Chapter News & Events ArchiveMarch on May 2, 2008 to make Sonoma a County of Refuge
Attorney Margaret Crosby Speaks at Annual Awards Ceremony & Dinner 2008
Jeremiah Chass Vigil Held March 12, 2008
Daniel Price
Equal Marriage Rights Resolution, SR City Council
Same Sex Marriage Resolutions, Sonoma County, Sebastopol
Hundreds celebrate civil liberties in Sonoma County
CLEAR Act HR2671 - Letter to Representative Lynn Woolsey
Close to Home: Schools Must Aid Non-English Speakers
The Year In Review: 2004-2005
February 2003 - THE YEAR IN REVIEW
Daniel Price, artist and cartoonist was shot and killed December 19, 2003 at age 28 defending his wife from an assailant in San Francisco. The attacker has not yet been arrested.
In 1998, when the Santa Rosa School Board banned the Luis Rodriguez autobiography Always Running, Daniel produced two cartoons for the ACLU of Sonoma County, which we used in our Student Essay Contest and Awards Ceremony and Annual Dinner Program. To see these cartoons, click below.
Daniels paintings were most recently shown at The Canvas Gallery in San Francisco.
ACLU of Sonoma County's Letter to City Council of Santa Rosa
in support of Equal Marriage Rights Resolution
May 5, 2004
Mayor Sharon Wright
Vice Mayor Jane Bender
Councilman Bob Blanchard
Councilwoman Janet Condron
Councilwoman Noreen Evans
Councilman Michael Martini
Councilman Steve Rabinowitsh
P.O. Box 1678
Santa Rosa, California 95402
Re: Equal Marriage Rights Resolution
Dear Mayor Sharon Wright, Vice Mayor Jane Bender, Councilman Bob Blanchard, Councilwoman Janet Condron, Councilwoman Noreen Evans, Councilman Michael Martini and Councilman Steve Rabinowitsh,
On behalf of the over 1,000 households in the City of Santa Rosa who are members of the American Civil Liberties Union, I urge you to vote to pass a resolution supporting equal marriage rights for same sex couples, recognizing same sex marriages that have already been performed and opposing a constitutional amendment that would restrict states from allowing same sex marriages, civil unions or domestic partnerships.
The opportunity to publicly and legally commit to share one's life with a person of one's choice is for many people one of the most central aspects of human experience, and denial of marriage to same sex couples is a denial of fundamental civil rights. Marriage is a commitment. It is about sharing, love, trust, and compromise. Two adults who make this personal choice to form a life-long commitment should not be denied the right to marry just because they are gay or lesbian. Society is stronger when it recognizes all couples who share their love and commitment. Please put the City of Santa Rosa on record in supporting love, commitment and equality and opposing those who want to change the Constitution to deny state governments the power to grant to couples of the same sex legal recognition of their relationship.
Sincerely,
Steven Fabian, Chair
ACLU of Sonoma County Lobbies Sonoma County Board of Supervisors and Sebastopol to Pass Same Sex Marriage Resolutions.
On April 20th, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors considered and passed 4-1 a resolution in support of legalization of same sex marriages and opposing an amendment to the Constitution banning those unions. In a letter sent to each supervisor the chapter asked them to vote for the resolution and “put Sonoma County on record in supporting love, commitment and equality and opposing those who want to change the Constitution to deny state governments the power to grant to couples of the same sex legal recognition of their relationship.” In addition an Action Alert emailed to Sonoma chapter members resulted in emails being sent to the Board. At the Board of Supervisors’ meeting, emotions ran high as people spoke in favor or denounced the proposed resolution, ACLU Sonoma Chapter Board member Marvin Pederson spoke in support of the resolution.
Mayor Linda Kelley of Sebastopol came the chapter’s 2004 Awards Ceremony and Annual Dinner requesting our support for a proposed city resolution supporting same sex marriages. On March 16th the chapter board endorsed the resolution. That same evening, Board member Judith Volkart went to the city council and spoke out in support of the resolution and presented a letter to the City Council from the chapter.
ACLU letters (pdf) Sent to Board of Supervisors and to the Sebastopol City Council.
Hundreds celebrate civil liberties in Sonoma County
By Steve Fabian
Over 300 people came to the Sonoma Chapter's Awards Ceremony and Annual Dinner March 13th to eat, meet and celebrate civil liberties.
The keynote speaker was Jenny Martinez. She is an attorney for Jose Padilla, whose case before the U.S. Supreme Court challenges the detention of U.S. citizens as "enemy combatants". Her address Enemy Combatant Status: A Legal Black Hole warned of the dangers of a President unilaterally inventing the "enemy combatant" classification and using it to strip citizens of their rights. Martinez stressed that the "enemy combatant" classification asserted by President Bush is not contained in any law passed by Congress, nor recognized by international law, and has no legal definition. The current administration is using the classification to indefinitely hold incommunicado U.S. citizens in military prisons without charges. The government refused to allow the attorneys to even meet with their clients until after the case came before the Supreme Court.
The chapter presented its Jack Green Civil Liberties Award to long time activist Alice Waco. The Mario Savio Student Activist Award went to Mitzila Valdes, a student at Hutchins School of Liberal Studies at Sonoma State University. Awards were presented to the winners of the chapter's high school student essay contest: Brian Price of Analy High School in Sebastopol winning first prize, second prize to Angela Pustorino of Windsor High School and third prize to Stacia Sherry of Valley Oaks High School in Petaluma.
Linda Kelley, mayor of Sebastopol, spoke to the crowd. She asked the chapter to support the passing of a resolution by the city council supporting of legalization of same sex marriages and to oppose a constitutional amendment banning those unions. Three days later the chapter board voted to support the resolution and spoke before the city council, which passed the resolution.
With music by Gordon Stubbe, food by the "Pasta King" Art Ibleto, a silent auction and raffle, an excellent time was had by all.
February 2004 - Letter to Representative Lynn Woolsey
Opposing HR 2671 - CLEAR Act
February 4, 2004
The Honorable Lynn Woolsey
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Woolsey,
On behalf of the 2,500 households in Sonoma County that belong to the American Civil Liberties Union, I want to thank you for signing up to co-sponsor the Safe Act. Sonoma County is truly blessed to have a representative who consistently protects civil liberties.
A threat to civil liberties, the CLEAR Act (HR 2671) has been introduced in the House of Representatives. We are urging you to oppose this legislation. It would hinder law enforcement agencies' ability to do their job and inevitably lead to civil rights violations of American citizens and immigrants. Local and state law enforcement do not want and should not be forced to enforce federal immigration law when they do not have the resources or the training needed to properly undertake this role. Sonoma County has a rich diversity of population who trace their origins from many nations. Sonoma County police agencies have adopted the "community policing" philosophy, where local police work to gain the trust and confidence of the residents they are charged with protecting. They have done this because they realize that this is the most effective method to enforcing our laws and protecting the community.
Enactment of the CLEAR Act would undermine the efforts - and successes - of local police, as word that they are now immigration agents will spread like wildfire in newcomer communities. I have talked to police officers who state that when immigrants and their family
members are scared to report crimes and suspicious activity, crimes go unsolved and the safety of the entire community is compromised.
There are nearly eleven million naturalized U.S. citizens, and more than twenty-five million native-born Americans of Latin American and Asian descent. Some officers would inevitably stop and question people based on their ethnic background or their accent, leading to violations of the rights of U.S. citizens and legal residents whose only offense is "looking foreign."
I urge you to oppose the CLEAR Act.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter.
Sincerely,
Steven Fabian, Chair
Close to Home: Schools Must Aid Non-English Speakers
By Richard Coshnear and Robert Lotero
Printed in the Press Democrat December 13, 2003
Latino parents in the Santa Rosa School District have known for some time that their children have not been receiving a decent education - and they are demanding a better approach.
Currently 44 percent of the Santa Rosa schools district's 4,500 elementary students do not speak English as their primary language and the numbers of these English language learning (ELL) students are expected to grow in the coming years. Most of these students speak Spanish.
After passage of Proposition 227 in 1998, California declared that all students be taught in classes using the English language, a technique known as English immersion. Studies show that ELL students need to have an -- academic proficiency in English -- to succeed in classes conducted in English. Immersing students who do not understand academic English into classes using English only leads to failure.
Last year only 2.5 percent of ELL students in Santa Rosa schools were taught to understand academic English. These numbers are dismal compared to the 8.3 percent countywide rate of success and even compared to the statewide level of 7.7 percent. Even worse, the rate of ELL students taught to understand academic English in Santa Rosa schools has dropped 43 percent since 1997.
Education experts differ as to the most effective method in teaching ELL students. Many believe the best way is to first teach them in the language they grew up with and then use that knowledge to lay a foundation for grasping English in a fuller and more adequate way (this technique is often referred to as bilingual education).
Proposition 227 requires schools to notify parents of their right to request a waiver to prevent their child from being immersed into classes taught in English. If 20 or more students in a school's grade level request a waiver, the school must provide bilingual classes.
Over the past year, California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) has received numerous complaints from Latino parents about the school district's failure to provide an adequate education for their children.
The Sonoma chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Sanchez/Mendoza Institute and others joined CRLA and met with parents and students.
The parents stated they were not receiving timely, understandable notices of their rights to request that their child be taught in Spanish. They said they were encountering difficulty when attempting to file waivers at the schools. Parents complained that high schools were placing their children into ceramics and other classes requiring little language skills, preventing full-time students from being able to graduate after four years.
On a weekend in mid-October, volunteers for these organizations spoke at four Spanish-language church services. They asked churchgoers if they were worried about the poor performance by ELL children at Santa Rosa schools and asked parents whether they had been informed of their right to request waivers.
Parents of 193 Santa Rosa ELL students and nearly 200 other supporters signed petitions to the school board expressing their concern about the low-quality education being provided; their desire to have children taught to read first in Spanish and then English; and that they were unaware of the option to request that a child be taught first in Spanish.
After receiving the petitions, the school board had their staff conduct an "investigation" which included interrogating the parents. On Nov. 12 the board heard a presentation on this investigation, and immediately concluded the petitions were "suspect" and the parents had been "duly noticed" about their waiver rights.
The board failed to grasp that the notice did not give the parents an understanding of their options and rights. But the school board did not want to hear this message, and refused to allow any questions or comments concerning the investigation.
The board rejected any changes to their failed policies that would allow more students to be taught in their native language and it attacked the integrity of the community groups that the parents came to for help stating that "the vehicle that got us here basically had no wheels."
It is easy for the school board to attack those seeking positive changes to this quagmire and to dismiss the requests of the parents. The dismal record of Santa Rosa schools demonstrates the need for changes in how English language learning students are taught and the importance of parents understanding their right to request their child be taught first in their native language.
Santa Rosa School Board's policy for teaching ELL students is a vehicle taking these students down a dead-end street.
Richard Coshnear is an attorney in Santa Rosa and board member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Sonoma County
Robert Lotero is an attorney with California Rural Legal Assistance.
ACLU of Sonoma County
The Year In Review: 2004-2005
By Steve Fabian, Chair
Much has happened since we gathered together at last year’s award ceremony and annual dinner. The chapter has been active to educating the public, advocating on national, state and local issues and working with and in support other local groups to promote civil liberties.
Board member Judith Volkart was especially active this past year speaking at numerous forums, radio and television concerning the USA Patriot Act, voting irregularities in last November’s election, our government’s attack on privacy and other issues.
At our last annual dinner, Sebastopol mayor Linda Kelley announced that in three days the Sebastopol City Council would be the first city in Sonoma County to consider a resolution supporting marriage of same sex couples and requested our help. The chapter immediately responded with a letter to the council and providing a representative to speak in support of the resolution. Board members Judith Volkart, Marvin Pederson and Dylan Alter all attended city council and Board of Supervisor meetings to help Sebastopol, Cotati, Sonoma, Santa Rosa and the County of Sonoma all pass resolutions in support of marriage equality and against a constitutional amendment banning domestic partnerships and same sex marriages. The chapter inaugurated its e-mail action alert system to notify our members and allowing them to send faxs and e-mails to local officials considering these resolutions with a click of a mouse. Working in partnership with the Sonoma Chapter of Marriage Equality California (MECA), the chapter co-sponsored local forums, spoke at events and rallies, and taught activists the ins and outs of their free speech rights at a jointly sponsored training. Our work on this issue was acknowledged with both Judith and the chapter receiving Rainbow Awards from MECA.
The free speech right to petition always is always being challenged in Sonoma County. In the past year, Board member Wayne Gibb helped protestors attempting to pass out flyers at the Forestville Post Office last tax day. When a member of Code Pink passed out flyers on the sidewalk outside Pacific Theatres Rohnert Park 16 to those attending Fahrenheit 9/11, the theatre’s employees surrounded her, called the police and threatened her with arrest. While letters to the theatre went unanswered, discussions with the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety led to assurances that they would not take people subjected to citizen’s arrest by the theatre to jail.
When the Cotati Farmers Market refused to allow John Kerry supporters from tabling, our intervention resulted in the market backing down.
The chapter was active circulating petitions to put Proposition 66 (reforming “3-Strikes” law) on the ballot, passing out literature, and having a letter to the editor published in the Press Democrat. The chapter also and was interviewed by the Press Democrat concerning our opposition to Proposition 69 requiring DNA samples be taken of all arrested for a felony, whether convicted or not. Numerous Board members traveled to help assure the right to vote in November election.
The chapter passed out thousands of pocket-sized cards Your Rights and the Police in English and Spanish informing people of their rights when confronted by the police. In addition, we produced and circulated informational flyers on What’s Wrong with the Death Penalty?, How Free Are We Quiz? (Patriot Act), 10 Principles of Civilian Review, copies of the U.S. Constitution as well as materials produced by the ACLU. Speakers went to middle, high schools and college classes to speak on civil liberties and the Bill of Rights.
We sponsored four students to attend the Labor and Social Action Conference at Sonoma State University.
Thanks to Anne Fitzgerald and Bob Klose for working so hard on our essay contest featuring the topic of law enforcement spying on peace groups.
Last month the chapter inaugurated its own page in The North Bay Progressive. Board members Rick Coshnear and Patrick Band contributed articles for it. Read our page in each issue. You can help sponsor our page with a $20 ad.
Thanks to former board member Victor Chechanover for answering our hotline and Wayne Gibb for monitoring the e-mails we receive from our website.
Our website (www.aclusonoma.org) continues to grow. Our webmaster David Williams makes it all happen. Check it out for what’s happening as well as signing up for action alert e-mails.
Members of the board attended the incredible ACLU National Membership conference in San Francisco and we tabled at a reception put on by ACLU of Northern California.
Rick Coshnear investigated a pattern of police mistreatment of young black men in Petaluma, in particular one officer who seems to be regularly involved in the allegations of mistreatment. We found a referral lawyer for one of the three claimants.
The chapter met with Santa Rosa City Attorneys and representatives of the Santa Rosa Plaza concerning the Santa Rosa Trespass Ordinance and how it was being enforced at the mall.
Gregory Wonderwheel, Marvin Pederson, Wayne Gibb, and Rick Coshnear tabled at many events through out the year.
The chapter appeared on the radio and in the press on such diverse topics as police infiltration of peace groups, the use of Taser electronic stun guns by police, Megan’s Law and more. When the local media wants a civil liberties perspective on current events, they turn to your chapter for comment.
The chapter celebrated the return of David Grabill to the board after a sabbatical when he and his family went to Iceland for 9 months. New board members this year include NAACP president Ann Gray Byrd, former Friedman Project member Dylan Alter who represents the chapter at North Bay Spokes, a council of progressive organizations, Patrick Band and Lori Rodrigues. Board member Alicia Sanchez is In the middle of a one – year sabbatical, her energy and community presence is missed. Our treasurer Nancy Thompson, who has kept our finances together, will be leaving the board after two years of exemplary service.
Our chapter has added over 500 members in the past year. The chapter functions and continues to grow because of the remarkable energy of a small number of volunteer board members and the many of you who have volunteered or contributed to the chapter. We need more people to serve on our board and our committees. If you would like to help promote civil liberties in Sonoma County, volunteer to join our board. Just call our hotline at 765-5005 and let us know. If you are willing to volunteer for specific issues, sign up at our table or call us. Be sure to sign up for action alert e-mails tonight by filling out the forms on your table.
Finally, after 18½ years of serving on the board of this chapter, I will be taking a one-year sabbatical. It has been great watching the chapter grow from a few hundred to over 3000 households. It has been an honor to work for you.
ACLU of Sonoma County
February 2003 - THE YEAR IN REVIEW
by Steve Fabian, Co-Chair
Your ACLU chapter has had an extremely busy and rewarding year. The highlight was being awarded the 2002 Dick Criley Civil Liberties Award by the ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC).
Thanks to work of David Grabill and students at Santa Rosa Junior College, our website (www.aclusonoma.org) is back on line and regularly posts action alerts as civil liberties issues arise in our county. Please check it regularly. - www.aclusonoma.org
On December 4th, when students marched out of high schools to protest the upcoming war, Petaluma High reacted by suspending over 50 students for their peaceful protest. Our chapter, working with Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights immediately protested the suspensions and the school has just agreed to rescind the suspensions.
In the past year we provided attorneys to be legal monitors at a local demonstration and circulated petitions to place an initiative on the ballot to reform the Three Strikes law and for a moratorium on the death penalty in California. Our hotline, manned by Co-Chair Victor Chechanover, received and returned approximately 150 calls in the past year.
Local news media has interviewed Board members about a wide variety of civil liberties issues, including Proposition 21, death penalty, 9/11, civilian review of law enforcement, Megan's Law, drug testing in schools, use of thermal imaging police, and more. ACLU comments have appeared in local newspapers and been aired by local radio and television.
We addressed the City Council of Sonoma on the issue of Independent Civilian Review Boards and the shortcomings of police-sponsored Citizen Advisory Councils.
The chapter has always provided speakers to community groups and classrooms. This past year, the chapter was extremely busy, especially board member Judith Volkart. She participated in a panel discussion entitled, Faith-Based Funds: Government Contracting of Education and Social Services. In coalition with 15 local organizations we co-sponsored a series public forums at SRJC Understanding & Responding to 911 - War is NOT the Answer. Judith participated in Political Roots & Civil Liberties. She went to Mendocino County and made a series of speeches on the USA-Patriot Act that have been broadcast on local radio and on the Internet. She has been working closely with local activists there to help form a new ACLU chapter.
Board members addressed the South County Democratic Club and classes at both SRJC and Sonoma State University on the USA-Patriot Act. Alicia Sanchez was a featured speaker at the Peace & Justice Center's Sunday in the Park event. We gave practical advice on civil liberties and rights of individuals to adult English as a Second Language classes at the Sonoma County Labor Center. The chapter printed and distributed thousands of the wallet-sized card, Your Rights & the Police in both Spanish and English.
To reach out to youth, the chapter purchased ads in every Sonoma County high school newspaper advertising free We Have Rights Too But What Are They? pamphlets. Conceived and organized by Wayne Gibb. We revived the student essay contest with the help of volunteers Anne Fitzgerald and Bob Klose. We participated in a 2 1/2 day Youth Activist Convergence, an event planned and run by local youth. We presented a forum on the rights of youth and students with the Peace & Justice Center as well as sending speakers into classrooms to talk on civil liberties. The chapter co-sponsored and provided scholarships for Labor and Social Action Summer School.
Board member Richard Redalia M.D. continued monitoring conditions at the Sonoma County Jail and discussing conditions with the Sheriff Office and other community organizations. Irma Ramirez has done a great job as secretary and helping with all mailings. Marvin Pederson helps respond to all of the letters received by the chapter as part of our legal committee.
The chapter remains active in ACLU-NC. Judith Volkart serves on ACLU-NC Legal Committee. After serving on ACLU-NC Board Nominating Committee in 2002, I now serve on ACLU-NC Executive Committee and continue to serve on the ACLU-NC Board of Directors. I had the privilege to be part of the forum: Grassroots 101: Chapter Organizing at the 2002 ACLU-NC Activist Convention.
The Sonoma Chapter is active in recruiting new members, we signed up over one hundred new ACLU members in the past year.
In the upcoming months the chapter is working with a number of local groups to get resolutions passed condemning the USA-Patriot Act. Sebastopol recently joined 28 other cities and counties in passing such a resolution. Petaluma City Council will be voting on a resolution next Monday (February 10th). Go to City Hall and speak out in support of the resolution (7:00 p.m. - 11 English Street). For further info contact PetalumaCRDG@attbi.com. Groups have also formed in Healdsburg and Santa Rosa. If you are interested in helping pass one where you live or need further information, contact our hotline or go to our website.
It is with great sorrow that three of our current Board members are leaving. David Grabill, has served on the board since 1996 and was Co-Chair 2000-2001 and Vice-Chair 1998-2000, Leslie Pederson, who served as treasurer for the past 4 years as well as alternate to ACLU-NC Board, and Susan Williamson, who was served the board for 2 years are leaving. They will be sorely missed.
ACLU also lost long time supporters Steven Neustadter and Art Weinberger.
It has been a great year for the chapter, but we can do more. Consider joining the board or volunteering. There's no pay except the satisfaction of knowing you are helping keep civil liberties alive. Give us a call at 765-5005. Thanks for joining us tonight.