vol. 73, no. 1

Meet Our

Board Chair

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

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Carrying the

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VOLUME LXXIII ISSUE 1

Youth Expose on

Educational Equity

LOOKING BACK AT INAUGURATION

By Aundre Herron

bama's election stands as a testament to the best and most

enduring aspect of this country: our ability to continually remake

ourselves as a nation, moving closer to those ideals we proclaim to

distinguish us from all others.

For me, attending the Inauguration of Barack Obama was

imperative. I was undeterred by the lack of tickets or guarantee

of a place to sit or stand. Though I was able to see little more

than the flags that draped the Capitol's facade, I was thrilled to

be there personally, to be a witness to history.

Obama's election is a victory for which no particular group

can take full credit, yet one in which nearly every constituency

played a pivotal role. Young, middle-aged and senior citizens;

men and women; people of color and white people; LGBT

and straight people; able-bodied and physically-challenged

people; well-to-do and poor people; independents and party

loyalists-all came together in a perfect storm of electoral poli-

tics that delivered the White House to a Black man.

Although the Obama campaign team succeeded in diverting

Paty ae eae UNION

ee

race as a dominant theme during the election, its significance

is not lost on those who acknowledge this country's tragic

and painful history. How ironic that, nearly 150 years after

the abolition of slavery-a peculiar institution that stripped

enslaved Africans of their provenance and their lives-this

nation should come to be led by a person who is descended

directly from Africa and who, unlike the vast majority of

Black Americans, actually knows what part of Africa he is

from!

Only a Black man with Obama's particular background and

atypical experience could so thoroughly and unimpeachably

challenge the legacy of stereotypes and misperceptions that

underlay the very foundation of American racism-those

deeply entrenched notions that have, for so long, deprived this

nation of some of its greatest talent. Still, he did not have an

easy time of it, enduring countless racist euphemisms passed

off as inquiries into his fitness to serve. Obama's election does

not absolve the nation from its racist past nor its continuing

derelictions but, in a curious joinder of karma and paradox,

signals that the circle has come full.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

PROP 4: HOW WE WON. (AGAIN).

Editorial

FE the third time in four years, California voters in No-

vember rejected a ballot initiative that would have required

doctors to notify a pregnant teen's parent before an abortion.

As with its predecessors, Prop. 73 and Prop. 85, Prop 4 sought

to reverse a hard-won ACLU-NC victory protecting young

women's reproductive choices from mandatory government

involvement laws. The ACLU-NC and Planned Parenthood

fought tooth and nail to defeat Prop. 4. And we won. Again.

But truthfully, we weren't certain that we would win at

all. The polls never looked good. There wasn't much money

behind the No on 4 campaign. And we needed to educate 5

million new voters in a crowded election year.

The greatest challenge was one of perception. To many

people, forcing a young woman to tell her parents that she

is pregnant sounds like the right thing to do. As one of the

ACLU-NC's star organizers, Alicia Walters, will tell you,

CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

No on Prop 4 volunteers at the ACLU-NC office.

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL WOOLSEY

LAWYERS COUNCIL CELEBRATES 20" ANNIVERSARY

he ACLU has long worked to promote equality by eliminating all forms of discrimination for LGBT people, most recently through our vigorous opposition to

Proposition 8. In November, the ACLU-NC Lawyers Council welcomed Matt Coles, director of the ACLU's national Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and

AIDS Project, and Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, as featured speakers at the Lawyers Council's 20th Anniversary Civil

Liberties Briefing Luncheon. Coles and Kendell offered their analyst of the pansies to defeat Proposition 8 and the current litigation strategy in the aeoma

of its passage.

For more information about the Lawyers Council, please contact Sandy Holmes at sholmes@aclunc.org.

Karl Olson, Mike Ram, Steve Vettel, Ethan Schulman. Matt Coles and Kate Kendell.

REMEMBERING HERB DONALDSON

By Stan Yogi

he ACLU-NC mourns the passing of Judge Herbert Donaldson, who died on December 5, 2008 at the age of 81.

Donaldson leaves us with his pioneering legacy as a respected jurist and advocate for the poor.

As an attorney for Southern Pacific in the early 1960s, Donaldson volunteered to represent indigent clients in

federal criminal cases. He subsequently opened a criminal law practice before joining the staff of the San Francisco

Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation, representing impoverished residents in the late 1960s.

Born in a West Virginia coal town, Donaldson's own beginnings were so humble that he and his widowed

mother and two siblings once lived in a

converted chicken coop.

Donaldson was also an ACLU client. He was

arrested for challenging San Francisco police

who harassed the organizers of a 1965 fundraiser

for a gay rights group. Police targeted the gath-

ering because it was a gay event. The incident

became a cause celebre. Donaldson was found

not guilty, and the police hired a liaison to the

gay community.

In 1983, Governor Jerry Brown appointed

Donaldson to be a superior court judge, the

first openly gay man to hold the position in San

Francisco.

After retiring from the bench in 1999, Don-

aldson served as the first judge in the newly

formed Behavioral Health Court,

of the Superior Court for people with mental

health problems. and

a branch

SIMS JSINO1 40 ASILYNOI SOLOHd

BOARD ELECTION RESULTS

Congratulations to ACLU-NC's new board members, officers and executive committee members!

ELECTION RESULTS: BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The membership of the ACLU-NC has elected the following people to serve on the Board of Directors for the 2009

term [an asterisk (*) denotes an incumbent]: *Jim Blume, *Linda Colfax, Dr. Alicia Fernandez, *Dick Grosboll, Allen

S. Hammond, Magan Pritam Ray, Steven Rosenbaum, *Jahan Sagafi, *Betsy York, and *Elizabeth Zitrin. In addi-

tion, Lateefah Simon, Natalie Wormeli, Mickey Welsh, and Tal Heinz Clement have been appointed to fill interim

vacancies on the Board. We also thank outgoing at-large Board members Phillip Mehas and Lovely Dhillon for their

valuable contributions to our work and mission.

NEW OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS

The ACLU-NC Board of Directors elected Nancy Pemberton as Board Chair, Dick Grosboll as Finance Committee

Chair (Secretary/Treasurer), Philip Monrad as Legislative Policy Committee Chair, and Allen Asch as Field Activists'

Committee Chair. The Board has re-elected Quinn Delaney as Development Committee Chair, Linda Lye as Legal

Committee Chair, and Lisa Honig as National Board Representative. The 2009 Executive Committee will also include

the following "at-large" members: Cherri Allison, Farah Brelvi, Susan Mizner, Jahan Sagafi, Clara Shin, Frances Strauss

(member emeriti), Ken Sugarman, and Elizabeth Zitrin.

More than 30 local attorneys attended the luncheon.

KUDOS!

Development Director Cheri Bryant

2008 Hank Rosso

Outstanding Fundraising Professional

Award at the National Philanthropy

received the

Day Luncheon in San Francisco. Named

after the fundraising master, the award

recognizes an individual who has guided

fund development campaigns with

extraordinary success.

Death Penalty Policy Director Natasha

Minsker was honored by California

Attorneys for Criminal Justice with

its 2008 Skip Glenn Award for her

outstanding work as key strategist and

coordinator of research and testimony

during the 2008 hearings of the California

Commission on the Fair Administration

of Justice. Her efforts are helping to

shine more light-and more public attention-on the many

dysfunctional and costly facets of the state's broken system.

Alan

Schlosser and Attorney

Michael Risher received

Champion of Justice award

from the City of Fresno,

Director

Legal

Congressman Jim Costa,

and Central California Le-

gal Services, Inc. for their

work to restore the consti-

tutional rights of homeless residents in Fresno. See page 5.

ACLUnews

TRE 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

Nancy Pemberton CHAIR

John Crew INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Laura Saponara_ EDITOR

Gigi Pandian DESIGNER AND

PRODUCTION MANAGER

39 Drumm Street, San Francisco, CA 94111

(415) 621-2493

2 | ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF

MEET OUR FELLOWS

By Isobel White

n addition to our hardworking staff and diligent volunteers, the ACLU-NC is honored to host

four Fellows whose highly focused research and advocacy contribute greatly to our work. Recent

law school graduates, the Fellows are chosen through an intensely competitive application process

and selected for their current skills and future promise as public interest attorneys. They get excellent

training in advocacy and impact litigation, and their hard work enables the ACLU-NC to address

civil liberties issues in even greater depth.

Andre Segura's Civil Liberties Fellowship

spans the range of the ACLU-NC's work, from

protecting civil liberties in schools to defending

against abuses of government power in the post-

9/11 era. His current projects include assisting

with our case against the City of Antioch and its

police department for racially profiling and ha-

rassing Section 8 residents. Andre is also working

on our lawsuit against Sonoma County and ICE

for stopping and searching people who appear to

be Latino and detaining people in the county jail

without criminal charges, based on suspected im-

migration status alone. The biggest challenge of

his work? "Addressing the continued targeting of

people of color by law enforcement agencies."

As the Racial Justice Project Fellow, Saneta

deVuono-powell advocates for changes to

education and criminal justice policy. Leading

GIG] PANDIAN

up to the election, she helped coordinate the

ACLU-NC's campaign to educate the public

about voting rights for people with felony

convictions, she says. "Many people take voting for granted

and are cynical about the process. But in my work on the Every

Vote Counts campaign, I have come to appreciate how painful

it is to have this right taken away." Saneta is also conducting

research on the disproportionate confinement of minorities in

ACLU-NC Fellows: Andre Segura, Greta Hansen, Saneta deVuono-powell, Chris Conley.

the criminal justice system, and assisting with the ACLU-NC's

Schools for All campaign.

Greta Hansen is the ACLU-NC's Equal Justice Works Fel-

low. She focuses on addressing the lack of equal educational

opportunities caused by discriminatory school discipline and

over-policing in our schools. "Students of color

are disciplined disproportionately in every

school district I've reviewed," Greta explains.

By identifying the school districts with the

greatest disparities, promoting public awareness

and initiating litigation, Greta is helping the

ACLU-NC to draw attention to places where

the promise of equal opportunity is falling far

short, and to spark institutional shifts that can

change the culture of these schools.

As Technology and Civil Liberties Fellow,

Chris Conley's work focuses on the intersection

of privacy, free speech, and modern technology.

"Our legal landscape has not kept up with the

realities of new technologies," says Chris. "For

example, journals or email stored online should

have the same legal protections as diaries or

letters kept in a desk drawer at home-but in

many cases they don't." With Chris's assistance,

the ACLU-NC is developing a public education

campaign to promote protections for online pri-

vacy and check the government's power to see and use our data

without our knowledge.

Isobel White is a Berkeley-based writer and communications

consultant, and a special contributor to the ACLU-News.

MEET OUR NEW BOARD CHAIR

By Laura Saponara

California.

Nancy's father, John De J. "Jack" Pemberton, served as

the executive director of the national ACLU from 1962

to 1970. His tenure-and Nancy's childhood and early

adolescence-coincided with the events that have come

to symbolize the Civil Rights Movement: Bloody Sun-

day; Loving v. Virginia; the murder of Medgar Evers; the

Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968; the jailing and later

the assassination of Dr. King.

Among his many achievements, Jack Pemberton was

charged with establishing the first regional offices of the

ACLU in the Southern United States. Nancy recalls viv-

idly how her family's home in New York became a tempo-

rary haven for ACLU attorneys whose physical safety was

threatened by white supremacists.

Among the many values and virtues her parents mod-

eled, Nancy draws often on an appreciation of the vulner-

ability of liberty that she got from her dad.

"I understood early on how important it is that the

individual keep and protect power, because power can be

stripped so easily by government," Nancy explains.

Following a youthful period of rebellion about which

little is known to her ACLU colleagues, Nancy received

a law degree in 1985 and became Chair of the ACLU-NC's

Board of Directors that same year. She was 26 years old and

already a board veteran, having first joined as the youth rep-

resentative six years earlier.

Other than cycling off of the board one or two times

(per board policy), Nancy has served consistently, as a

calm and insightful voice on most committees and many

subcommittees. She chaired the Finance Committee twice,

most recently until 2008.

ancy Pemberton's kinship with the ACLU began when she was a child. And for a full

generation now, she has played a central role in the family life of the ACLU of Northern

"Nancy brings an intimate knowledge of the workings

of the organization," says board member Lisa Honig.

"She treasures it, values it, sees its strengths and weak-

nesses."

Nancy's dedication to protecting the rights of those

most at risk is at the core of her professional career, as

it has been in her ACLU involvement. Early on she was

drawn to criminal defense work. But soon she became

disillusioned with what she terms "the imbalance of

power within the criminal justice system." After a few

years, Nancy realized that the work she loved most was

the intensive investigations that surround capital cases-

the compilation of a deeply personal social history, a life

story that amounts to a factual defense against a death

sentence. After getting a private investigator's license, she

created her own agency, Pemberton and Associates, in San

Francisco. The firm continues to specialize in fact inves-

tigation and mitigation in capital cases.

With former longtime ACLU-NC Executive Director

Dorothy Ehrlich and others, Pemberton played a critical

role in founding the organization Death Penalty Focus in

1980, at the time when California had just reinstated the

death penalty and no other organization was focused solely

on its abolition.

Asked about highpoints of her ACLU-NC board service,

Pemberton says that she is particularly proud of the respect-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF | 3

SCHOOLS FOR ALL

By Isobel White

AES function of our society is to educate our youth,

and a great deal of opportunity is lost if we don't. Yet

too often schools treat students in ways that dismiss their

promise, marginalize their presence, and discourage learn-

ing. In environments like these, schools not only fail to

protect students from bias and harassment, they push out

youth who are most vulnerable.

The ACLU-NC is proud to announce the release of

a report synthesizing some of the nation's best thinking

about the push-out phenomenon by a circle of experts in

education, family law, psychology, violence prevention,

and the study of race and ethnicity. Schools for All

Campaign: The School Bias and Pushout Problem delves

into the misperceptions that underlie common forms of

bias; how vulnerable youth populations intersect with

one another; and the need to address these very complex

and overlapping issues in a manner that is respectful of all

students.

`The report concludes with a discussion of promising ap-

proaches to ensuring that every child attends a welcoming

school.

`The roundtable gathering synthesized in the report was

funded by the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund and is avail-

able online at http://www.aclunc.org/s4a/index.shtml. m

ALLY of Northern Cattiornia

Beton aaa ts

4 | ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF

LEGAL BRIEFS

WE HAVE RIGHTS, TOO: THE STORY

OF FRESNO HOMELESS RESIDENTS

AFTER YEARS OF ABUSE FROM POLICE OFFICERS AND CALTRANS WORKERS, A GROUP

OF FRESNO HOMELESS RESIDENTS MADE THE JUSTICE SYSTEM WORK FOR THEM

By Hamed Aleaziz

AS had accepted a few realities of daily life on the

treets of Fresno: people feared him, shelters fed him

food and evangelism, and the police harassed him.

For a proud man like Williams, who served in the U.S.

military, the third reality was the toughest to accept. "When

the police look at you as a homeless person they think you

have no way of defending yourself legally. I would stand up

and I'd get the gun in my face. You back off and you just

watch. You feel helpless," he says.

Williams, like the other homeless residents of Fresno, was

repeatedly bullied by the police department. The destruc-

tion of property by police officers and Caltrans workers

- wheelchairs, medication, photographs, personal papers,

terits - was commonplace.

While many saw no end in sight, a

few homeless residents like Williams,

with assistance from community ac-

tivists, enlisted the help of the ACLU

to file a class action lawsuit against

the city of Fresno.

`The process was long but finally,

in June 2008, the City and Caltrans

agreed to a $2.35 million settlement.

The settlement has not eradicated

homelessness in Fresno, but it has

brought housing, food and new-

found awareness among the 344 class

members of what it feels like to claim

one's right to basic civil liberties.

`The settlement has also allowed

many homeless residents, including

Williams, to become activists for

those still on the streets.

PHOTOS BY MIKE RHODES

was forced to borrow a laptop from

the paper's editor in order to complete

the articles.

"Hauling a laptop around a park,

outside, isn't easy," he recalls.

Now Williams regularly writes ar-

ticles about homelessness in Fresno.

After being homeless for more

than 15 years, Williams believes the

settlement has dramatically changed

his life.

"T have a voice now," he says.

Williams works with old friends

who are still homeless to help orga-

nize gatherings. The City of Fresno

took note of Williams' involvement

and expertise and appointed him to

a council that aims to end homeless-

ness in ten years.

The head of Central California Legal Services, Chris Sch-

neider, views the settlement as a giant step forward for the

homeless community.

"Most people had no idea that there is a total lack of shelter

for the homeless. This lawsuit put a face on the homeless and

helped Fresno folks get to know who was homeless," he says.

Schneider believes city policy has dramatically shifted, as

evident in the creation of the homelessness council in ten

years and establishment of new homeless shelters. Schneider

also recognizes new caution in the police force's treatment of

homeless issues. "All of this came together to change policy-

that is legal advocacy at its best," he says.

The lawyers who worked on behalf of the homeless, includ-

ing the ACLU's Michael

Top, Joanna Garcia, one of the plaintiffs, and Austin Simon, a class

member, pose in front of their tents under a bridge in New Jack City,

Many of the homeless people in- Risher and Alan Schloss-

volved in the case, including Jeannine er, received "Champions

Nelson, now have housing. Nelson, one of Fresno's oldest encampments. Above, Garcia and Simon in the of Justice" awards from

whose property was repeatedly de-

courtyard of the apartment building where they are now renters.

Central California Legal

ie

stroyed by the police, now goes home GOT A ANCE TO Services, | Congressman

to an apartment and, thanks to her SPEAK UP AND TALK Jim Costa, and the City

purchase of a motor home, will never be homeless again. "It of Fresno.

gave me my self-worth and dignity. I got a chance to speak up ABOUT WHAT WAS Looking out the win-

and talk about what was wrong and what was right," she says. WRONG AND WHAT dow from his new dining

Nelson sees the settlement as an opportunity to change the

lives of those still on the streets.

Resolute and now strengthened by a sense of purpose, she

sees the cause as her calling.

Other plaintiffs, like Joanne Garcia, also see the settlement

as an assertion of civil rights for homeless individuals. Inside

her new apartment, Garcia reflects, "I think the best thing I

can say is-it's nice to know we have rights. Because of what

we and our lawyers did, other homeless can know they have

rights."

After years of running or hiding from the police, Garcia

feels comfortable outside and enjoys walks around a park, a

luxury that most take for granted.

"I can say we got justice. It's not always the case but this

time it was," she says.

`The settlement has vastly changed the lives of many of the

people involved in the case. Seventy people now have housing.

Others have started school and several have purchased cars.

Liza Apper, administrator of the settlement and a local activ-

ist, sees the results as a start to improving the lives of those

involved.

"For people to be able to establish a home-it motivates

them to keep it," she says.

For some, like Williams, the settlement has only increased

their earlier activism. Williams now owns his own laptop

computer that he can use to write articles for The Community

Alliance, a local activist paper. Before the settlement, Williams

HAMED ALEAZIZ

Plaintiff Al Williams in his new apartment.

ARS OF LIVING ON

ETS, 17'S AS IF

S MAKING UP FOR

CATING TIME."

room table, Williams is

animated as he enthu-

siastically describes his

numerous activities. After

15 years of living on the

streets, it's as if he is making up for lost "advocating time."

After years without a voice, he is now a trusted expert on

homelessness, a journalist, and an activist. "We made a state-

ment across the nation. We have people like the ACLU to

fight for people's rights," he says.

Now we have Williams and his fellow plaintiffs, too.

In addition to the ACLU, extensive work on the case

and on the settlement were performed by lead counsel

Paul Alexander, formerly a managing partner with

Heller Ehrman, LLP and now of Howrey LLP, Oren

Sellstrom of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights,

and Elisa Della-Piana, formerly of the Lawyers

Committee and now project director for the CLASS

self-help clinic and the homeless citation defense

program at the East Bay Community Law Center.

Hamed Aleazi.. 1 a forme, intern 11 te

Communications Department at the ACLU-NC and

currently a student at the University of Oregon in

Eugene where he studies journalism.

ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF 5

RESTORING OUR CONSTITUTIONAL

RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

n his third day in office, President Obama issued execu-

Gye orders putting an end to some of the worst Bush

Administration policies dealing with the detention of terror-

ism suspects. The executive orders call for:

m the closure of the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay within

a year and the halting of its military commissions;

m the end of the use of torture;

m the shuttering of secret prisons around the world; and

0x2122 a review of the detention of the only U.S. resident be-

ing held indefinitely as a so-called "enemy combatant" on

American soil. (The detainee, Ali al-Marri, is an ACLU

`These steps are promising first signs that the new administra-

tion may actively support a more open and honest government

and may take decisive steps to demonstrate to other countries

that we are a nation of integrity, able to follow our own laws.

But the task of restoring the Constitution has barely begun,

and resistance from many corners will surface and resurface in

familiar forms and in cynical rhetoric we have yet to hear.

Already there are mixed signals and one stark disappointment.

During oral arguments on Feb. 9 in San Francisco in the ACLU's

case against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen DataPlan, the company

that collaborated in the CIAs extraordinary rendition program,

attorneys from Eric Holder's Justice Department stuck to Bush

As he deliberates over when and how to restore civil liberties,

President Obama will need the active, ongoing support of ACLU

members if he is to summon the will and the way to follow

through on crucial civil liberties and human rights priorities.

Just as the Obama campaign worked wonders with email as

a tool for organizing and action, the ACLU has stepped up its

e-activism alongside more traditional forms of advocacy. The

most recent effort, a "Thank You for Acting" message to Presi-

dent Obama, signed by thousands and thousands of people,

sent a strong, clear message affirming the courage behind the

President's action. E-advocacy is a small but powerful gesture

that can make a big difference. If you haven't already done so,

Administration claims that the victims of torture and rendition sign up at the upper righthand corner of our homepage: www.

client in a case pending before the Supreme Court).

must be denied their day in court lest "state secrets" be revealed. -_ aclunc.org. @

CARRYING THE TORCH FORWARD: THE FIRST 100 DAYS

he ACLU has provided the White House, Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates-among others-with detailed proposals

for renewing American freedom.

Indeed, the executive orders signed on Jan. 22 contain many of the recommendations provided to the Obama transition team by the ACLU. (See www.aclu.org/transition).

Below is a sampling of actions that the ACLU proposes during the First 100 Days to decisively signal a restoration of American values.

1. WARRANTLESS SPYING.

Issue an executive order recognizing the president's obligation to comply with the Foreign Intelligence

Surveillance Act and other statutes, requiring the executive branch to do so, and prohibiting the Na-

tional Security Agency from collecting the communications, domestic or international, of U.S. citizens

and residents.

2. WATCH LISTS.

Issue an executive order requiring watch lists to be completely reviewed within three months, with

names limited to only those for whom there is credible evidence of terrorist ties or activities. Elminate

mechanisms for designating individuals and groups as terrorist suspects and preventing US persons and

companies from doing business with them - a power of such breadth that, the record shows, it inevitably

leads to the designation of many innocent people and does more harm than good.

3. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION.

Direct the attorney general to rescind the "Ashcroft Doctrine" regarding Freedom of Information Act

compliance, which instructs agencies to withhold information whenever there is a "sound legal basis" for

doing so, and return to the compliance standard under Attorney General Janet Reno, which promoted

an "overall presumption of disclosure" of government information through the Freedom of Information

Act unless it was "reasonably foreseeable that disclosure would be harmful."

4. MONITORING OF ACTIVISTS.

Direct the attorney general and other relevant agency heads, such as the Defense Department and

Homeland Security, to end government monitoring of political activists unless there is reasonable sus-

picion that they have committed a criminal act or are taking preparatory actions to do so.

5. DOJ'S CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION.

Order renewed civil rights enforcement at the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, par-

ON DAY ONE,

with the stroke of a pen,

you can restore America's moral leadership in the world.

ticularly in relation to voting rights, discrimination in employment, misconduct by law enforcement,

and prison conditions.

6. REAL ID ACT.

Direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to suspend the regulations for the Real ID Act pending

congressional review. (If implemented, the Real ID Act could establish a vast network of interlinking

databases containing enormous amounts of Americans' personal information -such as Social Security

numbers, photos, and copies of birth certificates-and would be accessible to federal and DMV em-

ployees across all 50 states.)

For the past eight years, The American Civil Liberties Union has led the

battle against the most un-American poilcies in recent history.

The Bush administrafion created a prison camp af Guantanamo - a place

where they claimed the law didn't apply. They detained hundreds of men

7. ABORTION GAG RULE. 2U ene :

Rescind the "Mexico City policy" or "Global Gag Rule," prohibiting foreign aid to organizations over-

seas that promote or perform abortions.

without charge or trial, prosecuted others in unconstitutional military

commissians and authorized torture. President-elect Coama. with a strake

of your presidential pen, on Day One of your administration. you can

ensure that our government will be faithful to the Constitution and to the

principles upon which America was founded. Close Guantanamo and shut

8. BAN ALL WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST SEXUAL MINORITIES

BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND ITS CONTRACTORS.

Issue an executive order prohibiting sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination by federal

contractors, and expand the existing order to also protect against gender identity discrimination.

down the military commissions. Give us back ine America we believe in.

Get involved. Ge to www.closegitmo.com

9. DEATH PENALTY.

Implement a federal death penalty moratorium until racial disparities are studied and addressed.

Before President Obama took office, thousands of ACLU members

and allies began calling on him to close the prison at Guantdnamo

Bay. The ACLU ran the ad you see here (above) in major

newspapers as a respectful and hopeful reminder of the promises

that candidate Obama made during his campaign.

10. "FAITH-BASED INITIATIVES."

Restore fundamental religious liberty protections by halting Bush Administration efforts to permit

direct funding of houses of worship, underwrite religious proselytism with taxpayer dollars, and allow

government-funded religious discrimination. and

6 | ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF

oa

CELEBRATING THE BILL OF RIGHTS

By Elaine Elinson

e all need each other to survive," sang the East Bay Church of Religious Science Choir at the

opening of our 350x2122 annual Bill of Rights Day Celebration. The soaring voices captured a bit-

tersweet moment: ACLU members were elated at the imminent end of an administration that

committed massive violations of civil liberties, and dismayed at the passage of Proposition 8, denying

fundamental rights to lesbians and gay men.

The event on December 7 in San Francisco's

Regency Center featured the presentation

of the Chief Justice Earl Warren Award, the

ACLU-NC's highest honor, to the National

Center for Lesbian Rights-a trailblazer in the

pursuit of justice, fairness and legal protections

for all LGBT people.

Kate Kendell, NCLR executive director and

a former ACLU-Utah staff attorney, accepted

the honor. It was the first time an organiza-

tion, rather than an individual, was given the

Warren award, a distinction that underscores

the magnitude of NCLR's leadership and ac-

complishments.

In presenting the award to Kendell, national

ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project direc-

tor Matt Coles lauded NCLR for its leading

role in the marriage equality case decided favor-

MICHAEL WOOLSEY

ably by the California Supreme Court in May, a

legal victory he called "breaktaking."

Kendell reminded the audience that in the

wake of the Proposition 8, there is much organizing work

to be done and "there are those waiting for us to be their

voice." Her words were underscored by a moving photo col-

lage created by ACLU-NC staffer Michael Woolsey, which

included wedding pictures of previous Warren award hon-

Alan Schlosser, Kate Kendell, Matt Coles, John Crew,

Phyllis Lyon, and Dick Grosboll at the Bill of Rights Day

celebration.

orees Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. Martin passed away on

August 27, but Lyon was in the audience.

"There were many moments after Prop. 8 that I felt dev-

astated, but Phyllis Lyon grabbed me by the shoulder and

said `we'll be fine!" Kendell noted, smiling at the lesbian

rights pioneer.

Kendell's prediction that "we know how this last

chapter will be written!" brought the audience of

300 to its feet.

ACLU-NC Acting Chair Dick Grosboll present-

ed the Lola Hanzel Courageous Advocacy Award

to 25-year veteran Berkeley activist Tom Sarbaugh,

who has served his chapter as treasurer, hotline vol-

unteer, and monitor of the Berkeley Police Review

Commission.

Grosboll also presented the Dick Criley Activ-

ism Award to the Greater Fresno Chapter, high-

lighting its role in the lawsuit protecting the rights

of homeless people that achieved an unprecedented

$2.35 million settlement. The award was accepted

by chapter chair Bill Simon and Al Williams, a

plaintiff in the suit.

Grosboll expressed the affiliate's appreciation for

sponsorship of the celebration to the law firm of

Howard Rice Nemerovski Canaday Falk 8 Rabin

and the Van Loben Sels/RembeRock Foundation.

He paid special tribute to the law firm Heller Eh-

rman for its sponsorship of the event in the past, and its

generous service to the ACLU-NC as general counsel; the

110-year-old firm dissolved this year. @

THINKING ABOUT BARACK OBAMA

Every step of Obama's ascension to the presidency bears an

aura of providence that is hard to deny or ignore. From his

parental lineage to his exceptional accomplishments, from his

electrifying prime time speech at the 2004 Democratic Con-

vention to his 2008 nomination 40 years to the day of Martin

Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech, Barack Obama is a

man whose life is marked by a higher purpose than perhaps

even he could have

imagined. He has

been chosen to lead

AS IF THE

AND DREA

AMERICAN

H

M

P

E

the most powerful

nation in the world

at a time when two

E

GH, terms of failed Re-

Sn PE

NOT CHALL

OBAMA ALSO HAS publican poucls

have left the United

MANAGED T0 G States disrespected,

disaffected and in

the worst economic

ED ARNER THE

GREAT EXPECTATIONS OF

THE ENTIRE WORLD.

condition since the

Great

- further evidence of

his date with destiny. And, as if the hopes and dreams of the

American people are not challenge enough, Obama also has

Depression

managed to garner the great expectations of the entire world.

Yet, he approaches the enormous work before him with a cool

resolve that suggests he knows exactly what he was put.on

earth to do.

And what will he do as President? About the economy,

the wars, foreign policy, education, health care and ensuring

equal protection for all citizens? About Abu Ghraib, abuses

continued from page 1

of executive and corporate power, partisan gridlock and the

politicization of government? How will he reconcile the

divide between his aspirations and the nation's realities? In

office for just one month as of this writing, Obama already

has begun to show us his vision of America. The country and

the world await with great anticipation to see if our brilliant,

young President can repair eight years of disregard for consti-

tutional principle and the separation of powers; restore U.S.

stature in the world by setting the country back on course

with its most deeply-held values; and make good on the sense

of hopefulness he has inspired. That he could motivate more

than two million people to endure the cold and to conduct

themselves without incident speaks volumes about the good

E will his election has gener-

ated.

What remains to be seen

of President Barack Obama

will unfold on the stage of

WHAT REMAINS TO B

SEEN OF PRESIDENT

BARACK OBAMA WILL

UNFOLD ONT

STAGE OF HIS

700 |

GRAS

AS W

HE history, too immense to

TORY be grasped fully by us as

ETO 8B

LLY BY US Prenant with possibility

for what the nation might

we live it---burdensome

0

MME

PED

E LIVE IT.

E in its gravity and promise,

B

N

Hl

NS

FU

become. Obama's election

reflects a seismic shift in

our political identity that

will forever mark the epicenter of this nation's evolution going

forward.

Succeed or fail, Obama has shattered for all time the fal-

lacious belief that only white men are competent and fit to

lead. This achievement, and that of Hilary Clinton-the first

woman to make a credible run for the White House-por-

tend a time when sending a woman or person of color to

the White House will be unremarkable. Until then, Obama's

election stands as a testament to the best and most enduring

aspect of this country: our ability to continually remake our-

selves as a nation, moving closer to those ideals we proclaim

to distinguish us from all others.

`That is the greatest achievement of all. m

Aundre Herron is a capital appeals defense attorney

and a member of the National ACLU Executive

Committee and Board of Directors.

ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF | 7

BEYOND PROP 8: THE WRITING ON THE WALL

By Matt Coles

fter the California Supreme Court's brilliant, inspiring decision last May saying that the state

could no longer deny lesbian and gay couples the ability to marry, losing Prop 8 at the polls

was a bitter pill. That it follows all the wonderful, vivid stories of people getting married, and

a similar victory by the Connecticut Supreme Court that seemed to put us on a roll, makes it all the

more difficult to accept. But indulge me for a look back in history.

Intimacy for same sex couples was a crime in California

until 1974. There wasn't a single law recognizing LGBT

relationships anywhere in the U.S. until the Berkeley

Unified School District passed one in 1984.

In 1982, we passed a domestic partnership law in San

Francisco, the country's first. Despite having carefully laid

the groundwork, it was vetoed without warning, and a

vote essential to an override defected the next day. It took

EIGHT

WE

us seven years to get it

passed again. And when

we did, our opponents

got enough signatures

to put it on the ballot in

30 days. We ran one of

the most expensive lo-

cal initiative elections in

California history. And

we lost, 50.5 to 49.5. In

1990, we put it back on

the ballot again and won.

But the next year, we had

to defend it again against an attempted repeal initiative.

Even in San Francisco, we had to go through the process

of trying to pass a simple domestic partnership law five

times, and we lost twice. If you run up an unbroken string

of victories in any battle for civil rights, that simply means

you waited too long to get to work. Change that matters is

never smooth or easy.

No on 8 activists rally at the Mt. Diablo Unitarian

Universalist Church in Walnut Creek.

It is important to go over the campaign carefully

and learn from our mistakes. But we need to resist the

temptation to blame ourselves for the loss. Thousands

of very good people worked their hearts out on this,

and they deserve our thanks. The victims of an injustice

should never be blamed for failing to end it unless they

don't try. And you can't say that we didn't try, and try

damn hard.

We didn't lose by much. Eight years ago, on virtually

the same question, we could only get 39 percent. On

election day, we got over 48. We've come a long way in

what is, in cultural history, a short time.

It would have been great to defeat Prop. 8-it is al-

ways great to make the promises of the Constitution

real. But the handwriting is on the wall. There are other

states where we'll be able to get marriage in the next few

years, and others where we'll get domestic partnerships

and civil unions. Millions of Californians are now able

to live their lives without hiding their love. And as long

as we keep the pressure on-and we will-we'll win this

thing. In just a few years, Proposition 8 will be but a

dim memory. and

Matt Coles, a former ACLU-NC staff attorney,

is Diurecton of wwe AChO- FGBT and Alas

project and the author of Try This at Homel,

a practical guide to passing nondiscrimination

and domestic partnership laws.

THE CASE AGAINST PROP 8

invalidate Proposition 8.

Our case, Strauss v. Horton, argues that the

initiative process was improperly used in an at-

tempt to undo the constitution's core commit-

ment to equality for everyone by eliminating a

fundamental right from just one group-les-

bian and gay Californians. Proposition 8 also

attempts to prevent the courts from exercising

their essential constitutional role of protecting

the equal protection rights of minorities.

According to the California Constitution,

such radical changes to the organizing prin-

ciples of our state government cannot be made

by simple majority vote through the initiative

process, but instead must, at a minimum, go

through the state legislature first.

Forty-three "friend of the court" briefs

MICHAEL WOOLSEY

were filed affirming our argument as of Jan.

21, highlighting the extraordinary breadth of

support among the full gamut of state and

national civil rights organizations and legal

scholars, as well as among local governments, bar associations,

business interests, labor unions, and religious groups. Sixty-

five current and former California legislators officially support

our claims presented to the court. Additionally, the City and

County of San Francisco filed a writ petition, and was joined

by the City of Los Angeles and Santa Clara County.

A brief authored by Professor Karl Manheim, one of the

foremost authorities on California's initiative process, stated:

"Proposition 8 . . . improperly attempts to revise the Con-

stitution by taking the unprecedented step of singling out a

Opponents of Prop 8 await the results from the polls on election night at the

St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco.

suspect class and depriving that class-and only that class-of

a fundamental right."

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Equality California and six

couples who did not marry before the election but would like to

be able to marry now.

Serving as co-counsel on the case with the ACLU, NCLR, and

Lambda Legal are the Law Office of David C. Codell, Munger,

Tolles and Olson LLP, and Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe LLP.

The California Supreme Court may hear oral argument in the

case as early as March. @

mmediately after the November election, the ACLU-NC, Lambda Legal and the National Center

for Lesbian Rights filed a writ petition in the California Supreme Court urging the court to

What changes "hearts and minds"

and generates new support for

equality? Conversations, peer to

peer.

The ACLU is helping spearhead

a campaign to prompt LGBT

people and their supporters to

have three conversations with

friends and family to help build

Cup pore jon Gb)

particularly marriage equality.

equality,

We are on the cusp of a tipping point, so start

talking!

Visit www.aclunc.org - click on the Tell 3 icon, and

then come back to share your experiences with us.

8 | ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF

WHAT'S IN YOUR WALLET?

NEW LAW WILL STRENGTHEN DATA PRIVACY

By Rebecca Farmer

ou wouldnt you let a stranger go through your wallet and take

away your driver's license or credit card. You wouldn't want your

children to announce to passers-by on the street their name, age,

and where they attend school. But tiny computer chips that carry our

personal information, called Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

tags, are much more forthcoming when unprotected.

RFID chips can be embedded in documents like drivers'

licenses, student or medical ID cards, or building access cards,

and store data such as your name, address, and social security

number. Originally invented to track cows, the chips have

been adapted to the task of tracking and monitoring people.

Are you suspicious? Is your mind racing toward unsettling

implications? There's more.

Without adequate privacy and security protections, the

personal information embedded on the chips can be read at a

distance with an RFID reader. When the reader emits a radio

signal, RFID tags in the vicinity automatically transmit their

stored information to the reader. This in-

formation can be "skimmed" at a distance

without anyone realizing it, and then used

maliciously for tracking, counterfeiting,

and identity theft. (Collecting informa-

tion contained on RFID tags without

permission is called "skimming.")

Devices that can both skim and clone an RFID tag can be

built for as little as $25, and be both compact in size and unas-

suming in appearance. (See photo on this page.)

RFID protection has privacy, public safety, and financial

security implications. The ACLU-NC has pursued RFID pro-

tections for years, beginning in early 2005 when we learned

ORIGINALLY INVENTED 10

TRACK COWS, RFID CHIPS

NOW MONITOR PEOPLE.

that school children in Sutter, CA, were coming home wearing

ID badges embedded with these small computer chips. With

the ACLU's help, parents successfully petitioned the school

to remove the RFID tags. These parents didn't know at the

time that their privacy and security concerns would spark a

firestorm of public debate and policy reform.

`Thanks to steady public education and advocacy, California

has finally taken a decisive first step to protect the privacy, per-

sonal safety, and financial security of millions of state residents.

In October, legislators passed and the Governor signed SB 31,

which makes it a crime to read information stored in RFID

tags embedded in ID documents with-

out that person's knowledge and prior

consent. SB 31 was authored by Sen. Joe

Simitian (D-Palo Alto), sponsored by the

ACLU, and supported by a diverse group

of organizations.

Disturbingly, the Governor vetoed a related RFID bill dur-

ing the same legislative session, despite the bipartisan support

it had received. SB 29 would have required parents' consent

before RFID technology could be used in school identification

documents. Two years earlier, the Governor vetoed another ef-

fort by Simitian to ensure that RFID tags used in government-

issued IDs have technological protections, like encryption, to

PROP 4:HOW WE WON (AGAIN)

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

caring mother after caring mother would look her in the

eyes and say gently and slowly, "J would want to know." To

which Alicia would say what we know well: "Of course you

would want to know. And most teens do tell their parents.

This measure would put those who can't in grave danger."

So how did we make

it to the tipping point Yow

Workdwice | Engle

were absolutely pivotal, as was the growth of the activist base

that enabled them.

`The staffing behind the victory was skeletal. But with the

support of our larger staff and committed donors, we were

determined to make the No on 4 effort "the little campaign

that could."

We are extremely proud

wherein enough vot-

ers-a margin of less than

400,000-understood that

Prop. 4 would put teens in

harm's way?

We defeated Prop. 4 the

old fashioned way-con-

versation by conversation,

endorsement by endorse-

ment, meeting by meeting,

tally by rally, media inter-

view by media interview.

We recruited volunteers

to converse, night after

night, with registered vot-

"Home Videos Channels Community

Activists instrumental in Defeat of Prop 4

that we did.

It would be nice to

forego the experience of

defeating parental notifica-

tion for a fourth time. But

another battle is already

on the horizon. There is a

silver lining, however, and

it may be worth its weight

in gold.

We are part of a much

larger family, the California

Coalition for Reproductive

Freedom. Now 50 organi-

zations strong, CCRF is, in

ers across the state, rein-

forcing our message that

Prop. 4 would endanger

teens. The tight coordi-

nation and extraordinary

dedication resulted in

more 120,000 conversa-

tions. We believe these

ACLU-NC New Media Strategist Catrina Roallos

created two videos that bring the grassroots victory

over Prop 4 into focus.

Check us out: "How We Won: Prop 4"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=docmApJbYz8

"Activists Instrumental in Defeat of Prop 4"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=docmAp]bYz8

the opinion of ACLU-NC

reproductive rights attorney

Margaret Crosby, "the best

reproductive rights coali-

tion in the country." With

each initiative battle, the

coalition grows larger and

stronger. #

An RFID skimming device, attractively packaged.

make sure they cannot be read and copied from a distance.

"People are surprised to learn that all it takes to copy and

clone insecure RFID tags are a few spare parts purchased

online and some reason to want access to your information,"

said Nicole Ozer, ACLU-NC Technology and Civil Liberties

Policy Director. "Until now, there's been zero legal recourse for

unauthorized RFID skimming. With technology evolving so

quickly, it is essential that privacy law keep up."

But enforcing laws on RFID skimming will be an ongoing

challenge. Because RFID tags can be read at a distance, it

will be difficult to actually catch people breaking this law. A

crucial next step in protecting our privacy and safety will be

to ensure that driver's licenses and other government ID do

not use insecure RFID technology.

NANCY PEMBERTON

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3

ful deliberation that often leads to good policymak-

ing. She points to a 1993 decision to oppose the

privatization of prisons, for example, that led to

a socially responsible investment policy govern-

ing ACLU reserve funds. A policy in 1994 helped

guide the affiliate's approach to balancing the rights

of protestors with the rights of clients at abortion

clinics. And a policy on campaign finance, passed

in 1995, called for limiting campaign contributions

without adversely affecting speech rights, a balance

that many feel put the ACLU-NC a step ahead of

the national ACLU.

Looking back on the way that governance of the

ACLU-NC has evolved, Nancy points to the devel-

opment of a major gifts program in the early 1980s

as a pivotal turning point.

"Once board members were expected to make a

personal commitment to raising money, a new sense of

community and purpose blossomed," she explained.

The shift, emphasizing the fiduciary responsibility of

the board, resulted in a stronger organization, one

more in touch with its community.

Nancy has always led by "walking the walk" herself.

"Nancy is a heroine of the civil liberties move-

ment who has, all her life, exemplified her values of

fairness, respect and integrity in all her doings," says

Development Director Cheri Bryant. "To have her

depth of knowledge at the service of the ACLU as our

Board Chair at this time is incredibly valuable." m=

Laura Saponara (lsaponara@aclunc.org) is

ACLU-NC's Communications Director.

ACLU BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF | 9