billl4's blog

ACLU in Sacramento queries candidates about their views
on civil rights issues, from enforcement of federal immigration law
to the death penalty, racial profiling, tasers and surveillance cameras

SACRAMENTO – The ACLU of Sacramento has announced it has sent questionnaires about vital civil rights issues to candidates running for office in races for Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, Sheriff, District Attorney and Sacramento City Council.

The ACLU said it intends to make the answers public before the June 8 election.

Questions (available at www.aclusac.org) include a query on whether the candidates would support the right to protest if elected – the Sacramento City Council approved in 2003, and later repealed much of a controversial “parade ordinance” that unconstitutionally restricted free speech protests at an international trade event in Sacramento.

Other questions posed include whether the candidates support the increased use surveillance cameras, tasers, racial profiling, independent police or sheriff commissions and gang injunctions.

April 6, 2010

VIA HAND DELIVERY
The Honorable Sandy Sheedy
Chair, Law and Legislation Committee
Sacramento City Council
915 “I” Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Council Member Sheedy:

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of Sacramento County, I am writing to express our deep concerns with many of the “key components” of the proposed draft ordinance forwarded at the “Medical Marijuana Stakeholders Meeting” on March 11, 2010.

Generally speaking, the proposed proximity restrictions and the cap on the number of dispensaries will frustrate the existing needs of those Californians who are currently exercising their established legal right to obtain medical marijuana to promote their health and well-being.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Contact: Nikos Leverenz (916) 248-0338.

ACLU of Sacramento expresses ‘deep concerns’
over plans by Sacramento City Council to restrict
medical marijuana dispensaries; call opposition ‘myopic’

SACRAMENTO – The ACLU of Sacramento County expressed “deep concerns” about plans by the Sacramento City Council – its Law and Legislation is meeting today about a new ordinance – to severely limit the number of registered medical marijuana dispensaries and strictly limit their operations within the city of Sacramento.

In a letter to Law and Legislation Committee members of the City Council, the ACLU said the restrictions will “frustrate the existing needs of those Californians who are currently exercising their established legal right to obtain medical marijuana to promote their health and well-being.”

“(P)rospective cannabis dispensary regulations must give due consideration to the compelling needs of both patients and care providers, who regrettably still face a great deal of hardship—including potential arrest, prosecution and imprisonment—in facilitating access to needed medication in a safe, secure, and dignified fashion,” the letter continued.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, March 5, 2010
Contact: Nikos Leverenz 916/248-0338 or ACLU-Sac public affairs 916/996-9170

ACLU warns that attacks on ‘disfavored groups’
at universities one more challenge for students
already hit hard by drastically-rising costs

SACRAMENTO – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Sacramento County today said recent “bias-related incidents” at California schools – including one at the University of California Davis where a Jewish student had a swastika carved into her door – ought to result “in a heightened commitment to student safety.”

The ACLU said the attacks are just one more challenge for California students, who have faced drastically increased student fees and tuition costs, which were protested throughout the state Thursday.

Need to Trim Corrections Spending, Governor? Stop Wasting Money on the Death Penalty!
Created 01/11/2010 - 1:27pm
By Natasha Minsker

If Gov. Schwarzenegger thinks he can cut $3.5 billion from state spending on corrections, he is being unrealistic and impractical.

In his state of the state address Wednesday, Gov. Schwarzenegger promised to restore the California dream by increasing funds for education and cutting funds for prisons in the budget proposal he releases today. That’s a great theory. But his only real proposal is to outsource prison administration to private companies. The state’s powerful prison guards’ union will ensure that plan fails. Meanwhile, the governor continues to slash education, health care, and other vital services.

So let’s consider something the governor can actually do right now to make a serious dent in the corrections budget: convert all 700 death sentences in California to permanent imprisonment saving the state $1 billion over the next five years.

We couldn't have done it without you!

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, we wanted to stop and take a moment to express our gratitude for all you do for the ACLU.

This year, you and the entire ACLU online community have taken action on a host of issues in every state across the country. We hope you’ll take a moment and watch a quick video about some of the civil liberties battles you have helped the ACLU fight -- and win -- in 2009.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, November 11, 2009

ACLU-Sacramento condemns ‘hate crime' against Temple Beth Shalom, deplores violation of rights

SACRAMENTO – The ACLU of Sacramento released a comment Wednesday regarding the "hate crime" at Temple Beth Shalom in Sacramento. Jim Updegraff, Sacramento chair of the board of directors, commented:

"The Sacramento County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union deplores and condemns the desecration of Temple Beth Shalom on Tuesday. This hate crime occurred on the 71st anniversary of the Kristallnacht program when Nazi thugs destroyed most all the synagogues and Jewish businesses in Germany and Austria, murdered Jews, and sent thousands of Jewish men to concentration camps.

"This action was the beginning of the genocide of European Jews. Only a person(s) with a sick twisted mind would ‘celebrate' this horrific event by defacing a synagogue with Nazi symbols.

"Certainly one of the important civil rights we enjoy is the ability to attend a place of worship of our choice and to peaceably worship without fear of government or private adverse actions. The congregation of Temple Beth Shalom has had this right violated by a hate-monger(s). The perpetrator(s) will have to face the consequences of this action."

Justice Denied: Voices from Guantanamo

The men in this video were held at Guantánamo for years without charge and denied any meaningful opportunity to challenge the legality of their detention. But now they are finally free. This is their story.

The ACLU and Religion: Don’t Believe Everything You Read On the Internet

A malicious and factually inaccurate e-mail accusing the ACLU of not standing solidly on the side of religious liberty – an e-mail that was first circulated six years ago – has once again reared its ugly head and popped up in the e-mail inboxes of people across the country. In an effort to set the record straight, below are two myths the e-mail passes off as truth, followed by the facts which effectively debunk the e-mail’s claims.

MYTH: The ACLU has filed a lawsuit to have all cross-shaped headstones removed from federal cemeteries.

FACT: The ACLU has never once advocated for or initiated any litigation in favor of removing cross-shaped headstones from federal cemeteries. In fact, as the website Politifact.com makes clear, there are no cross-shaped headstones at VA national cemeteries. The headstones and markers the government issues are rectangular.

Bengs distorts in ACLU piece
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/story/2218759.html

Re "ACLU runs amok in crusade against cross" (Viewpoints, Sept. 26): Margaret A. Bengs rehashed misleading statements about the law and the American Civil Liberties Union's case concerning a cross in the Mojave National Preserve.

It's the government that has shown contempt for free speech, allowing private citizens onto federal land to erect a cross but preventing other private citizens from erecting a Buddhist memorial on the same site. And the ACLU doesn't argue that a land transfer in this case could never be constitutional, only that the proposed transfer has clearly been manipulated so that the cross will remain in exactly the same place.

Many Christians are offended by Bengs' argument that this particular cross is supposedly a nonreligious commemoration of war dead, rather than a symbol of the divinity of Jesus. And thousands of Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and members of other faiths who have served their country with honor do not regard the cross as a "universal symbol." That's one reason the military allows soldiers and their families to choose which religious symbol to put on headstones in military cemeteries, a position the ACLU staunchly supports.