vol. 62, no. 5

Wotume LXIl

clu news.

SEPTEMBER = OcToBER 1998

ae Ne) eae Ch ee Bae Oe at Ve yy.

Non-Profit

Organization

U.S Postage

PAID

Permit No. 4424

San Francisco, CA

First CASE Post-PROPOSITION 209.

Civil Rights Groups Sue Contra Costa

implementation of Proposition 209,

civil rights advocates filed a federal

class action lawsuit suit on July 29 in US.

District Court against Contra Costa County,

charging that the County systematically

and intentionally excludes minority- and

`women-owned businesses from doing busi-

ness with the County in violation of federal

law.

The lawsuit, Lucy's Sales et al. v.

Contra Costa County# was filed as a class

action on behalf of all such businesses that

are denied equal opportunity to compete

for contracts with the County, the first

local government in northern California to

drop its affirmative action program in the

wake of Proposition 209.

"Discrimination is still illegal in

California," said Oren Sellstrom of the

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the

San Francisco Bay Area. "Proposition 209

is not a license to discriminate.

"The County has never had a contract-

ing process that is open to women- and

minority-owned firms," noted Sellstrom,

"County officials are now trying to use

Proposition 209 as a justification for scal-

ing back any attempts to make their

process more inclusive."

The County's own statistics show that

white male-owned businesses receive

almost 99% of the $100 million in County

contracts for goods and services each year.

| nthe first case of its kind following the

| trated by Contra

| Costa is tremendous.

_ contracting, but has

| chosen to do nothing

"For years the

County has been well

aware of the gross

disparities, and the

near total exclusion

of women and people

of color from public

about it," `said

Michelle Alexander,

Director of the ACLU-

NC Racial Justice

Project.

"The economic

impact of the dis-

crimination perpe-

People wonder why

women and people

of color continue to

find themselves at

the: bottom of the

economic ladder in

this country. But project,

| when local govern-

| ments are channel-

_ ing hundreds of millions of dollars into the

| community, and that money is given only

| to businesses owned by white men - the

answer should be obvious," Alexander said.

Plaintiff Lucy Lacy, an African

| American woman who is the owner of a

supply company, said she has experienced

the County's exclusionary policies first-

hand. Despite the fact that she has been

certified by the County as a minority and |

woman-owned business and has repeatedly

approached the County for business,

UNION MAID

At a packed press conference in the Federal Building, cooperating attorney David Berger announces a class

action lawsuit against Contra Costa County for violating federal anti-discrimination laws with plaintiff Lucy

Lacy (center), owner of Lucy's Sales and Michelle Alexander (left), Director of the ACLU-NC Racial Justice

County officials have never even asked her

to bid for an upcoming contract. "I can't

even get my foot in the door," said Lacy. "All

I want is a chance to compete, but the

County's system is just closed. off to anyone

Continued on page 8

SSOSSKSRNHSSHHSHSSHHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSSHSHSHSHHRHHSHSHSSHSHSHKHSHSHSHOHSHSOSTHSHSHHSSHSHBHSHSSHSHSHSHSHSSSSHSHSHSOHSSHSHTSSHSSHSHSSHSHSSHSHHOOSESSSSESSHSOSCHCHSHHOHCHEHEH8THHHH88SEHCHEO8O

1998 BILL CF RIGHTS DAY CELEBRATION

INSIDE: High School Students Explore: Tribal Sovereignty:Unplugged _

he ACLU and a coalition of public

[Miners groups are seeking a trial in

federal court to determine the con-

stitutionality of Proposition 227, the June

ballot measure which eliminated bilingual

education in California schools. |

The class action lawsuit, Valeria G. v.

Wilson, was filed on June 3, the day after

the election, on behalf of Limited English

Proficient (LEP) students, their parents

tions. The lawsuit seeks to invalidate the

initiative for violating the Equal

Educational Opportunity Act of 1974, Title

_ VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the

Equal Protection clause of the 14th

- Amendment.

children equal access to educational

opportunity.

On July 15, in a courtroom packed with

bilingual teachers, school administrators

and immigrant parents accompanied by

young children, attorneys. Deborah

Escobedo of META (MultiCultural

Education Training and Adovcacy) and

Thomas Saenz of MALDEF (Mexican

American Legal Defense and Education

Fund) argued eloquently against the elimi-

nation of the variety of programs now being

used to educate California's 1.4 million stu-

harging that the City of Oakland

Ge seizure and forfeiture ordi-

nance violates state law, on July 21,

the ACLU-NC filed a petition for writ of

mandate asking the Alameda County

Superior Court to order the City to stop

enforcing the measure.

The Oakland Police Department has

used the ordinance, passed in 1997, as a

tool to seize automobiles allegedly used to

solicit acts of prostitution or acquire illegal

drugs - even in instances where there is no

criminal conviction. The ordinance allows

the City to sell the seized vehicles, with the

proceeds of the sale going directly to local

law enforcement agencies.

The ordinance flies in the face of two

statutes (one concerning prostitution and

one concerning drug-related offenses)

passed by the California Legislature man-

dating that law enforcement may only

seize property when there has been a con-

viction. According to the California

Constitution, such conflicting local laws

are preempted by state law and thus void.

NECESSARY PROTECTIONS

The state's asset seizure law was passed in

1994 with specific protections to prevent

innocent people from losing their property

without due process. As the author of the

legislation, then-Assemblyman John

Burton, stated at the time, "The purpose of

this bill is to put in place the necessary pro-

tections to ensure that people's property

rights, and due process rights, are protect-

ed. The war on drugs should not be won at

the expense of our hard won freedoms."

The ACLU filed the taxpayers' suit,

Horton v. City of Oakland on behalf of

Oakland residents who oppose the ordinance.

Taxpayers may file lawsuits, acting in the

public interest, when they believe their

taxes are being spent in an unlawful manner.

and several immigrant rights organiza- |

The suit charges that -

_ Proposition 227 denies language minority |

Prop. 227 APPEALED

Civil Rights Groups Seek Trial

on Bilingual Ed Measure

ACLU-NC attorney Ed Chen (at mikes) explains to the press why Proposition 227 is

unfair to California's limited English students. Members of the legal team challenging

Proposition 227 include Debora Escobedo (seated ) of META, and (standing left to right)

Maria Blanco of the Latino Civil Rights Network, Christopher Ho of the Employment

Law Center and Joe Jaramillo of MALDEF

dents who are limited in English.

Following a lengthy argument, U.S. District

Court Judge Charles Legge denied the

request to block implementation of

Seizure Ordinance

| Proposition 227. The following week, the

| groups filed an appeal with the Ninth

| Circuit Court of Appeals, and asked the

' court to stay the implementation of

_ Proposition 227. After the request for the

_ stay was denied, the plaintiffs then dis-

missed the appeal. :

"The state should be the guarantor 0

educational opportunity for all children in

California," said Escobedo at a press con-

ference following Judge Legge's denial of

the preliminary injunction. "The state is

willing to put these children's future at

risk. We are not - and they shouldn't be."

ACLU-NC staff attorney Ed Chen said,

"It is extremely shortsighted to throw 1.4

million children who are limited English

proficient into such an unfounded,

unprecedented and untested social experi-

ment as that prescribed by Proposition

227. We hope that the federal trial will be a

comprehensive forum where the real

The state's asset seizure law was passed

in 1994 with specific protections to

prevent innocent people from losing

their property without due process.

"Because the revenue from civil forfei-

ture goes directly into the budgets of local

law enforcement agencies, the state

Legislature recognized a potential for

abuse and enacted procedural protections

for property owners," said ACLU-NC man-

aging attorney Alan Schlosser. "Oakland is

not free to just ignore state law and imple-

ment its own asset forfeiture operation

that has none of these protections."

The ACLU-NC suit charges that the

ordinance violates Article XI, Section 7 of

the California Constitution which forbids

local government from enacting ordi-

nances which are in conflict with state

law.

The Oakland ordinance contains no

protections for innocent owners. In fact,

many registered owners who have lost

their cars under the Oakland ordinance

were not even present when the alleged

crime took place.

"It is understandable that Oakland

should take measures to deter crime in its

neighborhoods. However, ignoring basic

legal standards established by the

Legislature to protect individual rights and

innocent people is the wrong way to pursue

. this goal," said Schlosser.

According to public records obtained

by the ACLU-NG, at least 17 of the seizures

in the last few months were triggered by

the attempted purchase of extremely small

amounts of marijuana - $10 to $30 worth.

Absent Oakland's ordinance, these individ-

uals, if found guilty, would have only been

fined a maximum of $100. However, under

the new ordinance the City can collect the

entire value of the cars allegedly involved

in addition to substantial towing and stor-

age fees.

In Oakland, after various towing, stor-

age and administrative fees are covered,

the police department, the district attor-

ney's office and the city attorney split the

remaining proceeds.

| issues of educational needs of immigrant

_ children can be addressed in a thorough,

_ in-depth manner."

Because of the denial of the prelimi-

| nary injunction, Proposition 227 is in effect

| as the school year begins. Local schools

_ now need to find new materials on short

notice and teachers must develop a new

curriculum in a short time.

In addition to the ACLU-NC, META and

| MALDEF, the case is being litigated by

attorneys from the ACLU of Southern

California, Public Advocates, Inc., the

Employment Law Center, Asian Law

Caucus and the Asian Pacific American

Legal Center.

There is no date yet scheduled for the

federal court trial.

ACLU Sues Oakland to Block Vehicle

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL OPINION

Before filing the lawsuit, the ACLU-NC

repeatedly expressed civil rights concerns

about the ordinance. In March, the State

Legislative Counsel issued an advisory

opinion on the matter concluding that the

Oakland vehicle seizure ordinance "is void

as contradictory to state law." The ACLU

then asked the Oakland City Council to

repeal the ordinance. They refused.

Oakland is the only city that is imple-

menting its own local asset seizure ordi-

nance. Press reports indicate that other

California cities are watching the Oakland

experiment and considering their own for-

feiture ordinances. "Unless this lawsuit is

successful, we can expect to see a prolifer-

ation of broad local forfeiture ordinances

which will disregard the guidelines and

protections of state law," Schlosser said.

The plaintiffs are represented by

ACLU-NC managing attorney Alan

Schlosser and ACLU-NC Police Practices

Project Director John Crew as well as

ACLU-NC cooperating attorney Michael -

Anderson. @

i Ei a hh dhl Male de de Matta :

Court OK's Ban on Welfare Raids

1997, residents of the Marina Vista

Apartments in Vallejo were awakened

when 60 law enforcement agents, many

wearing raid jackets with the word

"POLICE" in large yellow letters, entered

their homes without warrants and con-

ducted a highly-publicized mass raid.. The

operation, which involved seven state and

local agencies and had been announced

earlier to the media in an embargoed press

release, targeted residents because they

were public assistance recipients.

Seeking to vindicate their constitu-

tional right to be free from unreasonable

search and seizure, several of the Marina

Vista families sought help from the ACLU.

On August 10, following a class action

[: the early dawn hours of March 18,

federal lawsuit filed by the ACLU-NC, the ~

Employment Law Center and the law firm

of Pillsbury, Madison and Sutro, a US.

District Court judge in Sacramento

entered a consent decree which bars such

raids from ever happening again in Solano

County. The settlement agreement also

provides that the government agencies will

pay compensation to the individual plain-

tiffs for damages inflicted by this intrusive

operation.

The lawsuit, Lazenby v. Vallejo,

charged that the officers and government

agencies violated the residents' rights of

privacy, due process and freedom from

unreasonable searches and seizures. The

residents are represented by attorneys

Roxane Polidora, Pillsbury Madison and

Sutro partner (who litigated the case pro

bono ), Alan Schlosser, ACLU-NC Managing

Attorney and Jodie Berger of the

Employment Law Center.

HIGH-PROFILE DAWN RAID

"This ruling will bar law enforcement

agencies from conducting high-profile

mass raids of innocent public assistance

recipients," said attorney Polidora. "It will

prevent groups of armed officers from raid-

ing people's homes simply because they

receive welfare."

"This will prevent groups of armed

officers from raiding people's homes

simply because they receive welfare,"

Union Malp

Plaintiffs Barbara Lazenby (right) and Jessica Billingsley challenged the groundless

dawn raid of their homes in Vallejo.

The March 1997 raid was conducted

jointly by state and Solano County welfare

investigators, as well as officers of the

Vallejo Police Department, the Solano

County Probation Department, and the

state parole division. The agencies

involved agreed to important new constitu-

tional safeguards. For example, under the

consent decree, the Solano County Health

and Social Services Department will no

longer conduct home visits as a joint oper-

ation with law enforcement agencies.

Similarly, the California Department of

Health Services, which does verifications

for Medi-Cal eligibility, agreed to adhere to

the following restrictions in conducting

multi-agency home visits of public assis-

tance recipients in Solano County:

- such visits will not be planned and

conducted as joint operations with law

enforcement agencies;

ACLU Defends

Livermore Library

Against Internet Censorship

oving to defend online free speech

in libraries, the ACLU-NC filed a

friend-of-the-court brief on July

10 in Alameda County Superior Court sup- |

|

|

porting a California library's policy of pro-

viding uncensored access to the Internet.

At issue is whether "Kathleen R.," a

Concord woman, can obtain a court order

to compel a Livermore, California library

to eliminate its open access policy that

allows uncensored use of the Internet. In

a lawsuit Kathleen Rk. v. City of Livermore,

filed on May 28, she argues that without

such an order, Internet access at the

library is a "public nuisance" and ought to |

be shut down.

In her lawsuit, Ms. R. sought to bar offi-

cials from spending public money on the

city's public library computer system so

long as minors or adults can use it to find

sexual material considered "obscene" or

"harmful to minors" under California law.

The ACLU's brief, filed in Alameda

County Superior Court, asserts that both

federal law and the First Amendment favor

uncensored access to the Internet.

"Tt is no more legal for a parent to com-

pel a library to censor the Internet than it

is for the government to do so," said Ann

_ Brick, staff attorney with the ACLU-NC

which filed the brief on behalf of the ACLU-

NG, the national ACLU, and People for the |

American Way.

Determining what is "obscene" or |

"harmful to minors," Brick said, is a matter

for juries and judges to decide. "Parents -

have every right to supervise what their

children access at home, but librarians |

have every right to provide constitutionally |

protected material to both children and |

adults. There is no way for the library to

comply with the proposed court order with- |

out denying access to websites protected by

the First Amendment," she added.

In its brief, the ACLU argues that under

federal law, libraries are immune from civil

suits trying to impose censorship because

of their vital and longstanding role as an

information resource for people of all ages

and backgrounds.

The ACLU brief also argues that using

blocking software to prevent access to

potentially offensive material constitutes a

"prior restraint" - a virtual gag order -

that is prohibited by the First Amendment.

Ann Beeson, National ACLU staff attor-

ney, said that so far, 18 federal judges have

Continued on page 5

ACLU News = SEPTEMBER-GcToBER 1998 = Pace 3

- the home visits must occur during

normal hours of family activity (7:30 AM -

8:00 PM);

- the visits will be conducted by no

more than two clearly-identified persons

who obtain voluntary consent for

entry, and do not use of force, threats

or duress. Denial of entry shall not be used

to reduce or terminate benefits;

- the Department must obtain volun-

tary consent before conducting any entries

or searches; :

- the Department may not videotape

the visit without consent, nor may they

advise or invite the media to any home vis-

LS:

The highly-publicized mass raid in

the dawn hours of March 18, 1997, code-

named "Operation S.A.F.E." (Specialized

Agency Fraud Enforcement), targeted

residents because they were public assis-

of an execution.

in a denial of welfare benefits.

|

By Gigi PANDIAN |

v. Calderon, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reopened the issue of the right of

reporters to view executions in their entirety. Without overturning its April rul-

ing in CFAC that San Quentin's restrictions are constitutional, the Court modified its

decision to order the case sent back to federal district court to decide if the prison's safe-

ty and security concerns are justified and therefore provide a reason to limit the viewing

O n July 23, in the ACLU-NC case of California First Amendment Coalition (CFAC)

The ACLU argues that because the issue of the death penalty is such a serious one,

the public must be fully aware of how it is carried out. This requires the witnesses -

including the media - to have full view of the entire execution process.

In April, a three-judge panel of the federal appellate court unanimously overturned

a 1996 lower court ruling, finding that reporters have only limited rights to view the

entire process of execution by lethal injection. Corrections officials argued that if the

whole process of preparing a prisoner for execution was observed by the press, prison

officers could be identified and their safety put at risk. The ACLU-NC, representing jour-

nalists and First Amendment advocates, argued that prison officials could not constitu-

tionally prevent the press and public witnesses from viewing critical parts of the

execution procedure, especially in view of the fact that the entire process had been

viewed without incident since executions were moved inside prison walls 140 years ago.

The ACLU also maintained that defendants had failed to present any evidence of retalia-

tion or threats of retaliation which would justify limiting viewing rights.

On July 20, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided that controversial-written psy-

chological tests used by Contra Costa County to screen welfare applicants for drug or

alcohol addiction were not discriminatory. The court held in the case of Hunsaker v.

Contra Costa County that the tests were legal because test results did not directly result

| tance recipients. The residents were not

under individual suspicion of committing

fraud.

NO SEARCH WARRANTS

_ The agents had no search warrants yet

| were able to gain entry into the apartments

because of intimidating law enforcement

tactics used during the surprise operation.

Residents were afraid of losing their wel-

| fare benefits if they did not cooperate. The

| agents and investigators were accompa-

| nied by television cameras and reporters

who had been alerted to the raid by the

police.

After waking to a loud pounding on her

door, 60-year-old Barbara Jane Lazenby,

who suffers from heart trouble and dia- .

betes, found herself in her bedclothes and

without her dentures facing a group of offi-

cers and a TV camera. At other apart-

ments, children were terrified when they

awoke to officers interrogating their moth-

ers. The agents searched the families' bed-

rooms, drawers and closets.

"Using high pressure law enforcement

tactics to intimidate innocent people will

no longer be tolerated. The consent decree

effectively upholds welfare recipients'

rights to protection from such coercive and

threatening treatment," said ACLU-NC

attorney Alan Schlosser. "People do not.

give up their constitutional rights as a con-

dition of receiving public assistance."

"This agreement confirms that whether

someone is receiving public aid is a private

matter. Information about who is a recipi- .

ent cannot be used for law enforcement or

other purposes unrelated to administering

a welfare program," said Jodie Berger of

the Employment Law Center. "By assuring

confidentiality, the agreement will prevent

future raids targeting welfare recipients."

The provisions of the decree will be

implemented immediately. For two years,

the Department of Health Services will

report any homes visits to the ACLU-NC so

that compliance with the decree can be

monitored effectively.

Continued on page 5

he cover of my thick,

spiral-bound book

displays black doo-

dlings surrounding

the originally printed

title, Information

Packet for "TRIBAL

SOVEREIGNTY:

UNPLUGGED, A Field Investigation by and

for Students, August 3 to 11, 1998." The

book represents all that our group of stu-

dents and chaperons did over the nine

days, with background material on the

The encampment at Ward's Valley where tribal and environ-

mental activists are protesting the government plan to put a

nuclear dump site.

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS EXPLORE THE ISSUES

people and places we visited and a

detailed itinerary of each leg of the jour-

ney. The drawings that adorn my cover are

the result of a long bus trip, one of many,

while I was surrounded by sleeping

friends. Yet these markings bear more sig-

nificance than I ever intended.

Our trip took us all around California,

from desert to cement to forests, and miles

of road in between. We investigated sover-

eignty, as it related to gaming and casinos,

use of land and natural resources, educa-

tion, government, religion, and each indi-

: = vidual's path in life.

S

Everywhere we

went, with everyone

we spoke, on every

issue we discussed,

sovereignty was the

key word. In the dic-

tionary, the word is

defined as "supreme

and independent

power or authority in

government as pos-

sessed or claimed by

a state or communi-

ty." This explana-

tion, however, does

not incorporate the

lessons that our

journey, Tribal Sov-

ereignty: Unplugged,

taught us. The for-

.mal speeches and

the casual conversa-

ty-wide pow-pow and

the intimate music

and dance presenta-

tions, the planned

tours and the self-

: tions, the communi-:

directed explorations, the information we

read in written material and the informa-

tion we read in peoples faces all added to

the larger picture of sovereignty.

When we met with Cora Simmons,

Cindy Pinket and others on the Round

Valley reservation, we saw the fire in their

eyes as they described their fight for equal -

treatment by the police and courts. To

them, sovereignty was as simple as freeing

a wrongly-accused loved one, Bear

Lincoln, from jail and as far-reaching as

demanding justice from a biased, callous

law enforcement and judicial system. At

Wards Valley, sovereignty was an encamp-

ment in the middle of the desert that

activists from the Fort Mojave

Reservation and environmental groups

occupied to protest the government plan

to create a nuclear dumping site on the

land. Their act of resistance stood as a

physical and symbolic impediment to that

destructive scheme. It exemplified their

passion to treat the land with respect and

to save the nearby reservation from harm-

ful contamination.

_ At the Intertribal Friendship House in

Oakland individuals were given the oppor-

tunity to connect with a wealth of commu-

nity programs and people and history.

Sovereignty meant being Indian while liv-

ing and working in an urban setting.

At the Hoopa Reservation, Merv

George spoke eloquently of sovereignty in

his life as the Tribal Chairman and in the

lives of the people of his tribe. The tribe

runs its own social welfare programs,

directs its own economic development and

provides scholarships for young people to

go to college. For Merv, sovereignty means

leadership and ambitious future dreams

for himself and his people.

2 ACLU lace - Re eda ea 1998 u a -

Dancer at the Sacramento Pow Wow.

Wally Antone, a member and employee

of the tribal council of the Fort Mojave

Reservation, explained that he prays in

four directions daily. His words, beautiful

and instinctive, continued to resonate as

the black doodlings on my book come into

focus for the first time. The central image,

a dizzying, swirling, imperfect circle in the

center of the page, is the struggle of the

Indian peoples, incomplete but striking.

From one off-center point, the power of

these strivings moves outward in four

directions along two sweeping lines, leav-

ing four sections of endless possibility. The

word SOVEREIGNTY floats above the cir-

cle, followed by a trail of dots.

I realize that we, the students who par-

ticipated in Tribal Sovereignty: Unplugged,

became a part of the picture when we

decided to take on this issue, to involve our-

TSUKO SAKIMURA

Tattenham of Pinole.

selves in the struggle of the Indian people to |

retain some self-determination. Thus each

one of our names takes its place on a star |

and adds its presence to the growing picture ||

of the fight for Indian and tribal rights. |

My definition of the word sovereignty |

expanded each day. From our pre-trip |

preparatory discussions on identity and |

ethnicity to our journal reflections and on-

the historical significance of Spirit Mountain.

Sherman Indian High School teacher Dana Harrison-

Slawsby (left) with ACLU student participant Katrina

Nancy Orro

the-bus ponder-

ings, we sought

to - grasp the

meaning of sover-

eignty.

For me, the quest for tribal sovereignty

is far from complete. Each of us who par-

ticipated learned invaluable lessons on

this trip. We now will share these lessons -

PHILLIP MEHAS

Childcare center at the Fort Mojave Tribal Headquaters.

PHILLIP MEHAS

Fort Mojave Tribe elder Wally Antone led students through Grapevine Valley explaining

will help others understand not only what

we witnessed as Indian people work

Software is Wrong for Public Libraries.

toward self-determination, but also how to

define for themselves what sovereignty

means. And how each of us can fight the

small battles to help reach that goal. @

in schools, with our families, and in our

daily interactions. We hope that our efforts _

Round Valley Tribe in Covelo welcomes ACLU students.

7 ' | versial Internet content.

Livermore Library oa Problems with blocking software have

| been reported by a wide range of groups,

Beeson said, because the software censors

_ speech based on subjective views about

what is offensive. She noted that the

American Family Association, a conserva-

_ tive religious group, protested when it

restraint on free speech," Beeson said. learned its website was blocked based on

Beeson, an expert on cyberspace - "intolerance" of homosexuality.

issues, is co-author of a recent ACLU | Beeson said that the new interest

report, Censorship in a Box: Why Blocking from the right marks a turning point in

_ the fight for cyber-liberties. "Groups that

in the past supported Internet censor-

ship are now seeing things differently as .

they realize their speech is at risk, too."

Beeson said.

Continued from page 3

ruled in favor of online free speech, in cas-

es filed by the ACLU. "We think they'll also

agree that in this context, forcing the

library to censor the Internet is a prior

The report proposes guidelines for |

libraries and schools looking for alterna-

tives to clumsy and ineffective blocking

software as a means of addressing contro-

Continued from page 3

ACLU-NG cooperating attorney David Berger of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati

had argued that the `SASSI test (Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory) violated

the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment.

The ACLU maintains that the test disproportionately misidentified recovered alcoholics

and drug users as chemically dependent and required them to go through a burdensome

and invasive psychological interview to prove their "innocence" in order to obtain

General Assistance benefits.

The County is not currently using the SASSI test because of earlier rulings in this

case, but this decision will make it more difficult to sue under the Americans with

Disabilities Act. On August 10 a petition was filed for a rehearing en banc, asking the full

Court of Appeals to hear the case.

Prompted by a letter from the ACLU-NC, the City of Fortuna has agreed to remove a 30-

foot cross from city-owned land in Rohner Park. "Public officials in Fortuna have a duty

to uphold fundamental principles of separation of church and state," stated ACLU-NC

staff attorney Margaret Crosby. This principle has repeatedly been upheld by the courts

when public officials have failed to do so, warned Crosby in her May 18 letter.

The ACLU-NG action was prompted by a Fortuna resident who objected when the

city removed the cross to cut some trees and then reinstalled it in a concrete base in the

public park.

In 1996 the ACLU-NC and other public interest organizations, representing several

religious leaders and local residents, were successful in persuading the federal appeals

court to order the City of San Francisco to divest itself of ownership of the large cross on

Mt. Davidson. Asa result of the lawsuit, the city auctioned the cross and the top of Mt.

Davidson to the Coalition of Armenian-American Organizations.

Gigi Pandian is an ACLU News intern. @

ACLU News = SEPrember-OcTroser 1998 = Pace 5

A primary goal of the

Project is to identify

bold and creative

strategies for

continuing the fight

for equal opportunity

in a post-Proposition

209 world.

ACLU News = SEpremcer-OcrozkeR 1998 = Pace 6

Doris Martini

66 ale can they do this to me? This is

America?"

Doris Martini recalls hearing these

questions from callers when she volun-

teered at the ACLU-NC Complaint Desk.

"They never thought about their civil rights

until one of them was suddenly violated."

But the ACLU was there to respond.

Even if a call was not civil liberties related,

Doris and her fellow counselors were

armed with Rolodexes to refer callers to

the appropriate organizations for help.

"Who else besides the ACLU is fighting

~ this hard for civil liberties?" asked Doris.

In fact, she is so proud of the ACLU that

she's joined The DeSilver Society (the

ACLU's recognition group for supporters

who have made planned gifts) by establish-

ing four gift annuities, which will ultimate-

ly help the ACLU continue its vigilant fight.

A retired school teacher living in Mill

Valley who serves on the ACLU Marin

County Chapter Board, Doris describes her

hotline experience as "intense" and a

"great education." "The phone was con-

stantly ringing [with] people who felt their

rights had been abused, who wanted help

right away." She received calls from stu-

dents and prisoners as well as from people

who complained about religious liberty

infractions, housing discrimination, and

police brutality.

Surprisingly, Doris didn't think of her-

self as an "ACLU type" for most of her life.

She describes her family background as

politically active but very conservative.

Though Doris ultimately changed her politi-

cal affiliations, she held tight to her family's

legacy of activism. As a mother she won-

ders, "What kind of a world are you going to

hand over to your children if you don't do

something when theyre tiny? What's it

going to be like when theyre older, and you

could have done something and didn't."

Doris has volunteered in presidential

campaigns and joined a number of organi-

zations, like Amnesty International and the

Southern Poverty Law Center. She became

an ACLU member almost overnight after

seeing a movie about Skokie. It made a pro-

found impression on her that the ACLU-

despite its many Jewish members-was so

dedicated to constitutional ideals that it

defended the neo-Nazis' right to march and

peaceably assemble, no matter how horri-

ble their views are.

Today, Doris fears that most of America

will "let their civil liberties go by default."

She sees major threats to the civil rights

victories of the 60s and '70s, resurgent gov-

ernmental censorship, and a powerful

REDWOOD RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

ACLU activist and De Silver Society mem-

ber Doris Martini

Christian Coalition crusading to institute

public prayer. A native of California, she

also has serious concerns about the pas-

sage of Proposition 209. Doris believes

that there are vast numbers of people who

would be "more ACLU-oriented if they

thought about it," but with "people enjoy-

ing a good economy, " they need to be "star-

tled before they do anything."

The good economy, in fact, gave Doris

an opportunity to do something positive for

civil liberties. She used some of her appre-

ciated stock to set up a gift annuity with

the ACLU Foundation that pays her an

attractive income for life. Her stock was

paying a low dividend, and if she had sold

the stock, she would have paid a large capi-

tal gains tax. By using the stock to estab-

lish a gift annuity, Doris avoided a

substantial portion of the capital gains tax,

received an increased income, and claimed

a generous charitable income tax deduc-

tion. She had previously established three

ACLU Foundation gift annuities with cash,

which also provide her with significant

~ income and tax benefits. After Doris's life-

time, the principal from her four gift annu-

ities will go toward the ACLU's work to

protect individual liberty.

Doris takes comfort in the fact that her

gift is "a perpetual thing. . . it [isn't] some-

thing that will end with my life. All gifts of

this type will ensure that the ACLU will

have a steady source of income for the

future.... It's a wonderful way to make

your money do something good."

Ifyou would like information on ACLU

Foundation gift annuities, please contact

Stan Yogi at 415/621-2493, ext. 30. @

ACLU-NC Calls on Commission to

Dismiss Charges Against Justice Kline

he ACLU of Northern California is

[Mane the Commission on Judicial

Performance to dismiss disciplinary

charges against Justice J. Anthony Kline of

the First District Court of Appeal.

~The ACLU-NC charges that the disci-

plinary proceedings pose a threat to an

independent judiciary, "the cornerstone of

a living Constitution."

|

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"The Commission's threatened sanc-

tions against Justice Kline for his respect-

ful and well-reasoned refusal to follow a

Supreme Court precedent poses a serious

threat to an independent court system in

California," wrote Executive Director

Dorothy Ehrlich and Staff Attorney

Margaret Crosby in a July 24 letter.

"Judges must feel free to enforce the

`"`DWB'"' Bill Passes

Senate, Assembly

Now on Governor's Desk

or the first time in California, the

Pin may soon have access to data

regarding the race and ethnicity of

motorists pulled over for routine traffic vio-

lations. This data would be a critical first

step in addressing an issue widely under-

stood to be a fact of life among people of col-

or: being pulled over simply because of race.

| have been largely ignored. Yet, the percep-

tion by people of color that they are often |

_ stopped for the innocent offense of Odri- |

| ving while black or brown' creates an |

| atmosphere of distrust and a general lack

of faith in the criminal justice system."

Limited research and studies outside of |

California indicate that the problem is per- |

vasive. For example, a

A recent ACLU case in

Maryland revealed that while

over 75% of all drivers stopped

and searched by police were

African American, only 17% of

the drivers in

the area were black.

recent case filed by the

ACLU in Maryland

revealed that while

over 75% of all drivers

stopped and searched

by police were African

Amer-ican, only 17% of

the drivers in the area

were black. "In Cal-

ifornia, the problem of

racial profiling is not

limited to African

Americans. Latinos,

Important legislation addressing the

long-standing problem of "racial profiling"

by police is at a critical stage. The bill, AB

1264, is formally titled the "California

Traffic Stops Statistics Act," but is infor-

mally known as the "Driving While Black or

Brown Bill." AB 1264 would require law

enforcement to collect data regarding the

race and ethnicity of motorists pulled over

for routine traffic violations, and provide

that information in an annual report to the

state Department of Justice. This kind of

data is already collected and compiled by

police when an individual is arrested for a

crime. AB 1264 would close a loophole in

law enforcement data, by revealing the

race and ethnicity of all individuals who

are stopped and harassed by police even

though they have committed no crime.

The bill has garnered strong support

from minority law enforcement organiza-

tions. "Members of the National Black

Police Association see first hand and in

person the miscarriage of justice that takes

place each day in our communities simply

because of the color of our skin," said

Executive Director Ronald Hampton, in a

letter in support of AB 1264. The National

Latino Peace Officers' Association, the

National Organization of Black Law

Enforcement Executives, and _ the

California organization Minorities in Law

Enforcement also endorsed the bill.

On August 4, the Senate Appropriations

Committee held a hearing on AB 1264 to

determine whether the estimated cost of

the bill was justified. Michelle Alexander,

Director of the ACLU-NC Racial Justice

Project, testified that the bill was easily

worth the cost. "For years, people of color

have complained that they have been tar-

geted by police, and stopped for no reason

other than their race. These complaints

Asian Americans and

other minorities are also targeted by

police," said Alexander.

The chair of the California Legislative

Black Caucus, Assem-blymember Kevin

Murray of Los Angeles, is the sponsor of AB

1264. Murray, himself, was stopped by

Beverly Hills police, apparently on the

basis of race, last June on his way to an

election night dinner celebrating his nomi- |

nation for the Democratic candidacy for

the state Senate.

At the August 4 hearing, Murray read a

letter from former Los Angeles prosecutor

Christopher Darden explaining that he has

been stopped dozens of times by several

different police departments but has never

received a ticket. "I have, however, been

confronted by gun-toting officers demand-

_ing that I place my hands on the steering

wheel or exit my vehicle and lie on the

ground. In most of these cases, no legitimate

reason was given for the initial stop. Inmany |

of these cases, officers searched my vehicle

without a warrant, consent or probable

cause." Darden emphasized that. collecting

this data imposed no burden on police - ~

financial or otherwise - but could go a long

way towards addressing a serious problem

that exists between communities of color

and police. "There is no excuse for not pass-

ing AB 1264," Darden concluded.

Action Alert -

This measure passed the Senate |.

by a vote of 22-13-on August 26. The

following night-at midnight--it passed

the Assembly. It is now on the

Governor's desk. Your voice is cru-

cial. Please contact Governor Pete

Wilson urging him to sign AB 1264.

Governor Pete Wilson, State Capitol,

Sacramento 95814; phone: 916/445-

2841; FAX: 916/445-4633.

ACLU News = SEPTEMBER-GcToBER 1998 =u Pace 7

rights of the minority and the unpopular

for civil liberties to survive," stated Ehrlich

and Crosby.

The Commission has charged Justice

Kline with willful misconduct, because of

his stated refusal to follow a California

Supreme Court precedent permitting par-

ties to agree to the reversal of a lower court

opinion. Justice Kline wrote that he con-.

scientiously believed that stipulated rever-

sals allow affluent litigants to purchase |

justice. Because those parties will not |

seek high court review, Justice Kline

sought to return this issue to the California

Supreme Court by refusing to accept a stip-

ulated reversal.

"American constitutional history has |

been advanced by courageous judges who,

in rare and significant cases, have taken

bold steps to prod a higher court to re- |

examine prevailing legal doctrine," the

ACLU-NC letter states. For example, the |

ee

oF)

he civil rights community lost one of

ik brightest stars in our constella-

tion on July 18 when attorney Tom

Steel died of AIDS at age 48. Steel, long-

time partner of former ACLU-NC Board

Chair Milton Estes, was an ACLU co-coun-

sel, collaborator and committed supporter.

Steel's pioneering advocacy for civil

liberties is leg-

endary. A found-

er of the Gay and

Lesbian Commit-

tee of the Nation-

al Lawyers Guild

and of Bay Area

Lawyers for In-

dividual _Free-

dom, this talented,

passionate attor-

ney contributed

to the ACLU of

Northern Califor-

nia in a myriad of

ways.

As a our co-

counsel in Car-

penter v. City of San Francisco, Steel

helped win a federal court case in 1996

on behalf of several religious leaders and

residents challenging the City's owner-

ship of a 103-foot cross on the top of Mt.

Davidson.

Working with our Police Practices

Project and Supervisor Tom Ammiano,

Steel, who had fought and won a number

of police brutality cases in San Francisco,

crafted Proposition G in 1995, a success-

Office of Citizen Complaints.

A gift that Steel made to the ACLU-

NC Foundation in 1995 gives an insight

into his remarkable generosity and cre-

ativity. Steel was part of a team of attor-

neys who represented 1,000 Berkeley

tenants in a successful class action suit,

Owens v. Vu. As part of the settlement,

the tenants' attorneys obtained court

approval for distribution of the funds

remaining after all the qualified

claimants were paid, to organizations

that assist in legal work for tenants and

poor people in the Bay Area. Steel pre-

sented a donation of $14,000 to the

ACLU-NC Foundation, and enthusiasti-

ful ballot measure that strengthened the -

Activist, Advocate

Tom Steel

Tom Steel (left) with his partner Milton Z

Estes in the ACLU library in 1995.

- to release documents to San Francisco

` honor of Tom Steel be sent to the

_ National Lawyers Guild (415/285-5066) .

_ or the ACLU Foundation of Northern

United States Supreme Court in 1940

allowed public schools to expel Jehovah's

Witnesses school children for refusing to

salute the flag. A three-judge court sided

with the devout schoolchildren. On appeal,

the Supreme Court reversed its own three-

year-old precedent, in an eloquent, land-

mark precedent on right of individual

conscience against government orthodoxy.

"California has a valid interest in pre-

venting the judicial anarchy that would |

result from routine, recalcitrant refusal to

follow precedent. But the rare, conscien-

tious act of a judge who presses hard for ~

reconsideration of precedent by refusing to

follow it does not create anarchy," wrote

Ehrlich and Crosby."

The ACLU-NC letter notes that there is

no need to "inject a heavy-handed discipli-

nary process against the judges who take

rare steps to correct perceived injustice."

cally announced, "We turned rent over-

charges and unfair practices by a land-

lord into compensation for the tenants

and substantial contributions to insure

that the ACLU and others will be pre-

pared for future battles to defend ten-

ants rights."

ACLU-NC Executive __ Director

Dorothy Ehrlich

said, "The loss to

the legal and civil

rights community

is incalculable.

Tom combined a

deep commit-

ment to funda-

mental rights, an

innovative ap-

proach to seeking

Justice and a zest

for life. His con-

2 tributions inspir-

z ed all of us."

Steel won

cases against for-

midable op-

ponents, including the U.S. military -

for operating a train at the Concord Naval

Weapons Station that severed the legs of

protestor Brian Willson as he tried to

stop a shipment of weapons to El Salvador

- and the FBI - for refusing for 15 years

Examiner reporter Seth Rosenfeld about

U.C. Berkeley's Free Speech Movement.

Steel was honored for his outstanding work

by the National Lawyers Guild in 1995.

"Everything Tom Steel did was

informed by an incredible commitment

to justice," said ACLU-NC Managing

Attorney Alan Schlosser.

A memorial to Tom Steel at Green

Gulch Farm in Mill Valley on July 22 was

overflowing with family and friends from

the ACLU, the Guild, BALIF, clients,

judges, legislators, musicians, political

activists, journalists and artists - Tom

Steel's life had touched them all.

The family asks that contributions in

California (415/621-2493). mf

The Editor

Santa Clara Valley

Chapter activists Jon Cox

and Martha O'Connell

shared ACLU literature on

domestic partner benefits,

anti-discrimination laws,

and lesbian and gay mar-

riage and adoption at the

San Jose Gay Pride

Celebration in Discovery

Meadow on June 14. Tens

of thousands attended the

annual event, which

included 170 booths -

even in this crowd, the

= Chapter's booth got a men-

ztion in the San Jose

Mercury News.

IGLARA IALLEY CHAPTER

More than thirty ACLU-NC members and supporters from throughout the Bay Area

marched in the 1998 San Francisco Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Pride

_ Celebration to the warm applause of an appreciative audience on June 28. The

ACLU contingent included toddlers and octogenarians and a large and lively

group of high school students. The San Francisco ACLU-NC Chapter hosted a well-

attended booth at the post-parade celebration fair at the Civic Center.

San Francisco Chapter

Board Representative Paul

Camelli distributed ACLU

materials on issues ranging

from affirmative action to

and AIDS and civil liberties

at the Alternative Family

Celebration at San Francis-

co's Yerba Buena Gardens on

the July 4 weekend.

gasaaasiaasaac cassia tacos

Se Sennen

Chapter Meetings

(Chapter meetings are open to all interested members.

Contact the Chapter activist listed for your area.)

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

sington) Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth -

Thursday) For more information, time and address of -

meetings, contact Jim Chanin at 510/848-4752 or

Rachel Richman at 510/540-5507.

Fresno Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth Tuesday).

Please join our newly-reorganized Chapter! Meetings are

held at 7:00 PM at the Fresno Center for Non-Violence.

For more information, call Bob Hirth 209/225-6223

(days).

Marin County Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth -

Monday) Meet at 7:30 p.m. at the Corte Madera Town

Center, Community Meeting Room. for more information, -

contact Rico Hurvich at 415/389-8009.

Avenue, Suite 11, Palo Alto. For more information, con-

tact Ken Russell at 650/325-8750.

Monterey County Chapter Meeting: (Usually

third Tuesday) Meet at 7:15 PM, Monterey Library. For

more information, contact Richard Criley at 408/624-

7562.

North Peninsula (San Mateo area) Chapter

Meeting: (Usually third Monday) Meet at 7:30 PM, at

700 Laurel Street, Park Tower Apartments, top floor.

Check-out our web page at: http://members.

aol.com/mpenaclu. For more information, contact Marc

Fagel at 650/579-1789.

Redwood (Humboldt County) Chapter |

Meeting: (Usually third Thursday) Meet at Chan's at

359 G Street in Arcata at 7:00 PM. For information on

upcoming meeting dates and times, contact. Christina

Huskey at 707/444-6595.

_ Sacramento Valley Chapter Meeting: (Usually

Mid-Peninsula Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth -

Thursday) Meet at 7:00 PM, at 460 South California

first Wednesday) Meet at 7:00 PM at the Java City in

Sutter Galleria (between 29 and 30, J and K Streets) in

ACLU News = SepremBer-OcrToBer 1998 = Pace 8

Civil Rights...

Continued from page |

who's not in the `good ole boys' network."

Lacy regularly does business with other

local governments and private businesses, |

but has consistently been blocked from |

contracting with Contra Costa.

Other named plaintiffs include Lidia |

Tarango, a Hispanic owner of a trucking

company; Lisa Harrison, owner of

Harrison's Consulting; Glen Fox, owner of

a flooring business; and Frederick Jordan,

an African American civil engineer.

Several organizations representing the

interests of minority- and women-owned

businesses are also parties to the lawsuit,

including the Contra Costa branches of the

NAACP, the Northern California Latin

Business Association, and the Coalition for

Economic Equity.

The suit was filed by the ACLU affili-

ates of Northern and Southern California,

the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, |

the Employment Law Center and Wilson

Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati (WSGR), a |

major law firm based in Palo Alto that is

donating its services pro bono.

"We are ready to take action necessary

| to register for the 1998 ACLU-NC

Annual Activist

Conference

September 18 - 20

Asilomar Convention Center

to end discrimination by local govern-

ments around the state. A county may not

use tax money to support an exclusionary

public contracting system," said David J.

Berger, a litigation partner at WSGR. "The

private bar is ready and able to help fight

any public entity that discriminates in this

way." WSGR, a Palo Alto law firm with

nearly 500 attorneys, regularly advises

more than 300 public companies and 2,000

emerging growth companies.

The case is brought under the Equal

Protection Clause of the United States

Constitution, as well as under Title VI of

the Civil Rights Act of 1964. "Federal

law makes it quite clear that cities and

counties cannot systematically exclude

women and minorities from competing

for contracts. Proposition 209 does not

_and cannot change that fact," Alexander

said.

Additional plaintiffs' attorneys are

Julian Gross, William McNeill and

Patricia Shiu of the Employment Law

Center; Ed Chen of the ACLU of

Northern California, Mark Rosenbaum

and Dan Tokaji of the ACLU of Southern (c)

California; Michele Rose, David O'Brien

and Sean Petrie of WSGR; and Professor

Karl Manheim of Loyola Law School.

Monterey

Housing is still available

Please call Field Representative

Lisa Maldonando at

415/621-2493 ext. 46

to register and for more information.

Sacramento. For more information, contact David Miller

at 916/991-5415.

San Francisco Chapter Meeting: (Third Tuesday)

Meet at 6:45 PM at the ACLU-NC Office, 1663 Mission

Street, Suite #460, San Francisco. Call the Chapter

Hotline (979-6699) for further details.

Santa Clara Valley Chapter Meeting: (Usually

first Tuesday) Meet at 7:00 PM at the Community Bank

Towers, Ist Floor Conference Room, 111 West St. John

Street, San Jose. For further chapter information contact

Jon Cox at 408/293-2584 or Elizabeth Zimmerman at

408/246-2129.

`Santa Cruz County Chapter Meeting: (Usually

third Monday) Meet at 7:15 PM. For more information,

contact Dianne Vaillancourt at 408/454-0112.

Sonoma County Chapter Meeting: (Usually third

Tuesday) Meet at 7:30 PM at the Peace and Justice

Center, 540 Pacific Avenue, Santa Rosa. Call Judith

Volkart at 415/899-3044 for more information.

Yolo County Chapter Meeting: (Usually third

Tuesday) Meet at 7:30 PM, 2505 5th Street #154,

Davis. The chapter is gathering signatures for the Student

Education Opportunity Initiative. For more information,

call Natalie Wormeli at 530/756-1900 or Dick

Livingston at 530/753-7255.

Chapters Reorganizing

If you are interested in reviving the Mt. Diablo or

`North Valley Chapter, please contact Field

Representative Lisa Maldonado at 415/621-2493.

Field Action Meetings

(All meetings except those noted will be held at the ACLU-

NC Office, 1663 Mission Street, 460, San Francisco.)

Student Outreach Committee: Meet to plan out-

reach activities. For more information, contact Nancy Otto

at 415/621-2006 ext. 37.

_ Student Advisory Committee: For more informa-

tion, contact Nancy Otto at 415/621-2006 ext. 37. ia