vol. 84, no. 1

Gold Chains: The Hidden History

of Slavery in California garners

statewide attention

p. 2

Legal Updates

p. 4

CENTER SPREAD

Celebrating the ACLU's centennial

and launching a new digital resource:

the ACLU News historical archives

. .

_ AMERICAN es FREE SPEECH

CIVIL LIWERTIES a FREE PHESS

UNION - NEWS ` FREE ASSEMBLAGE

Sshinteway

The ACLU's District Attorney advocacy

p. 8

NonProfit

Organization

U.S. Postage

PAID

Permit No. 11168

San Francisco, CA

American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

39 Drumm St.

San Francisco, CA 94111

ACLU

Northern

California

, THE NEWSLETTER OF THE ACLU

psu : OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

p , WINTER 2020

Eu : VOLUME LXXXIV ISSUE 1

ADVANCING VOTING RIGHTS

IN CALIFORNIA

BY TAMMERLIN DRUMMOND

In November, Americans will go to the polls in a momentous election.

The very future of our democracy is at stake as President Donald Trump

continues to abuse the powers of his office for personal and political

gain, while his administration runs roughshod over civil liberties.

At such a defining moment for

our country, the ACLU is working

with a heightened sense of urgency

to ensure that every eligible citizen

has an opportunity to exercise their

constitutional right to vote. We

have filed landmark lawsuits and

successfully advocated for laws and

other measures that protect voting

and make it more accessible for

everyone.

"2019 was a banner year for the

ACLU's voting rights work here in

California and across the country,"

said Abdi Soltani, executive

director of the ACLU of Northern

California. "We scored key victories

in state legislatures and in the

U.S. Supreme Court that expanded

and protected the voting rights of

millions of people."

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

Are you ready to vote

in the Presidential

Primary on March 3?

SEE THE BACK PAGE.

WWW.RIGHTSFORALL.ORG

Since its release last November,

(R) GLO CHAINS | {HE HIDDEN HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN CALIFORNIA

word about our public education

project, Gold Chains: The Hidden

History of Slavery in California

(website snapshots at right),

has spread through various

platforms. Mainstream and online

publications have written about it.

Our media partner, KQED Radio,

has profiled Gold Chains stories

on their show The California

Report and will produce more in

the coming months. To date, the

site has had over 30,000 views.

There have been 1.4 million

impressions on Facebook, Twitter,

and Instagram.

On Feb. 1, we participated in "Night of Ideas,"

an annual all-night marathon of philosophical

debate, performances, and interactive experiences

designed to spur dialogue, co-presented by KQED

and the French Consulate in San Francisco. This

year's theme was "Living on the Edge," and

we curated a session under the theme "Truth

Doubt." In March, we will participate in a

daylong workshop hosted by the UC Berkeley

History and Social Project aimed to engage

Bay Area teachers by using the Ken Burns

film The Gene about eugenics and our website

Gold Chains: The Hidden History of Slavery

in California. Also in March, we will present

the Gold Chains Project to the staff of the San

Quentin Newspaper and to students in the

Prison University Project. @

WWW.GOLDCHAINSCA.ORG

The publication of the

American Civil Liberties

Union of Northern California

For more information about the ACLU,

call (415) 621-2493 or visit www.aclunc.org.

Address changes: giving@aclunc.org

Farah Brelvi, Chair

Abdi Soltani, Executive Director

Candice Francis, Editor-in-Chief

Gigi Harney, Managing Editor and Designer

Jessie Seyfer, Proofreader

39 Drumm Street, San Francisco, CA 94111

(415) 621-2493 | editor@aclunc.org

ps A

CALIFORNIA IS MIRED IN CO

executive director of the ACLU of Northern California.

EXPLORE

It has a reputation as the proverbial "Golden State" of opportunity,

promise, innovation, and fearless resistance. But there is an inconvenient

truth that may surprise anyone who learned that California decried slavery

and was admitted to the Union as a "free" state. "Little known is the

fact that the state's founding went hand in hand with official government

policies that sanctioned slavery and genocide," says Abdi Soltani,

Cultural

Genocide

Kidnapped,

STR CT]

"Kill the Indian... and save

Looking to satisfy demands

for cheap household laber,

California passed a law that

the man" was the founding

mission of Indian Boarding

Schools, a massive

ye - e :

White ACME La

Supremacist CCE

Ay

Le Bridget "Biddy" Mason was

The first elected governor of brought as aslave to

California, Peter Hardeman Pe oe os C

Burnett, advocated for the ror nan . amily's a

genocide of Native people oe what became a

and tried to ban blacks from andmark court case.

the state. en

READ MORE

sia ee Pee ee |

Vee el

encouraged the kidnapping See acta

of Native Children. ee U sans

children in state-run

READ MORE" institutions.

READ MORE'

ges eee

Read, listen, and watch to explore the hidden history of California at www.GoldChainsCA.org.

WANT TO CHANGE YOUR

MAILING PREFERENCES?

PLEASE CONTACT US AT

GIVING@ACLUNC.ORG

JOIN US AT

CONFERENCE and

LOBBY DAY

April 19-20, 2020

Sacramento, CA

(i,

WWW.ACLUNC.ORG/CLD

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

HOWARD AND PHYLLIS FRIEDMAN, AND THE FRIEDMAN FAMILY:

SEVEN DECADES OF PHILANTHROPY AND ACTIVISM

BY ABDI SOLTANI

When Phyllis Friedman passed away on July 2, 2019, she marked a long

life of 95 years. When she was asked what her obituary should read,

Phyllis said, "Say Pve had a wonderful life."

Along with her husband Howard, that wonderful life included

involvement in a range of civic and philanthropic causes. Indeed, the

family's relationship with the ACLU spans the better part of seven

decades. As the ACLU celebrates its Centennial in 2020, it is remarkable

to think that a single person could be engaged for seven decades of that

century. Phyllis did just that.

Phyllis and Howard's adult children, Bobby, David, and Ellie, and their

spouses as well as their children, continue the legacy of supporting civil

rights and social justice, each in their own way.

Phyllis's children wrote in her obituary that

"She never claimed credit for any of her good

works and considered donor recognition walls to

be `philanthropic graffiti." In fact, Phyllis would

likely have initially objected to this article but

would have ultimately agreed to it, knowing that

it may inspire or engage others more deeply.

THE EARLY YEARS - 1950s AND 1960s

Howard Friedman joined the Board of the ACLU

of Northern California in 1956. He then served as

the Chair of the Board from 1961 to 1965. When

Howard stepped into the Chair role, the November

1961 issue of ACLU News notes that "Phyllis at one

time headed a successful ACLU membership drive

in the San Mateo area." She was already building

our base.

After four years of service as Board Chair, in

1965, Howard wrote a letter to the membership

outlining the significant accomplishments of

the period. He highlighted the historic defeat

of Proposition 14, which would have reinstated

housing discrimination had it passed. He also

made changes to the organization that endure

to this day. Howard wrote "we recognize the

need of a unified lobbying program under

one legislative representative acting for both

Northern and Southern California ACLU

affiliates, resulting in a single ACLU voice in

Sacramento." He also began the process for

the ACLU of Northern California to rejoin the

national ACLU as a fully integrated affiliate

after the breach between the organizations

due to significant disagreements on how the

ACLU should respond to Japanese-American

internment and the Red Scare.

There was another legacy that Howard's

term on the board left behind-dinner table

conversations about civil liberties with Phyllis and

their three children. Ellie even attended her first

ACLU-NC board meeting at the age of 10.

ACLUNEWS

A TRANSFORMATIVE GIFT FOR THE FUTURE

Howard passed away in 1988. Three years

later, Ellie was elected to the ACLU-NC Board.

Ellie and Phyllis's involvement in the ACLU

deepened. Phyllis began making annual gifts to

establish a new program at ACLU-NC focused

on youth engagement, the Howard A. Friedman

First Amendment Project. Her own children had

grown up with the ACLU, and Phyllis wanted the

opportunity for other young people to be exposed to

civil liberties. In 1996, Phyllis made an endowment

gift to support the project in perpetuity.

Today, the endowment continues to support

engagement of youth and young adults in the

ACLU: a summer institute in Washington, D.C.

for high school students, a conference this fall

for California youth held in Los Angeles, and the

Field Fellowship through which young adults

engage in advocacy in a range of issues, from

immigrants' rights to voting rights.

ACTIVISM THAT MADE AN IMPACT

At Phyllis's memorial in August 2019,

Congresswoman Jackie Speier told a story about

how effective Phyllis was as an advocate. A

friend who was on the faculty in the University of

California system had brought to Phyllis's attention

the scant representation of women faculty. With

an expected wave of retirements and hiring, the

university was about to miss an opportunity to

diversify its faculty. Phyllis was incensed, and

moved to action. She knew exactly what to do. She

arranged a meeting with then State Sen. Speier,

who took up the cause in her oversight role as a

legislator, prompting significant change toward

gender inclusivity in UC's hiring practices.

AN ENDURING IMPACT

Phyllis was a master of the art of the written

word, specifically letter-writing. Phyllis's children

estimate that she wrote 50,000 letters over her

lifetime. Among these were many letters to

Longtime ACLU-NC donor Phyllis Friedman

the ACLU. One of those letters was to Dorothy

Ehrlich, the former Executive Director of the

ACLU-NC, in which Phyllis wrote "I shall always

be there for you and the ACLU."

She was equally powerful with her spoken

words of encouragement. After the disappointing

defeat of the 2012 ballot measure that would have

ended the death penalty, Dorothy (who by then

was national ACLU's Deputy Director) visited

Phyllis and asked her how she dealt with the

defeat. Phyllis said, "that just fires me up to do

more." What was remarkable about her is not just

how long her flame burned, but how brightly it lit

the way, and the warmth we felt from her.

She was also a prankster. Dorothy was puzzled

as to why Dick Cheney had sent her a box of

chocolates on Valentine's Day. "It didn't take me

long to figure out it had to be Phyllis Friedman."

Dorothy ate the chocolates.

Phyllis and Howard embodied that principle

of unwavering and enduring impact on an

organization, but more importantly, to a cause.

Over seven decades, Phyllis herself was always

there for the ACLU. And she fired us up to do

more. The legacy of Phyllis and Howard's impact

endures through the changes to ACLU-NC that

Howard initiated, the endowment Phyllis created

in perpetuity, the countless young people whose

lives were transformed by those programs, and

the continued involvement of their family in the

organization. Phyllis, we are fired up to do more. @

Abdi Soltani is the Executive Director of the ACLU

of Northern California.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FRIEDMAN FAMILY

LEGAL UPDATES

BY BRADY HIRSCH AND CARMEN KING

MINTON V. DIGNITY HEALTH

CATHOLIC HOSPITALS NOT EXEMPT FROM

ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAWS

In a significant victory, a California Court of

Appeal ruled that Evan Minton, the plaintiffin a

case filed by the ACLU Foundation of Northern

California, the ACLU Foundation of Southern

California, the ACLU LGBT and HIV Project,

and the law firm Covington and Burling LLP, can

pursue his discrimination case against Dignity

Health for denying him access to health care

because he is transgender.

In 2016, Dignity Health denied Evan

a medically necessary and time-sensitive

hysterectomy after learning he is transgender.

"When my doctor told me that Dignity Health

cancelled my surgery because of who I am, I was

distraught, hopeless, and terrified," said Evan,

"T contended with and fought for my identity for

so long, climbing over hill and high mountain to

get to this point. For this hospital to cancel my

necessary and important health care, based solely

upon who I am, is painful beyond comprehension."

Across the country, transgender people face

barriers to health care, including gender-affirming

For this hospital to cancel

my necessary and important

health care, based solely upon

who | am, is painful beyond

comprehension.

-plaintiff Evan Minton,

who was denied medically

necessary health care by

Dignity Health

care. Many Catholic hospitals continue to deny

patients access to transition-related health

care, and as their share of the hospital market

continues to grow, it poses a significant threat to

LGBTQ health care. This ruling is the first time

a court has confirmed that Catholic hospitals are

not exempt from anti-discrimination laws, and

that they, like all other businesses open to the

general public, cannot turn away someone just

because they are transgender.

Dignity Health appealed the decision, which

the California Supreme Court refused to hear,

and the ACLU will continue to fight the case if it

progresses.

DIGNITY HEALTH AND UCS

ADVOCATES BLOW THE WHISTLE ON

RELIGIOUS RESTRICTIONS AT UC MEDICAL

CENTERS

In May, reproductive rights and LGBTQ

advocates notched a major win when UCSF

dropped its a plan for an extensive partnership

with Dignity Health, a Catholic healthcare

network. At that time, advocates hoped UC

had learned from the experience and would

not engage in other agreements that would

place religious restrictions on LGBTQ and

reproductive health care.

Since then, the ACLU has learned that every

UC campus with a medical center already has

contracts with religiously-affiliated hospitals that

impose religious restrictions on UC providers,

limiting the care they can provide their patients.

For example, UCSF and UCLA both have entered

into contracts containing a gag rule that prohibits

providers from even talking about contraception

with patients.

In response, the ACLU sent letters to every

relevant UC, and publicly released documents

revealing the extent of the existing partnerships.

Partnerships of this type undermine UC's

stated values of equity and inclusion, as well as

UC's obligations as a governmental institution.

The ACLU has demanded that UC terminate

these contracts and refrain from entering into any

new ones that would impose religious restrictions

on UC providers or patients.

GARRIS V. FBI

JOURNALIST WINS PRIVACY ACT LAWSUIT

Over 15 years ago, the FBI began monitoring

journalists Justin Raimondo and Eric Garris, the

editors of the foreign policy online publication

Antiwar.com. The FBI initiated a "threat

assessment" of the journalists after they

published articles skeptical of the government's

post-September 11 statements and linked to

publicly-available government watch lists. The

FBI kept memos collecting and describing a wide

range of Raimondo and Garris's journalism and

public statements-all protected by the First

Amendment-even though a field office concluded

that journalists posed no threat to national

security.

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California

and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

filed a Freedom of Information Act and Privacy

Act lawsuit seeking the FBI's files on the

journalists and to destroy the records of their

First Amendment-protected activity. The ACLU

argued that the FBI lacked any law enforcement

justification to maintain extensive files about

Raimondo and Garris's press activities.

After an eight-year legal battle, the journalists

finally triumphed. The Ninth Circuit Court of

Appeals reversed an earlier court ruling and

ordered that the FBI threat assessment be

deleted.

After an eight-year legal

battle, the journalists

finally triumphed.

ALASSAD V. MCALLENAN

COURT RULES WARRANTLESS DEVICE

SEARCHES AT U.S. BORDERS UNLAWFUL

In 2017, the ACLU of Northern California

represented Aaron Gach, a Bay Area-based artist,

in filing a civil rights complaint after agents

with Customs and Border Protection forced him

to unlock his electronic devices for an arbitrary

government search during customs at San

Francisco International Airport.

Later that year, Gach became one of 11

plaintiffs represented by the ACLU, the

Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the ACLU of

Massachusetts in a federal lawsuit filed against.

the Department of Homeland Security. Gach and

the other 10 plaintiffs were all travelers whose

smartphones and laptops were searched without

warrants at the U.S. border.

In November 2019, the plaintiffs secured a

major victory for privacy rights, after a federal

court in Boston ruled that the government's

suspicionless searches of international travelers'

electronic devices at airports and other U.S. ports

of entry violate the Fourth Amendment.

This ruling significantly advances privacy

protections for the millions of international

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

travelers who enter the United States every

year. The number of electronic device searches

conducted by federal agents at U.S. ports of entry

has increased significantly over the past few

years. Last year, Customs and Border Protection

conducted more than 33,000 searches, a fourfold

surge in the number of searches compared to just

three years prior.

By imposing constitutional privacy limits on

the government's ability to arbitrarily raid our

electrotonic devices, the Massachusetts federal

court made a strong statement that people don't

lose their privacy rights when they cross the

border.

Since that federal lawsuit was filed , the ACLU

of Northern California has continued fighting

to ensure the government cannot rifle through

our electronic devices at the border without

individualized suspicion. In April 2019, the

affiliate filed a civil rights complaint on behalf of

Andreas Gal, an Apple engineer who alleged that

customs agents threatened retaliation if he did

not submit his devices for a search.

IN RE RICARDO

COURT RECOGNIZES PRIVACY RIGHTS OF

JUVENILE PROBATIONERS

In a major victory for privacy rights, the

California Supreme Court invalidated an

expansive "electronic search condition" imposed

on a young person on probation that required

him to submit his electronic devices and online

accounts (including passwords) for searches at

any time and without cause. The Supreme Court

agreed, recognizing that young people-even those

on probation-have a right to privacy that allows

them the space and safety to learn, communicate,

and grow without constant scrutiny of their

personal electronic information.

At oral argument, the ACLU of Northern

California's Chris Conley argued that the

sweeping search condition was invalid because it

was unreasonable: it was both incredibly broad

The ACLU Foundations of

California argued in an amicus

brief before the California

Supreme Court:

"The price of any youthful

transgression cannot be that the

government has an all-access,

long-term pass to a person's

private life that chills access

to the supportive communities

and rehabilitative services that

will help build a healthy and

productive future."

The California Supreme

Court agreed.

and entirely unconnected to the young person's

offense or prior history, and thus substantially

infringed upon his right to privacy without a

sufficient countervailing justification.

The Supreme Court's opinion reflects precisely

this reasoning: it does not reject electronic search

requirements outright but makes it clear that

they may only be imposed if (and to the extent)

the specific circumstances of the case justify doing

so. They are not allowed as a routine condition

imposed on every young person who is pulled into

the criminal justice system.

As the ACLU Foundations of California

argued in their brief: "The price of any youthful

transgression cannot be that the government

has an all-access, long-term pass to a person's

private life that chills access to the supportive

communities and rehabilitative services that

will help build a healthy and productive

future." In rejecting blanket electronic search

conditions for juvenile probationers, the

Supreme Court has taken a significant step to

prevent this from happening and help young

people on probation obtain the information and

support they need.

FOIA CASE RE FBI

SURVEILLANCE OF REFUGEES

DISCLOSURE OF DOCUMENTS RELATED TO

REFUGEE SURVEILLANCE

The Trump administration has radically

restricted the admission of refugees to the United

States. To build support for this policy, the

Administration has sought to demonize refugees

by repeatedly making unfounded accusations

that they present a threat to national security.

As a result, refugees report being singled out

by the government and targeted for increased

surveillance.

On Oct. 21, 2019, the ACLU Foundation of

Northern California, along the International

Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) and Muslim

Advocates, filed a lawsuit under the Freedom

of Information Act to make several government

agencies disclose records concerning the

surveillance and investigation of refugees here in

the United States. Our lawsuit seeks to uncover

information that can allow the public to test

the administration's inflammatory claims that

hundreds of refugees are being investigated

as potential national security threats. Initial

proceedings in the case are set for early 2020. @

Brady Hirsch and Carmen King are

Communications Associates at the ACLU of

Northern California.

~ KNOW THE FACTS and

React Scr

Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and

South Asian communities frequently face requests

for "interviews" by federal law enforcement.

We recently updated Know Your Rights

at Airports and Borders: Searches

www.aclunc.org/KYR/AMEMSA

ACLUNEWS

LAUNCHING THE ACLU NEWS DIGITAL ARCHIVES

BY ELAINE ELINSON

2020 is the National ACLU's centennial anniversary. To mark that milestone, the ACLU of Northern

California is making our history since our founding accessible digitally. In collaboration with the California

Historical Society, the ACLU-NC is launching an ambitious project of digitizing all issues of the ACLU

News. Every page of every edition will be instantly searchable. This means that researchers from around the

country and around the world will have access to all the information stored in them-with a simple click.

Case histories, legislative campaigns, and issues the ACLU-NC has worked on used to take days, weeks, or

months to locate-but will now be available in seconds.

On my first day at the ACLU of Northern

California in 1980, Executive Director Dorothy

Ehrlich showed me my office furnished with an

electric typewriter, a land line phone, a shelf

with a dictionary, a thesaurus, and a copy of the

California Constitution. These were essential

tools for a Communications Director. On the

corner of that bookshelf, I noticed five oversized

volumes, faux leather covers embossed with

dates: 1986-1945, 1946-1958, all the way up

through the 1970s.

Curious, I peeked inside. They were bound

copies of the ACLU News, in continuous

publication since 1936, when first edited by

Executive Director Ernest Besig. I thumbed

through the yellowing copies-very carefully

because the paper was fragile and torn in some

places-and read articles about labor strife,

police raids on gay clubs, and the incarceration

of Japanese Americans.

But there was no time for leisurely reading.

It was the beginning of the Reagan era and the

ACLU-NC was busy, as it is now. Our lawyers

were defending the rights of federal employees

to strike, for Iranian students to demonstrate,

and for all women-rich or poor-in California to

have the reproductive health care of their choice.

During my tenure as ACLU News editor, I

continued to save copies to be archived, and

ACLU-NC communications staff diligently kept

up that responsibility.

Eight decades of editions of the ACLU

News contain a treasure trove of civil liberties

history-but, up until now, they have been

inaccessible to anyone who cannot peruse them

in person.

That is about to change with this digitization

project.

ACLU-NC Executive Director Abdi Soltani,

a lover of history, said that it had long been a

dream of his to create this digital archive. "Our

affiliate has been a leader in civil liberties in

many ways, so as we celebrate the Centennial of

the nationwide ACLU, it seemed a perfect time

to digitally archive all of our newsletters."

ACLU Creative Strategist Gigi Harney was

tapped to coordinate the project, seeking input

from affiliate staff, consulting with previous

staff members, and coordinating with archivists

and data experts from the California Historical

Society (CHS).

Our history reveals to current

activists the inspiring long-term

efforts that built the movement

for civil rights and liberties.

-ACLU-NC Executive Director

Abdi Soltani

"ACLU-NC staff are still busy fighting day-

to-day violations of civil liberties-possibly

busier than ever," said Soltani, "but we all felt it

was crucial to carve out time to make this vital

history accessible to those who are fighting-

sometimes the same issues-today."

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ARCHIVES

The ACLU of Northern California has a long

relationship with the California Historical Society.

Frances Kaplan, CHS reference and

outreach librarian, said that the ACLU-NC

collection is one of the largest in the CHS

archives. The first ACLU-NC records were

donated to CHS in 1977 (made possible

by support from the National Historical

Publications and Records Commission) with

additional deposits leading to the present.

CHS now has 167 linear feet of ACLU-NC

records that span the years shortly after the

founding of the ACLU-NC during the 1934

General Strike to the present.

Kaplan explained that in addition to the

ACLU News, the collection includes boxes of

legal cases as well as reports, correspondence

and other documents that illuminate major civil

liberties fights over the decades.

SEARCHING THROUGH HISTORY

Al Bersch, metadata and systems librarian at

CHS, helped to figure out how to organize such

a high volume of information (approximately

4,500 pages of content) in ways that will be most

helpful for researchers. The system he devised

incorporates standard Library of Congress

(LOC) research keywords as well as keywords

developed by the ACLU-NC.

LOC keywords are important because they

are a shared language that researchers use.

However, because Congress approves each

term, many preferred terms we use in the social

justice movement aren't included. So, we are

going both routes: using LOC keywords but also

adding our own.

The ACLU News will not only provide

information and context about what the ACLU-

NC was working on at. a particular time, but

once searchable, they will also help researchers

locate case files housed at CHS. "I cannot over-

emphasize how heavily requested the ACLU-NC

materials are," Kaplan noted. "Nearly every

week someone comes to the library or contacts

me by email about something that they either

believe is in the records, or a research question

that I know will be answered by going through

the ACLU-NC archives."

Researchers will be able to search the ACLU

News online for the case or subject they are

interested in, see what year and what names were

connected to it, and then use that information as

a springboard to additional research.

EXPLORE THE ARCHIVES

The digitized ACLU News editions back up and preserve the physical archives

at the California Historical Society, and make the newsletters available to

anyone anywhere in the world.

Find the first decade of the ACLU News archives now at

WWW.ACLUNC.ORG/ARCHIVES/CHS

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

AMERICAN

CIVIL LIBERTIES

UNION-NEWS

Vol, TX

`ceastry at _ tearm Segregation Center are

counsel, rncat SLE local : ;

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FREE SPEECH

FREE PRESS

FREE ASSEMBLAGE

ae

cent

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, AUGUST, 1944 z

TYRANNY REIGNS AT TULE LAKE

18 Citizens Imprisoned Without

Charges For Over Eight Months

i th that citizens of

The American Civil Liberties Union charged last mon i nes sass ee es

Draft Charges Against 26

Tule Lake Nisei Dismissed

U. 5. District Judge Louis Goodman on

July 22 dismissed indictments against 26

citizens of Japanese ancestry residing at

the Tule Lake Segregation Center who

were charged with violating the Selective

Service Act by failing to report for induc-

tion. Judge Goodman held that because of

their detention, the defendants were not

"free agents" and consequently they were

in no position to take voluntary action.

ELS Be

" Internal Security (Caucasian) police

escorted the Union's representatives from

the Center after the camp director declared

that their presence was Interfering with an

investigation of a recent murder.

Gostapo-like conditions at the Con-

ter can be judged by the fact that

someone there poured a sack of sugar

p of mail o

Abuse in Japanese internment camps and

widespread racial discrimination shows

distressing parallels to today's civil and

immigration issues.

LEARNING FROM HISTORY: PARALLELS

FROM THE EARLY YEARS OF THE ACLU-NC

The project is launching in February 2020

with the first decade of the ACLU News. That

decade alone-from 1936-1945-contains crucial

and fascinating stories, many of which resonate

today.

In the very first issue, the affiliate wrote

about a key freedom of religion case-9-year-old

Charlotte Gabrielli, a student in Sacramento

who refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance

because she was a Jehovah's Witness.

Another issue that year carried an article-

and a dramatic photo-about Sol Nitzberg and

Jack Green, labor organizers in Santa Rosa who

were tarred and feathered and then paraded

through the streets by a vigilante mob. They

were represented by the ACLU-NC.

"Sol's grandson researched the ACLU records

of his grandfather's case," librarian Kaplan

explained, "and in 2015 donated his family's

collection of materials about his grandfather. So

having the ACLU records also helps us receive

other important donations of unique and original

materials."

San Francisco Chronicle legal affairs reporter

Bob Egelko has long used the ACLU-NC as a

resource for information about lawsuits and

jurisprudence. "I love writing stories that look

back as well as forward, and the archives contain

history of state and federal court cases that even

my overstuffed file cabinets don't hold."

have since been accused of other brutali-

ties, `This ae oe oan sore

it been ny al when

rE R. Best eniarad the Union's rep- loyalty and then, while_se

resentatives to leave, bo

Cermorship Conmplaint

The Union has also filed

the Post Office Department

sh persons.

Judge Goodman is quoted as having made

the following strong statement: "It is

shocking to considor that an American citi-

zon must be confined on grounds of de

and reetrain

AMERICAN

civil: LADEN

: an . NE a

Egelko noted an issue that dominated the

first decade of the ACLU News: the affiliate's

challenge to the World War II incarceration of

Japanese Americans and its representation of

Fred Korematsu.

The headlines from the 1940s are telling:

In April 1942, the headline read, "Citizens

Affected by Evacuation Orders Should Receive

Hearings." In July 1942, "3 Evacuation Test

Cases." By June, 1944, "Evacuation Cases

Argued: Claim Military's Orders Based on

Race Prejudice."

And the reporting wasn't only from

the courtroom. In August 1944, after

Besig traveled to the desolate Tule Lake

Segregation Center, the headline read

"Tyranny Reigns at Tule Lake." The front-

page story begins, "Gestapo-like conditions

at the Center can be judged by the fact that

someone there poured a sack of sugar in the

gas tank of Mr. Besig's car...."

"l've written a couple of stories in the last

few years mentioning the U.S. internment

of Japanese-Americans," Egelko recalled,

"one where a judge compared it to the

president's travel ban. Rereading them, I

think they could have benefited from the

kind of historical perspective that comes

from those who went through the experience,

or represented those who did." The digital

archives will make those stories more

accessible.

Fred Korematsu (left) joined with ACLU-

NC founder Ernest Besig (right), in one of 5

ACLU cases challenging the mass expulsion

and internment of Japanese Americans.

This archive preserves

and makes accessible the

proud history of the ACLU of

Northern California.

-ACLU Deputy Executive

Director Dorothy Ehrlich

Harney explained, "We have policies around

the ACLU-NC's legal cases and how those

cases are documented for posterity. But the

organization also has much valuable information

that isn't in the legal documents, but can be

found in the ACLU News, such as photographs,

organizational reports, budgets, and editorials."

The digitized ACLU News will have special

value for civil liberties advocates at the national

office and around the country who are fighting

some of the same fights.

Dorothy Ehrlich, ACLU-NC executive director

from 1978 to 2006 and currently the Deputy

Executive Director of the National ACLU, said

that she was recently trying to recapture the

ACLU-NC role in conceptualizing the original

Driving While Black or Brown campaign. "We

identified that problem at the ACLU-NC when

we started our Racial Justice Project, and it was

soon adopted as a national campaign. We are

now reaching a two-decade anniversary since

that work was launched-and the problems of

racism in the criminal justice system persist."

"So many of our challenges are still with us,"

Ehrlich added, "and it is important to see how

they were addressed in the past. Having the

ability to access digital ACLU News files will

genuinely open up a storehouse of information

that cannot currently be penetrated. This is part

of our collective memory." @

Elaine Elinson served as the editor of the ACLU

News from 1980 - 2001.

PHOTO BY SHIRLEY NAKAO

ACLUNEWS

ACLU'S DISTRICT ATTORNEY ADVOCACY: IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL

BY YOEL HAILE

The three ACLU affiliates in California began working on District Attorney accountability a decade ago, in 2010,

as part of the ACLU's longstanding work to abolish the death penalty. Like our work with the death penalty,

improving the broken criminal justice system through DA advocacy takes time-but can have big results.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ACLU'S DA

ADVOCACY IN CALIFORNIA

The first stage of this work was in 2010, when

56 of 58 District Attorneys in the state were up

for election. We created a small booklet-called

What a Difference a DA Makes-that engaged

reporters and stakeholders. It was the first such

effort we were aware of-and it resulted in a lot

of attention.

In 2014, we went further. We created DA

candidate briefing books and hosted candidate

forums in counties that had contested races. In

2018, when 56 out of the 58 DAs were again up for

reelection, we launched a robust public education

campaign that included our www.vote4da.org

website, and worked with community partners in

11 of the largest California counties to organize

candidate forums, issue education, and raise the

profiles of the DA races.

As a result, the work we and our partners did

resulted in significant narrative change of DA

candidates from the antiquated "tough on crime"

rhetoric to conversations around ending mass

incarceration, challenging systemic racism within

the criminal justice system, and holding law

enforcement officers accountable. 2018 also saw

the highest number of contested DA races ever in

California.

In 2019, there was only one DA race-San

Francisco. We sent over 15,000 mailers for our

members to learn about the role of the District

Attorney-and to remind them to vote in the

election. We sent an extensive questionnaire to

all the candidates and posted their responses

on the website www.vote4da.org. We also

partnered with Project Rebound, a program to

support formerly incarcerated students at San

Francisco State to host a candidate forum that

led to a historic commitment to never seek gang

enhancements and sentences longer than 20

years for young people under the age of 26 by

the now District Attorney, Chesa Boudin. The

ACLU-NC has a longstanding concern with gang

enhancements that go beyond alleged crimes,

because of due process, freedom of association,

and significant racial disparities in the CalGang

database. @

Yoel Haile is the Criminal Justice Program

Manager at the ACLU of Northern California

The work the ACLU of Northern

California and our partners did

resulted in significant narrative

change of DA candidates from

the antiquated "tough on crime"

rhetoric to conversations around

ending mass incarceration,

challenging systemic

racism within the criminal

justice system, and holding

law enforcement officers

accountable.

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and campaigns, upcoming events, and opportunities to get

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civil liberties.

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JOIN THE ACLU LEGACY CHALLENGE

1. NAME THE ACLU IN YOUR WILL

2. TELL US ABOUT YOUR FUTURE GIFT

3. ACTIVATE AN IMMEDIATE CASH MATCH TO THE ACLU

For a short time, name the ACLU in your will, and The Crankstart Foundation will make an immediate matching cash

donation of up to 10% of the value of your future gift to the ACLU.

For more information, visit aclu.org/jointhechallenge or call (877) 867-1025 or email legacy@aclu.org

8 AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

DA ADVOCACY continuep From previous PAGE

INTERVIEW WITH ACTIVIST ELISABETH OCAMPO

Below is Yoel Haile's conversation with Elisabeth Ocampo, who asked the gang

enhancement question of Chesa Boudin. Elisabeth is a senior and a business

major at San Francisco State University and the mother of two children.

TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF AND HOW YOU BECAME AFFILIATED WITH

PROJECT REBOUND

I was born and raised in Redwood City. At the College of San Mateo, I

was exposed to the statewide network through Underground Scholars (a

group that creates a pathway for formerly incarcerated and system-impacted

individuals into higher education) at UC Berkeley. I was an ambassador

for Underground and participated in the Dream Beyond Bars conference at

Columbia University. As I was getting ready to transfer, Project Rebound

at San Francisco State helped me get admission and enroll. They have been

really supportive.

WHEN YOU ASKED A QUESTION ABOUT GANG ENHANCEMENTS AT

THE DA CANDIDATE FORUM, YOU SHARED A LITTLE BIT OF YOUR

STORY. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO ASK THAT SPECIFIC QUESTION?

At the age of 18, I was labeled a gang member and it always came up no

matter where I was in the Bay Area and who I was stopped by or who I was

with. I grew up with it being a normal thing to me. I help people now, bringing

knowledge and educating folks how these systems are made to go against us

and are part of an unjust system.

Two people I know-a guy who reached out to me trying to change his

life and a woman who is now a student at UC Santa Cruz-were said to be

"associating," because they were celebrating at a community event hosted by

the Sheriffs Office. They grew up together, and she was trying to empower him

to change his lifestyle. He ended up getting arrested a few days after that event

for associating with her-because he is on parole, and you're not supposed to

associate yourself with "known gang members." She doesn't consider herself

to be one, but she's labeled as one. Because of that, he sat in a cell for three

months and the judge ruled he violated his parole.

We did as much as we could to show the court that she is not a gang

member, she had letters of support from professors, she teaches yoga at the

juvenile hall. But we couldn't change the outcome.

Everything hits close to home, not just because of this example but because

of how people face additional years, and possibly life, for gang enhancements

is really ridiculous.

WHY DID YOU THINK IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO BE INVOLVED

AND ENGAGED IN THE SAN FRANCISCO DA RACE?

I felt like it was important as a woman of color, student, and a community

member. I don't think community members feel welcome to events like that

because they feel like they won't be heard.

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE IMPACT OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY-

ELECT'S POLICY COMMITMENT TO NEVER SEEK GANG

ENHANCEMENTS WILL BE FOR YOU AND YOUR COMMUNITY?

For people that are already serving time, I think it creates the possibility of

coming back home to their families and recreating themselves. I hope that it

drives other DAs to follow.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE PAY ATTENTION AND GET

ENGAGED WITH THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S ROLE AND ELECTION?

They're locking up our people. It's not just incarceration, it's the way

everything works. The more we lock people up, the less stable they are, the

more restrictions they have, the less opportunities they have. So everything

kind of goes on and on, I feel like that. goes parallel with homelessness,

unemployment, etc. If people want to see healthy communities and a brighter

San Francisco, it is essential to be part of these conversations and know

what's going on. @

ACLUNEWS

If people want to see healthy communities

and a brighter San Francisco,

it is essential to be part

of these conversations and

know what's going on.

-Elisabeth Ocampo, who was

labelled a gang member at age 13

a CELEBRATING THE

Awerdes ACLU'S CENTENNIAL

SP IN 2020

The National ACLU turned 100

years old in January 2020.

New book Fight of the Century

showcases many of today's greatest

eT nt ae ere writers contributing original pieces

Ss a inspired by historic ACLU cases.

PHOTO BY GIGI HARNEY