vol. 76, no. 2

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

ACLUnews

nay ey ti ISSUE?

Thao STEPPING UP TO PASS PROP 34:

SENTECURS ERAT Wet noses DOING OUR PART TO REPLACE

2 Ihe ACLU-NC Celebrates Pride THE DEATH PENALTY

as a Community Grand Marshal By Abdi Soltani

A hin Ourccige tne sow 4 ts campaign season for Prop 34. Many dedicated ACLU

a members are opening their homes to their friends and

Criminal Justice Online Ap p neighbors and asking them to support this historic initiative

f to replace California's dysfunctional and costly death penalty.

5B Rememberin g Ne iaviisn Replacing the death penalty will save California taxpayers

Fran Strauss $1 billion over the next five years and eliminate the risk of

executing an innocent person. Prop 34 will also help to make

all communities safer by ensuring that some of the budget Oo NM

8 The Estamos savings go toward the "SAFE California Fund" to investi-

Aces Tow gate and solve open murder and rape cases. Inmates are also

required to work and pay restitution into the state victims'

compensation fund.

_ One of the first house parties of the season was hosted by

ACLU members Judy Kerr and Barbara Ridley in Albany.

Judy is a longtime supporter of the ACLU and has con-

tributed countless hours over the years speaking about the

high costs of the death penalty, both human and financial. In

2003, Judy's brother Bob was brutally murdered. During this

traumatic time in Judy's life, she and her family needed grief

counseling and, just as important, she needed to know that the

man who killed her brother would be caught and punished.

But almost 10 years later, justice has not been served. Bob's

murderer walks free.

Today, Judy is working to pass Prop 34. She believes Cali-

fornia should redirect some of the millions of dollars we spend

on the death penalty toward solving open rape and murder

cases-56 percent of reported rapes and 46 percent of murders

go unsolved each year.

At her house party, Judy shared her deeply personal story

with her guests and explained the larger realities behind

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

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BOARD ELECTION NOTICE

The ACLU-NC Board of Directors, in accordance with changes adopted in the bylaws in 2003 (Article VI, Section 3

and Article VI, Section 4), have an election schedule as follows:

Nominations for the Board of Directors will now be submitted by the September Board meeting; candidates and bal-

lots will appear in the Fall issue of the ACLU News; elected board members will begin their three-year term in January.

As provided by the revised ACLU-NC bylaws, the ACLU-NC membership is entitled to elect its Board of Directors

directly. The nominating committee is now seeking suggestions from the membership to fill at-large positions on the

Board.

ACLU members may participate in the nominating process in two ways:

1. They may send suggestions for the nominating committee's consideration prior to the September Board meeting

(September 13, 2012). Address suggestions to: Nominating Committee, ACLU-NC, 39 Drumm Street, San Fran-

cisco, CA 94111. Include your nominee's qualifications and how the nominee may be reached.

2. They may submit a petition of nomination with the signatures of 15 current ACLU-NC members. Petitions of

nomination, which should also include the nominee's qualifications, must be submitted to the Board of Directors

by October 3, 2012 (twenty days after the September board meeting). Current ACLU members are those who have

renewed their membership during the last 12 months. Only current members are eligible to submit nominations,

sign petitions of nomination, and vote. No member may sign more than one such petition.

American Civil Liberties Union Foundation

39 Drumm St.

San Francisco, CA 94111

ACLU members will select Board members from the slate of candidates nominated by petition and by the nominating

committee. The ballot will appear in the Fall issue of the ACLU News.

Aare WS hale ea rd

of 1 CALIFORNIA

on me open ue: and

he = Ways People

Membership ($20 and up) includes a subscription to the

ACLU News. For membership information call

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

Michelle Welsh

Abdi Soltani

Rebecca Farmer

Gigi Pandian

CHAIR

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

MANAGING EDITOR and

BESIGNER

39 Drumm Street, San Francisco, CA 94111

(415) 621-2493 | EDITOR@ACLUNC.ORG

Susana Millman

2012 BENEFACTORS DINNER

enerous ACLU supporters gathered together to occupy the City Club of San Francisco for the ACLU of Northern

California (ACLU-NC) 2012 Benefactors Dinner. The evening's program focused on the ACLU-NC's free speech

work and featured ACLU-NC Executive Director Abdi Soltani, ACLU-NC Legal Director Alan Schlosser, ACLU-NC

Staff Attorneys Linda Lye and Michael Risher, and ACLU-NC client and UC Davis student Fatima Sbeih.

Photos, left to right: Melanie MacKerel [right] with UC Davis plaintiffs William Roberts and Enosh

Baker. Former Board Member Dick Grosboll with ACLU-NC Staff Attorney Linda Lye. Ardent civil liberties

advocates Herb and Lee Kanner.

Amanda Munoz

Amanda Munoz

CELEBRATING PRIDE

he ACLU of Northern California was named the Community Organization Grand Marshal for San Francisco Pride

2012. Over 250 people marched with the ACLU-NC at the San Francisco Pride Parade on June 24.

Adrian Mendoza

"TEACH OUR CHILDREN TO READ,"

SAY DINUBA PARENTS and TEACHERS

By Isobel White

Re elementary school teacher Nona Rhea, the worst part

about her school district's fundamentally flawed method of

teaching English is the time lost in young learners' lives.

"Reading provides the building blocks for all other skills in

a young child's life," says Rhea, teacher of the year at Roos-

evelt Elementary in the Central Valley town of Dinuba. "But

instead of being taught to read, students in my district whose

first language isn't English are stuck doing mini-grammar les-

sons completely out of context. At the same time, their peers

are being introduced to a whole rich reading curriculum. It's

heartbreaking, and it's wrong."

Rhea is a plaintiff in an ACLU-NC lawsuit filed on behalf

of teachers and parents against the Dinuba Unified School

District and the State of California, charging that the school

district and state are violating students' fundamental right to

equal educational opportunity. The lawsuit seeks to stop the

school district from denying basic instruction in reading to 1st

and 2nd grade English learners and to stop using a flawed and

unproven method of teaching English to them.

In 2009, the Dinuba Unified School District adopted a

program of English language instruction known as Second

Language Acquisition Development Instruction (SLADI).

No research supports the use of SLADI for students as young

as Ist and 2nd grade, yet it is in use throughout the district.

By Danielle Riendeau

Making Every Vote Count

Under the California Constitution, stripping the right to

vote from people who have been convicted of felonies-

called felony disenfranchisement-is limited to people who

are serving sentences in state prison and who are on parole.

A 2006 court ruling, an ACLU of Northern California case,

clearly establishes that individuals sentenced to felony pro-

bation retain the right to vote, even if they are confined in

county jail. Under realignment, 85,000 Californians newly

sentenced for low-level, non-violent felonies will now go to

county jail instead of state prison.

A memorandum from Secretary of State Bowen inter-

preted realignment in way that would deny these Californians

the right to vote. In response, the ACLU-NC and other civil

rights organizations filed suit asking the California Supreme

Court to clarify and protect the voting rights of these citizens.

`The suit charges that excluding Californians with felony con-

victions who are neither in prison nor on parole from voting

violates the California Constitution and undermines a central

purpose of realignment, which is to stop the state's expensive

revolving door of incarceration by successfully reintegrating

individuals back into their communities.

The ACLU-NC petitioned the court to hear and decide

the case on an expedited basis so the issue could be resolved

before the October 22, 2012 voter registration deadline.

On July 25, the California Supreme Court denied the peti-

tion for review. The voting rights of individuals sentenced

under Realignment therefore remain unclear.

The ACLU-NC and its partners in the lawsuit will con-

tinue to fight for the voting rights of these individuals.

Teachers are required to provide instruction in complex gram-

matical rules, without offering any meaningful exposure to the

way English is spoken and written in real-life contexts.

Moreover, teachers are not allowed to provide any reading

instruction to their 1st and 2nd grade English learners during

the first half of each school year. During the second semester

of the school year, English learner students are abruptly moved

into the regular reading curriculum, even though they have

not been taught any of the previous reading lessons. Through-

out the year, many English learner students are completely

segregated from their English-speaking peers, except during

recess and lunch.

"It's a crying shame that we've been wasting time in these

kids' lives," says Rhea. "Young kids learn to read and to un-

derstand English because they want to communicate and they

want to engage-because they want to know what happens to

the pig in Charlotte's Web."

The lawsuit, the first of its kind in California, asks that the

program be stopped and that the State honor its responsibility

to ensure that all school districts provide equal opportunity to

a meaningful education for the state's schoolchildren.

"Dinuba Unified School District is depriving English learn-

er children of their constitutional right to equal educational

opportunity," said Jory Steele, ACLU-NC Managing Attorney.

Victory: Safe San Francisco Civil

Rights Ordinance

The ACLU-NC, a founding partner of the Coalition for a

Safe San Francisco, celebrated an important victory in May

when Mayor Lee signed the Safe San Francisco Civil Rights

Ordinance into law. The law puts in place steps to strengthen

transparency and accountability over the activities of the San

Francisco Police Department (SFPD) when the department

gathers intelligence in collaboration with the FBI's Joint Ter-

rorism Task Force (JT TF).

All agreements between the two agencies will now be sub-

ject to public review and comment before the Police Com-

mission, and the commission will be informed of the JT TF's

work with the SFPD through yearly reports.

For decades, San Francisco has been a civil rights leader

in prohibiting policing based on race, ethnicity, national

origin or religion. The new law reinstates measures like

those that were were in place prior to 2007, when a secret

MOU began to govern the relationship between the FBI

and the SFPD.

The ordinance should help to prevent local involvement

in FBI intelligence abuses of the kind that have garnered

widespread attention in Los Angeles and New York.

While the original proposed legislation was broader in

scope, the law provides much-improved oversight of both

agencies. The SFPD will no longer operate under an agree-

ment whose terms were dictated unilaterally by FBI Head-

quarters. The ACLU-NC, together with Asian Law Caucus

and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, will be

closely following its implementation.

"By signing off on this

fundamentally flawed

and unequal program,

the state of California

is not honoring its

constitutional obliga-

tion and is risking the

future of these chil-

dren."

The lawsuit was

filed by the ACLU of

Northern California,

the ACLU of South-

ern California, the

NEU or San Dicco

and Imperial Coun-

Rural

the

Asian Pacific American Legal Center, with pro bono as-

Elementary school teacher

Nona Rhea.

ties, California

Assistance,

Legal

sistance from the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and

Rosati. @

Isobel White is a contributing writer.

Protecting Journalists' Rights

The ACLU-NC filed an amicus brief asking the Santa

Cruz County Superior Court to dismiss felony conspiracy

charges against two photojournalists who followed a group

of Occupy activists into a vacant bank building.

The journalists were arrested and charged with con-

spiracy, as well as aiding and abetting trespass and vandal-

ism, after they took and published photographs of the

occupation. Journalists have particular protections under

the First Amendment when it comes to holding them

responsible for the conduct of other people-so that they

can cover the news. The journalists were charged for the

occupiers' conduct that occurred while they were gather-

ing and disseminating information about a newsworthy

event. Therefore, the ACLU-NC brief argued, the court

must take a close look at the evidence against them to

make sure that they are not prosecuted for constitution-

ally protected activities.

Forcing reporters to defend themselves at trial against

unjustified felony charges can have a serious chilling effect

on their willingness to cover controversial events and to ex-

press opinions about those events that the government may

disagree with. Ultimately, the court dismissed the charges,

citing the ACLU-NC's amicus brief. @

Danielle Riendeau is the Communications

Coordinator at the ACLU of Northern California.

NEW WEB APP LETS

USERS TRIM PRISON

SPENDING, REINVEST

IN CALIFORNIA'S FUTURE

By Caitlin O'Neill

hink Outside the Box is a new web app cre-

ated by the ACLU of Northern California

that allows Californians to get a real-time sense of

how the state's bottom line would fare if prisons

and jails were placed at the center of the budget-

ary chopping block.

Users are in the appropriations driver's seat, making decisions with a click of the

" mouse. Is it best to hold tight to the "lock `em up" status quo, or to achieve significant

savings by, for example, canceling all 2012 jail construction projects (savings = $727

million)? Should we enact modest reforms to allow people who are accused of low level

offenses to be released from jail while they await trial ($225 million savings)? Or replace

the death penalty with life without the possibility of parole ($184 million savings)?

Users who trim criminal justice dollars can trade the savings for investments in child

welfare, K-12 education, and CalGrants for college students without going into the red.

The exercise may be virtual, but the tradeoffs are real and realistic. Every dollar we

spend on incarceration is a dollar that is not spent on more effective public safety solu-

tions, education, or social services.

Using the web app is easy. Visit www.thinkoutsidetheboxca.org.

ACLU staff will be hosting interactive workshops for community members and stu-

dents, leading groups through the decision points while facilitating dialog on the pros

and cons.

To request a presentation, contact Caitlin O'Neill of the Criminal Justice and Drug Policy

Project at coneill@aclunc.org or (415) 621-2493. @(R)

Caitlin O'Neill is a Criminal Justice and Drug Policy Associate at the

ACLU of Northern California.

Riese ata er tits |

A screen shot of www.thinkoutsidetheboxca.org.

INSTRUMENTS OF CHANGE: CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACTIVIST DAVID MOSS HITS THE

ROAD TO CREATE CHANGE THROUGH PERFORMANCE ART

By Kiran Savage-Sangwan

Pees and advocate David A. Moss

pioneered a one-man show about his

experience of addiction rooted in childhood

trauma and the courage to overcome it. This

year, he took his performance a step further,

joining the ACLU of Northern California

as a forceful advocate for alternatives

to) (Mearceration and feforms. Lo drug

sentencing, as a Criminal Justice and Drug

Policy Educator. In coming to the ACLU-

NC, David created a new performance piece

that combines his personal experience in the

criminal justice system with ACLU research

Jan Penney

and policy advocacy.

David's piece is aptly titled "Instruments

of Change." No one knows how broken the

California criminal justice system is better

David Moss {second from right) with members of the Monterey County Chapter.

than David, a man who went to jail fourteen times for an ad-

diction to cocaine.

"I want people who see Instruments of Change to go away

and make activism a verb," Moss says. "It's one thing to sit

in a room and talk about it, but if that's all we do, it's just

entertainment."

Since April, David has performed "Instruments of Change"

in over a dozen venues across Northern California. College

campuses have been a particularly compelling audience, from

Chico to Berkeley to Fresno. Additionally, the tour had a great

run through the Central Valley, including a lively event in

Applegate Park in Merced. David performed in Sacramento

at the ACLU of California Conference and Lobby

Day to an audience of 100, after which he lobbied

the state legislature for reforms to drug sentenc-

ing laws. Community feedback was phenomenal,

with audience members getting involved in local

efforts to promote alternatives to incarceration and

ACLU chapters growing their memberships.

Moss says one tour highlight was "sitting in the

offices of state senators." He adds, "It's pretty cool

for someone who once woke up in a doorway to

speak on the steps of the Capitol. It's about get-

ting up and doing it. We are not powerless. After

I performed in Monterey, the Sheriff came up and

spoke to me. It put a face on law enforcement;

these guys are human too."

As David continues on the Instruments of

Change tour, he says "it brings to mind the old

country western song `if my song changes just one life, then

I've done my job, my time here is well spent'." @

Kiran Savage-Sangwan is an organizer at the ACLU

of Northern California.

-IN MEMORIAM: FRAN STRAUSS, BOARD MEMBER

EMERITUS, ACTIVIST EXTRAORDINAIRE

By Elaine Elinson

he ACLU of Northern California lost one of its brightest

lights when Frances C. Strauss, board member emeritus,

died at her home in San Francisco on June 15 at the age of 94.

"Fran was really the heart and soul of this affiliate," said

former ACLU-NC Executive Director Dorothy Ehrlich, who

collaborated with Strauss for more than three decades. "Fran

figured out how to make a difference in an organization as a

volunteer-in extraordinary and creative ways that resulted in

an enduring contribution."

Strauss, a Bronx native and former Hunter College student,

began her long association with the ACLU in Chicago in

1953. She worked as the administrative assistant to the execu-

tive director of the Illinois affiliate and served on the board

from 1956-60.

When Strauss and her husband, the renowned medical so-

ciologist Anselm Strauss, moved to San Francisco in 1960, she

brought her ACLU commitment with her. Her first project

was the establishment of the Complaint Desk, a hotline for

people seeking help from the ACLU. Although the Complaint

Desk is now a permanent institution at the ACLU-NC, when

Strauss created it with then-Executive Director Jay Miller and

staff attorneys Joe Remcho and Charles Marson, it was a major

innovation. Then, as now, it is completely staffed by volunteers.

Strauss helped to reorganize the San Francisco chapter and

soon became the chapter representative on the ACLU-NC

board. Her sharp mind, wit and joie de vivre made her a val-

ued ambassador for the organization. When she launched the

very first Bill of Rights Day Celebration in 1975, she filled the

Geary Theater and created an instant tradition. Retired Chief

Justice Earl Warren himself attended the event, and the first

Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award was given to legal pioneer

fe

With a Single Sentence,

You Can Defend Freedom

Now and Forever.

Right now, by adding the ACLU to your will,

you can leave a legacy of liberty for genera-

tions to come and defend our freedom today.

Name the ACLU in your estate plans and

the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust will

make a cash matching contribution of up to

$10,000 to the ACLU today, while matching

funds are available.

For simple bequest language to include in

your will and for information on other gifts

that qualify for the Legacy Challenge, visit

www.aclu.org/legacy or call toll-free

877-867-1025.

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION

E74E GA CY

CHALLENGE

X a

Anthony Amsterdam. The Celebration netted an unprec-

edented $23,000 and raised the profile of ACLU-NC outside

of the courtroom. Strauss continued to organize the annual

Celebration and parallel fundraising campaign; at the 1989

Bill of Rights Day Celebration, Strauss was honored with the

Lola Hanzel Advocacy Award as an "individual who has made

an extraordinary contribution as a volunteer."

Strauss, who was elected an at-large member of the board

in 1975, served on almost every board committee-Execu-

tive, Development, Equality, Field, Budget Management and

Student Outreach - and as chair of the Development Com-

mittee. In 1980, by then a seasoned fundraiser, Strauss helped

design and implement the major gifts campaign. Her strategic

view of fundraising not only helped secure a sound financial

base for the ACLU-NC, but, as Ehrlich notes, created a real

community dedicated to strengthening the organization. In

1997, in recognition of Strauss's all-sided leadership role, she

was named the first board member emerita. On the occasion

of her 90th birthday, a Board resolution honored Strauss as a

"role model in the work for justice, equality and liberty."

"Fran Strauss made her mark on the ACLU not in a matter

of days, weeks or years, but in her service over decades," said

ACLU-NC Executive Director Abdi Soltani. "Two qualities

made her accomplishments for civil liberties possible: a lot of

heart and a lot of hard work."

In 2010, the Development Department wing in the new

ACLU-NC building on Drumm Street was named in honor of

Strauss. The plaque on the wall will remind future generations

of ACLU activists of the inspiring legacy of Fran Strauss and

the torch that she carried so that civil liberties would continue

to burn bright. @

Elaine Elinson is the former Public Information

Director of the ACLU of Northern California.

Gifts in memory can. Ve Wade 10 tie ACDU-NE

Foundation. Please contact Denise Mock at (415)

621-2493 x 334 or email giving@aclunc. org.

ACLU-NC MAILING PREFERENCES

To Our Members:

| Mailings to our members and the general public provide

| opportunities to describe complicated legal and political

issues in ways not possible in other media and to describe

| strategies we plan to use for future actions. They enable

us to explain, in detail, the benefits and provisions of the

Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the ways our rights

can be protected in today's world, and the costs of pre-

| serving those rights. We use the mail to inform people of

the importance of our legal work and to solicit funds that

| enable us to continue our litigation, public education, and

legislative lobbying.

Sometimes, as part of our program to find and recruit

| members, we exchange or rent our list of members' names

to like-minded organizations and publications. We do this

| 2 that we will be able to send our membership letters to

their lists.

| The ACLU never makes its list available to partisan

political groups or those whose programs are incompat-

| ible with the ACLU's mission. Whether by exchange

| or rental, the exchanges are governed by strict privacy

procedures, as recommended by the U.S. Privacy Study

| Commission. Lists are never actually given into the

physical possession of the organization that has rented

them or exchanged for them. No organization ever pos-

sesses our list and no organization will ever see the names

| of the members on our list unless an individual responds

to their mailing.

While mailings-under strict privacy guidelines-form |

the basis of our new member acquisition program, and

ate key to our growth, we understand some members |

do not wish to receive solicitations from other groups

and we gladly honor requests from our members to be |

removed from the process. Once you make this elec- |

tion, you do not need to do so again unless you wish to

change your preference back. |

If you do not wish to receive materials from other orga- |

nizations, please complete this coupon and send it to:

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CHI prefer not to receive materials from other |

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STEPPING UP TO PASS PROP 34 continucp cRom Pace 1

California's death penalty: it is broken beyond repair, exor-

bitantly costly, and carries the risk of executing an innocent

person.

Special guest State Senator Loni Hancock explained how

she was "heartbroken" when forced to make cuts to social

service programs, particularly in marginalized communities,

while hundreds of millions of death penalty dollars remained

untouched. She urged guests to donate to the Yes on 34

campaign because the death penalty "punishes taxpayers, not

killers" and voters should carefully consider how we spend our

tax dollars.

Supporting the Yes on 34 campaign is a family activity

in the Kerr-Ridley household. Their daughter Abigail is a

fulltime volunteer for the campaign this summer. Abigail

is helping with voter registration drives, reaching voters

through community events and fairs, and helping other

people plan their Yes on 34 house parties.

Judy, Barbara and Abigail are just a few of the many vol-

unteers who have dedicated themselves to reaching out to as

many California voters as possible and to helping the Yes on

34 campaign succeed this November. @

Abdi Soltani is the Executive Director at the ACLU

of Northern California.

By The ACLU California Legislative Office

Mobile Location Privacy

SB 1434, the California Location Privacy Act, authored

by State Senator Leno (D-San Francisco) would update

California privacy law to reflect the modern mobile world

by providing needed protection against warrantless goy-

ernment access to a person's location information. Most

Californians now carry tracking devices every day-with

their mobile phones, tablets and more. The bill will next be

heard in the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

Expanding Access to Safe, Early

Abortion Services

SB 1338 authored by State Senator Kehoe (D-San Diego),

would allow women to receive safe, early abortions from

trained Nurse Practitioners, Certified Nurse Midwives, and

Physician Assistants in their communities.

`The bill failed in Senate Business and Professions and Eco-

nomic Development Committee. However, a new, related

bill (SB 623) would extend a UCSF-sponsored project,

authorizing clinicians currently trained under the project

to continue providing abortions through 2013. SB 623

passed out of Assembly Health and will next be heard in

the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Effective School Discipline

AB 1729, authored by Assemblymember Ammiano

(D-San Francisco), encourages school leaders to use ef-

fective-and proven-policies that get at the core issues

behind a student's behavior, create a safer environment

for all students, and keep kids in school. The bill gives

superintendents and principals discretion to use other

means of correction prior to suspension or expulsion

and enumerates those alternatives. The bill passed out

of the Assembly 53-25 and heads to the Senate Floor

in August.

yen Donate to the campaign yourself

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Y Throw a house party to raise awareness and financial support

yen Get endorsements from churches, local elected officials, and political parties in your area

For more information on how to get involved, please

visit www.yeson34.org or email ashley@safecalifornia.org.

YES*.34

Justice that works

YESON34.ORG

Protecting Immigrants' Rights

AB 1081, the TRUST Act, authored by Assemblymem-

ber Ammiano (D-San Francisco) would restore trust and

transparency between our communities and local police by

limiting local jails from holding people on immigration-

based detention requests when they pose no risk to public

safety. It would create safeguards against racial profiling.

It would allow local police to do their jobs and focus on

public safety-for everyone in the community.

A federal immigration program, "Secure Communi-

ties," scans fingerprints of everyone arrested to check

their immigration status. Unfortunately, this program has

unfairly swept up community members for deportation,

including law-abiding citizens and even some victims of

domestic violence who call the police for help.

The bill passed the full Senate and awaits a final Assem-

bly floor vote before going to the Governor.

Stopping the Shackling of Pregnant

Women

AB 2530, authored by Assemblymember Atkins (D-San

Diego) would prohibit the most dangerous forms of

shackling of pregnant prisoners. Pregnant women repre-

sent between four and seven percent of the female popu-

lation in correctional facilities, and this number is steadily

growing across the nation.

While current law prohibits the use of shackles during

labor, delivery, and recovery, there are no standards for

when and how to safely restrain pregnant inmates through-

out their pregnancies.

AB 2530 has garnered support from Republicans and

Democrats. It will be heard in Senate Appropriations on

August 6. @

The Sacramento Legislative Office works with

the three California ACLU affiliates: Northern

California, Southern California, and San Diego.

STANDING WITH

SERVICEWOMEN

By Rebecca Farmer

We serving in the military who are

raped cannot get insurance coverage for

an abortion. This is particularly pressing when

women in the military face extremely high rates

of rape-when a woman enlists, her risk of sex-

ual assault doubles. The ACLU has led efforts to

ensure that women serving in the military have

the same access to reproductive health care as

civilian women.

In just a short time we have seen tremendous

progress on this issue. We cannot allow service-

women who are raped to seek unsafe alternatives

because their health care plans don't cover abor-

tion. Recent efforts have focused on the Shaheen

Amendment to the National Defense Authoriza-

tion Act, which would end the ban on insurance

coverage of abortion for military women who

become pregnant as a result of rape.

The Senate Armed Services Committee adopted

this amendment by a vote of 16-10 and with key

support from the Committee Chairman, Sen. Carl

Levin, and the Ranking Member, Sen. John Mc-

Cain. For more information and for ways to get

involved, visit www.StandWithServicewomen.org,

a coalition effort to end this unfair policy. @

Rebecca Farmer is Communications Director at

the ACLU of Northern California.

ACLU CONFERENCE and LOBBY DAY:

A STUDENT'S PERSPECTIVE

he 2012 ACLU of California Conference and Lobby Day was held in

Sacramento from April 14-16. Recent UC Merced graduate Erica

Beckles shares her experience with the conference:

Photos by Diana Arreola

The ACLU Conference and Lobby Day was amazing. This

was my first time attending an ACLU conference and I

made so many connections. J met a lot of similarly passion-

ate students like me, as well as some awesome community

leaders.

The 3-day conference was jam-packed with informative

workshops, general meetings, great networking opportu-

nities, and even some free time to go out and enjoy the

city. The most inspiring part of the conference was Lobby

Day.

Seeing the work that the ACLU put into getting its mem-

bers connected with state officials to lobby for bills and spread

awareness regarding legislation made political involvement

seem very feasible and impactful. @

ACLU Conference and Lobby Day participant Erica Beckles.

ARE YOU A MEMBER OF THE BERKELEY/NORTH EAST BAY CHAPTER?

The Berkeley/North East Bay Chapter invites those interested in filling one of the open board seats

to send their name, contact information, and a brief statement [forty words] about their civil liberties

concerns to Jim Hausken, 91 Norwood Avenue, Kensington, CA, 94707, by September 14.

STUDENTS COME TOGETHER FOR THE DREAM ACT

he West Coast DREAM Graduation brought together 300 undocumented youth leaders and their allies for a

mock graduation at San Francisco's City Hall. The ACLU-NC was a sponsor of their event.

Just days before, some of the activists from the National Immigrant Youth Alliance had also organized sit-ins in Obama

campaign offices, which prompted the President's announcement of a new policy to provide deferred action and work permits.

The mock graduation was a chance for young people to stand with pride with each other in support of access to education and

fair immigration policies. Although California now provides in-state college tuition and financial aid to its high school gradu-

ates who are undocumented, students in other states are banned from

attending public colleges altogether.

Students from Arizona also spoke about the impact of SB1070

and the Supreme Court's ruling on their communities. Other

youth told the crowd about the devastation that the Secure Com-

munities program has caused. Civil rights icon Angela Davis

marched with the students and gave the keynote address, calling

the ceremony "the most important graduation happening across

the country." @

iS)

Marty McReyno

he Sonoma County Chapter's Annual Dinner

and Awards Celebration was held April 27 at the

Friedman Event Center in Santa Rosa. Sonoma ACLU

members came to hear keynote speaker Jeanne Wood-

ford, former warden of San Quentin Prison, to honor

Santa Rosa civil rights attorney David Grabill and

to support the Sonoma Chapter. Above, the Occupy

Band entertains the crowd.

GET INVOLVED!

CHAPTERS AND CLUBS

IN YOUR COMMUNITY

Northern Calfornia Chapters

Berkeley/North East Bay

Chico

Greater Fresno

Mt. Diablo

Marin County

Mid-Peninsula

Monterey County

North Peninsula (Daly City to San Carlos]

Paul Robeson (Oakland}

Redwood (Humboldt County]

Sacramento County

San Joaquin

Santa Clara Valley

Santa Cruz County

Shasta-Tehama-Trinity Counties

Sonoma County

Stanislaus County

Yolo County

Campus Clubs

Golden Gate University

Santa Clara University Law

Stanford University

UC Berkeley

UC Davis King Hall Law

Get contact information at

WWW.ACLUNC.ORG/ACTION/CHAPTERS

or by calling (415) 621-2493 x369

Why are immigrant rights such a huge

issue right now?

As a country, our immigration policy goes back and

forth between periods of inclusion and exclusion.

Right now, with the country in recession and signifi-

cant demographic change underway, immigrants are

an easy target for politicians. My own family's expe-

rience as immigrants to the United States from Iran,

when I was in 4th grade and my brother in 8th grade,

was the America of inclusion.

What inspired you to organize the Estamos

Unidos campaign?

Anti-immigrant laws, like Arizonas SB 1070 and

Alabama's HB 56, involve local police in immigration

enforcement, leading to racial profiling and unlawful

detentions of citizens and non-citizens alike. I watched a

video in January of an 8th grader from Alabama named

Brandon, whose story of standing up for the rights of

people in his community really moved me. I felt we re-

ally needed to do something to let people like Brandon

know that across the United States, we are united in this

fight. Estamos Unidos.

What was a highlight of the tour for you?

The event in Brandon's home town of Clanton, Ala-

bama. Listening to testimonies of racial profiling from

simple traffic stops that led to arrests, detention, and

even deportation, was truly haunting. Meeting Brandon

and his community, which has been so principled in

standing up for their rights, was truly inspiring.

ASK THE EXPERTS!

Estamos Unidos

Abdi Soltani joined the ACLU of Northern California as Executive Director in April 2009. As the Supreme Court heard

arguments on Arizona's SB 1070, Soltani organized the Estamos Unidos tour in collaboration with other staff at the

ACLU of Northern California, the national ACLU and ACLU affiliates around the country.

You had a run-in with the Border Patrol.

What happened?

One of the things you learn is that the border now

extends far into the mainland of the United States. At

a Border Patrol checkpoint in Texas, the agent said his

dog had smelled either "narcotics or a concealed human"

giving him probable cause to do a search. SB 1070 ex-

tends that idea further, turning every police officer into

a border agent, and every street corner into a border

checkpoint. I get shivers thinking about it.

How does the landscape of immigrant rights

in California fit with the rest of the country?

Prop 187 was to California in the mid-90's what SB 1070

is to Arizona today. Unlike students we met on the tour

in Missouri, Georgia and Colorado with little to no access

to college, California now provides in-state tuition and

financial aid to DREAMers, youth who have grown up

here but are undocumented. Despite California's better

laws, though, the greatest fear we encountered on the

tour was probably in our very own Merced County. So

we have a lot of work to do even in California. That is

why we are working to pass the TRUST Act (AB 1081),

sponsored by Assemblymember Ammiano, to limit police

and sheriff involvement in immigration enforcement.

The Supreme Court decision on SB 1070

and President Obama's announcement on

the DREAM students are on a lot of people's

minds. What happens next?

The Court allowed to stand-for now and with a

warning to Arizona-the "show me your papers"

provision of SB 1070. So we will step up our litigation

in Arizona, Alabama and states with similar laws to

strike down this provision on the grounds that it leads

to racial profiling and unlawful detentions of citizens

and non-citizens alike.

Meanwhile, President Obama made a big announce-

ment to defer deportations and grant work permits for

the DREAM students, young people who are undocu-

mented but grew up in the U.S. It's going to take a lot

of work to make sure that this new policy is the real

thing and is properly implemented.

Through a project like this, you got to

work with many ACLU state affiliates and

national ACLU staff. What did you learn

about the ACLU?

One of my goals with this project was to uncover

the bilingual capacity among ACLU staff nation-

wide, as we set out to strengthen the ACLU's work

with Spanish speaking communities. We launched

a number of new bilingual resources through this

campaign, including the Spanish language website

MiACLU.org.

Latinos are the targets of these discriminatory laws

and at the same time are an increasingly powerful force

in our country. This really is the decade for the ACLU

to build a strong constituency in the Latino commu-

nity for the whole mission of protecting Constitutional

rights. We can do it. Si se puede. @

LEGACIES AND NEW BEGINNINGS

In addition to the the breadth of work we do across Northern California, this year marked a

new beginning: the heightened collaboration of the ACLU California affiliates as the "ACLU of

California."

The ACLU of Southern California was founded in 1923 with the forceful advocacy of Upton

Sinclair on Liberty Hill. A decade later, the ACLU of Northern California was founded during

the 1934 general strike in San Francisco. Initially a chapter of the ACLU of Southern California

that was started in 1933, the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties became a free-standing

affiliate in 1988.

) BY GIG| PANDIAN

a OnInG

For several decades, the three ACLU affiliates in California have jointly funded and supported

our Legislative Office in Sacramento. The Sacramento Bee and California Watch recently ranked

our legislative program as the #4 most effective lobbying operation in Sacramento, alongside

groups with vastly larger budgets. Throughout these years we have collaborated in a number

of other ways.

Building on this success, the ACLU of California is a new strategic partnership of the three California ACLU affiliates. Each affiliate retains its autonomy and its

unique focus on its own region's needs. But increasingly, we will pool our resources, strategic thinking, and program strategies to generate the maximum civil

liberties impact for the state and our communities. With over 100,000 members and 100 staff statewide, we see this collaboration in our work across the state:

m Engaging our boards, staffs, and supporters statewide to become better informed of the civil liberties issues facing our state, from our border

with Mexico to the border with Oregon.

a Working with college students as the next generation of civil liberties leaders through outreach to CSU, UC, community colleges and student

associations statewide.

m Filing ambitious cases that require plaintiffs statewide and challenge state institutions.

m Advocating for county and state policy reforms, for example on criminal justice realignment, immigrants' rights, safe schools for LGBT youth,

and access to reproductive services.

mw Supporting ballot measures, such as our vigorous advocacy for the SAFE California Act to replace the death penalty with life without the

possibility of parole.

m Providing resources to ACLU state offices nationwide, for example the new MiACLU bilingual website, www.miaclu.org, to better inform and

engage the Latino community.

We are proud of our legacy and accomplishments as the ACLU of Northern California. And we are truly energized by the vision and possibilities of a coordinated,

statewide strategy for the ACLU across California.

Yours,

Abdi So . ee a

Abdi Soltani, Executive Director Michelle Welsh, Board Chair