vol. 52, no. 5

lu news

NON PROFIT

ORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

Permit No. 4424

San Francisco, CA

Volume Lil

_ July-August 1987

No. 5

Court Bars Graduation Prayer

separation of church and state, the

California Court of Appeal ruled on

July 24 that the inclusion of a prayer in a

XE a precedent setting decision on "the

public high school graduation, ceremony is (c)

unconstitutional.

The. ruling came in the case of Bennett v.

Livermore School District which originated

in 1983 when graduating senior Leslie

Bennett sought the ACLU's support in

opposing the inclusion of a prayer at her

graduation exercises from Granada High

School in Livermore.

Justice Norman Elkington, wating for the

unanimous three-court panel, stated, "The

practice of including a religious invocation

in a graduation ceremony conveys a message

of endorsement of the particular creed

represented in the invocation, and of

religion in general."

Addressing both the federal and Califor-

nia constitutional mandate for separation of

church and state, Elkington wrote that the

U.S. Constitution's First Amendment

means that "the freedom to believe and to

worship includes the freedom not to engage

in the religious practices of the majority."

In addition, Elkington stated, the reli-

- gious freedom provisions of the California

Constitution "are even more stringent" than

the U.S. Constitution.

"The citizens of this country, and perhaps

of this state in particular, are a people of

highly diverse cultural, ethical, and religious

backgrounds," Elkington wrote. "The U.S.

Supreme Court has consistently rejected any |

form of prayer, however inoffensive or

nonsectarian, in the public schools."

ACLU-NC sstaff attorney `Margaret

Crosby hailed the decision as a victory

which strengthens religious freedom. "Some

people unfortunately may see this as an

attack on their very deep religious beliefs;"

she said, "It's not that at all. The people who

wrote the First Amendment understood

that religion is stronger when the govern-

ment plays `no part in it.

"Students who wish to celebrate their

graduation with prayer may do so in their

homes or in their places or worship. There,

they may say prayers which are far more

robust and spiritual than the two-minute,

nondenominational invocation allowed by

the school board," she added.

Crosby said the decision is quite impor-

tant "in guaranteeing religious minorities the

right to attend high school graduations-

events of enormous personal and social

importance-without feeling like outsiders."

Crosby also praised Leslie Bennett for

standing up for her principles in the face of a

great deal of opposition. After Bennett failed

to receive support from the school principal,

the graduation committee, and the school

board,

support.

Harassment and Threats

After the suit was filed, Bennett was

harrassed at school and at her job, and

received threatening phone calls. "Bennett

really was very courageous and endured a

great deal of hostility from many of her

classmates and many people in the com-

munity," Crosby said.

she turned to the ACLU-NC for

Photo courtesy of Valley Times

Granada High School graduate Eestie Bennett 6 ) - the a board to keep prayer

out of her 1983 graduation ceremony.

The case was filed in Alameda Superior

Court just days. before the graduation.

Superior Court Judge Raymond Marsh

issued an injunction against the inclusion of

the prayer which was allowed to stand by the

Court of Appeal and, on the eve of the

graduation ceremony, by the California

Supreme Court.

Tensions in the community were so high

over the prayer issue that the graduation was

held in a stadium encircled by police. There

was no disruption on the ground, but

_ overhead, a light plane circled the ceremony

with the baicer "God Bless the Graduates."

Though the injunction barred inclusion of |

the prayer in the Livermore School District

in 1983 and subsequent years, this is the first

ruling from the appellate court which will

have an effect statewide. Many other school

districts in California-particularly in rural

areas-still include religious invocations in

their graduation exercises.

The school district's attorney said that the

district would probably appeal the pe to

the state Supreme Court.

Court Maintains Medi-Cal Abortion Funds

Within hours of the ACLU- NC filing a

lawsuit to halt cuts in Medi-Cal funding for

abortion, the state Court of Appeal on July

13 blocked the Legislature's restrictions on

abortion funding and ordered state officials

to continue to provide funding pending a

-final ruling on the case.

The ACLU-NC suit, Committee to

Defend Reproductive Rights (CDRR) v.

Kizer, was announced at a press conference

by ACLU-NC staff attorneys Margaret

Crosby and Edward Chen; Ralph Santiago

_ Abascal, General Counsel of California

Rural Legal Assistance; Dr. Laurens P.

White, President-elect of the California

Medical Association;.and Dr. Melanie

Tervalon of the Reproductive Rights Access

Project.

It is the tenth consecutive action that the

ACLU has filed on behalf of a coalition of

civil rights groups, women's organizations,

health care providers and taxpayers since

the state Legislature first cut off all Medi-

Cal funding for abortion in 1978. In every

previous case, the court has ruled that the

cuts were unconstitutional.

In an order signed by Presiding Appellate

Justice Allison Rouse, the court instructed

state officials "to refrain from implement-

ing" provisions in the 1987-88 Budget Act

that limit abortion funding until the court

rules further in the lawsuit. The restrictions,

passed by the Legislature and signed by the

Governor in July, had been due to take effect

on August 16.

80,000 Women

If enforced, this year's Budget Act

restrictions would deny public funding to

90% of the 80,000 Medi-Cal eligible

California women-one quarter of them

teenagers-who need abortions.

Upon filing the lawsuit, Crosby severely

criticized the Legislature's cuts. "It has been

clear since 1981-when the California

Supreme Court decided our original suit-

that the Medi-Cal system must include

public funding for abortion for women and

adolescents in California," she said.

"The Legislature has consciously violated

the state Constitution for seven years,"

Crosby said. "Their budget cuts show that

they are willing to sacrifice the health care

ond lives of the 80,000 women each year

who depend on Medi-Cal funds for

abortion."

ACLU-NC Executive Director Dorothy

Ehrlich stated the fight to maintain Medi-

Cal abortion funding "is vital because it

ensures that all women, regardless of

economic status, can exercise their legal

right to choose abortion. Since abortion is

available to women of means as a constitu-

tional right, it must be equally available to

poor women-it is a question of fairness.

"Tronically, the people of California-55%

of whom support Medi-Cal abortion

funding according to a May 1987 California

Poll-recognize that, and we are outraged

continued on p. 2

Save the Date!

ACLU-NC Fifteenth Annual

BILL OF RIGHTS DAY

CELEBRATION

Sunday, December 6, 1987 al 5 pm

Sheraton Palace Hotel, San Francisco

aclu news

2 july-august 1987

Medi-Cal Funding

continued from p. 1

that the Legislature ignored their wishes by

eliminating the funds," Ehrlich added.

Access to Health Care

CMA President-elect Dr. White warned

of the serious impact the funding restrictions

would have on the health care of Medi-Cal

eligible women in the state. "The Governor

vetoes anything that improves access to care,

availability of care, and, in fact, extension of

care, to the poor," Dr. White said.

Dr. Tervalon, a pediatrician, said,

"Implementation of the restrictions would

immediately result in a profound, disastrous

effect on the lives of the poor." (See sidebar

for specific data.)

"Women and teenagers who are denied

' funding for safe and legal abortions will

suffer significant health damage, mental

anguish, disruption of employment and

educational opportunities, and even, possi-

bly, death. In contrast, the state would suffer

no harm from continued Medi-Cal funding

for abortion which has been available for

nearly 20 years."

The policy means "that poor and minority

women have three choices: forced childbirth,

an illegal abortion or sterilization-a

procedure that the state will continue to

fund," Dr. Tervalon said. "This is a subtle

form of racism and a subtle form of

genocide," she added.

Single Subject Rule

Attorney Abascal noted that this year's

Budget Act restrictions violate the "single

subject" rule of the California Constitution.

According to three recent decisions from

California appellate courts, the Budget Act

cannot be used as a vehicle to "substantively

amend or change existing statute law."

Existing law (the Medi-Cal Act) provides

public funding for a comprehensive range of

medical services, including abortion.

Move to the Supreme Court

_ In an unusual move, the Deukmejian

administration asked the state Supreme

Court on July 16 to take over the case from

the Court of Appeals. Bill Lockett, assistant

chief counsel to the Department of Health

Services told Associated Press, "One of the

reasons were appealing is because we might

have a different result. We have a different

court than we had before," Lockett said.

ACLU-NC attorney Crosby responded, "I

think it's inappropriate to try to use an

extraordinary procedure simply because

they feel somehow the change in the court

will dictate a different result." Crosby noted

that this was the first time in the ten-year

history of the case that the state has tried to

go directly to the Supreme Court, shortcut-

ting the usual appellate process.

Just before the ACLU News went to

press, the California Supreme Court on July

30 refused the state's request to take the case

over from the Court of Appeals.

The 1987-88 Budget Act restrictions on

abortion mirror provisions from the last four

years. The Legislature's restrictions include.

setting up a $12.9 million "special financing

account" for abortion services which is

separate from the general fund for Medi-Cal

benefits (the Health Care Deposit Fund).

This fund is much less than needed to fund

all abortions for Medi-Cal eligible women.

The restrictions eliminate Medi-Cal

coverage for all but a tiny fraction of

abortions. State financing is kept only for 1)

preserving the life of the pregnant woman; 2)

a

moma Guaca|

ABORTION:

LNS/CPF

QNO_APOCR WOMAN [GVESTIONS ARICH WCMAN

MUST ANDOVER TO GET AN

ABURTION:

terminating pregnancies from rape or incest

(which have been reported to governmental

authorities); 3) abortions for unmarried girls

under 18 whose parents are notified; and 4)

abortions involving a severely abnormal

fetus.

The lawsuit, which the ACLU filed with

several other public interest groups, asks the

Court to issue an order preventing the state

from implementing the provisions of the

1987-88 Budget Act which limit the funding

of abortions sought by Medi-Cal recipients

and prohibiting the Department of Health

Services from mailing any official notifica-

tion of the restrictions to Medi-Cal

recipients. .

The defendants in the lawsuit are the (c)

Director of Health Services Kenneth Kizer,

Controller Gray Davis and state Treasurer -

Jesse Unruh. Controller Davis advised the

Court of Appeal that he would continue to

authorize Medi-Cal funding. In a statement |

to the press the day following the ACLU-NC _

filing, Davis said, "Unfortunately, women in

poverty in need of these medical. services

_ have become the pawns of those forces that

want to turn these people out on the streets.

If [the Department] moves to enforce these

restrictions, the clear losers will be needy

women most in need of these medical

services." oS

The petitioners are: CDRR, Coalition of

California Welfare Rights Organizations,

Commision Feminil de Los Angeles, Dr.

Sadja Greenwood, Dr. Alan Margolis, Dr.

Bernard Gore and taxpayer Christine

Motley.

What Cutting Abortion Funds Would Mean...

L filing this year's lawsuit, the ACLU-NC

compiled a significant body of new

information on the medical, financial and

social impact of restrictions on state funding

for abortions. The data, which is primarily

from states which have restricted funding

since the implementation of the 1978 Hyde .

Amendment cutting off federal abortion

funding, reveals dramatically some of the

- suffering which would result if the California

1987 Budget Act restrictions are allowed to

go into effect: ae

Coercion to Carry

Unwanted Pregnancies to Term

The Budget Act does not authorize

funding for an abortion, even when an

indigent poor woman would suffer severe

and long-lasting physical health damage

from carrying a pregnancy to term.

The risks of pregnancy are more severe for

poor women because, in general, they start

out with a significantly lower level of general

health and because they do not have access

to the level of care obtained by more affluent

women. Twenty-six California counties have -

so few obstetrical providers for the poor that

pregnant women on Medi-Cal have virtu-

ally no access to prenatal care. Inadequate

prenatal care not only only impairs the

health of the pregnant woman, but babies

born to women who receive no prenatal care

are three times more likely to die within the

_first year than`those born to women who

receive adequate care.

Experience in states that have eliminated

public funding for abortion indicates that

approximately one-fourth to one-third of

pregnancies that would otherwise be

- terminated by abortion will go to term. In

California, this would mean 18,000-26,000

pregnant indigent teenagers and women

would be forced to continue unwanted

pregnancies every year.

These women risk suffering grave and

irreversible injuries, and even death, from

carrying their pregnancies to term. A first

trimester abortion is safer for a pregnant

woman than childbirth. The death rate from

pregnancy and childbirth is 25 times greater

than the death rate from induced abortion,

and eight times greater than the death rate

from contraceptives. _

The group that will suffer the most from

carrying their pregnancies to term are

teenagers, in particular, poor and minority

teenagers. In California, more than 20,000

teenagers every year receive Medi-Cal

funding for abortion. Enforcement of the

Budget Act restrictions would coerce many

of them to carry unwanted pregnancies to

term.

Illegal Abortions

The Centers for Disease Control have

estimated that 5% of pregnant Medicaid

eligible women will seek illegal or self-

induced abortions when public funding is

~ not available. In California, implementation

of the restrictions will force 3,485 California

women and teenagers annually to the

desperate and dangerous option of self-

induced or illegal abortion.

Illegal abortions create a great risk of

medical complications, including death.

Should California be added to the list of

states where there are no publicly funded

abortions, two-thirds of pregnant Medicaid

eligible women desiring abortion will live in

restricted states; the numbers of women

nationwide seeking medically unsound

alternatives would thus _ increase

dramatically.

Delay in Seeking Care

Delay in obtaining an abortion is the

most important patient-related variable

associated with death from abortion, and is

a significant risk factor for injuries and

illness associated with abortion.

When state funding for abortion is

denied, a significant number of women delay

abortions for two to three weeks on the

average for financial reasons.

As later abortions are substantially more

complicated than early abortions, each week

of delay after the eighth week of gestation

rapidly increases the risk of complications

and death. A national study showed that

abortions performed at or before the eighth.

week had a death rate of 0.5% deaths per -

100,000. The death rate is twice as great for

abortions performed in the ninth or tenth.

week and almost 25 times greater for

abortions performed in the 21st week and

later.

- Financial Impact on Poor Families

The price of an abortion, for an indigent

woman, is the sacrifice of food, clothing or -

shelter which she and her children need: for

minimally decent survival.

A study conducted in a state which

restricts abortion funding revealed that 44%

of low-income women paid for their

abortions by depleting funds normally spent

continued on p. 6

aclu news

8 issues a year, monthly except bi-monthly in January-February, June-July,

August-September and November-December

- Published by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

Nancy Pemberton, Chairperson Dorothy Ehrlich, Executive Director

Marcia Gallo, Chapter Page So

Elaine Elinson, Editor

1663 Mission St., 4th floor, San Francisco, California 94103. (415) 621-2488

Membership $20 and up, of which 50 cents is for a subscription to the aclu news

and 50 cents is for the national ACLU-bi-monthly publication, Civil Liberties.

aclu news

july-august 1987 3

Senate OK's Repressive AIDS Bills

A repressive package of proposals by

Senator John Doolittle (R-Roseville) on

AIDS testing passed the Senate before the

summer recess and will be heard before a

joint session of the Assembly Health

Committee and Public Safety Committee

after the legislators return to Sacramento on

August 17.

The ACLU is actively opposing those bills

~ which require forced AIDS/HIV testing,

enhance sentences for persons convicted of

certain offenses-engaging in acts of

prostitution, committing certain rape

offenses-and create a new felony for the

donation of blood by an oe positive

person.-

According to Gay Rights Chapter chair

Doug Warner, "The climate in Sacramento

is grim-as evidenced by the passage of the

Doolittle package in the Senate..

"Support for these repressive measures

_ flows not from an understanding of the

disease and its tragedy, but from the very

fear and ignorance that the Legislature

ought to be in the business of Spee,

Warner said.

He added that letters opposing Ae

legislation are urgently needed now, espe-

cially against SB 1000 which repeals the

consent requirement for the AIDS antibody

IN FRANCIS SANNA

oT NLAMERICA SINDIGTES .

WIE

A DISERA fo

~ CONTRO Gy

MN

ae mR fe

4 DISEASE and

Lf CONTROL typ

tha

sat iat

someone |

rea hae AIDS

YOUR AlDS RESEARCH DOLLARS AT. WORK...

test, refusal to take the test to be entered in

the medical records, and allows reporting of

test results to public health officials. The

other measures in the Doolittle package are:

cent SB 1001: antibody test must be "recom-

mended" for all applicants for marriage

licenses.

(c) SB 1002: makes it a felony for: antibody

Parental Consent Bill Clears the Assembly

by Daphne Macklin

ACLU Legislative Advocate

Although two key bills to prevent teenage

- women from seeking confidential abortion

services without the consent of a parent or

guardian both failed passage in the

Assembly Judiciary Committee in May, late

night maneuvering in June saw the passage

of a parental consent measure on the

_ Assembly floor. That measure, AB 2274

(Frazee, R-Carlsbad), is now awaiting

hearing in the Senate Health and Human

Services Committee .

The quickly-passed Frazee measure

contains the language of one of the bills

originally defeated in the Assembly Judi-

ciary Committee (AB 77- Wyman), similar

to a bill which failed last session. -

_ The bill would require that a woman

under the age of 18 have her parents'

permission to have an abortion. As an

alternative, a young woman could seek a

judicial by-pass based on a showing that she

was sufficiently mature to consent to the

abortion without the involvement of her

parents or that the abortion was in her best

interests.

This is the basic model of minors' access/

parental consent measures that have been

enacted and routinely enjoined by courts

throughout the country.

_ Hodgson v. Minnesota, the ACLU Repro-

ACLU-NC Board

Election Results

. ACLU-NC members elected the following

candidates to terms on the Board of.

Directors: David M. Balabanian; Patsy

Fulcher; Antonio G. Gonzalez; Leonard S.

Karpman, M.D.; Debbie Lee; Francisco

Lobaco; Tom Lockard; Jack Londen; Nancy

S. Pemberton; and Beverly Tucker.

They will serve a three-year term of office

on the ACLU-NC Board.

Last year, in

ductive Freedom Project successfully

challenged in federal district court a parental

consent statute which was held invalid as a

result of its unconstitutional impact.

An earlier bill, touted as a "compromise,

(AB 67-Isenberg), was viewed with

particular bitterness by pro-choice interests

because its author has routinely voted as a

pro-choice legislator.

In testifying against the bills in the

Assembly Judiciary committee hearings the

ACLU, NOW, the California Judges Associ-

ation, the Judicial Council, and representa-

59

tives of pediatricians and adolescent health.

specialists restated arguments that were

presented against last year's version of the

parental consent bill and which had been

confirmed by the findings of the Hodgson

case.

Of primary concern is the detrimental

effects these rules have on the health of

young women. Health care providers in the

Minnesota case had testified that they were

forced to focus their interactions with clients

not on the health aspects of pregnancy and -

abortion, but rather the /ega/ requirements

needed to utilize the by-pass mechanism.

Testimony in Sacramento also noted that a

parental consent requirement often forces

teens to take a pregnancy to term or have

riskier, more expensive later-term abortions.

A third, similar measure SB 11 (Mon-

toya) was set but never heard in the Senate

Health and Human Services Committee; it

is now a two-year bill.

The sudden and unexpected passage of

the Frazee parental consent measure in the

Assembly is of eet concern to pro-choice

activists.

Link to Medi-Cal

Practical solutions to the problems of

adolescent sexuality-improved sex educa-

tion, better health care access for adoles-

cents, and parenting education directed at

the families of children of all ages-continue

`to receive little attention in the wake of the

false solution of the parental consent

measure.

Subtle efforts to link the parental consent

issue to health care funding would prevent

adolescents from receiving necessary

confidential health care including psychiat-

ric care, drug, and alcohol abuse treatment,

and care relating to sexually transmitted

diseases and sexual assault. For example,

SB 1134 (Royce), would require that Medi-

Cal eligibility for minors who are parents

residing with their own parents be based on

the income of the entire household. Another

measure, SB 1675 (Rogers) would prevent

minors from using private insurance

coverage for such care without the provider

informing the parent or guardian of the

minor that he or she 1 is utilizing health care

Services.

The most ominous element the parental

consent bill and the related measures is that

they deny vital interests of access to health

care services to California youth. While

- women seeking abortion are the first targets

of this reactionary wave, all young persons

. under 18 seeking. any form of reproductive

health care, ranging from contraceptives to

treatment and counseling, may soon find

their rights and their health in peril. Coupled

with the AIDS crisis, which places the need

for confidential services for young men on a

par with that of young women concerned |

about pregnancy, such a threat bodes ill for

the public health in general.

Perhaps the best response to the high

emotionalism of the slogan "parent's rights"

is the increasing need for ever broader circles

of public opinion and influence, particularly

`those who work with youth to support the

rights of young adults to receive confidential

medical services, in their best interests and

for the health and future of society as a

whole.

All. pro-choice slams are urged to

write, call, or telegram your state Senator

urging rejection of AB 2274, and any other

version of a parental consent measure.

positive person to donate blood. |

cent SB 1004: creates a three-year enhance-

- ment for forcible sex crimes committed

while antibody positive. -

cent SB 1006: mandatory antibody test for all

_ mental hospital inmates; mandatory segre-

gation of positives. -_-

cent SB 1007: mandatory antibody test for -

those convicted of prostitutiuon and forcible

sex crimes..

Letters should state that you. support use

of the antibody: test only where medically

indicated with the subject's written consent,

with adequate pre- and post-testing counsel-

ing, with results absolutely confidential and

with legislation preventing discrimination

based on antibody status.

Members of the Assembly Health

Committee from northern California

include: Agnos, Broznan, Isenberg, Klehs,

Speier, Chandler, Filante, and Leslie.

Phone: 916-445-1770.

Members of the Assembly Public Safety

Committee from northern California are:

Campbell and Leslie. Phone 916-445-3268.

In the Senate, a comprehensive AIDS

bill, AB 87, proposed by Art Agnos (D-San

Francisco) will soon be heard in the Senate

Health and Human Services Committee.

The bill, passed by the Assembly in June,

includes provisions to create a California

Commission on AIDS and establish AIDS

education and anti-discrimination guide-

lines, including prohibition of discrimina-

tion based on AIDS.

Because the California Medical Associa-

tion has just come out against AB 87, it is

imperative that the Senators be told of the

widespread support for the current. confi-

dentiality/consent requirements and non--

discrimination provisions of the bill.

The CMA is calling for antibody testing

at the doctor's discretion, without the

patient's consent, perhaps without the

_patient's knowledge, with no requirement

for counseling. The CMA's proposal would

allow doctors to disclose results to public

health officials and others. 0x00B0

Letters should be addressed to the Senate

Health and Human Services Committee

Chair Diane Watson (also thanking her for

opposition to the Doolittle package) and to

northern California members McCorquo-

dale and Mello. Phone 916-445-5965.

AIDS

Legislation

Factsheet

The ACLU-NC is producing a fact-

sheet outlining clear, comprehensive

arguments against proposed AIDS

legislation which would violate confi-

dentiality, require mandatory testing,

create new crimes, and enhance

`sentences for -antibody-positive

persons.

Copies of the factsheet will be

available by mid-August. If you would

like to order a copy, please send a

stamped, self-addressed envelope to

AIDS Legislation Factsheet, ACLU-NC

Public Information Department, 1663

Mission Street, #460, San Francisco,

CA 94103. Single copies are free; bulk

`orders are $10 per hundred.

aclu news

4 july-august 1987

~ACLU-NC Ann

constitution is something we are, a mode of self-articulation. A constitution is also

something we do, our activity, our political struggle."

Outlining this dual meaning, keynote .

speaker Professor Chuck Lawrence of

Stanford University launched the 1987

Annual ACLU-NC Conference in the

bicentennial year of the U.S. Constitution.

Addressing the role of blacks who were

_considered property in the 1787 document,

and women who were completely left out,

Lawrence said, "The continuing legacy of

our exclusion is this: we know that we are

part of the struggle to bring meaning to the

Constitution. oo

"It is not, therefore, surprising that blacks,

browns, women, gays have been in the

vanguard of struggle for political change in

this country."

_ Professor Lawrence's words rang true

throughout the weekend conference, whose

theme was "Unfulfilled Promises of the

Constitution," as leaders in diverse civil

liberties struggles addressed issues ranging

from racial injustice, the impact of the new

immigration law, the rise in anti-gay

violence, drug testing, and contract

parenting.

Over 200 ACLU-NC members and

supporters attended the August I-2 confer-

ence held at San Jose State University. The

conference, which was co-hosted by the

Mid-Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley

Chapters of the ACLU-NC, was organized

by Field Representative Marcia Gallo and

the Conference Planning Committee

chaired by Debbie Lee. The Committee

included Lorraine Bannai, Kathy Cramer,

Suzanne Donovan, Lauren Leimbach,

Francisco Lobaco, Mike Mitchell, Alberto

Saldamando, and Tom Sarbaugh.

Gallo was assisted by staff members

Sandy Holmes, Constance Maxcy, and

intern Maury Taylor, as well as the volunteer

Conference Crew who tireless efforts

throughout the weekend allowed for maxi-

mum participation of all who attended. The

Crew included Cindy Forster, Betasha

Louie, Kelly Ray, Matthew Sheridan, -

Danielle Turner, and Tara Valentine.

Following Professor Lawrence's opening

address, workshops on the right of privacy,

the right to know/right to dissent, and racial

injustice illuminated his theme.

Immigrant Communities

Wade Henderson, Associate Director of

the ACLU Washington Office, addressed a

Saturday afternoon plenary on the impact of:

immigration laws on civil liberties. As

ACLU's chief lobbyist against the Simpson-

Rodino bill, Henderson traced the ACLU's

four-year opposition to the employer

sanctions provisions of the bill, and lauded

_ the passage only days before in the House of

Representatives of the Moakley-DeConcini

bill which would grant temporary asylum to

Salvadoran refugees.

Workshops focusing on immigration laws

and the First Amendment,: discrimination

and international human rights drew from

"Unfulfilled Promises

the rich and often painful experiences of

different immigrant communities-Mexi-

can workers and trade union leaders who

were deported in the 1950s, Japanese-

Americans who were herded into concentra-

tion camps in World War II, Chinese and

Filipinos who were subject to anti-

miscegenation laws, and most recently,

Salvadoran refugees and Palestinian

activists. =

The Saturday evening plenary entitled

"Things the Founding Fathers Never

Thought Of..." tackled the timely question

of reproductive technology. Attorney and

lesbian activist Donna Hitchens and

pediatrician Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias

noted the uncharted political, social, and

medical questions which arise from 20th

century advances in reproductive science.

They also responded to majority and

minority positions from the ACLU-NC

Legislative Committee on contract parent-

ing which arose with urgency because of new

legislative proposals in the wake of the Baby

M case.

aclu news

july-august 1987 5

al Conference

s of the Constitution"

Changes in the Courts

Sunday morning's plenary on the courts

drew incisive analyses from ACLU National

Legal Director John Powell and ACLU-NC

Staff Attorney Margaret Crosby on. the

changing nature of the federal and state

courts. "The Brown decision, the first case

which said that racial segregation violates

constitutional rights, spelled the death of

formalism and brought sociology and

science into the law, a shift which had begun

in the 1930s," said Powell.

- "Today we find the courts reversing that

trend and retreating to formalism," he said,

noting in particular the McClesky decision

which ignored a massive sociological study

showing that the death penalty is racially

discriminatory and Salarno which considers

that detention is "regulation, not

punishment."

"We can't play the numbers game in

determining the nature of the U.S. Supreme

Court: though almost equal in number, our

victories were minimal and our losses were

"

staggering in terms of constitutional rights,

Powell said.

Powell noted that President Reagan's

nomination of Judge Robert Bork to the

Supreme Court is a decisive effort in this

shift of the court. "Judge Bork sees no'

difference between economic rights and

political rights. His deference to the

legislature and to the executive branch on

civil liberties means that the court would no

_ longer be in the business of protecting civil

liberties."

Opposition to Bork

At its Sunday afternoon meeting follow-

ing the conference, the ACLU-NC Board of

Directors took Powell's dire warning to

heart. Following a unanimous recommen-

dation from the Ad Hoc Committee on the

Bork nomination presented by Committee

chair Jack Londen, the Board voted to

recommend to the national ACLU to make

an exception to ACLU policy and oppose

the nomination of Judge Bork.

Several other ACLU affiliates have

already made such a recommendation. The

national ACLU Board of Directors will have

an emergency meeting on August 29-30 to

determine its position. Hearings on the Bork

nomination begin in the Senate Judiciary

Committee on September 15; the national

ACLU staff is preparing.a background

paper on Judge Bork's record on civil

liberties.

Crosby noted that the new California

Supreme Court is as yet untested in their

collective view on civil liberties issues, and

advised ACLU members to examine closely

future rulings in cases concerning free

speech in shopping centers, school prayer,

hostile to civil liberties.

No Retreat

In closing the conference, veteran

ACLU-NC activist Richard Criley said, "I'm

overwhelmed by the richness of our

resources and the beauty of the interchange

this weekend. The liberties we are seeking to

fulfill are written not just by lawyers but by

people in struggle.

"Our chief battleground is the Be

ground of public opinion," Criley charged. "I

remind you, a well waged ideological

struggle is never defeated, because even if -

you don't win that one, you have laid the

privacy, equality in education, and discrim-

ination under the Unruh Act which will

serve as a yardstick in helping to guage the

new court. ee

Subsequent workshops on lesbian and

gay rights, access to services, and the death

penalty all drew out the need for public

education and grassroots organizing as

federal and state courts turn more and more

seeds for a victory later on."

(c) Gilercnce Photos

1. ACLU-NC Executive Director Dorothy Ehrlich introduces ee pede P Professor

Chuck Lawrence of Stanford University.

2. Taty Fernos, attorney with the Puerto Rican Hartford 15 Defense Committee (left) and

Ann Marie Buitrago, Executive Director of FOIA, Inc. at the ay to Know/ Right cent to

Dissent workshop.

3. Ron Wakabayashi (right) of the Japanese American Citizens Leigie with Wade

Henderson (center), Associate Director, ACLU Washington Office, and ACLU-NC staff

attorney Alan Schlosser at the workshop on Racial Injustice.

4. Bob ONeil of the Santa Clara Chapter (left) with Conference Committee member Tom

Sarbaugh.

5. Access to Services workshop featured (left to right) Board member Francisco Lobaco;

_ ACLU lobbyist Marjorie Swartz; Jerome Reide, Coordinator, ACLU Access to Justice

Project; and Maryanne O'Sullivan of the Health Access Coalition.

6. Attorney Donna Hitchens (left) and pediatrician Dr. Helen Rodriguez-Trias plan

evening plenary on reproductive technology and contract parenting.

7. Debbie Lee, Chair of the 1987 Conference Planning Committee. :

8. ACLU National Legal Director John Powell and ACLU-NC staff attorney Margaret (c)

Crosby address the changes in federal and state courts.

9. Co-hosts of the Conference, Santa Clara Valley Chapter members Michael Chatzky

(seated, left), Dom Sallitto and Aurora Sallitto-

Conference photos by Dick Grosboll and Union Maid photos.

aera

aclu news

6 july-august 1987

What the Cuts

Would Mean...

continued from p. 2-

for living expenses for themselves and their

families. Fifty-eight percent of the Medicaid

eligible women were not able to cover family

expenses, such as children's expenses, food,

bill payments, car and transportation

expenses because of the outlay of funds for

abortion.

Special Impact on Teenagers

Becoming an early parent makes eco-

nomic success almost impossible, especially

for poor and minority youth. A major

national study showed that only one-half of

women who had a baby before age 18

completed high school, compared to 96% of

those who waited until their twenties to have

a child. Teenage mothers are three times

more likely to be single parents than those

who begin childbearing in their twenties.

Three out of four single mothers under age

25 live below the poverty line.

The interrelated problems of teenage

childbearing, single parenthood and poverty

are particularly acute in the black commun-

ity. Eighty-five percent of black single

mothers under the age of 25, and their

children, live in poverty.

Unwanted children born to. indigent

teenagers face bleak futures, socially,

economically and physically. Children born

to teenagers suffer numerous health risks

and are also at greater risk of lower

- intellectual and academic achievement and

social behavior problems.

Increased Cost to the State

Against the human tragedies which will

occur if the Budget Act restrictions take

effect, there will be no adverse impact on the

state or its fiscal health by maintaining the

flow of health benefits which it has provided

for the last twenty years.

Costs to the state for one year of Medi-

Cal abortions average approximately

$25,000,000.

A 1987 study by the Center for Population

and Reproductive Health Policy at the

University of California (San Francisco)

estimates that restricting Medi-Cal funding

for abortion and the consequent increase in

births to Medi-Cal eligible women will cost

the state $86,000,000 to $126,000,000 for the

first year-3 to 5 times the amount for

funding all abortions sought by indigent

women. These figures include new costs for.

vaginal and Caesarian deliveries; infant in-

patient days, including extensive stays for

high-risk babies; Social Service costs and

Developmental Disability services costs.

They do not include subsequent annual

costs, which would also be significant. -

The costs for teenage childbearing alone

are very significant. A 1985 national

estimate of the financial impact of teen

births in the public sector shows the welfare-

related expenditures attributable to teenage

childbearing has nearly doubled in the past

ten years to $16,600,000,000. -

_ Based on research compiled for the

ACLU-NC by Lillian Tereszkiewicz,

M.PH,, a medical research consultant.

In Memory of Tom Waddell

co ARO

oy 6 ee Rw

he founded the Gay Olympic Games. |

The ACLU-NC mourns the death of its

former Board member Tom Waddell,

physician, athlete, gay rights activist, and

impassioned civil liberties advocate. Dr.

Waddell died of AIDS on July 11 in San

Francisco.

Waddell, who placed sixth in the 1968

Olympics decathlon, founded San Fran-

cisco Arts and Athletics which organized

the first Gay Games in San Francisco in

1982. "The intent of the Gay Games is

quite different from the Olympics,"

Waddell explained, "despite the similarity

of the quadrennial athletic competition.

We are not looking for THE best, rather

we are looking for an opportunity for

- everyone to do THEIR best. All ages are

invited."

In 1986, after he had been hospitalized

with AIDS-related pneumonia, he

officiated at Gay Games II and won the

gold medal in the javelin event.

Just months before he died, Waddell

sat in the gallery of the U.S. Supreme

Court in Washington, D.C. as attorney

order prohibiting San Francisco Arts and

Athletics (SFAA) from calling their

athletic event the "Gay Olympic Games."

"The U.S. Olympic Committee lets

others use the name-why not us, except

for institutional homophobia?" Waddell

asked before the high court arguments.

Waddell had put up his home to pay for

the legal costs of the case. The U.S.

Olympic Committee held a lien of more

than $96,000 plus interest against

Waddell's home, which it won from an

" appeals court to pay attorney's fees.

On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court

ruled that the group could not use the

word "Olympics" in its title, provoking a

widespread angry response. "I think that

the Supreme Court has permanently

sullied the meaning of the First Amend-

Hot Debates in Philadelphia

- The temperature in Philadelphia in the

third week in June was sweltering-and the

debate inside the conference hall was just as

hot. This description of the city where the

Constitution was born was just as apt 200

years later as the national ACLU met for its

Biennial Conference to celebrate, as ACLU

_ Executive Director Ira Glasser put it, "those

who labored and debated during the

summer of 1787 [to write the Constitution],

and those who found their product wanting

and fought to improve it." S

Over 600 delegates gathered in the City of

Brotherly Love to hear judges and journal-

ists speak about the legacy of the Constitu-

tion, to share experiences with lawyers and

activists about the continuing fight for civil

liberties, and to formulate future ACLU

policy. |

As might be expected at an ACLU

conference, everything was open to debate-

from the original intent of the framers to

current drug testing policy to a call for the

impeachment of the President. And the

debates continued during hastily-organized

tours to the Liberty Bell, over meals of

.famous Philadelphia cheesteaks at late-

night eateries, and at the discos of South

Street.

. The ACLU-NC delegation played an

active role in all aspects of the conference.

The delegates were Marlene DeLancie,

Dick Grosboll, Lee Halterman, Ann

~ Jennings, Jim Morales, Nancy Pemberton,

Davis Riemer, Dan Siegel, and alternate

Marshall Krause. They were joined by

| several staff members, who also spoke in

various panels and workshops.

Jennings addressed a workshop on

lesbian and gay rights. Morales authored a

successful resolution calling on ACLU to

oppose federal housing regulations which

discriminate against families with children.

and Lee Halterman helped forge national

ACLU policy at the Biennial Convention

in Philadelphia in June.

Riemer and Associate Director Martha

Kegel organized a well-attended fundraising

workshop for affiliate board members.

Kegel also spoke at a panel on children's

rights. Staff attorney Ed Chen spoke at a

panel on drug testing and also helped

organize a meeting on the English-Only

movement which resulted in a national

network to monitor the impact of measures

such as Proposition 63 which are cropping

up around the country.

Calling the ACLU the "ignition for the

constitutional engine," Glasser summed up

the purpose of the Biennial conference in the

Bicentennial year by saying, "We celebrate

by rededicating ourselves to the struggle, by

Mary Dunlap appealed a federal court "

Dick Grosboll

ment," said Waddell at a press conference

in front of the federal court in San

Francisco, "and it appears that it protects

only the powerful."

SFAA pledged to continue the fight to

use "Olympic" through Congressional

action. The next Gay Games are sche-.

duled for 1990 in Vancouver, British

Columbia. :

Waddell was elected to the ACLU-NC

Board of Directors in 1983 and served a

three-year term. "Iom brought to the

ACLU-NC a cheerful, fighting spirit

which was so central to his character,"

said ACLU-NC Executive Director

Dorothy Ehrlich. "He saw an increasing

threat to individual and minority rights

and found in the ACLU a way to combat

that threat." He was also active in the

Medical Committee for Human Rights,

the Central Committee for Conscientious

Objectors, and the Black Panther Free "

Medical Clinic in New York.

Waddell was chief physician at Central

Emergency Hospital in San Francisco,

before he was forced to give up that post

in June 1986 because of his illness.

Waddell leaves his wife, Sarah Lewen-

stein and daughter Jessica. At an

overflowing memorial service in the City

Hall rotunda, Lewenstein announced

that the USOC had dropped the lien on-

Waddell's home, his legacy to his

daughter.

being there, ready to stand shoulder. to

shoulder with those who need us most, ready

to fight for rights before the rest of the nation

is prepared to accept them, ready to do what

we can to limit hysteria and to curb the

tendency of government and of the majorit-

arian democracy to abuse insular and

unpopular minorities:

"That was the constitutional vision given

us 200 years ago ... history shows that the.

Constitution works only if people are willing

to fight for it. I welcome you to the third ~

century."

NEW IMMIGRATION

BROCHURE |

Immigration Reform Act, Em-

ployer Sanctions and_ Discrimina-

tion Prohibitions: A Guide for

Workers, Employers and Their

Advocates is a new brochure by the

national ACLU Immigration and Alien's

Rights Task Force.

The 24-page brochure, written in a

question-and-answer format, explains

the complicated provisions of the new

immigration law and answers com-

monly asked questions. about

employer sanctions and discrimination

Provisions. .

The English language edition is

currently available from the national

ACLU. A'Spanish language edition will.

be published in the fall.

_ For individual or bulk copies write

to: Immigration and Aliens' Rights

Task Force, ACLU, 132 W. 43rd

Street, New York, NY 10036 or call

212-944-9800.

aclu news

july- august 1987 7

String of Drug Test Victories

espite the growing use of drug

De in employment: situations

and its advocacy by the federal and

state governments, the ACLU-NC has

shared in a string of victories against drug

testing in recent weeks.

Minority Firefighters

On July 24, with only a few hours notice,

ACLU-NC staff attorney Ed Chen assisted

`attorneys for minority firefighters in

winning a Temporary Restraining Order -

~ (TRO) from the U.S. District Court

preventing the San Francisco Fire Depart-

ment from requiring drug tests of job

applicants.

The order came in the course of a long-

standing case by the Black Firefighters

Association against the Fire Department

over discriminatory hiring practices. As a

result of a partial summary judgment in the

lawsuit, issued by Judge Marilyn Patel,

hiring of minority and women firefighters

began in March.

But in May, the Fire Department

announced that for the first time it would

require new applicants to take a drug test.

On July 24, Chen learned from Eva

Jefferson Paterson of the San Francisco

Lawyers Committee for Urban Affairs and

Shauna Marshall of Equal Rights Advo- |

cates, attorneys for the minority and women

firefighters and applicants, that the new -

recruits-who are primarily women and

minorities-wanted to oppose the manda-

tory drug tests.

Chen assisted the team in preparing

arguments based on the state and federal

constitutional privacy guarantees to win a-

TRO barring the Fire Department from

requiring the drug tests.

A hearing for a preliminary injunction

Magielleo

WEE comeete CEGPTQ -

"No, MEESE -THE URINE SAMPLE GOES IN HERE!"

against the mandatory tests was set by Judge

- Patel for Aust 3.

Student Athletes

The ACLU-NC's successful lawsuit

against drug testing in the NCAA will

continue, despite the graduation of plaintiff

and champion diver Simone LeVant. On

July 20, the Santa Clara Superior Court

accepted another Stanford University

athlete, football player Barry McKeever, as a

plaintiff in the case. He joins Stanford soccer

`player Jennifer Hill who has been a plaintiff

since February 26.

In addition, Stanford University was

allowed to join the lawsuit challenging the

legality of mandatory drug testing of student ~

athletes. Stanford University faculty repre-

sentative Jack Friedenthal said that Stan-

ford's request stems from a concern that

university athletic programs could be held

liable if the court ultimately rules against the

students. "We want to be sure that if we use

the player, we can't be punished," Fried-

enthal said.

Stanford is asking that the NCAA be

enjoined from imposing sanctions or

penalties on the institution, its students,

coaches or teams, for not complying with the

drug-testing program pending the final

court ruling on its legality.

Stanford has generally opposed drug

testing and does not impose drug tests on

its own athletes outside of NCAA

competitions.

The. NCAA opposed the joining of the

suit. by McKeever and the university. Both -

soccer and football training begin in August,

"which is when the NCAA drug testing

would normally be imposed.

The court also rejected the NCAA'

motion to dismiss the case.

On March 13, in response to an

ACLU-NC lawsuit on LeVant's behalf,

Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Peter

Stone granted a preliminary innunction

permitting LeVant, then captain of the

women's diving team, to compete without

consenting to take the NCAA-required drug

test.

Refinery Workers

In another victory over mandatory drug

testing, the ACLU-NC thwarted an attempt

by Pacific Refining Company in Hercules to

reinstate company-wide drug testing of its

employees.

On July 22, the Court of Appeal denied

the company's request for an appellate

review of the case. In October 1986 the

ACLU-NC and: the Employment Law

Center won in Contra Costa Superior Court

the second injunction against company-wide

drug testing by a private employer in

California.

In July, the superior court allowed the

company to conduct a modified testing

program for selected employees. Under the .

new plan, employees who work near.

_ potentially dangerous equipment or mate-

rials may be subject to drug tests based on .

reasonable suspicion of drug use. Workers

involved in accidents may also be subject to

testing. Random, company-wide testing is

still barred.

As the appellate court denied review, the -

case is now back in superior court; it will go

to trial sometime in 1988.

Conference Focuses on New Immigration Law

"Three days ago a man who had been

badly beaten was brought to the home of

Roberto Martinez who works with the

American Friends Service Committee in

San Diego. A U.S. Border Patrol car had

run over the man three times. He was

terrified of going to the hospital for fear the

agents might find him."

With this chilling story, Bumivo

Rodriguez, Director of the AFSC's U.S.-

Mexico Border Program, opened the June

13 Conference on the Current Struggle for

Immigrant and Refugee Rights. The San

Francisco conference, designed by and for

local activists to assess the present condi-

~ tions in light of the new Immigration |

Reform Act, was sponsored by a broad

range of groups including the ACLU-NC

Immigration Working Group.

"When the new law was passed," Rodri-

guez said, "we predicted more abuse against

the undocumented, more harassment of

individuals and immigrant communities,

more deaths on the border. We've seen all of

this. Immigrants face more bandits, more

rapists and more Border Patrol who are

equipped with sophisticated new weapons

and assisted or trained by the Marines, the

National Guard and even the Army."

_ Marcia Gallo, ACLU-NC Field Repre-

sentative, said, "We are facing overt attacks

such as those described by the AFSC, but we

are also facing attacks that are far more

covert-that are essentially ways to legislate

racism."

ACLU-NC Board member Bill Tanayo.

warns, "struggle for OES of immigrants

will take years."

Bilingual Ballots

Gallo noted the passage of the "insidious

Proposition 63" mandating English as the

only official language and added, "One of

our ACLU-NC cases, Olagues v. Russo-

`niello is an attempt to defend the nghts of

voters seeking bilingual election materials.

Voters have been singled out and investi-

gated solely because they exercised their

right to bilingual voting information. It's a

calculated and vicious assault. And we may

have a U.S. Supreme Court decision in this

case just as the 1988 elections come around,"

Gallo said.

Mass Round-Up Plan

Michel Shihadeh, a Palestinian defendant

in Los Angeles who is one of 8 who were

arrested and threatened with deportation for

distributing "seditious" literature under the

McCarran-Walter Act, linked his treatment

to recently leaked evidence of mass round-

up and detention schemes being planned by

the INS and other federal agencies.

"The Alien Terrorist and Undesireables

Contingency Plan is terrifying," Shihadeh

said. "It is an outline for the mass detention

and deportation of Arab-Americans and

Iranians. We have also heard that there are

other plans targeting Central Americans.

"In our case [which is currently being

heard in Los Angeles where the ACLU of

Southern California is on the defense team],

you can see that this secret government plan

has been pursued to the letter-the harrass-

ment, the bringing of alternate charges. We

were shackled and thrown into maximum

security with seasoned criminals. There were

racial slurs," Shihadeh explained.

Frank Wilkinson of the National Com-

mittee Against Repressive Legislation

asserted, "These are the worst times I have

ever seen in attacks on the foreign-born- "

and I have seen a lot!" The veteran survivor

of the MeCanthy OnTELE spoke at length

about Frank Varelli who was "recruited by

the FBI to infiltrate organizations in Texas

working with Central America issues."

"This man' Varelli became the link

between the FBI and the National Guard in

El Salvador, When a refugee was denied

asylum in the U.S., Varelli called officials in

El Salvador to say that people were coming

in on flight such-and-such." Many of the

deportees met gruesome fates. According to

Wilkinson, "Forty-three were violently

captured at the San Salvador Airport;

another 52 were killed, 57 others were

disappeared."

ACLU-NC Board member Bill Tamayo _

who is Chair of the National Network for

Immigrant and Refugee Rights summed up

the challenge of the conference: "We are

living in a dangerous period-a period when

the administration has appealed to the most

nativist, chauvinist and racist sentiments of

the American people.

"In the face of one of the most repressive

laws in the U.S. history, we are fighting for a

future that will make race and immigration

status immaterial. It will not be easy. Like

the struggle for the civil rights of Blacks, it

will take years. Equal rights for all

immigrants, documented and undocu-

mented, must be seen as a key issue that all

who profess to uphold civil rights must

defend," Tamayo concluded.

ame

aclu news

8 july-august 1987.

Bill of fRights

~ Campaign

The BRC Campaign Committee will

hold a volunteer training session on

Saturday, September 19th from 10:00 am

to 1:00 pm, for all who wish to participate in

the Fall phone nites.

The Campaign Kick-Off Party is-on

Monday, September 28th, 6:00 pm at the

ACLU offices in San Francisco.

Call Marcia Gallo at 415-621-2493 for

the final schedule of Campaign Phone

Nites if you want to volunteer at any of the

following local chapters:

Fresno Marin |

Mt. Diablo Sacramento

Santa Clara Yolo

Gay Rights Mid-Peninsula

North Peninsula San Francisco

Earl Warren BARK

G 6" I plan to celebrate the bicentennial of the Constitution

as a living document, including the Bill of Rights and

9

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall

the other amendments protecting individual

freedoms and human rights.

_ Join the ACLU of Northern California as we honor

the 200th Anniversary of the U.S. Constitution, 1787-1987.

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO

DEFEND YOUR RIGHTS

=

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION

I] WANT TO HELP THE ACLU

[JEnclosed is my contribution of $

| JI want to join. Credit my contribution towards membership:

L1$20 Individual [1$30 Joint _J]More

Name

-Address_

City_ State 2. Zip

Send coupon ond check to ACLU-NC, 1663 Mission Street,

#460, San Francisco, CA 94103.

tr

Chapter Calendar

Board Meetings

B.A.R.K. BOARD MEETING: (Usually

fourth Thursday) Volunteers are needed to

staff hotline. Contact Florence Piliavin,

415-848-5195. Meeting co-sponsored by the

B.A.R.K. Chapter, the Earl Warren Chapter

and the Right To Know/Right `Jo Dissent

Committee. September 26: 6:30 pm. Potluck;

8:00 pm. Speakers on Right To Dissent issues.

22 Roble Road, Berkeley. For more informa-

tion, contact Florence Piliavin, 415-848-5195

or Rose Bonhag, 415-658-7977.

EARL WARREN BOARD MEETING:

(Third Wednesday) prompt, Sumitomo Bank,

20th and Franklin Streets, Oakland. Contact

Rose Bonhag, 415-658-7977. Meeting co-

sponsored by the Earl Warren Chapter, the

B.A.R.K. Chapter and the Right To Know/

Right To Dissent Committee. September 26;

6:30 pm. Potluck, 8:00 pm. Speakers on Right

To Dissent issues. 22 Roble Road, Berkeley.

- For more information, contact Rose Bonhag,

415-658-7977 or

415-848-5195.

Florence Pilivian,

FRESNO BOARD MEETING: (Note

change: usually third Tuesday) Contact

Mindy Rose: 209-486-7735.

GAY RIGHTS BOARD MEETING: (Usu-

ally first Tuesday) 7:00 pm, ACLU-NC, 1663

Mission Street, Suite 460, San Francisco.

Contact Tom Reilly: 415-434-7337.

MARIN COUNTY BOARD MEETING:

(Third Monday) 7:30 pm. Citicorp. Bank, 130

Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley. Contact

Jack Butler, 415-453-0972 or June Festler,

415-479-7317,

MID-PENINSULA BOARD MEETING:

(Usually fourth Wednesday) All Saints

Episcopal Church, 555 Waverly, Room 15,

Palo Alto. Contact Harry Anisgard,

415-856-9186.

MONTEREY BOARD MEETING: (Usu-

ally fourth Tuesday) Monterey Library,

Pacific and Jefferson Streets, Monterey.

Contact Richard Criley, 408-624-7562 for

verification of August meeting.

MT. DIABLO BOARD MEETING: (Usu-

ally third Wednesday) September 16 meeting

at the home of Mildred Starkie. Annual

Potluck Dinner, Sunday, August 23 at the

Home of Helen Grimstead, 5:00 pm. Guest

Speaker: 7:00-8:00 pm. Contact Andrew

Rudiak, 415-932-5580.

NORTH PENINSULA BOARD MEET-

ING: (Second Monday) No meeting in

August. September 14, 7:30 pm. Bank of

America, 3rd and El Camino, San Mateo.

Contact Bob Delzell, 415-343-7339.

SACRAMENTO VALLEY BOARD

MEETING: (Usually second Wednesday)

August 12, September 9, 7:30 pm. County

Administration Building, 7th and I Streets,

Main Floor Conference Room, Sacramento.

Contact Joe Gunterman, 916-447-8053.

SAN FRANCISCO BOARD MEETING:

(Usually fourth Tuesday) August 25, 6:00 pm.

ACLU-NC, 1663 Mission Street, Suite 460,

San Francisco. Contact Marion Standish,

415-863-3520. Mayoral Candidates Night,

Tuesday, September 22, 7:30 pm, Cole Hall,

U.C. Medical Center on Parnassus.

SANTA CLARA BOARD MEETING:

(Usually first Tuesday) Contact Walter

Krause, 408-258-7963.

SANTA CRUZ BOARD MEETING:

(Second Wednesday) Contact Bob Taren,

408-429-9880.

SONOMA BOARD MEETING: (Usually

third Thursday) The Roseland Law Center,

1611 Sebastopol Road, Santa Rosa. Contact

Colleen O'Neal, 707-575-1156. If you want to

participate in Bicentennial activities, please

contact June Swan, 707-546-7711.

STOCKTON BOARD MEETING: (Third

Wednesday) Contact Eric Ratner,

209-948-4040 (evenings).

YOLO COUNTY BOARD MEETING:

(Usually Third Wednesday) Contact Dan.

ae 916-446-7701.

Field

Committee Meetings

PRO-CHOICE TASK FORCE: (first Wed-

nesday) September 2, October 7, 6:00 pm.

ACLU-NC, 1663 Mission Street, Suite 460,

San Francisco. Contact Marcia Gallo,

415-621-2494.

RIGHT TO KNOW/RIGHT TO DIS-

SENT: (second Tuesday) September 8,

October 13, 7:00 pm. Organizing public

education and membership organizing on

limits on information/activism. ACLU-NC,

1663 Mission Street, Suite 460, San Fran-

cisco. Contact Marcia Gallo, 415-621-2494.

Meeting co-sponsored with the B.A.R.K. and

Earl Warren Chapters. September 26, 6:30

pm. Potluck, 8:00 pm. Speakers on Right To

Dissent issues. 22 Roble Road, Berkeley. For

more information, call Rose Bonhag,

415-658-7977 or Florence Piliavin,

415-848-5195.

IMMIGRATION WORKING GROUP:

(fourth Thursday) September 24, October 22,

7:00 pm. ACLU-NC, 1663 Mission Street,

Suite 460, San Francisco. Contact Marcia

Gallo, 415-621-2494.

VOLUNTEER COMPLAINT

COUNSELORS NEEDED

A challenging volunteer position

awaits you as an ACLU-NC "Complaint

Counselor"-taking complaint calls and

requests for assistance, referrals and

information, and helping to screen cases

for potential ACLU lawsuits.

The position requires people who can

make at least a 6-month commitment to

work one (or more) day a week from

10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Patience, compas-

sion and concern for civil liberties and

civil rights are necessary. Legal knowl-

edge is helpful, but not required. Please

call 415-621-2493 and ask for Jean Hom.