/ _ s lot of oe think thar. . what I say on records
OF talk about ona - that 1 do i in real life
/ Or that i - in it _
THE POST-COLUMBINE CLASSROOM
FACTS AND FEARS
The school shooting at Columbine High occurred
in):
FEAR: WHEN ASKED WHAT WORRIED THEM THE
MOST, THE SECOND MOST FREQUENT
RESPONSE BY PARENTS POLLED IN 1999
WAS THAT "CHILDREN ARE NOT SAFE IN
THEIR OWN SCHOOLS."
FACT: SCHOOL-ASSOCIATED VIOLENT DEATHS
BETWEEN 1997-1999 DECREASED 407.
FEAR: 71% OF RESPONDENTS TO THE 1999 POLL
SAID A SCHOOL SHOOTING WAS "LIKELY"
IN THEIR COMMUNITY.
FACT: THE CHANCE THAT A SCHOOL CHILD WILL
DIE IN A SCHOOL IN 1998-99 WAS ONE IN
TWO MILLION.
FEAR: THE NUMBER OF EXPULSIONS HAS
DOUBLED SINCE THE 1970S: FROM 1.3
MILLION STUDENTS IN 1974 T0 3.2
MILLION STUDENTS IN 1998.
FACT: OVER THE SAME PERIOD, SCHOOL CRIME
HAS NOT INCREASED.
Justice Policy Institute: School House Hype, Two Years
Later, www.justicepolicy.org.
YOUR VOICE HEARD IN SACRAMENTO
WHEN HUNDREDS OF ACLU MEMBERS EMAILED ATTORNEY GENERAL BILL LOCKYER, HIS OFFICE RESPONDED-PERSONALLY
The online campaign was the latest from the ACLU of
Northern California (ACLU-NC)'s Action Network, whose
members received an email action alert asking them to
contact the Attorney General and urge him to investigate
wrongful police surveillance of community groups.
`The campaign began when the local group Peace Fresno
(featured in the Michael Moore film, Fahrenheit 9/11)
realized it was under surveillance by the Fresno Sheriffs
Department. Peace Fresno and the ACLU-NC then filed a
formal complaint, calling on Lockyer to investigate.
Thanks to the hundreds of emails sent by Action Net-
work members, the campaign is succeeding. Lockyer's office
replied to each email, stating in a June 15th letter that his
office "will be conducting an investigation into the alleged
undercover surveillance of Peace Fresno during 2003."
You can join the ACLU-NC Action Network for
ACLU SAYS "YES" ON 66
THREE STRIKES REFORM
In 1994, Californians overwhelmingly passed a "Three
Strikes and Youre Out" law, believing it would target
violent and serious felons. In fact, more than half of the
people punished under Three Strikes are convicted of
non-violent offenses. Consider the following examples:
@ Robert Blasi received a 31-year sentence for stealing a
pair of AA batteries.
m Nathan Thomas shoplifted three packs of T-shirts from
J.C. Penny and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Fortunately, sensible reform is on the ballot this fall.
Proposition 66 will make Three Strikes sentencing more
reasonable, and save the state hundreds of millions of
dollars in the process. The ACLU-NC strongly encour-
ages its members to vote "yes" on Proposition 66.
AND "NO" ON 69
THE "GUILT BY ARREST" INITIATIVE
This proposition would dramatically expand California's exist-
ing criminal DNA database to include more people's DNA-
including people who have not committed any crime. The
initiative mandates the collection of DNA from "any adult
person arrested or charged with any felony offense." In other
words, someone arrested for shoplifting $401 in merchandise
or for writing a bad check for $201 (both felony crimes)-but
who is not charged and is released -would have her DNA col-
lected and stored in a criminal database.
For more information on Propositions 66 and 69 go to
www.aclunc.org, and see our next issue of the ACLU News.
access
free. Members receive an Action Alert email once or twice
a month. A quick point-and-click is all it takes to defend
civil liberties.
To sign up for free,
1. Go to www.aclunc.org/takeaction.html, or
2. Fill out the form below and mail it back to us.
ee
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ae ee a |
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ee a en ee ee ee ee
IS OUR GOVERNOR A CIVIL LIBERTARIAN?
By Jeff Gillenkirk
The ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC) has scored a
number of impressive victories in the state legislature this year,
with at least five important bills making their way towards a
showdown with our new governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Francisco Lobaco, ACLU-NC's legislative director in Sacra-
mento, says that while
he expects these bills
to eventually pass the
legislature, what hap-
pens when they reach
the Governor's desk is
anybody's guess.
"These kinds of is-
sues haven't come to
him yet," Lobaco said.
"Well see where he
stands on civil liber-
ties with his reactions
to these bills." As with
: most things in Sacra-
California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger.
mento, strong public
input could be a key
factor in determining
whether he stands with us-or against. Lobaco believes that
Schwarzenegger, unlike former Governor Gray Davis, won't
have to prove he's tough on crime.
SACRAMENTO REPORT
ATHLETIC EQUITY
The "Gender Equity for Community Athletics" bill (As-
sembly Bill (AB) 2404 (Steinberg)), requires that local
governments not discriminate on the basis of gender in the
allocation of athletic resources. "Discrimination against
girls in community youth athletics is routine,' says Valerie
Small Navarro, ACLU legislative advocate in Sacramento.
"Cities and counties often provide more and better facili-
ties, equipment, funding, and services
to girls' sports."
"He [Schwarzenegger] has made some indications
he's willing to take a more rational view on criminal
justice issues than Gray Davis, who was so intent on ap-
pearing tough on crime
that he was unwilling
"HE'S CLEARLY A
GOVERNOR WILLING
TO LISTEN - AND T0
CHANGE HIS MIND IF
ENOUGH PRESSURE IS
BROUGHT."
-FRANCISCO LOBACO,
ACLU LEGISLATIVE
DIRECTOR
to make any reform
in the criminal justice
area, Lobaco said. "For
example, he's permitted
some inmates to be pa-
roled, which Gray Davis
wouldn't do."
Because Schwarzeneg-
ger ran for office on a
platform of open gov-
ernment-and with so
much publicity about
prison abuse and cover-
up-Lobaco _ believes
that public pressure could play a key role in whether he
signs some key ACLU-supported measures (see Sacra-
mento Report, below, for discussion of specific bills and
how to take action).
"He's clearly a governor willing to listen-and to
change his mind if enough pressure is brought," Lobaco
concluded. @
ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF | 5)
HIGHLIGHTS:
OF THE 2004
MEMBERSHIP CONFERENCE
2
S
=
=
oS
"MORE THAN 500 OF THE MEMBERS HERE
TODAY ARE FROM NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. |
ESPECIALLY WANT 10 WELCOME THEM."
-DOROTHY EHRLICH,
ACLU-NC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
"FREEDOM IS NOT
A SELF-EXECUTING
PRINCIPLE. IT HAS
TO BE FOUGHT FOR."
-EVE ENSLER,
PLAYWRIGHT
"SAME-SEX
MARRIAGES ARE
ON THE ROAD TO
HELPING US BECOME,
REALLY BECOME,
FULLY HUMAN... NO
ONE SHOULD HAVE
TO SUFFER THE
INDIGNITIES OF BEING
_-_ DEHUMANIZED "
_BOB BARR,
FORMER REPUBLICAN
CONGRESSMAN FROM
GEORGIA
"PERSONALLY, | OWE
ALOT TO THE WORK
OF THE ACLU; ITS
BECAUSE OF THE
ACLU THAT | CAN
SHAKE PEOPLE UP
BY SAYING A WORD
LIKE "VAGINA."
_REVEREND CECIL
WILLIAMS, pastor,
GLIDE MEMORIAL UNITED
METHODIST CHURCH, SAN
FRANCISCO
SUSANA MILLMAN
GIGI PANDIAN
MEMBERS ATTENDED WORKSHOPS SUCH AS THIS ONE
ON SAFE SCHOOLS, WITH ACLU-NC FRIEDMAN YOUTH
PROJECT DIRECTOR EVELINE CHANG AND ACLU-NC
CLIENT FREDDIE FUENTES.
6 | ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF
"LESS SAFE,
LESS FREE
FORMER TERRORISM CZAR BLASTS
POST-9/11
The Bush administration's actions since 9/11 have fanned the
flames of anti-U.S. hatred, carved deep divisions at home and
abroad, and turned al Qaeda into a "hydra-headed monster,"
charges Richard A. Clarke.
Clarke should know. As one of the nation's foremost experts
on terrorism, he served under Presidents George H.W. Bush,
Bill Clinton and George W. Bush before resigning as the Na-
tional Security Council's counterterrorism czar in 2003. Clarke
has described his frustrated efforts to warn President Bush of
the dangers of al Qaeda
before 9/11, and to focus
the administration on the
terrorist threat thereafter
in a tell-all book, Against
All Enemies, and in tes-
timony before the 9/11
commission. He was
also the first government
official to issue a public
apology to the families of
9/11 victims.
Less well known is
one of Clarke's other
affiliations: he revealed
being an ACLU mem-
ber since 1971. While
he does not agree with
all ACLU positions, he
takes extremely seriously
SUSANA MILLMAN
his oath of office: to pro-
tect and defend the U.S.
Constitution "against all enemies, foreign and domestic."
On July 8, more than a thousand ACLU members listened
intently as Clarke described how observing that oath today
means defending Americans both against terrorists and
against their own government. High on Clarke's list of policy
missteps since 9/11 is the Bush administration's decision to
invade Iraq. Besides diverting
resources from efforts to elimi-
TERRORIST ATTACKS
LAST YEAR WERE AT
AN UNPRECEDENTED
HIGH, WITH TWICE THE
NUMBER OF ATTACKS
AROUND THE WORLD
IN THE 34 MONTHS
SINCE 9/11 AS IN THE
34 MONTHS BEFORE.
nate al Qaeda and protect the
homeland, he contends, the
invasion of an oil-rich Arab
nation squandered goodwill to-
ward the U.S. in the aftermath
of 9/11, playing into the hands
of the terror network's leaders.
A recent Pew Center poll
shows hatred of the United
States at an all-time high, a
situation that has been com-
pounded by revelations of
abuses of Iraqi prisoners. Ter-
rorist attacks last year were at
an unprecedented high, with twice the number of attacks
around the world in the 34 months since 9/11 as in the 34
months before.
DIVIDED ABROAD AND AT HOME
As threats mount abroad, the Bush administration has also
divided the country at home by engaging in illegal and extra-
legal moves, Clarke charged.
There is nothing in the USA Patriot Act, or any piece of law,
he notes, that justifies what happened to Jose Padilla. Padilla,
the U.S. citizen who was suspected of attempting to build a
"dirty bomb," was arrested at Chicago's O' Hare Airport, classi-
fied by the Justice Department as an enemy combatant, trans-
ferred to a Department of Defense military brig and denied
due process rights, including the right to counsel and to know,
or challenge, the charges against him.
"I don't like Mr. Padilla. I don't like what he stands for.
I don't like who he associates with. I don't like what he
might have been trying to do," said Clarke. But, "If they
WANT TO SUPPORT THE ACLU? GIVE ONLINE AT
Former national counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke
speking at the ACLU Membership Conference.
BLUNDERS
can pluck him from the streets of Chicago... then they can
do it to you."
In addition, Clarke questioned Section 215 of the Patriot
Act, which permits the government to scrutinize personal
library records without probable cause, noting that the FBI
could not envision a situation in which they would need the
provision. If we don't need it, asks Clarke, why do we have
it in law?
"The whole point of fighting Jihadists is to fight a group
who would take away all of
our civil liberties," he said.
"Tt makes no sense for us to
do their work for them and
to divide the country by
taking away civil liberties."
Glark exhorted the ACLU
to continue to challenge
the erosion of liberty. "It's
not unpatriotic to question
the administration's con-
duct after 9/11," he said.
OTHERS ECHO CLARKE'S
VIEW
Clarke was far from alone:
Many other distinguished
panelists did exactly that.
Former U.S. Representa-
tive Bob Barr (R-GA), now
a consultant to the ACLU
on privacy issues, took aim
at the Matrix Program, CAPPS I, the "sneak and peek" pro-
visions of the Patriot Act, and other proposals that threaten
Americans' privacy rights.
"For the first time in history we will be color coded, might
as well wear an armband," he said of CAPPS II, the airline
profiling plan that would pool personal data from airlines,
the government, and private industry, and assign a color
code to passengers based on their perceived security risk.
"This has nothing to do with legitimately protecting the
airlines and preventing someone from bringing explosives
on our planes. It has everything to do with the government's
insatiable desire to know everything there is to know about
we as citizens and people lawfully in America."
Coleen Rowley, the FBI whistleblower who was named
Time Magazine' woman of the year after writing a 13-page
memo exposing grave operating flaws within the agency, em-
phasized the need for transparency in increasingly secretive
times. Rowley pointed to a surge in requests for warrants to
monitor communications or conduct searches from the secret
FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) Court-from
900 in 2001 to 1,728 in 2003-as a sign of potential abuse.
Reminding Americans that "the bedrock of democracy rests
upon the informed (Rowley's em-
phasis) consent of the governed,"
"JOHN ASHCROFT IS
ONE OF THE MOST
DANGEROUS MEN
EVER T0 HOLD
OFFICE IN THIS
COUNTRY."
-ATTORNEY JAMES
BROSNAHAN
Rowley urged increased whistle-
blower protection, noting that
it is currently very risky to speak
out, but that "the public needs to
now how the nuts and bolts of
this `war' are being carried out."
Prominent trial attorney James
Brosnahan described the country
as having been brought "to the
edge of a precipice" by a govern-
ment that believes the President's
executive power must not be re-
viewed. "John Ashcroft is one of the most dangerous men ever
to hold office in this country," said Brosnahan, a partner in the
San Francisco law firm, Morrison and Foerster. "He's also a
perfect foil. God has provided someone who has no idea what
he's doing."
SAY "I DO:
MAYOR NEWSOM
WOWS ACLU CROWD
Almost 2,000 ACLU members erupted in cheers as Dorothy
Ehrlich, executive director of the ACLU of Northern Cali-
fornia (ACLU-NO), introduced one of the conference's most
popular speakers: Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco.
The mayor, who was catapulted into the national headlines
when he instructed city officials to begin marrying same-sex
couples early this year, thrilled ACLU loyalists with an inside
view of the City's bold stand in a keynote speech on July 7.
All mayors, Newsom said, take an oath to "bear true
faith and allegiance to the Constitution of their state and
WHEN PRESIDENTBUSH ranma. aes
VOICED HIS SUPPORT FOR sion to begin granting
ABSTINENCE-ONLY SEX
EDUCATION, DRUG TESTING,
AND A CONSTITUTIONAL
AMENDMENT BARRING
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE,
NEWSOM FELT THAT THE
PRESIDENT WAS MAKING AN
ELECTION CAMPAIGN SPEECH
"TO THE TEN PERCENT [OF
AMERICANS] ON THE FENCE
IN 17 STATES."
amendment barring same-sex marriage, Newsom felt that the
same-sex marriage li-
censes was an attempt
to fulfill that oath.
The idea began to
germinate in Newsom's
mind after House Mi-
nority Leader Nancy
Pelosi flew him out to
DGE= to
watch President Bush's
Washington,
State of the Union ad-
dress. When President
Bush voiced his support
for abstinence-only sex
education, drug testing,
and a constitutional
President was making an election campaign speech "to the ten
percent [of Americans] on the fence in 17 states."
Deeply troubled, Newsom asked his staff to research what
CIVIL LIBERTIES: THE NEXT GENERATION
By Amelia Rosenman, Friedman ae Youth Activist Committee
"Oe 300 ut libertarians in their teens and twenties at-
tended this year's National ACLU Membership | Conference.
GIGI PANDIAN
The large contingent of youth at the conference brought _
San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom brought ACLU
members to their feet.
it would take to grant same-sex marriage licenses in San
Francisco. His staff returned that they need simply change
the language on the computer screen. After consulting with
attorneys from the ACLU-NC and the National Center for
Lesbian Rights, and carefully selecting the day, and the couple,
the first marriage license was issued to Del Martin and Phyllis
Lyon-a couple of 51 years-on February 12.
Newsom was on tenterhooks that day, fearing that a court
would halt the weddings before the first marriage took place.
But the weddings didn't end that day. In fact 4,021 marriage
licenses were granted to couples from 46 states and eight
countries before the California Supreme Court issued a stay
directing San Francisco to stop issuing marriage licenses to
same-sex couples.
Months later, the most remarkable thing, Newsom said,
"is how unremarkable it has been.... People are going back
to their lives and realizing that their [heterosexual] marriages
haven't dissolved because gays and lesbians are married."
Newsom believes that we will look back at laws against
same-sex marriage with the disbelief that we look at laws bar-
ring interracial marriage now -- "but I don't think it's going to
take 20 or 30 years."
"Separate is never equal,
" he concluded. "You know that
better than anyone else."
and Haycock completed extensive research before creating
their film, which covers the Sacco and Vanzetti trial during
the red scare of the 1920s. Enthused by the box-office popu-
_ fresh energy, enthusiasm, and insight to the three-day rally
for freedom, participating in general Plenaries as well as ses-
sions specifically
to youth.
`The conference close
oriented
_ with a panel discussion of
"The" Next Generation of
Civil Libertarians" featuring
- five youth present - Niko
Bowie,
Soples X N
advising Free Trade Area of
the Americas (FTAA) pro-
larity of recent documentaries, including Michael Moore's
"Fahrenheit 9/11," Bowie commented: "reality is as goed as
"
a feature film.
Thomas Woodrow is
also a filmmaker. His work, (c)
"Truth Is Not a Four Let-
ter Word," won the ACLU (c)
College Freedom Public
Ann uncement _
_ Service
testers about their First Ancadac: oe Said Narain: a _ of 1
se cuts across all barriers." He called the FTAA protests
"4 beautiful demonstration of people from all over the world ;
coming together."
Panelists Niko Bowie and Tome Wooden fe both |
expressed political messages through film. Bowie's docu- _
mentary, "The Fog of Fear: Exchanging Liberty for Security
in the World War I Era," was produced ir in collaboration with t
classmate Nick Haycock and claim
2 ton fon for the 2004 His
WANT TO SUPPORT THE ACLU? GIVE ONLINE AT
HIGHLIGHTS
OFTHE 2006
`MEMBERSHIP CONFERENCE
"YOU READ THE DECLARATION [OF
INDEPENDENCE] AND YOU SEE THAT
BASICALLY ITS A LEGAL CASE FOR
REVOLUTION. JEFFERSON CREATED A
DOCUMENT THAT NOT ONLY PROCLAIMED
OUR FREEDOM FROM AN AUTOCRATIC
KING, BUT ALSO OUR DEVOTION 10 THE
RULE OF LAW."
-ANTHONY ROMERO,
ACLU EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
"THE WHOLE POINT
OF FIGHTING [AL
QUAEDA] IS TO
FIGHT A GROUP
WHO WOULD TAKE
AWAY ALL OF OUR
CIVIL LIBERTIES...
IT MAKES NO SENSE
FOR US TO DO THEIR
WORK FOR THEM."
SUSANA MILLMAN
-RICHARD CLARKE,
FORMER NATIONAL
COUNTERTERRORISM
CZAR
"WE NEED TO TALK
ABOUT WHAT WE CAN
DO ABOUT [RACIAL
PROFILING]. IT IS
-APROBLEM; IT IS fi
REAL; THE DATA TELL [iam
THE TRUTH." CHARLES MOOSE, -
FORMER POLICE CHIEF,
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD
"| BELIEVE ALONG ;
| WITH THOMAS
JEFFERSON THAT
DISSENT IS THE
HIGHEST FORM OF
i PATRIOTISM."
SUSANA MILLMAN
_NADINE STROSSEN,
ACLU PRESIDENT
MEMBERS OF THE UC BERKELEY ACLU STUDENT CLUB
ATTENDED THE CONFERENCE.
ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF | 7
'
THE COST OF FREEDOM?
GOVERNORS OWEN
AND DEAN DEBATE
O renew or not to renew, that was the question. On the final day
of the ACLU membership conference, executive director Anthony
Romero moderated a spirited debate on renewal of key provisions
of the USA Patriot Act. The debate pitted a fervent proponent of the
Act, Colorado Republican Governor Bill Owens, against former Gov-
ernor of Vermont, Howard Dean.
Named the "best Governor in America' by the conserva-
tive National Review, Owens led off the debate by raising the
specter of "cold-blooded killers [who] promise to use every
weapon known to man" against America. Declaring the Pa-
triot Act an essential tool
in the war against terror-
ism, Owens said he was
prepared to defend it "line
by line." Dean, a physician
by training who sprang to
national prominence last
year as a presidential hope-
ful and vocal critic of the
invasion of Iraq, linked the
Act's
measures with other Bush
most controversial
SUSANA MILLMAN
administration assaults on
civil liberties. Here are some
highlights of the debate:
GOVERNOR OWENS: I believe that the greatest danger we face
to civil liberties and civil justice is what I fear would follow
another successful terrorist attack - anthrax in our water sup-
ply, four or five suicide bombers, the destruction of a sports
arena with 50,000 people inside. Think for a moment what
would happen then. These are important questions we're fac-
ing today - the balance between liberty and order, between
freedom and security. I believe we're striking the right balance
in the Patriot Act.
GOVERNOR DEAN: He [Owens]
did not talk about the most
egregious parts of the Patriot
Act. It is the groundwork of
"IT 1S THE GROUNDWORK
OF THIS COUNTRY THAT
PEOPLE CANNOT BE
IMPRISONED WITHOUT
KNOWING WHY. THE
ABILITY OF THE
GOVERNMENT TO LOCK
YOU UP WITHOUT DUE
PROCESS IS A SLIP
TOWARDS AN AMERICA
THAT HAS NOT EXISTED
FOR 226 YEARS."
-GOV. HOWARD DEAN
this country that people can-
not be imprisoned without
knowing why. The ability of
the government to lock you
up without due process is a
slip towards an America that
has not existed for 226 years.
OWENS: Let me address some
other areas of the Act that
have gotten some of you a bit
overheated. The idea of our
government rifling through
America's
without a court order, build-
treading choices
ing a criminal case on what
they find, scares people. And
it should scare people. The
problem is, that's not in the Patriot
Act. The law can be used only for na-
tional security investigations, not for
domestic terrorism, and not for ordi-
nary crime. To date, not one library
record or bookstore record has been
sought under the Patriot Act.
[editor's note: An October 29, 2003,
FBI memorandum obtained by the
ACLU under the Freedom of Informa-
tion Act acknowledges that the Patriot
SUSANA MILLMAN
Howard Dean
Act can be used to obtain information
about innocent people-contradicting the government' re-
peated assertion that it can be used only against suspected ter-
rorists. A report released by Attorney General Ashcroft on July
8 | ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF
ACLU executive director Anthony Romero (center) moderated
the debate between Bill Owens (1) and Howard Dean.
14 confirmed that the Patriot Act has been used to investigate
ordinary crimes. ]
DEAN: The Patriot Act has a different standard, a lesser stan-
dard, for obtaining information from video stores and libraries
-who are not allowed
to tell me that they've
been visited by the FBI.
`That should not be. The
government itself is
trying to take away the
very freedoms that ter-
rorists would deny us.
OWENS: I only wish back
to September of 1963
that federal authorities
could have prevented
the
sion of the 16th Street
Church in Birmingham
dynamite explo-
that took the lives of those four young girls... or the assassina-
tion of Martin Luther King, in 1968.
DEAN: Governor Owens mentioned the bombings at the 16th
Street Church in Birmingham, and the assassination of Dr.
King. And he implied if only we had had these laws, then these
tragedies could have been avoided. Let me remind you that the
THESE AREIORTANT Nol HPD Es
QUESTIONS WE'RE FACING
TODAY - THE BALANCE
BETWEEN LIBERTY
AND ORDER, BETWEEN
FREEDOM AND SECURITY. |
BELIEVE WE'RE STRIKING
THE RIGHT BALANCE IN THE
PATRIOT ACT."
-GOV. BILL OWENS
wiretapping Dr. King.
OWENS: `The fact is, we
have not had a terror at-
tack in the United States
since Sept. lly 200Ks al
don't believe this is just
luck. Law enforcement
has testified that specific
powers in the Act have al-
ready helped prevent ter-
rorist attacks, and I think
that this fact deserves very
serious examination from
those who would erase
every word of this Act from our federal statutes.
DEAN: The problem is, if somebody here gets arrested in the
middle of the night for speeding by somebody who doesn't
happen to like you and you get charged with domestic terror-
ism instead of speeding, you're done. Because your due process
just went out the window. Every day that John Ashcroft is At-
- ~~____ torney General, we're creeping
closer to that day.
OWENS: It's a very dangerous
world out there. And there
are people who are trying to
take away not only our civil
liberties, they're trying to take
our right to life. There was an
article in the Wall Street Jour-
nal that quoted the head of the
Iranian Office of Doctrinaire
SUSANA MILLMAN
Bill On
Affairs saying, "we have a strategy drawn up for the
destruction of Anglo-Saxon civilization."
DEAN: This argument is not about Democrats or Repub-
licans. This argument is about standing up for American
freedom, or sacrificing American freedom for short-term
political gains.
"WAR IS NOT A BLANK CHECK FOR THE PRESIDENT0x2122
By Adam Forest, ACLU Intern
The U.S. Supreme Court term that ended June 29 will long be
remembered for its emphatic repudiation of the Bush adminis-
tration's claim that it can conduct the war on terrorism as it sees
fit, with virtually no opportunity for meaningful judicial review.
Insisting that a system of checks and balances is essential to safe-
guarding both liberty and security, the Court ruled that foreign
citizens detained at Guantanamo Bay and American citizens
detained in military brigs are both entitled to their day in court.
"These are truly historic decisions," said Steven R. Shap-
iro, the ACLU's national legal director. "The administration
has treated the rule of law as
an inconvenience in the war
against terrorism. In response,
the Supreme Court has sent a
powerful message that the end
does not justify the means,
and that it will not sit on the
sidelines while the rule of law
is ignored."
ACLU legal director Steven
Shapiro
Writing that "a state of war
is not a blank check for the
President when it comes to the
rights of the nation's citizens," the Court ruled 8-1 that plain-
tiff Yaser Esam Hamdi, a U.S. citizen seized in Afghanistan,
has the right to fight his detention in a federal court.
In a separate case, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the
GIGI PANDIAN
- U.S. SUPREME COURT
600 men from 42 countries detained at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, can also contest their treatment.
"These decisions reflect the growing momentum, fueled by
the ACLU, to ensure that the voices of those who disagree with
this administration's policies are heard loud and clear," said
Dorothy Ehrlich, executive director of the ACLU of Northern
California (ACLU-NC). "The ACLU's message - that unre-
strained government power is a threat to fundamental freedom
- is reflected both in the Supreme Court's end-of-term deci-
sion, and is a growing concern in the court of public opinion.
Two years ago, it would have been hard to imagine this victory
without the groundwork that has been laid."
Hamdi's family says that the Saudi-born 20-year-old relief
worker was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he
was arrested in Afghanistan by the Northern Alliance in late
2001. The Bush administration alleges he was carrying a gun
and fighting with a Taliban unit. After his arrest, Hamdi was
shipped to Guantanamo Bay and eventually transferred to a
Navy brig in South Carolina after authorities verified that he
was indeed a U.S. citizen. Since his arrest, he has been inter-
rogated repeatedly, but has only recently been allowed to meet
with lawyers.
In both Hamdi's case and that of the Guantanamo de-
tainees, the administration contended that the men being
held are neither prisoners of war-and thus protected by
the Geneva Conventions-nor common criminal suspects
with automatic rights to an attorney or to know the charges
against them.
The Supreme Court disagreed. "Striking the proper con-
stitutional balance here is of great importance to the nation
during this period of ongoing
conflict," wrote Justice Sandra
Day O'Connor in the majority
"TIF THIS NATION IS
TO REMAIN TRUE
TO THE IDEALS
SYMBOLIZED BY ITS
FLAG, IT MUST NOT
WIELD THE TOOLS OF
TYRANTS EVEN T0
RESIST AN ASSAULT
BY THE FORCES OF
TYRANNY."
-JUSTICE JOHN PAUL
STEVENS
opinion in the Hamdi case. "But
it is equally vital that our calcu-
lus not give short shrift to the
values that this country holds
dear or to the privilege that is
American citizenship."
Ina third ruling, the Court vot-
ed 5-4 to dismiss on a technicality
the case of Jose Padilla, an Ameri-
can citizen arrested at O'Hare
Airport, Chicago, and classified as
an `enemy combatant.'
"At stake in this case is noth-
ing less than the essence of a free
society," wrote Justice John Paul
Stevens in an emotional dissent.
"For if this nation is to remain true to the ideals symbolized by
its flag, it must not wield the tools of tyrants even to resist an
assault by the forces of tyranny." @
Retired U.S. Navy Admiral John Hutson is the
new face of the ACLU's "Scrapbook for Free-
dom" advertising campaign. In the advertisement,
which has appeared in The Economist and the New
York Times Magazine, Hutson is featured with the
headline, "How can we fight to uphold the rule of
law if we break the rules ourselves?"
"Today we are conducting the war against ter-
rorism in a manner that is inimical to those values
of freedom and justice," Hutson says in the ad. "It
is weakening our cause at home and around the
world....Fortunately, the American Civil Liberties
Union is speaking out for American values."
ACLU AD FEATURES NAVY ADMIRAL
TAKE ACTION
GOOD BILL/BAD BILL
TWO BILLS IN CONGRESS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO
SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT CIVIL LIBERTIES IN THE U.S.:
The SAFE Act of 2003 (S. 1709 / HR 3352) is an
important bill that would roll back some of the
Patriot Act's worst excesses.
The CLEAR Act (HR 2671) is antithetical to civil
liberties. It would require state and local law en-
forcement agencies to enforce federal immigration
laws or risk losing federal funds. It is also known as
the Homeland Security Enhancement Act (S. 1906)
inthe WS. Senate.
`Ten Members of Congress from northern California
have cosponsored the SAFE Act, and twelve have
stated their opposition to the CLEAR Act. They
deserve our thanks.
Cosponsoring the SAFE Act:
Nancy Pelosi m Barbara Lee # Lynn Woolsey m Pete Stark
Sam Farr @ Mike Honda # Tom Lantos @ Bob Matsui
George Miller # Mike Thompson
Opposing the CLEAR Act:
Nancy Pelosi @ Barbara Lee # Lynn Woolsey
Pete Stark m Sam Farr @ Mike Honda Tom Lantos
Bob Matsui @ George Miller # Mike Thompson
Zoe Lofgren # Anna Eshoo
Unfortunately, U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and
Barbara Boxer have not taken a similar stand.
Please call Senators Feinstein and Boxer today.
Urge them to:
= Cosponsor the SAFE Act, S. 1709.
Oppose the Senate version of the CLEAR Act-the
Homeland Security Enhancement Act, S. 1906.
Senator Feinstein: (415) 393-0707
Senator Boxer: (916) 448-2787
ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF | 9