Redwood Chapter, ACLU -- Defending the civil liberties of the people on California's North Coast

Redwood ACLU to Hold Eureka School Board Candidate Debate

2011-10-25T15:24:00.000-07:00

The Redwood Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is holding a Candidates' Debate on Civil Liberties for the candidates for Eureka School Board, to be held on Wednesday, October 26th from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on live television -- Access Humboldt Channel 11 -- out of the Community Media Center studio at Eureka High School.

This debate will be held before a televised audience and in cooperation with independent producers working with Access Humboldt it will also be aired several times on public access Channels 11 & 12 and will likewise be available for later viewing on-line.

The debate will be moderated by Redwood ACLU Boardmember and Eureka resident Xandra Manns, and shall be staffed by other members of the Board of Directors of the Redwood ACLU, although any persons who have made any sort of campaign contribution or endorsement of any of the candidates in this year's election are excluded from involvement.

"The debate allows the voters to get a handle on what the candidates have to say in this important election," Redwood ACLU Chair Greg Allen said.

Unlike previous ACLU debates, one of the candidates for this public office has so far indicated their unwillingness to participate. Judy Anderson, the incumbent running for re-election to the Eureka School Board, sent the Redwood Chapter an e-mail indicating her decline of the invitation.

She wrote: "I believe an open format debate with questions coming from a live audience provides a fairer forum," even though, like the League of Women Voter's forums traditionally broadcast live on KEET TV, there will be a live television audience calling in their questions for the candidates.

"To even say that is patently absurd," Allen retorted. "History has shown that the debates we sponsor have been unbiased and impartial."

The Board of Directors of the Redwood ACLU met last week and unanimously determined to hold the debate regardless. There will be a chair held open for Judy Anderson; the other candidate, Susan Johnson, has already agreed to appear and participate without any demands to change the debate format.

The Redwood ACLU held the only televised debate for all candidates for the Northern Humboldt High School District in 2005 at the Senior Room of the Arcata Community Center, and has also presented civil liberties-oriented forums for local city council races over the last seven years. In 2010, the Redwood ACLU hosted two televised debates, in both the primary and general elections, for all of the candidates running for District Attorney of Humboldt County -- the October 2010 run-off debate between Paul Gallegos and Allison Jackson was the first live event to be televised from the Access Humboldt studio at Eureka High School. The Redwood ACLU, based in Eureka with over 850 members across the North Coast, is a non-partisan organization that never endorses or opposes candidates for public office.

The format of the debate will start with opening statements and an airing of the candidate’s views on questions posed by the moderator concerning civil liberties issues in Humboldt County. All other questions will be posed by phone-in questions from the television audience, followed by closing statements. Each candidate will have the opportunity to issue rebuttals to the statements of others.

Members of the press or public with questions may contact the Redwood ACLU at (707) 442-4419 or redwoodaclu@hotmail.com, or drop by our office at 917 Third Street in Old Town Eureka.

PRESS RELEASE: Redwood ACLU Questions Arcata’s Anti-Protest Practices

2011-04-19T17:59:00.000-07:00

PRESS RELEASE

Tuesday, April 19, 2010

Redwood ACLU Questions Arcata’s Anti-Protest Practices

Annual 4/20 pro-marijuana legalization demonstration draws concern

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union expressed concern today over the pattern of practices by City of Arcata officials in relation to the annual “4/20” marijuana legalization protest in Redwood Park, which falls every year on April 20^th.

In particular, Redwood ACLU Boardmembers and other community members have witnessed a number of peculiar actions over the last couple of years by Arcata Police Department officers and other city staff. These include:

The erection of roadblocks on public streets leading to Redwood Park; and,
The blocking of public trails through public parkland leading to
Redwood Park; and,
The shutdown of public parking lots and public restrooms; and,
The marching of a platoon of armed APD officers through Redwood Park to harass and intimidate college students and others engaged in peaceful protest, barking orders at them concerning the “trampling of foliage” and other nuisance-level complaints; and,
The ticketing of members of the public in an arbitrary and capricious manner.

“The over-reaction of the City of Arcata to what amounts to a low-impact, non-violent mass action to protest federal law is really uncalled for,” Vice Chair Jack Munsee said. “It’s possibly unconstitutional -- you have the right to peacefully protest.”

Redwood ACLU Boardmembers will be on hand tomorrow to act as observers.

The Redwood Chapter, ACLU represents over 850 ACLU members across Del Norte, Humboldt, Western Trinity and Northern Mendocino Counties. Their offices are located at 917 Third Street in Old Town Eureka. For more information, call the Redwood ACLU at (707) 442-4419 or visit redwoodaclu.blogspot.com.

Redwood ACLU Annual Meeting

2011-01-21T12:36:00.000-08:00

Please join your fellow lovers of liberty for the Annual Meeting of the Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union!

Our keynote speaker is Dan Hamburg, former Congressman and newly elected Supervisor of Mendocino County. He'll discuss the future of civil liberties on the North Coast and take your questions!

The event starts at 6 p.m. with a potluck and music by Joe Garceau, followed by the election of our 2011 Redwood ACLU Board, our keynote speech and the awarding of the 2010 Redwood ACLU Patriot Award to a local civil rights champion.

For more information, call (707) 442-4419 or visit redwoodaclu.blogspot.com

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday Jan 18th Noon

2011-01-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, January 18th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include an update on the implementation of Eureka's medical marijuana ordinance; an update on Humboldt County's Law Enforcement Committee; review of potential legal action against the City of Arcata over their anti-panhandling ordinance; updates on election reform efforts; discuss revisions to next year's nominating process for the Patriot Award; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 442-4419 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

Nomination Slate for 2011 Redwood ACLU Board of Directors

2010-11-16T21:31:00.000-08:00

Presented by the Redwood ACLU Nominating Committee to the Board of Directors.

(NOTE: The Board of Directors may add candidates to this slate at their December 21^st meeting. Further nominations may be submitted by petition through January 16, 2011.)

Annual Election held on January 31, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. in Bayside.

Current Redwood ACLU Boardmembers Greg Allen, Parke Bostrom, Charles Douglas and Minerva Williams are midway through their two-year terms on the Board of Directors, and are thus not subject to this election.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS - AT LARGE SEATS
- two year terms -
CHOICE VOTE FOR 8

Steve Bridenbaugh (incumbent)

Stephen Davies (incumbent)

Peter Martin (incumbent)

Jack Munsee (incumbent)

Xandra Manns

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

Members may make additional nominations from the floor at the time of the election to run as valid write-in candidates.

Redwood ACLU Nominating Committee Tuesday Nov 16th 11:15 a.m.

2010-11-12T06:52:00.000-08:00

The first and only meeting of the year for the Nominating Committee of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet on Tuesday, November 16 at 11:15 a.m at our office at 917 Third Street in Eureka.

The members of the Nominating Committee include three current Boardmembers and two at-large ACLU members who are not currently on the Chapter Board: Greg Allen, Charles Douglas, Steve Bridenbaugh, Xandra Manns and Jamie Rose.

This committee is charged with developing a slate of up to eight [8] candidates for consideration by the Chapter Board for new two-year terms on the Board. The Chapter Board will then adopt this slate, with or without amendment, to be presented to the Redwood Chapter membership to stand for election to the next Chapter Board at the Annual Meeting on January 31st, 2011 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall in Bayside, CA.

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday Nov 16th Noon

2010-11-09T06:56:00.000-08:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, November 16th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include an update on the implementation of Eureka's medical marijuana ordinance; an update on Humboldt County's Law Enforcement Committee; review of potential legal action against the City of Arcata over their anti-panhandling ordinance; updates on election reform efforts; discuss revisions to next year's nominating process for the Patriot Award; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 442-4419 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday Oct 19th Noon

2010-10-12T15:25:00.000-07:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, October 19th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include an update on the implementation of Eureka's medical marijuana ordinance; an update on Humboldt County's Law Enforcement Committee; review of potential legal action against the City of Arcata over their anti-panhandling ordinance; updates on election reform efforts; discuss revisions to next year's nominating process for the Patriot Award; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 442-4419 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

Redwood ACLU to Hold DA Runoff Candidates’ Debate on Civil Liberties

2010-10-05T15:23:00.000-07:00

PRESS RELEASE

Attention: For Immediate Release

Redwood ACLU to Hold DA Runoff Candidates’ Debate on Civil Liberties

The Redwood Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union announces the Runoff Candidates' Debate on Civil Liberties for both remaining candidates for District Attorney of Humboldt County, to be held on Tuesday, October 12th from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on live television -- Access Humboldt Channel 12 -- out of the Community Media Center studio at Eureka High School.

This debate will be held before a televised audience and in cooperation with independent producers working with Access Humboldt it will also be aired several times on public access Channels 11 & 12 and will likewise be available for later viewing on-line.

The debate will be moderated by Redwood ACLU chair Greg Allen, and shall be staffed by other members of the Board of Directors of the Redwood ACLU, although any persons who have made any sort of campaign contribution or endorsement of any of the candidates in this year's election are excluded from involvement.

“We’re anticipating a lively debate where we really dig deep into the justice system here in Humboldt County,” Allen said. “We’ve strived to strike a balance where the debate will get some answers on vital civil rights issues from each candidate, but also leave plenty of room to address other concerns raised by community members.”

The Redwood ACLU held the only televised debate for candidates for the Northern Humboldt High School District in 2005 at the Senior Room of the Arcata Community Center, and has also presented civil liberties-oriented forums for local city council races over the last six years. The Redwood ACLU, based in Eureka with over 850 members across the North Coast, is a non-partisan organization that never endorses or opposes candidates for public office. Our state affiliate, the ACLU of Northern California, is also providing support for this event.

The format of the debate will start with opening statements and an airing of the candidate’s views on questions posed by the moderator concerning civil liberties issues in Humboldt County. All other questions will be posed by phone-in questions from the television audience, followed by closing statements. Each candidate will have the opportunity to issue rebuttals to the statements of others.

Members of the press or public with questions may contact the Redwood ACLU at (707) 442-4419 or redwoodaclu@hotmail.com, or drop by our office at 917 Third Street in Old Town Eureka.

PRESS RELEASE: Redwood ACLU Opposes Unconstitutional Campaign Finance Proposals

2010-05-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

PRESS RELEASE

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Redwood ACLU Opposes Unconstitutional Campaign Finance Proposals

Arcata’s Committee on Democracy and Corporations continues to push extremist agenda

The Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announces today their complete and continued opposition to the campaign finance law amendments being pushed on the Arcata City Council by the Committee on Democracy and Corporations.

Specifically, the proposed changes, most of which are unchanged from a proposal first made in January and then hastily withdrawn, would ban any campaign contributions by all organizations to any candidate, initiative, referendum or recall campaign; impose limits on contributions (from any source) to support or oppose ballot initiatives, referenda and recall campaigns; ban any campaign contributions by minors; impose severe campaign spending limits; ban campaign loans; and severely limit the ability of the City Council to make inflation-adjusted changes to the candidate contribution limits approved by voter initiative over a decade ago.

“It’s regrettable that all this time and effort is being put into an ordinance that will not achieve its goal,” Redwood ACLU Treasurer Peter Martin said.

It is longstanding ACLU policy on the local, state and national level that political contributions, as well as political expenditures, are core constitutional activities affecting freedom of expression and freedom of association. While the Redwood ACLU does not oppose the current reasonable campaign contribution caps currently in place in Arcata, the chapter did oppose Measure T on constitutional grounds, concerns which were validated by Federal Judge Susan Illston in her ruling which completely invalidated Measure T.

“The California Corporations Code, Section 18, preempts the ability of any local government to define a person in a different way from state law,” Redwood ACLU Chair Greg Allen said. “These self same issues have already gone to federal court and resulted in a stipulated judgment that ended up costing the county of Humboldt over $100,000. Now the same people are trying the exact same type of scheme in Arcata.”

The courts have repeatedly ruled that extremely low contribution limits towards ballot initiatives are unconstitutional, and no such limits are in place in California, or in any city in California, or in any county in California. The courts have also found that banning organizations (even non-profit ones such as the ACLU) from making contributions to initiative campaigns is also unconstitutional.

“While at face value I can see why these people want to oppose the power of large campaign contributions, they’re not considering the implications of these actions,” Redwood ACLU Boardmember Steve Bridenbaugh said. “The answer lies in an equitable system of public financing of elections and unencumbered access to the public airwaves.”

“This ordinance is predestined to fail,” Redwood ACLU Secretary Parke Bostrom said. “It is nothing more than an attempt to generate publicity.”

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday May 18th Noon

2010-05-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, May 18th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include an update on the draft medical marijuana ordinances in Eureka and Humboldt County; review of the proposed Arcata law to severely restrict campaign contributions; review of potential legal action against the City of Arcata over their anti-panhandling ordinance; updates on election reform efforts; discuss revisions to next year's nominating process for the Patriot Award; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 442-4419 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

PRESS RELEASE: Redwood ACLU to Hold DA Candidates’ Debate on Civil Liberties

2010-04-07T15:35:00.000-07:00

April 7, 2010

PRESS RELEASE

Attention: For Immediate Release

Redwood ACLU to Hold DA Candidates’ Debate on Civil Liberties

The Redwood Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union announces the Candidates' Debate on Civil Liberties for all four ballot-qualified candidates for District Attorney of Humboldt County, to be held on Thursday, April 15th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Senior Room of the Arcata Community Center, 321 Community Park Way.

This debate will be held before a live audience (the capacity of the Senior Room is over 100 people) and in cooperation with independent producers working with Access Humboldt it will also be aired live on public access Channel 12 and will likewise be available for later viewing on-line.

The debate will be moderated by Redwood ACLU chair Greg Allen, and shall be staffed by other members of the Board of Directors of the Redwood ACLU, although any persons who have made any sort of campaign contribution or endorsement of any of the candidates in this year's election are excluded from involvement.

“We’re anticipating a lively debate where we really dig deep into the justice system here in Humboldt County,” Allen said. “We’ve strived to strike a balance where the debate will get some answers on vital civil rights issues from each candidate, but also leave plenty of room to address other concerns raised by community members.”

The Redwood ACLU held the only televised debate for candidates for the Northern Humboldt High School District in 2005 at the Senior Room of the Arcata Community Center, and has also presented civil liberties-oriented forums for local city council races over the last six years. The Redwood ACLU, based in Eureka with over 850 members across the North Coast, is a non-partisan organization that never endorses or opposes candidates for public office. Our state affiliate, the ACLU of Northern California, is also providing support for this event.

The format of the debate will start with opening statements and an airing of the candidate’s views on five questions posed by the moderator concerning civil liberties issues in Humboldt County. All other questions will be posed by the live audience via notecards, followed by closing statements. Each candidate will have the opportunity to issue rebuttals to the statements of others.

Members of the press or public with questions may contact the Redwood ACLU at (707) 442-4419 or redwoodaclu@hotmail.com, or drop by our office at 917 Third Street in Old Town Eureka.

ADDENDUM POSTED TO CANDIDATES 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE:

Humboldt County DA Candidates,

As promised, here's our five questions (in no particular order) which will be asked in the first phase of our Candidates' Debate on Civil Liberties on Thursday night. Any last minute queries may be directed to Redwood ACLU Chair Greg Allen. See you all tomorrow evening!

1. The state is facing the worst budget crisis in nearly a century and

spending on corrections is an enormous drain on the General Fund. Please

explain how your charging and plea bargaining policies would consider the

impact of your decisions on the state budget. Do you support reducing

spending on corrections, if so, how, and if not, how do you propose to

fund the current corrections system?

2. Please explain what the policy of your office would be regarding the

application of the Three Strikes Law and what criteria you would use to

determine when to charge someone with a second or third strike. Would you

ever prosecute non-violent felonies such as petty theft as a third strike

under the law, and would you support reforming the Three Strikes Law to

require that the third strike be a violent felony?

3. While studies show that people use and sell drugs at the same rate

regardless of race and ethnicity, persons of color are more likely to be

sent to prison on drug charges. Please explain what the policy of your

office would be regarding plea bargaining in drug offense cases. Do you

support sending non-violent drug offenders to state prison, and would you

encourage plea bargains that include drug treatment and rehabilitation in

place of incarceration and state prison?

4. Zero tolerance policies in schools have led to greater criminalization

of young people. When a school calls the police, the District Attorney

decides whether to prosecute the behavior as a crime or to respond through

another route such as school discipline. Once they are part of the

criminal justice system, youth are much more likely to re-offend in a more

serious way, creating a pipeline from schools to prisons. Do you support

sending young offenders to restorative justice programs and other avenues

that divert young people out of the juvenile justice system and toward new

opportunities, and if so, what would you do as District Attorney to

promote such programs?

5. The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted last year to form a Law

Enforcement Committee which empowers local citizens to review the

policies, practices and procedures of the Sheriff's Department, and

also opens the door for the hiring of an independent police auditor in

situations where law enforcement is involved in a controversial use of

violent or deadly force. The Arcata General Plan adopted ten years ago

likewise calls for police review, and the City Council of Eureka has also

considered hiring an independent police auditor. Please explain your

position on independent civilian oversight of law enforcement. How would

you handle a fatal use of force incident involving local police?

Arcata's anti-panhandling law back on Wednesday

2010-03-02T09:29:00.000-08:00

Redwood ACLUers and allies,

Once again the Arcata City Council is set this Wednesday at 6 p.m. to approve an anti-panhandling law that would effectively outlaw Girl Scout cookie vendors and the Salvation Army Santa in their misguided attempt to further persecute the growing homeless and poverty-stricken population of our community.

http://arcata.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=6&event_id=14&meta_id=35861

The proceeding link will show you the latest draft of the law, which fails to take into account most of the points raised by ACLU of Northern California staff attorneys, who sent the City of Arcata a detailed letter spelling out how unconstitutional and unenforceable their proposed ordinance is. The "new" draft keeps language effectively criminalizing ANY requests for aid (whether aggressive or peaceful) within 20 feet of any doorway or at any intersection. The ACLU of Northern California sued the City of Berkeley over a decade ago when they passed a similar law. The ACLU won, and the taxpayers of Berkeley paid for the mistake of their representatives. Can Arcata afford a similar mistake?

It's a good time to remember that our Redwood ACLU vice chair, Christina Allbright, was going to meet with the City Manager (the former Police Chief) and the City Attorney -- despite the city's claims of consulting with local citizens, the City of Arcata blew off this meeting at the last minute, and has refused to respond to any e-mails, letters or phone calls from the ACLU or anyone else in the local civil rights community. To his credit, Councilmember Shane Brinton was still willing to meet with us, and his advocacy for civil liberties in this matter has been notable.

We urge all community members who live, work or play in Arcata to visit the Arcata City Council this Wednesday evening and speak out for the dignity and worth of all persons regardless of class or circumstance. Our representatives should not use our present economic calamity to persecute the least among us and further attempt a purge of the homeless from this city just to score points in an election year.

For more information, visit http://RedwoodACLU.blogspot.com and we'll see you on Wednesday night.

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday Feb 16th Noon

2010-02-13T08:23:00.000-08:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, February 16th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include seating the Redwood ACLU Boardmembers elected at the Annual Meeting last month; electing Redwood ACLU officers for the new year; an update on the draft medical marijuana ordinances in Eureka and Humboldt County; review of the proposed Arcata laws to severely restrict campaign contributions and institute anti-panhandling regulations; updates on election reform efforts; discuss revisions to next year's nominating process for the Patriot Award; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 442-4419 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

PRESS RELEASE: Redwood ACLU Opposes Unconstitutional Campaign Finance Proposals

2010-01-19T17:20:00.000-08:00

PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Redwood ACLU Opposes Unconstitutional Campaign Finance Proposals
Arcata’s Committee on Democracy and Corporations continues to push extremist agenda

The Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announces today their complete opposition to the campaign finance law amendments being proposed to the Arcata City Council by the Committee on Democracy and Corporations.

Specifically, the proposed changes would seek to criminalize any campaign contributions by corporations, impose limits on contributions (from any source) to support or oppose ballot initiatives, referenda and recall campaigns, criminalize any campaign contributions by minors, criminalize campaign loans (except for those necessary for filing fees) and severely limit the ability of the City Council to make inflation-adjusted changes to the candidate contribution limits approved by voter initiative over a decade ago.

It is longstanding ACLU policy on the local, state and national level that political contributions, as well as political expenditures, are core constitutional activities affecting freedom of expression and freedom of association. While the Redwood ACLU does not oppose the current reasonable campaign contribution caps currently in place in Arcata, the chapter did oppose Measure T on constitutional grounds, concerns which were validated by Federal Judge Susan Illston in her ruling which completely invalidated Measure T.

“The California Corporations Code, Section 18, preempts the ability of any local government to define a person in a different way from state law,” Redwood ACLU Chair Greg Allen said. “These self same issues have already gone to federal court and resulted in a summary judgment that ended up costing the county of Humboldt over $100,000. Now this proposal attempts the exact same type of scheme in Arcata.”

The courts have repeatedly ruled that extremely low contribution limits towards ballot initiatives are unconstitutional, and no such limits are in place in California, or in any city in California, or in any county in California.

“While at face value I can see why it would appeal to people who wish to oppose the power of large campaign contributions, they’re not considering the implications of these actions,” Redwood ACLU Boardmember and Arcata resident Steve Bridenbaugh said. “The answer to the campaign finance dilemma does not lie in proposals like these, but rather in an equitable system of public financing of elections and unencumbered access to the public airwaves.”

The Redwood Chapter, ACLU represents over 850 ACLU members across Del Norte, Humboldt, Western Trinity and Northern Mendocino Counties. Their offices are located at 917 Third Street in Old Town Eureka. For more information, call the Redwood ACLU at (707) 442-4419 or visit redwoodaclu.blogspot.com.

Redwood ACLU announces Patriot Award nominees

2010-01-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Redwood ACLU announces Patriot Award nominees

The Redwood Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is pleased to announce the nominees for the 2009 Patriot Award. The chapter gives the Patriot Award annually to the member or members of the community who, in the opinion of the chapter, have demonstrated a patriotic commitment to defending and preserving the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in our country.

The 2009 nominees are:

Betty Chin and John Shelter for their work defending the rights of people who are houseless.

The Crisis Intervention Team of the Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services Mental Health Branch, which assists people who are experiencing a mental health crisis.

Eureka Councilman Larry Glass for working with the ACLU on items of common interest, including Eureka’s “True Ward” initiative.

County Supervisor Bonnie Neely for supporting the ongoing development of a framework for citizen police review.

Tad Robinson for defending freedom of speech and the right of the people peaceably to petition the government for redress of grievances.

“It is inspiring to see so many local citizens committed to enhancing our civil liberties,” said chapter Vice-Chair Christina Allbright.

The winner will be announced and honored at the Redwood Chapter’s annual membership meeting. The meeting will be held on Monday January 25th at 6pm at the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall in Bayside. The keynote speaker will be Northern California ACLU Executive Director Abdi Soltani. Soltani’s speech will be on the topic “Civil Liberties in the Age of Obama.” The meeting will be a pot-luck style dinner and the public is invited to attend. Also at the meeting, the over 870 members of the Redwood ACLU will elect the chapter’s Board of Directors for 2010.

“I encourage all ACLU members, and any interested members of the public to attend our annual meeting on the 25th,” said Redwood ACLU Chair Greg Allen. ”With the Patriot Award ceremony and a keynote speech by our new regional executive director, it should certainly be a worthwhile evening.”

The Redwood Chapter of the ACLU is the local, all-volunteer presence of the ACLU. The ACLU is our nation’s guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.

Arcata Anti-Panhandling Ordinance to be introduced‏

2009-11-30T19:03:00.000-08:00

Following the rude treatment of city staff in agreeing to meet with Redwood ACLU vice chair Christina Allbright, then reneging on this meeting, City Attorney Nancy Diamond, City Manager/Police Chief Randy Mendosa and Mayor Mark Wheetley have introduced their Anti-Panhandling Ordinance without any consultation with the ACLU or anyone else in the local civil rights community.

http://arcata.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=3&event_id=14&meta_id=32587

As you can read at the above link, this proposed law would seek to completely ban constitutionally-protected solicitation activity in wide swaths of the city, basically anywhere near any supermarket, any retail facility, the HSU footbridge, and more. While "aggressive" behavior and physical assault is already unlawful, these scare stories are being used to foist upon Arcata a law designed to further criminalize the homeless and punish them for continuing to exist in Arcata.

The City Council meets Wednesday night (Dec. 2) at 6 p.m., although the ordinance's introduction is under "new business" and will be rather late in the agenda, so showing up an hour or two into the meeting is probably a safe move. If you can make it to speak out on this matter, whether you live in Arcata or just visit, please do so.

Redwood ACLU Nominating Committee Tuesday November 24 12:00 p.m.

2009-11-20T10:22:00.000-08:00

The first and only meeting of the year for the Nominating Committee of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet on Tuesday, November 24 at 12:00 p.m at our office at 917 Third Street in Eureka.

The members of the Nominating Committee include three current Boardmembers and two at-large ACLU members who are not currently on the Chapter Board: Greg Allen, Christina Allbright, Charles Douglas, Xandra Manns, Jamie Rose.

This committee is charged with developing a slate of up to seven [7] candidates for consideration by the Chapter Board for new two-year terms on the Board. The Chapter Board will then adopt this slate, with or without amendment, to be presented to the Redwood Chapter membership to stand for election to the next Chapter Board at the Annual Meeting on January 25th.

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday Nov 17th Noon

2009-11-13T09:59:00.000-08:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, November 17th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include a review of preparations for the Annual Meeting on Jan. 25; a review of the recent Chapter Newsletter and consideration of items for the next issue; an update on the investigation into the election irregularities at HSU; a review of election reform efforts; analysis of the anti-panhandling ordinance under consideration by City of Arcata officials; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 442-4419 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

Redwood ACLU Policy On Local Election Reform

2009-11-01T10:54:00.000-08:00

Adopted on July 21, 2009

The local, state and national ACLU has long recognized efforts to protect fair representation in government. The Redwood Chapter affirms the relationship between the rights of citizens and the opportunity to cast a meaningful and effective vote. This policy falls within the scope of policies established by the National ACLU and the ACLU of Northern California.

We appreciate the good work of Humboldt County Clerk/Recorder Carolyn Crnich and the Election Advisory Committee to increase vote-counting transparency and encourage electoral reform, which led to their 2007 Patriot Award selection in October. However, our local Board expresses deep concern with local election conditions, as referenced in a 2007 Voter Confidence Committee report. Additional revelations concerning the “lost ballots” in the general election of 2008, only discovered after the election results were certified, have shaken the confidence of voters in the vote-counting process.

Therefore, the Redwood Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union calls upon election officials and elected leaders to consider the following reforms:

- The County must phase-out of the current electronic vote-counting systems due to issues of inaccuracy, secrecy and privatized control and avoid replacing them with any similar privatized, secret systems. Hand-counted paper ballots are one method which could prove to be more verifiable and less subject to tampering, data corruption and other errors. All voting systems must be subject to rigorous verification.

- The County should set as a priority the right to cast a secret ballot, in an accessible polling place, with the option but not requirement to vote by mail. All efforts must be made to ensure the secret ballot so that no ballot may be traced to or associated with any individual. Greater effort should be made to identify potential polling places and bring them into compliance with disabled access requirements.

- Voided ballots should be immediately marked “VOID” and retained for later audit, and voters must also be provided with the traditional curtain system of voting booth to ensure voter privacy.

- Any memory cards or hard drives used in voting or vote-counting systems must be retained and not be deleted or erased for the full 22 months required by federal law.

- Hotlines, whether by land line or by cellular or Voice Over Internet Protocol system, should be maintained between each and every polling place and the central Elections Office during elections. Sufficient staffing should be in place to readily answer incoming calls.

- The shipment of ballot boxes from local police or sheriff’s stations to County Elections via transportation supervised by only one county employee does not provide sufficient security against tampering, theft or loss. Ballots should never be in the possession of only one person at a time.

- The lack of a comprehensive system of voting methods enabling the use of Ranked Choice Voting is an impediment to electoral reform and acts to compromise the ability of many groups to share in the exercise of political power as well as to reduce the diversity of representation. This dilution of political representation violates the spirit of the US Constitution.

- Poll workers and elections office staff must have improved training to better serve voters and reduce the incidences where voters are dissuaded or prevented from casting a ballot, and be paid to attend such training. Election systems must be run simply and conveniently with poll workers and staff behaving in a consistent and reliable manner. The time for training provided to poll workers should be expanded, to include more “hands on” experiential training in simulated election situations and the provision of electronic training materials workers can review outside of training sessions.

- The maintenance of politically diverse precinct-level poll worker boards should be vigorously enforced, regardless of the residency of any particular active poll worker or potential poll worker; as a partial solution, enhanced recruitment efforts, particularly towards young people, may be expanded and county officials could consider more adequate compensation for poll workers.

- District elections, such as those used to elect members of the Eureka City Council, should be accountable directly to the voters of each of the several districts, and not used solely to determine the residency of the district representative. A “true ward” system where only the voters of any particular ward would vote for their own representative is preferable to the current city-wide system, although ward boundaries must be assessed to avoid gerrymandered districts.

- Poll workers and elections office staff should be specifically reminded of the legal right of any voter to observe any and all stages of the election process. However, prohibitions on “crowding” polling places with politically-motivated agents of any campaign should be better enforced to protect polling place accessibility, including the publication of guidelines for election observers.

- The program initiated by Crnich and the EAC, known as the Humboldt County Election Transparency Project, should be made permanent under county ordinance and utilized prior to the certification of election results to allow for vote totals to be reliably and independently audited to verify accuracy.

- In contrast to the invalidated and admittedly unconstitutional Measure T of 2006, campaign finance reform measures must respect freedom of speech and protect minority candidates. Any limitations on candidate campaign contributions must be sufficiently high enough to permit effective communication with the electorate. Public financing of public candidate elections is the best possible solution to allow equitable access to the electorate, so long as the qualifications to access such funds do not discriminate between major party, minor party and independent candidates.

PRESS RELEASE: Cities, County, State Recognize Work Of The ACLU

2009-09-16T15:47:00.001-07:00

PRESS RELEASE
September 15, 2009

Cities, County, State Recognize Work Of The ACLU
Former Supervisor John Woolley to present proclamation on Thursday at Noon at Courthouse

The Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announces that the cities of Arcata and Eureka, the County of Humboldt and the California State Assembly have adopted the resolution drafted by local Redwood Chapter activists to recognize the 75th Anniversary of the ACLU of Northern California, the largest state ACLU affiliate in the country.

The ACLU-NC was founded in the wake of the San Francisco General Strike of 1934, with ACLU attorneys taking the lead in protecting rights of assembly and protest to aid workers’ rights to organize and stand up for their interests. The next years’ Holmes-Eureka strike, in which three strikers were killed and hundreds arrested, no attorneys in Humboldt County were wiling to defend the strikers -- ACLU of Northern California legal counsel stepped in, with Ernest Besig serving as their attorney, and later as ACLU-NC Executive Director for over 30 years.

In their respective proclamations, these respective governments “recognize the ongoing work of the state and local ACLU in fostering dialogue on voting integrity, promoting independent civilian review of law enforcement, protecting the rights of rental tenants from discrimination, defending the rights of Native American children to be free of racial harassment and otherwise promoting the spirit of the Bill of Rights on the North Coast.”

The cities and the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors also recognized the ongoing work of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU in standing up for civil rights in our local region. After 18 years as the founding chairwoman of the Redwood ACLU, deputy public defender Christina Allbright handed off the gavel to last year’s Vice Chair, Arcata attorney Greg Allen -- but in recognition for her work, Supervisors presented Allbright with the county’s proclamation, and their thanks, for her tireless efforts.

“This recognition is really a tribute to the coalition-building work of the civil rights community in building bridges we can all stand on in mutual respect for each other and for the Bill of Rights,” Allbright said. “As ever, there is more work to be done to fully implement independent police oversight, pursue electoral reform and restore a sense of restorative justice to our judicial system. We look forward to continuing our collaborative efforts to see these ideals made manifest.”

Allbright will accept the California State Assembly proclamation, submitted by Assemblyman Wes Chesbro of Arcata, from his Field Representative, former Humboldt County Supervisor John Woolley. This will take place at Noon on Thursday on the steps of the county courthouse.

“I really want to voice my appreciation for the legislators at all levels of government who have helped make this happen,” Allen said. “We have certainly had our moments of disagreement, and may again in the future, but I’m very thankful to see that we’re all on the same page when it comes to protecting the inalienable rights of every citizen of California.”

The Redwood Chapter, ACLU represents over 850 ACLU members across Del Norte, Humboldt, Western Trinity and Northern Mendocino Counties. Their offices are located at 917 Third Street in Old Town Eureka. For more information, call the Redwood ACLU at (707) 442-4419 or visit redwoodaclu.blogspot.com.

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday Feb 17th Noon

2009-02-10T08:17:00.000-08:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, February 17th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include a review of the Annual Meeting and Election Reform Forum held on Jan. 27; a review of the recent Chapter Newsletter and consideration of items for the next issue; an update on the investigation into the election irregularities at HSU; election of chapter officers; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 442-4419 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

PRESS RELEASE: Redwood ACLU Celebrates 2008 Patriot Award, Elects New Board For 2009

2009-01-29T17:13:00.000-08:00

PRESS RELEASE
Thursday, January 29, 2009

Redwood ACLU Celebrates 2008 Patriot Award, Elects New Board For 2009

The Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), representing over 870 members across the North Coast, elected its new Board of Directors at their annual meeting Tuesday night at the Red Lion Hotel in Eureka.

The Board welcomes new Directors to its ranks, with Steve Bridenbaugh and Kelley Fleming to take their seats at the next Board meeting on Feb. 17. Incumbent boardmembers Peter Martin, Jack Munsee, Roger Herick, Bill Henneberry, Christina Allbright, and Stephen Davies were re-elected to new two-year terms. Along with three returning boardmembers, the group will hold elections for their officers when they next meet.

The celebration of the ongoing efforts to expand civil liberties in Humboldt, Del Norte, Western Trinity and Northern Mendocino also included the acceptance of the fifth annual Redwood ACLU Patriot Award by former Arcata councilmember Dave Meserve. He was credited for his work to oppose the unconstitutional Patriot Act, to advocate for independent civilian review of the Arcata Police Department, and to author Measures F and J, which provide for community protections against military recruiters targeting children in Arcata and Eureka. (The resolution in his honor is attached below.) Meserve's remarks focused on the need for community consensus on workable campaign finance reforms, as well as the latest news on Arcata and Eureka's defense of Measures F and J.

“I grew up in this, my mother was actually executive secretary of the Philadelphia ACLU…I’ve been associated for a long time, and probably learned a lot of this very early,” Meserve told the audience. “When you look at the Patriot Act and the ordinance that we wrote and that we passed in 2003, I think what you saw was an obvious assault on the Constitution. We had within the Patriot Act violations of the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 14th amendments, so it was a pretty broad attack on the Bill of Rights, and I’m very proud of our role in bringing attention…”

Redwood ACLU members put theory into practice when this year’s board election was the first which used choice voting, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, avoiding the “spoiler effect” and producing majority winners while preserving minority representation. Keynote speaker Steve Chessin, president of Californians for Electoral Reform, paid a special visit to Eureka to explain choice voting and other forms of proportional representation and how they might be implemented in local elections.

Chessin then joined local election reform leaders on a panel to further explore how local elections might be improved. The panelists included Humboldt County clerk-recorder Carolyn Crnich, Eureka Chamber of Commerce boardmember Chris Crawford, Eureka Civic Association founder Dave Ogden, Redwood ACLU vice chair Greg Allen and Larry Hourany, who stepped in for Pat Higgins on behalf of the California Clean Money campaign. The Redwood ACLU is producing a documentary of this forum for distribution on Access Humboldt Channel 12 and on YouTube and Google Video.

For more information, call the Redwood ACLU at (707) 442-4419 or visit redwoodaclu.blogspot.com.

2008 Patriot Award

Whereas, since the inception of the Redwood Patriot Award in 2004, Dave Meserve has been nominated every year as a deserving recipient for his past and current work; and

Whereas, after the passage of the Patriot Act, as a councilman for the City of Arcata, Dave Meserve was instrumental in the passage of a groundbreaking ordinance to prevent Arcata city officials from implementing the unconstitutional elements of the USA Patriot Act , which acted as an inspiration to all of us working to restore the Bill of Rights; and

Whereas, while on the Arcata City Council and since, Dave Meserve has supported police review and the concepts of accountability and transparency within our governmental agencies; and

Whereas, Dave Meserve has been a leading proponent and spokesperson for Measures F and J in Arcata and Eureka, adopted by 73% and 57% of voters last November, which limits the invasive tactics of military recruiters who target minors. Therefore be it

Resolved, The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union awards the Fifth Annual Patriot Award to Dave Meserve for his continued commitment and action to protect the constitutional rights and civil liberties of the people of Humboldt County in accordance with the Bill of Rights.

Dated: December 16, 2008

_____________________________
Christina Allbright
Chair, Redwood ACLU

Redwood ACLU 2007 Annual Meeting and Fourth Annual Patriot Award Gala

2009-01-27T13:31:00.000-08:00

Just in time to give away the Fifth Annual Patriot Award this evening at the Red Lion Hotel in Eureka, the Redwood ACLU shares highlights of the last Annual Meeting and Patriot Award Gala on October 27, 2007.

Accepting the Fourth Annual Patriot Award was Clerk-Recorder Carolyn Crnich and the Election Advisory Committee of Humboldt County. Crnich gave remarks on the innovative development of the Humboldt Transparency Project, flanked by EAC members Greg Allen, Kevin Collins, Tom Pinto, Jamie Orr and Mark Konkler. Allen and Konkler also gave brief remarks where they credited Crnich for her brave leadership on election reform issues.

Redwood ACLU chair Christina Allbright gave introductory remarks on the (then) recent accomplishments of local civil rights leaders, including progress on police review and expanding civil liberties to virtual environments such as Second Life.

Redwood ACLU Opinion: Local Election Reform On KMUD Talk

2009-01-27T10:40:00.000-08:00

On the evening of Monday, January 26, 2009, the Politically Correct Week In Review hosted by Paul Encimer took a call from Redwood Chapter, ACLU secretary Charles Douglas on the topic of the upcoming Local Election Reform Forum. Paul, his co-host Bernie MacDonald and his guest also discussed police review and the status of local ballot measures prohibiting the targeting of minors by military recruiters.

This friendly, bridge-building dialogue seemed to upset Dana Silvernale, the "chair" of David Cobb's Humboldt Green Party, who called in not long after. Silvernale repeatedly attacked the local ACLU (by name) for their advocacy of election reform measures the Green Party platform supposedly supports, such as public campaign financing and choice voting. Silvernale also attacked Douglas directly over the ACLUs total agreement with the voters of Eureka and Arcata on Measure F and Measure J to restrict invasive military recruitment tactics -- even though these measures were authored by former Arcata Councilmember and Green Party member Dave Meserve (who is also receiving the Fifth Annual Patriot Award from the Redwood ACLU).

Douglas called in at the end of the show to refute Silvernale's counter-factual statements and question why she would engage in attacks against the ACLU when neither he nor anyone else on the local ACLU board had stated anything in their official capacity regarding her or her outfit. The ACLU secretary detailed the numerous drafting errors and unconstitutional precepts of Measure T and called upon all community members interested in local election reform to come together in a constructive dialogue.

PRESS RELEASE: Redwood ACLU Presents Keynote Speaker Steve Chessin At Local Election Reform Forum

2009-01-20T13:30:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Redwood ACLU Presents Keynote Speaker Steve Chessin
At Local Election Reform Forum

At the regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union today, election reform activists looked forward to a special Local Election Reform Forum to be held one week from today, headlined by a special keynote speaker, Steve Chessin, flying in from out of town to address ACLU members and the public concerning efforts to reform elections across California.

“We’re very proud to be able to provide this forum featuring such a prominent statewide advocate of choice voting, which would greatly improve the functioning of our local and state elections.” said Redwood ACLU chair Christina Allbright. “It’s about time our community leaders sat down in the same room to discuss what positive steps can be taken to reform our election process in ways which conform with our constitutional values.”

Steve Chessin is the President of Californians for Electoral Reform, the leading statewide organization pushing for choice voting, which would allow voters to rank candidates by order of preference, ensuring winners would receive majority support. In the 2002 statewide election, the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, controller, treasurer, and insurance commissioner were put into office with the support of a minority of voters; on the local level, the Mayor of Eureka, the Second District Supervisor and other local officials won office with less than 50% support.

Chessin, a software engineer from Mountain View, is also a member of the Democratic Party state executive board. The forum’s panel, however, features local speakers from across the political spectrum, including:

Carolyn Crnich, the Clerk-Recorder of Humboldt County, will discuss the Humboldt Transparency Project and the recent decision to move away from the Diebold/Premiere vote-counting system for local elections.

Patrick Higgins, a Humboldt Harbor Commissioner and an advocate of the California Clean Money Campaign, will review efforts to establish public financing of election campaigns.

Chris Crawford, a Eureka Chamber of Commerce boardmember and the organizer of “No on Measure T,” will present his proposal for campaign contribution limits on private financing of local election campaigns.

Greg Allen, a founding member of the Humboldt County Election Advisory Committee and the Vice Chair of the Redwood ACLU, will provide an overview of the use, and misuse, of the local ballot initiative process and his idea to provide prior legal review of ballot measures before they are presented to voters.

Dave Ogden, the founder of the Eureka Civic Association and the Chair of the Eureka Finance Advisory Committee, will look at reform of Eureka’s Ward system to make it a “true” ward system where only residents of a particular ward would vote on that ward’s City Councilmember.

“The Redwood ACLU has an important role to play in improving this process, not only as a public service, but to make sure that election reform measures we do support are given a fair hearing, instead of being tainted by the immature and unprofessional conduct associated with recent campaigns,” Allen said. “We have a real duty, a professional responsibility to do it right.”

For more information, call the Redwood ACLU at 707-442-4419 or visit redwoodaclu.blogspot.com.

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PRESS RELEASE: Redwood ACLU Gives Fifth Annual Patriot Award To Former Arcata Councilmember Dave Meserve

2009-01-14T15:08:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Redwood ACLU Gives Fifth Annual Patriot Award
To Former Arcata Councilmember Dave Meserve

At the regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union last month, local civil rights awarded their highest honor, the Patriot Award, to Dave Meserve for his long-time work to defend the civil liberties of people across the North Coast. He will be presented with this honor at the Annual Meeting and Patriot Award Gala to be held on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel in Eureka.

“Dave Meserve has the distinct honor of having been nominated every year since the inception of this award.” said Redwood ACLU chair Christina Allbright. “His groundbreaking ordinance to prevent Arcata city officials from implementing the unconstitutional elements of the USA Patriot Act acted as an inspiration to all of us working to restore the Bill of Rights.”

The irony was not lost on the local Redwood Chapter Board when they voted unanimously to give the Patriot Award to Meserve last month -- that same week, a federal appeals court ruled another provision of the Bush administration’s Patriot Act unconstitutional. Their repeated use of “national security letters” - to prevent those who received secret document demands from disclosing this unwarranted search of their papers and property -- wrongly placed the burden on NSL recipients to initiate judicial review of these gag orders.

Just over a year before, a federal judge ruled unconstitutional provisions within the Patriot Act which allowed the government to obtain search warrants without probable cause. The national ACLU continues on several fronts its challenges against the unconstitutional abrogation of constitutional values.

“Arcata was way out in front on this fight against the unwarranted expansion of federal snooping and surveillance,” said Redwood ACLU boardmember Jack Munsee. “Meserve’s support of police review for the Arcata Police Department throughout his term in office was also a source of inspiration to our efforts to establish law enforcement accountability measures across Humboldt County.”

Meserve will be honored at a reception at the Red Lion Hotel, along with appetizers and short speeches, to be followed by our Election Reform Forum at 6:30, where invited speakers from across the county, the state and the political spectrum will outline the challenges and opportunities to improve the functioning of local elections.

For more information, call the ACLU Hotline at 707-442-4419 or visit redwoodaclu.blogspot.com.

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Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday Jan 20th Noon

2009-01-13T17:33:00.000-08:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, January 20th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include a review of preparations for the Annual Meeting on Jan. 27; a review of the recent Chapter Newsletter and consideration of items for the next issue; an update on the investigation into the election irregularities at HSU; a review of election reform efforts including the upcoming election reform forum; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 442-4419 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

FINAL Ballot For Redwood ACLU Board of Directors

2009-01-12T15:12:00.000-08:00

(NOTE: The Board of Directors, by unanimous vote on December 16, added three candidates to the original slate of full-term Director candidates approved by a unanimous vote of the Board on November 18. ACLU members further petitioned the Board on January 12, 2009 to add an additional candidate.)

Annual Election held on January 27, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. in Eureka

BOARD OF DIRECTORS - AT LARGE SEATS
- one year terms -
CHOICE VOTE FOR 4

Kelly Fleming

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

Members may make additional nominations from the floor at the time of the election to run as valid write-in candidates.

UPDATED Nomination Slate For Redwood ACLU Board Of Directors

2008-12-24T21:31:00.000-08:00

(NOTE: The Board of Directors, by unanimous vote on December 16, added three candidates to the original slate of full-term Director candidates approved by a unanimous vote of the Board on November 18. ACLU members may further petition the Board until January 12, 2009 to be included on a slate of one-year term Director candidates.)

Annual Election held on January 27, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. in Eureka

BOARD OF DIRECTORS - AT LARGE SEATS
- one year terms -
CHOICE VOTE FOR 4

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

By submitting a letter to the Board (with 5 signatures of ACLU members) at least 15 days before the Annual Meeting, a Redwood Chapter member may petition the Board to be included as a candidate on the ballot. Members may make additional nominations from the floor at the time of the election to run as valid write-in candidates.

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday Dec 16th Noon

2008-12-08T12:53:00.000-08:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, December 16th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include an update on the status of the proposal to create a multi-jurisdictional SWAT Team for Arcata, Eureka, HSU, Fortuna and Trinidad; labeling and distribution of the next Chapter Newsletter; an update on the investigation into the election irregularities at HSU; review of election reform efforts including the upcoming election reform forum; finalizing our Patriot Award winner and plans for our Annual Meeting; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 442-4419 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

Letter Regarding Sectarian Prayer At Eureka City Council Meetings

2008-12-02T23:00:00.000-08:00

Redwood ACLU
PO Box 292
Eureka, CA 95502

November 25, 2008

Mayor Virginia Bass
Eureka City Council
531 K Street
Eureka, CA 95501

Dear Madam Mayor:

It has come to our attention that at the August 19th meeting of the Eureka City Council Pastor Rick McRostie of the First Covenant Church delivered a Christian prayer which was definitely sectarian. Since then, it is our understanding that other City Council Meetings have included a prayer. In Marsh v Chambers the US Supreme court ruled that if a legislative body chooses to open its meetings with a prayer, such prayer must not be "exploited to proselytize or advance any one, or to disparage any other, faith or belief". The prayers before the legislature that were upheld in the Marsh case were non-sectarian, in other words, the prayers were not specific to any particular religion.

We would appreciate it if you would inform us as to what measures will be used to ensure that in future meetings prayers if used are non-sectarian. This issue was litigated against the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners in North Carolina after the Board refused to take the advice of their own attorney to ensure that future invocations were non-sectarian. The Board lost this case and was enjoined to ensure that all future invocations are to be non-sectarian.

We would be glad to consult with you as to how to uphold your oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States.

Sincerely,

Christina Allbright
Chair, Redwood ACLU

:cja
cc: Councilmember Larry Glass
Councilmember Mike Jones
Councilmember Jeff Leonard
Councilmember Linda Atkins
Councilmember Frank Jager
City Attorney Sheryl Schaffner

Outreach Committee Meets Tues Dec 9th Noon

2008-12-01T20:52:00.000-08:00

All ACLU members in good standing are welcome to attend the next meeting of the Outreach Committee of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU.

We're meeting on Tuesday, December 9th at Noon at our office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q in Old Town Eureka.

The Outreach Committee, as the name suggests, is dedicated to enhancing the outreach of the local ACLU in diverse communities, especially the ongoing tabling program to sign up new members and get the word out on local issues and initiatives like police review, election reform, illegal surveillance and more. Outreach also concerns the chapter newsletter (which is mailed to all local ACLU members), coalition-building work with other like minded individuals and groups, and social networking events such as the Arts Alive! events held last year.

The Outreach Committee is also looking to work with a prospective new intern to phone bank our 800+ local ACLU members and get a weekly tabling campaign going at local stores and farmers' markets. We're looking for other good ideas too from members like you, so show up, speak up and get involved!

If you're unable to make the meeting, please leave your suggestions on our hotline at 442-4419 or e-mail redwoodaclu@hotmail.com .

Nomination Slate For Redwood ACLU Board Of Directors

2008-11-28T17:42:00.000-08:00

Annual Election held on January 27, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. in Eureka

Current Redwood ACLU Boardmembers Minerva Williams, Greg Allen and Charles Douglas are midway through their two-year terms on the Board of Directors, and are thus not subject to this election.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS - AT LARGE SEATS
- two year terms -
VOTE FOR 8

Peter Martin (incumbent)

Jack Munsee (incumbent)

Roger Herick (incumbent)

Christina Allbright (incumbent)

Stephen Davies (incumbent)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

BOARD OF DIRECTORS - AT LARGE SEATS
- one year terms -
VOTE FOR 4

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

By submitting a letter to the Board (with 5 signatures of ACLU members) at least 15 days before the Annual Meeting, a Redwood Chapter member may petition the Board to be included as a candidate on the ballot. Members may make additional nominations from the floor at the time of the election to run as valid write-in candidates.

Redwood ACLU Thanks Humboldt County Supervisors For Conceding Unconstitutionality Of Measure T

2008-11-18T15:08:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Redwood ACLU Thanks Humboldt County Supervisors
For Conceding Unconstitutionality Of Measure T

At the regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union, local civil rights leaders thanked the entire Humboldt County Board of Supervisors for voting to settle the lawsuit against Measure T, admitting its unconstitutionality on the grounds of First Amendment protections for free speech and Fourteenth Amendment grounds of equal protection.

“The ACLU has constantly attempted to extend all constitutional safeguards to all persons,” said Redwood ACLU vice chair Greg Allen. “Measure T on its face sought to limit speech and was clearly an attempt to limit constitutional rights to some persons. We’re glad that the Board of Supervisors realized that Measure T litigation was un-winnable and expensive and we’re pleased that the Board responsibly decided to cut huge losses to the county at a relatively early stage of the proceedings.”

Allen went on to defend the duty of Supervisors to face reality in terms of what a protracted set of appeals would cost local taxpayers.

“With any organization of any kind, be it public or private, there is a requirement that the board exercise ordinary prudence in all transactions, and it’s apparent that the Board of Supervisors has made a decision on the advice of counsel,” he said. “It is further clear that counsel in this litigation did not believe the county could prevail. Congratulations to the Board of Supervisors for being prudent and responsible.”

Allen represented the Redwood ACLU at a Town Hall Meeting held by Eureka Councilmember Jeff Leonard at the Wharfinger Building last week, where election reforms which could survive constitutional muster were considered. Local civil rights leaders are planning an election reform forum just after the new year where a diverse panel of local activists, attorneys and government officials will discuss various means of improving local elections, including but not limited to campaign contribution caps, instant run-off voting and the reform of district elections for local offices.

“We’re not only interested in opposing ill-fated campaign finance measures, but in fostering healthy and open dialogue on what kind of reforms can actually work and can actually bring together our community instead of dividing it,” Redwood ACLU chair Christina Allbright said. “We look forward to building bridges and moving past the failed legacy of Measure T towards lasting reforms which enhance voter rights instead of taking them away.”

For more information, call the ACLU Hotline at 707-442-4419 or visit redwoodaclu.blogspot.com.

-- 40 --

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday Nov 18th Noon

2008-11-11T11:09:00.000-08:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, November 18th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include an update on the status of the proposal to create a multi-jurisdictional SWAT Team for Arcata, Eureka, HSU, Fortuna and Trinidad; review of the latest developments in the court case against Measure T; labeling and distribution of the next Chapter Newsletter; an update on the investigation into the election irregularities at HSU; review of election reform efforts including the lawsuit against Measure T; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 442-4419 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

Redwood ACLU On Measure T: KMUD News

2008-10-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

Redwood Chapter, ACLU vice chair Greg Allen discusses the American Civil Liberties Union's support of a lawsuit to strike down Measure T as an unconstitutional restriction on free speech.

The interview was conducted by Redwood Community Radio (KMUD) news director Cynthia Elkins the day after a restraining order was not granted against Measure T as filed by two Humboldt County-based firms who wished to contribute to a local campaign.

While the restraining order was not granted, the enforcement of Measure T was halted by an injunction granted by the Federal District Court in San Francisco the following week.

Greg Allen discusses the legal problems associated by Measure T, which were a result of being poorly drafted in the first place by its proponents from Democracy Unlimited and their political committee, the Humboldt Coalition for Community Rights.

Greg Allen also points out the absurdity of attempting to challenge the state law concerning corporate personhood as a legal construct by passing a purely local ordinance, and describes the tactics undertaken by Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap and others from the pro-Measure T campaign to attack critics and stifle dissent.

PRESS RELEASE: Redwood ACLU To Hold Civil Liberties Debate For Arcata City Council Candidates

2008-10-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

The Redwood Chapter, ACLU is returning to its tradition of hosting well-fought and open debates between candidates for local office, as it has in the past for candidates contesting seats on the Arcata City Council and the Northern Humboldt Union High School District.

For the second time, the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union will include the Arcata City Council contests in a debate on local civil liberties issues as well as on other community concerns. The event will be held on Monday, October 6th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the D Street Neighborhood Center in Arcata.

The debate format is to start off with a few questions concerning the issues the Redwood Chapter advocates for in the community, followed by questions solicited via notecard from members of the public in the audience. There will be time for rebuttals between candidates in order to foster a vigorous debate, although we also ensure equal time for all the candidates to speak their peace.

The debate is free and open to the public, but space is limited, so community members with questions are strongly encouraged to arrive early.

PRESS RELEASE: Redwood ACLU To Hold Civil Liberties Debate For Eureka City Council Candidates

2008-09-23T17:59:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Redwood ACLU To Hold Civil Liberties Debate
For Eureka City Council Candidates

The Redwood Chapter, ACLU is returning to its tradition of hosting well-fought and open debates between candidates for local office, as it has in the past for candidates contesting seats on the Arcata City Council and the Northern Humboldt Union High School District.

For the first time, the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union will include the Eureka City Council contests in a debate on local civil liberties issues as well as on other community concerns. The event will be held on Monday, September 29th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Humboldt Bay Water Building, located at 7th and J St. In Eureka.

A “meet and greet” with the invited candidates (Polly Endert, Linda Atkins, Frank Jager, George Clark) will be held just beforehand at 6:00 p.m., where the candidates and other community groups are invited to table with their literature and other materials of civic interest.

“As an organization that always refrains from supporting or opposing candidates for public office, we are in a unique position to provide common ground for dialogue and discussion,” said Redwood ACLU chair Christina Allbright in a letter to the candidates.

The debate format is to start off with a few questions concerning the issues the Redwood Chapter advocates for in the community, followed by questions solicited via notecard from members of the public in the audience. There will be time for rebuttals between candidates in order to foster a vigorous debate, although we also ensure equal time for all the candidates to speak their peace.

The debate is free and open to the public, but space is limited, so community members with questions are strongly encouraged to arrive early.

For more information, call the new ACLU Hotline at 707-442-4419 or visit redwoodaclu.blogspot.com.

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PRESS RELEASE: Redwood ACLU Calls For Support Of Lawsuit Against Measure T

2008-09-16T14:47:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Redwood ACLU Calls For Support
Of Lawsuit Against Measure T

At the regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union, local civil rights leaders made a formal request for legal aid in support of the lawsuit filed by local businesses seeking to overturn the unconstitutional Measure T. The Redwood ACLU had already taken a position against Measure T on First Amendment grounds of freedom of speech in their Local Election Reform policy approved some time ago.

The case against Humboldt County’s enforcement of Measure T is currently in front of the Federal District Court of Northern California in San Francisco, and although an attempted Temporary Restraining Order against Measure T was not granted today, a preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 22.

“This judicial review is already engendering some bizarre and intemperate reactions from the proponents of Measure T, who have sent out letters to every candidate in local elections this fall seeking to compel them to conform to Measure T whether it meets constitutional muster or not,” stated Redwood ACLU chair Christina Allbright in a letter to the Chair of the Board of Directors of the ACLU of Northern California. “The silence of our local legal community and civil activists on this matter thus far has been deafening, despite the clear and obvious constitutional flaws contained in the measure...We cannot overstate the grave peril we perceive our free speech rights in local elections to be in.”

The letters in question, sent out by the pro-Measure T political committee initiated by Democracy Unlimited and known as the “Humboldt Coalition for Community Rights,” was signed by Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap and sent to local candidates, even including her opponent in Eureka’s race for Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District. The letter likened opponents of their campaign finance-related ballot measure to those who supported slavery and oppose women’s suffrage and the labor movement.

“The proponents of Measure T and especially the Humboldt Coalition for Community Rights by their Co-Chair Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, are renewing the same tactics used in the 2006 election to stifle any dissent regarding the constitutionality of Measure T,” said Redwood ACLU vice chair Greg Allen. “An examination of statements made by Sopoci-Belknap at the Democracy Unlimited website again attacks those with differing legal opinions. This policy has been continued by the HCCR in a letter signed by Sopoci-Belknap, herself a candidate for public office, to direct all candidates for public office in Humboldt County, including her own opponent, to support Measure T even if it is held unconstitutional by the district court.”

In the interests of disclosure, Sopoci-Belknap’s opponent in her Water Board race is Stephen Davies, a local attorney who is on the Board of the local Redwood Chapter ACLU as well as on the Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. Davies abstained from voting on the stance taken today due to his current status as a candidate for public office, and the ACLU remains neutral in regards to his campaign (in accordance with standing ACLU policy against supporting or opposing candidates for public office).

A response from the ACLU-NC on the question of an amicus brief is expected later this week. The Redwood Chapter of the ACLU is also considering the co-sponsorship of a forum on local election reform, both concerning the failure of Measure T and hopes for more constructive reform efforts, to be held after the upcoming general election in November.

For more information, call the new ACLU Hotline at 707-442-4419 or visit redwoodaclu.blogspot.com.

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Relevant links:
http://redwoodaclu.blogspot.com
http://community.pacificlegal.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=685&srcid=685
http://duhc.org/PLF-Measure%20TComplaint.pdf
http://duhc.org/MeasureTlawsuitPR8-29-08.html

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday Sept 16th Noon

2008-09-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, September 16th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include an update on the status of the proposal to create a multi-jurisdictional SWAT Team for Arcata, Eureka, HSU, Fortuna and Trinidad; labeling and distribution of the next Chapter Newsletter; an update on the Arcata police review campaign and efforts on behalf of civilian review for other local law enforcement agencies; review of election reform efforts including the lawsuit against Measure T; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 442-4419 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

Redwood ACLU Nominating Committee Meeting Fri Aug 29 Noon

2008-08-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

The Nominating Committee of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet on Friday, August 29th at 12:00 at our offices at 917 Third Street, Suite Q, Eureka.

The task of the committee is to set a date for the Annual Meeting of the Redwood Chapter, to produce a slate of candidates for election or re-election to the Board of Directors for the chapter, and to review nominees for the Patriot Award, which will be put to a final vote of the board next month.

The current members of the nominating committee include three currently serving Boardmembers (Christina Allbright, Charles Douglas and Maria Hershey), plus two ACLU members-at-large who are not on the Board (Xandra Manns, Jamie Rose). All ACLU members in good standing are welcome to attend and deliver their input as well.

For more information, write back to this address or call the Redwood ACLU Hotline at 707-442-4419.

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday Aug 19th Noon

2008-08-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, August 19th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include an update on the status of the proposal to create a multi-jurisdictional SWAT Team for Arcata, Eureka, HSU, Fortuna and Trinidad; labeling and distribution of the next Chapter Newsletter; an update on the Arcata police review campaign and efforts on behalf of civilian review for other local law enforcement agencies; review of a letter to the Affiliate and other ACLU chapters concerning the efficacy of hand-counted paper ballots and other election reform efforts; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 442-4419 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

Outreach Committee meets Tues Aug 12th Noon

2008-08-05T09:40:00.000-07:00

All ACLU members in good standing are welcome to attend the next meeting of the Outreach Committee of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU.

We're meeting on Tuesday, August 12th at Noon at our office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q in Old Town Eureka.

The Outreach Committee, as the name suggests, is dedicated to enhancing the outreach of the local ACLU in diverse communities, especially the ongoing tabling program to sign up new members and get the word out on local issues and initiatives like police review, election reform, illegal surveillance and more. Outreach also concerns the chapter newsletter (which is mailed to all local ACLU members), coalition-building work with other like minded individuals and groups, and social networking events such as the Arts Alive! events held last year.

The Outreach Committee is also looking to work with a prospective new intern to phone bank our 800+ local ACLU members and get a weekly tabling campaign going at local stores and farmers' markets. We're looking for other good ideas too from members like you, so show up, speak up and get involved! If you're unable to make the meeting, please leave your suggestions on our hotline at 442-4419 or e-mail < redwoodaclu@hotmail.com >.

LAST CALL for submissions to Redwood Liberty News

2008-08-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

This is the LAST CALL for submissions for the next edition of our chapter
newsletter, the Redwood Liberty News (formerly known as the Redwood
Libertine). The deadline is FRIDAY, AUGUST 8TH AT 4:00 P.M.

Any civil liberties-related topic is fair game for your analysis and
criticism, anywhere from 200-600 words. You can also submit a "letter to
the editor" for our new feature, Letters of Liberty, if you'd like to
respond to anything in our previous issue or anything else your local
Redwood Chapter, ACLU is up to (or should be up to). Anything submitted
which won't fit in this next issue will be saved for our Fall newsletter,
so don't hold back!

We'll be having a meeting of our Outreach Committee on Tuesday, August
12th at Noon at our local Redwood ACLU office (917 Third Street) to get
the newsletter ready for mail-out to our 800+ ACLU members in the Del
Norte, Humboldt, Western Trinity and Northern Mendocino areas.

E-mail your column or letter to redwoodaclu@hotmail.com today!

Redwood ACLU Outreach Committee Meeting Tuesday July 22nd Noon

2008-07-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

For the first time this year, the Outreach Committee of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will be holding a meeting! All ACLU members in good standing are welcome to attend.

We're meeting on Tuesday, July 22nd at Noon at our office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q in Old Town Eureka. We're considering making this a regular meeting time (the fourth Tuesday of the month) for this committee.

The Outreach Committee, as the name suggests, is dedicated to enhancing the outreach of the local ACLU in diverse communities, especially the ongoing tabling program to sign up new members and get the word out on local issues and initiatives like police review, election reform, illegal surveillance and more. Outreach also concerns the chapter newsletter (which is mailed to all local ACLU members), coalition-building work with other like minded individuals and groups, and social networking events such as the Arts Alive! events held last year.

The Outreach Committee is also looking to work with a prospective new intern to phone bank our 800+ local ACLU members and get a weekly tabling campaign going at local stores and farmers' markets. We're looking for other good ideas too from members like you, so show up, speak up and get involved! If you're unable to make the meeting, please leave your suggestions on our hotline at 442-4419 or e-mail < redwoodaclu@hotmail.com >.

PRESS RELEASE: Redwood ACLU Endorses Youth Protection Act

2008-06-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Redwood ACLU Endorses Youth Protection Act

At the regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union, local civil rights leaders formally endorsed ballot measures in Arcata and Eureka which would prohibit the recruitment of minors into any branch of the armed forces within these respective cities.

“If people under the age of 18 are not allowed to vote, then why should they be subjected to scientifically-refined propaganda designed to lure them into the armed forces?” said Redwood ACLU chair Christina Allbright. “The military has no business targeting children as young as 11 with their invasive recruiting practices. These tactics clearly violate internationally accepted norms of behavior, and local voters should assert the value of human rights by adopting these measures.”

The Arcata measure is set to come before the City Council in Arcata tomorrow night, where officials have the choice of adopting the act outright, or sending it to the voters in November. The Eureka measure is still in circulation and signatures are likely to be submitted within the next week. ACLU organizers discounted the claim that these measures would inhibit the ability of military recruiters to engage in lawful conduct.

“A person should be an adult before he can volunteer to kill or be killed in an imperialist war,” said Redwood ACLU treasurer Peter Martin. “We should protect children from manipulation by military recruiters, since, if a person agrees to enlist, he or she gives up many constitutional rights that civilians enjoy.”

The ACLU of Northern California recently published a report produced in part by 23 high school students from across the state who investigated the myths of military recruitment and military service as part of the Howard A. Friedman Education Project. “The Truth Behind The Camouflage” is available for review and download at the Affiliate website, aclunc.org, and is also linked to by the Redwood Chapter’s website, redwoodaclu.blogspot.com.

“Studies have shown how military recruiters disproportionately target poor children and children of color with their exaggerated promises of educational and financial assistance which often fail to materialize,” said Redwood ACLU boardmember Maria Hershey. “Incidents of coercion, deception and even sexual abuse by recruiters have been documented, and if career politicians in Sacramento and Washington are too beholden to the military-industrial complex to take action on behalf of common decency and the rule of law, then our local communities will do so.”

The National ACLU has also produced a more recent report for submission to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, “Soldiers Of Misfortune.” This report chronicles US violations of an international protocol forbidding the use of child soldiers as well as the abuse of foreign child soldiers captured overseas, including the imprisonment of a 15-year-old boy in the Guantanamo Bay military prison where the ACLU claims he may have been subjected to torture.

For more information, call the new ACLU Hotline at 707-442-4419.

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Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday June 17th Noon

2008-06-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, June 17th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include an update on the status of the proposal to create a multi-jurisdictional SWAT Team for Arcata, Eureka, HSU, Fortuna and Trinidad; consideration of plans for the next Chapter Newsletter; an update on the Arcata police review campaign and efforts on behalf of civilian review for other local law enforcement agencies; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 442-4419 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

Marriage Equality Rally Friday May 16th Noon

2008-05-15T18:32:00.000-07:00

An organizer with the Humboldt Chapter of Marriage Equality, USA just announced (on KMUD News this evening) a rally in support of today's California Supreme Court ruling which struck down Prop. 22 as unconstitutional (which may lead to the legalization of marriage equality in the state). The ACLU of Northern California was staunchly opposed to Prop. 22 and celebrated today's ruling (as you can read all about at aclunc.org), although there is concern about a possible ballot measure in November which could amend the state constitution to re-install the ban.

The marriage equality event is set for tomorrow (Friday) at 11:45 a.m. at the County Courthouse in Eureka. Unlike Arcata and the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, the City Council of Eureka rejected a resolution affirming support for marriage equality (despite an outpouring of support for the resolution from many community members, including some local Redwood ACLU activists), thus this continues to be an issue for this community to face. If you're in the Eureka area during lunch hour tomorrow, please come out and show your support for civil rights in our community!

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday May 20th Noon

2008-05-14T17:27:00.002-07:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, May 20th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include an update on the status of the proposal to create a multi-jurisdictional SWAT Team for Arcata, Eureka, HSU, Fortuna and Trinidad; consideration of plans for the next Chapter Newsletter; consideration of ballot measures opposing the recruitment of minors by the military; an update on the Arcata police review campaign and efforts on behalf of civilian review for other local law enforcement agencies; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 442-4419 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

Redwood ACLU Expresses Concern Over Planned Police Tactics At Redwood Park “4/20 Protest”

2008-04-19T09:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 19, 2008

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Redwood ACLU Expresses Concern Over Planned Police Tactics At Redwood Park “4/20 Protest”

At the regular monthly meeting of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU Board of Directors on Tuesday, local civil rights leaders expressed concern over proposed police tactics to be used against nonviolent demonstrators at the annual “4/20 protest” at Redwood Park in Arcata this Sunday.

In particular, Boardmembers were alarmed by media reports quoting Arcata Police Department captain Tom Chapman, who allegedly is planning vehicle barricades around Redwood Park to block access to the public on April 20, even though no permits have been filed to require such an action.

“No one is contesting the reasonable enforcement of parking restrictions, much less preventing drivers from operating vehicles while they’re under the influence,” said Redwood ACLU chair Christina Allbright. “But the planned presence of barricades, command posts and a massive influx of out-of-town law enforcement officers begs the question of what is an appropriate level of response to an essentially nonviolent demonstration.”

This latest escalation of police tactics comes on the heels of the recent filing of the Arcata Police Review Act of 2008 by Redwood ACLU vice chair and Arcata attorney Greg Allen, which would establish an independent civilian-run police review commission for the APD. The official Title and Summary is due back from Arcata’s City Attorney this week, to be followed by signature-gathering efforts aimed at putting the measure on the ballot for Arcata voters in November.

“These recent statements constitute a pre-emptive declaration of war by the APD against peaceful protesters who want to see changes in how our society treats the use of cannabis,” Allen said. “Especially considering the City’s plans to increase sales taxes, how is the cost of this over-reaction justified in terms of benefit to public safety?”

In addition to asking for the presence of Independent Observers at the protest, the Redwood ACLU also voted unanimously to direct one of its Boardmembers, local attorney Peter Martin, to submit a Public Records Act request to the City of Arcata to discover how much the law enforcement actions associated with the “4/20 protest” would cost, including all overtime paid out to APD personnel and any outside police agencies. Boardmembers also wanted to know why restroom facility access was “cordoned off,” as stated in recent media reports.

“This could be a case of entrapment, when you deny access to restroom facilities, and then threaten people with arrest when nature calls,” said Redwood ACLU boardmember Minerva Williams.

For more information, call the new ACLU Hotline at 707-442-4419.

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Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday April 15th Noon

2008-04-11T15:58:00.000-07:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, April 15th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include an update on the status of the proposal to create a multi-jurisdictional SWAT Team for Arcata, Eureka, HSU, Fortuna and Trinidad; consideration of plans for the next Chapter Newsletter; re-consideration of a local election reform policy; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 442-4419 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

HRC FORUM: Police Review In Humboldt County Thursday April 10th 7pm

2008-03-28T12:43:00.001-07:00

The Humboldt County Human Rights Commission is holding a Public Forum on the future of Police Review in Humboldt County on Thursday, April 10th at 7:00 p.m. in the Supervisors' Chamber of the Humboldt County Courthouse, 525 5th Street, Eureka. The forum will be moderated by the Humboldt County League of Women Voters and will feature time for public comment as well as presentations from law enforcement officals, police accountability experts and civil rights leaders both local and from across Northern California, including:

Bob Aaronson, Independent Police Ombudsman, City of Davis

Christina Allbright, Chair, Redwood Chapter of the ACLU and Spokesperson, Coalition for Police Review

Barbara Attard, Independent Police Auditor, City of San Jose

Kay Howden, Police Officer, City of Eureka

Garr Nielsen, Chief of Police, City of Eureka

Gary Phillip, Sheriff of Humboldt County

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday March 18th Noon

2008-03-09T14:24:00.000-07:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, March 18th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include an update on the proposed Arcata/Humboldt County SWAT Team; consideration of plans for the next Chapter Newsletter; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 215-5385 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

ACLU FORUM: Does Arcata Need A SWAT Team? Thurs. Mar. 27th 6-8pm

2008-03-08T11:18:00.000-08:00

PRESS ADVISORY

Monday, March 24, 2008

Does Arcata Need A SWAT Team?

This question and more will be explored at an upcoming forum in Arcata, whose police chief has previously stated he thought it was a "good idea" for a county-wide SWAT Team to operate in Arcata and throughout Humboldt County.

While the event's sponsors are not necessarily against a SWAT Team, questions of use-of-force policies, weapons procurement and conditions under which such a team would be deployed remain unanswered, especially in light of the deployment of a county-wide team of officers who broke up a pro-homeless protest in Arcata last year.

The forum will also discuss the upcoming November election, in which activists hope to see an Arcata Police Review Act on the ballot, which would create an independent civilian review board for the Arcata Police Department.

The forum, sponsored by the Redwood Chapter ACLU and the Coalition for Police Review, will include speakers and plenty of time for open comment and discussion for local residents. It will be held on Thursday, March 27, 6 p.m. at the Arcata Branch Library, at the corner of 7th and F Street behind Arcata City Hall.

For more information, call CPR spokespersons Greg Allen or Christina Allbright, or visit redwoodaclu.blogspot.com or coalitionforpolicereview.info.

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Thursday February 14th Noon

2008-02-10T10:03:00.000-08:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Thursday, February 14th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include an update on the proposed Arcata/Humboldt County SWAT Team; consideration of plans for the next Chapter Newsletter, which was supposed to go out last month but for a lack of submissions; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 215-5385 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Thursday January 17th Noon

2008-01-04T11:42:00.000-08:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Thursday, January 17th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include an update on proposed spy cameras on the Arcata Plaza; consideration of plans for the next Chapter Newsletter in January 2008; reports from Chapter officers and committees; consideration of the request by the Voter Confidence Committee for support of a policy to require the use of hand-counted paper ballots in Humboldt County elections; review of ACLU Arts Alive! events; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 215-5385 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Thursday December 20th Noon

2007-12-08T10:11:00.000-08:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Thursday, December 20th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

FREEDOMFEST: ACLU Arts Alive! Sat. Dec. 1st 6-9pm

2007-11-20T20:51:00.000-08:00

Speak Out at the Open Mic on Local Law Enforcement!

2007-11-16T11:42:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Humboldt County Human Rights Commission, the Supervisors' Chambers (Humboldt County Courthouse) is hosting an OPEN MIC ON LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT.

This event is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, December 4th, 5:00 p.m., 825 5th Street in Downtown Eureka.

Your local Redwood Chapter, ACLU will be making a brief presentation concerning police review and accountability measures we support. Other concerned community groups such as the HRC and law enforcement agencies will also make brief remarks, followed by an open mic to allow any member of the public to stand up and make their voice heard.

For more information, please contact the HRC or call your local ACLU at 215-5385.

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Thursday November 15th Noon

2007-11-06T10:23:00.000-08:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Thursday, November 15th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include seating of Board of Directors members Greg Allen, Charles Douglas, Greg Geist, Maria Hershey, Shunka Waylan and Minerva Williams; election of Redwood Chapter officers for the coming year; review of the recent Annual Meeting and Patriot Award Gala; consider plans for the next Chapter Newsletter in January 2008; reports from Chapter officers and committees; consideration of the request by the Voter Confidence Committee for support of a policy to require the use of hand-counted paper ballots in Humboldt County elections; review of ACLU Arts Alive! events; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 215-5385 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

ACLU Arts Alive! November 3rd

2007-10-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

2007 Patriot Award

2007-10-15T16:40:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to join the ACLU for our Patriot Award Gala and Annual Meeting on Saturday, October 27, 6 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel in Eureka!

2007 Patriot Award

Whereas, The conduct of fair and free elections which use electoral mechanisms designed to accurately reflect the will of voters form the basis of individual liberty through citizen control of their democratic institutions of governance; and

Whereas, Voting security and election integrity have come under increasing threat nationwide from the use of electronic voting systems which lack adequate safeguards and electoral mechanisms that compromise the ability to share in the exercise of political power; and

Whereas, The Humboldt County Election Advisory Committee was proposed by County Clerk and Recorder Carolyn Crnich and approved by County Supervisors in 2005 with a mission to provide public input and review of local voting systems, electoral mechanisms and conditions under which elections take place in Humboldt County; and

Whereas, Since its formation, the Election Advisory Committee, whose members include Greg Allen, Dave Berman, Kevin Collins, Mark Konkler, Jim Lamport, David Ogden, Jamie Orr and Tom Pinto, worked with Carolyn Crnich, Elections Department staff and concerned community groups to defeat the mass implementation of unverifiable voting machines in local election precincts, a decision which has since proven correct after the mass decertification of unsafe voting equipment in 2007 by California Secretary of State Debra Bowen; and

Whereas, Election Advisory Committee members also advocated successfully for the rights of disabled voters and for an innovative new means of vote verification known as the “Humboldt Transparency Project” where the ballot image of each vote cast is preserved to enable independent citizen recounts of voting results; and

Whereas, Clerk and Recorder Carolyn Crnich has repeatedly demonstrated an open and accountable attitude towards the public and has expressed her willingness to implement alternative voting systems if and when they are adopted by local governments for local elections. Therefore be it

Resolved, The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union awards the 4^th Annual Patriot Award to Carolyn Crnich and the Election Advisory Committee for their continued commitment and action to protect the constitutional rights and civil liberties of the people of Humboldt County in accordance with the Bill of Rights.

Dated: October 27, 2007

______________________

Christina Allbright, Chair

Redwood Chapter, ACLU

ACLU Announces 4th Annual Patriot Award

2007-10-15T15:38:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

ACLU Announces 4^th Annual Patriot Award

The North Coast’s local Redwood Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union announces the winners of the 4^th Annual Patriot Award to be Carolyn Crnich, Humboldt County’s Clerk and Recorder, and the members of the group she chairs, the Election Advisory Committee.

“We are proud to recognize the work of Carolyn and her committee on behalf of the voters of Humboldt County,” said Redwood ACLU chair Christina Allbright. “Thanks to them we have avoided the mistakes other counties made with the blanket implementation of untrustworthy electronic voting systems. The new Humboldt Transparency Project makes the vote-counting process open and independently verifiable, a great example the rest of the country should learn from.”

Crnich and members of the EAC will be recognized for their work at the Patriot Award Gala for the Redwood ACLU, to be held on Saturday, October 27^th at 6:00 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel in Eureka. The gathering also serves as the Annual Meeting for the Redwood Chapter, where new and returning Boardmembers will be elected, amendments to the bylaws considered and ideas to advance civil liberties on the North Coast will be forwarded for the coming year.

“The fight for civil liberties in redwood country faced new challenges this year, not to mention the return of mass police surveillance of public areas as Arcata is now considering,” said Redwood ACLU vice chair Greg Allen. “I’m looking forward to another strong turnout of the local membership, not only so we can celebrate our accomplishments but also set new goals to bring Humboldt and surrounding counties into the kind of legal and social environment of freedom that we should expect by now, seven years into the 21^st Century.”

The local ACLU is also proud to announce the distribution of the first issue of its brand-new newsletter, the Redwood Libertine, which is set to come out quarterly. To find out more, call the Redwood ACLU hotline at 215-5385, or visit the Redwood Civil Liberties Blog at redwoodaclu.blogspot.com.

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Redwood Libertine Vol. 1 No. 1

2007-10-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

The first issue of the Redwood Libertine can be downloaded at this link. To read the file you must have Adobe Acrobat available.

We are accepting letters to the editor for a new feature, Letters of Liberty, to start with the next issue due out January 2008. Please write to redwoodlibertine@hotmail.com with your letters on local civil liberties issues.

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Thursday October 18th Noon

2007-09-30T16:24:00.000-07:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Thursday, October 18th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include final preparations for the Annual Meeting; consider plans for the next Chapter Newsletter in January 2008; reports from Chapter officers and committees; review of proposed amendments to the Chapter Bylaws; consideration of the request by the Voter Confidence Committee for support of a policy to require the use of hand-counted paper ballots in Humboldt County elections; review of ACLU Arts Alive! events; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 215-5385 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

ACLU Arts Alive! October 6th

2007-09-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

Redwood ACLU Bylaws DRAFT

2007-09-21T18:12:00.000-07:00

REDWOOD CHAPTER OF

THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION

OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

BY-LAWS

(Draft to be considered on October 27, 2007)

ARTICLE 1: NAME AND JURISDICTION

Sec. 1.1. The name of this organization is the Redwood Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, Inc.

Sec. 1.2. The Redwood Chapter is a component of and shall operate under the by-laws of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, Inc., (ACLU-NC), which is located in San Francisco, California, and is an affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, Inc. (ACLU) located in the City of New York.

Sec. 1.3. The jurisdiction of this Chapter is Humboldt County, Del Norte County, western Trinity County, northern Mendocino County and adjacent areas, specifically those included in the following zipcodes: 95501-03, 95511, 95514, 95518-19, 95521, 95524-28, 95531-2, 95534, 95536-8, 95540, 95542-3, 95545-9, 95550-6, 95558-9, 95560, 95562-5, 95567-9, 95570-1, 95573, 95585, 95587, 95589, 95595, 96046.

ARTICLE 2: PURPOSE AND SCOPE

Sec. 2.1. The purpose of the chapter is to defend, maintain and extend the civil liberties guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California, and to support the program of the ACLU-NC.

Sec. 2.2. The chapter shall engage in educational programs to enable persons to recognize the violation or infringement of civil liberties and the need for their protection, and to interest the public in the work of the ACLU.

Sec. 2.3. Where the ACLU-NC or the national ACLU has joined a coalition on a specific issue, this chapter may join a local coalition or group working on the same issue without seeking prior approval from the ACLU-NC Board of Directors. However, where the ACLU-NC or the national ACLU has not established a policy or been involved in a specific issue, the chapter shall seek the advice of the ACLU-NC staff and receive approval from the ACLU-NC Board of Directors before joining any local coalition.

Sec. 2.4. The chapter shall take no legal action without approval of the ACLU-NC Board of Directors. It may, however, take any other action, including issuance of public statements, so long as the specific case or issue involved is clearly within its jurisdiction and is covered by the stated policies of the ACLU-NC. Where there is any doubt, or where the ACLU-NC has not issued a statement of policy, no public position or action shall be taken without approval of the Chair of the ACLU-NC Board.

ARTICLE 3: BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Sec. 3.1. The Chapter Board of Directors (the Board) shall consist of no fewer than eleven and no more than fifteen at-large members, all in good standing as members of the ACLU.

Sec. 3.1.1. In addition to at-large Board Directors, the Board shall include two separate seats for ACLU members in good standing who represent the Humboldt State University Friends of the ACLU and the College of the Redwoods Civil Liberties Union, respectively. Representative Director seats shall only be included upon adoption of a Board resolution to ratify an affiliation agreement between the particular student organizations and the Board. Representative Directors from these student organizations shall not be permitted to proxy their votes to at-large Board Directors. Representative Directors from these student organizations shall participate in the work of the Outreach Committee.

Sec. 3.2. The Board shall meet a minimum of six times each year. All Board meetings shall be open to any ACLU member who wishes to attend.

Sec. 3.3. A special meeting of the Board may be called by the Chair of by any three members on the Board provided that notice of such meeting is given at least three days in advance to all members of the Board.

Sec. 3.4. The Board shall have the authority and responsibility for managing the affairs of the chapter in compliance with these by-laws.

Sec. 3.5. One third of the elected Board plus one constitutes a quorum at the regularly scheduled monthly meeting, and one half of the elected Board plus one constitutes a quorum at any special meeting of the Board. If there is a tie vote, the item will be tabled until the next meeting with a quorum.

Sec. 3.6. A Board Director who fails to attend three consecutive Board meetings without an approved leave of absence may be dropped from membership on the Board after written notification from the Chair, however, within 15 days after receiving such notification, the Director may appeal to the Board for reinstatement.

Sec. 3.7. The Board shall create standing and ad-hoc committees to carry out the work of the chapter. The Chair shall appoint committee chairs, with consent of the Board. Committee Chairs who are not board members shall be ex-officio, non-voting members of the Board; committee actions shall be approved by the Board.

Sec. 3.8. The Board, may by resolution, adopt procedures for the establishment of telephonic meetings.

Sec. 3.9. The Board, may by resolution, adopt procedures for proxies.

Sec. 3.10. The Chair of the Board (or any Board Committee), may conduct discussions via email between meetings to facilitate informing Board Members of issues relevant to the Board (or their specific board committee). The Chair will insure that all members receive the same information when initiating email meetings or votes. All Board members will address responses to email discussions and votes to all board (or committee) members, which can be done by using the “reply all” feature in any email program. Motions calling for an email vote must be approved by the Chair of the Board, (or Committee), considering such a vote, and should only be done to facilitate timely decisions between scheduled meetings. A quorum shall be considered to be reached for email votes if a simple majority of the current eligible voting Board (or Committee) responds to the email before the next regular meeting. In the event a simple majority of the Board (or Committee) fails to respond by the next regular meeting the vote shall fail for lack of a quorum. In the event one or more Board (or Committee) members vote in the negative, the vote shall be tabled for further discussion at the next special or regular meeting. Any Board member without access to email, or who prefers not to use email, may provide a phone number that has an answering machine or voicemail coverage as an alternative to receiving notification of an electronic vote via email. When leaving phone messages, the same language as that sent in the email shall be read verbatim. Board members providing their vote over the phone shall have that vote documented by a designated person, who shall then email the appropriate Chair and other Board (or Committee) members with the vote response of member utilizing the phone to vote. The vote will be tabulated by the Chair to be reported and recorded at the next regular meeting. Other policies and procedures for conducting electronic special meetings may be adopted by the Board.

ARTICLE 4: OFFICERS

Sec. 4.1. The following chapter officers shall be elected annually from among the Board of Directors (except as noted): Chair, Vice Chair, Chapter Representative to ACLU-NC Board, Alternate Chapter Representative (may rotate during year and need be a member, but need not be a Board member), ~~Recording Secretary (may rotate during the year), Executive~~ Secretary ~~(may rotate during the year)~~, Treasurer, and additional officers may be elected at the discretion of the Board. More than one person may hold more than one officer position if necessary, though not preferred.

Sec. 4.2. The Chair shall preside at all meetings of the Board, the Executive Committee and the membership, conduct elections and administer the general business of the Chapter. ~~and should attend as many meetings as possible of the ACLU-NC Board as a voting member and provide reports of same to the Chapter Board.~~ The Chair shall be responsible for handling inquiries from the media and public, and communicating with the ACLU-NC, except as delegated with the approval of the Board of Directors.

Sec. 4.3. The Vice Chair shall preside at any Board, Executive Committee or membership meetings in the absence of the Chair and shall assume additional duties as assigned by the Chair of the Board. The Vice Chair shall serve on the Executive Committee.

Sec. 4.4. The Chapter Representative or Alternate Chapter Representative shall represent the Chapter at the ACLU-NC Board meetings as a voting member ~~in place of and at the discretion of the Chair~~. The Chair and the Representative or Alternate Representative shall serve as liaisons with ACLU-NC, providing information to the Chapter and the Affiliate about each other’s activities. The Chair and the Representative or Alternate Representative shall work towards fostering better relationships between members and the ACLU-NC. The Affiliate Representative and Alternate Representative shall serve on the Executive Committee.

Sec. 4.5. The ~~Recording~~ Secretary shall take minutes of each meeting and mail or email them to the Board no later than one week before the next meeting. The ~~Recording~~ Secretary shall submit the minutes to the ACLU-NC within a week of their approval by the Board. The ~~Executive~~ Secretary shall keep records of chapter activities, provide Chapter information to the ACLU-NC as required, and assume additional duties as assigned by the Board or Chair. The Secretary shall serve on the Executive Committee.

Sec. 4.6. The Treasurer shall receive and disburse Chapter funds, maintain Chapter financial records in accordance with established accounting procedures and ACLU-NC requirements, provide financial status reports to the Board each time it meets, submit an annual Chapter budget for review at the general membership meeting and assume additional related duties as assigned by the Board. The Treasurer shall serve on the Executive Committee.

ARTICLE 5: ELECTIONS

Sec. 5.1. The Chapter Directors shall be elected for two year terms, rotating so that half of the Board is elected every year at the annual membership meeting. Directors may be asked to serve longer than a year if there is a postponement of the annual meeting.

Sec. 5.2. At least 90 days before the annual membership meeting, the Chair, with the consent of the Board, shall appoint a five-person Nominating Committee. There shall be two non-Board members on the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee shall present its recommendation to the Board at least 60 days before the annual membership meeting. The Nominating Committee’s recommendations should be based on Board-approved eligibility criteria. The Board shall approve a slate of candidates at least sixty days before the annual membership meeting. The Board may, by a unanimous vote of those present, waive the 90 day requirement of a Nominating Committee.

Sec. 5.3. By submitting a letter to the Board with five signatures of ACLU-NC members at least 15 days before the annual membership meeting, a member in good standing may petition the Board to be included on the ballot.

Sec. 5.3.1. By submitting a letter to the Board expressing the decision of the members of the Humboldt State University Friends of the ACLU to nominate an ACLU-NC member in good standing who is also a matriculated student at HSU, the Chair of the HSU Friends of the ACLU may place one nominee on the ballot for the specific seat reserved for the HSU Friends of the ACLU representative. Other HSU students who are ACLU-NC members in good standing may petition the Board to be included on the ballot for the specific seat reserved for the HSU Friends of the ACLU representative, by submitting a letter to the Board with five signatures of ACLU-NC members who are also HSU students.

Sec. 5.3.2. By submitting a letter to the Board expressing the decision of the members of the College of the Redwoods Civil Liberties Union to nominate an ACLU-NC member in good standing who is also a matriculated student at CR, the Chair of the CR Civil Liberties Union may place one nominee on the ballot for the specific seat reserved for the CR Civil Liberties Union representative. Other CR students who are ACLU-NC members in good standing may also petition the Board to be included on the ballot for the specific seat reserved for the CR Civil Liberties Union representative, by submitting a letter to the Board with five signatures of ACLU-NC members who are also CR students.

Sec. 5.4. The membership shall receive written notification of the Board-approved and petitioning nominees at least 15 days before the annual membership meeting. Members shall be notified that they will be permitted to make additional nominations from the floor at the time of the election, provided such nomination is seconded.

Sec. 5.5. Election as a Director shall be determined by ~~a majority of~~ the votes cast at the annual meeting by choice voting, which shall be conducted in the following manner:

               (a) The minimum threshold of votes necessary to be elected shall be determined by dividing
the total number of votes cast for that office by one more than the number of offices to be filled and
then adding one vote, and then ignoring any fraction.

               (b) All ballots are counted and each ballot is allocated as a vote to the candidate receiving
the highest ranking.

               (c) Each candidate that receives the minimum threshold of votes necessary to be elected
shall be declared elected.

               (d) If a candidate on the first count has a number of highest ranking votes exactly equal to
the minimum number of votes needed to be elected, then that candidate is declared elected and the
counted ballots indicating that candidate as a highest ranking are put aside and the other rankings
recorded on the ballots are not examined.

               (e) If a candidate on the first count gains more than the minimum number of votes needed
to be elected, the candidate is declared elected, and the number of votes in excess of the number of
votes needed to be elected (the surplus) is recorded. All of the elected candidate's ballots are then
reexamined and assigned to candidates not yet elected according to the highest continuing ranking
on the ballots of those who gave a first preference vote to the elected candidate. These votes are
allocated according to a “transfer value.” The formula for the transfer value is: Surplus votes cast for
the elected candidate, divided by total number of votes received by the elected candidate, calculated
out to four decimal places using "rounding to nearest" equals the transfer value.

               (f) If two or more candidates on the first count gain more than the minimum number of votes
needed to be elected, all of those candidates are declared elected. Each of the ballots of the candidate
with the largest number of highest ranking votes will be reexamined first and assigned (at the transfer
value) to candidates not yet elected according to the next highest continuing ranking marked on that
ballot. The ballots of the other elected candidates will then be reexamined and their surpluses
distributed in order according to the number of highest ranking votes each candidate received.

               (g) If a candidate reaches more than the minimum number of votes needed to be elected
as the consequence of a transfer of votes from an elected candidate, the number of votes in excess
of the number of votes needed to be elected shall be transferred to other candidates. This transfer
will be to the next highest continuing ranking shown on each of this candidate's ballots. These ballots
now include (1) ballots indicating this candidate as the highest ranking, and (2) the ballots transferred
to the candidate from one or more elected candidates. The transfer value for the ballots on which the
candidate was indicated by the highest ranking is the same as the transfer value defined in subdivision
(e). The transfer value for each ballot transferred to the candidate from one or more previously elected
candidates shall be the surplus votes cast for the elected candidate divided by the total number of
votes received by the elected candidate multiplied by the previous transfer value of the ballot received
by that candidate, as shown in the following formula: The surplus votes cast for the elected candidate,
divided by the total number of votes received by the elected candidate, multiplied by the previous
transfer value of the ballot received by that candidate, calculated out five decimal places and rounded
to the fourth decimal place.

               (h) If no candidate has a number of votes equal to or greater than the minimum number of
votes needed to be elected as a consequence of a redistribution of surplus votes from a previously
elected candidate, the candidate with the smallest number of votes is eliminated. All of eliminated
candidate's ballots, both ballots indicating that candidate as the highest ranking and any ballots
transferred from other candidates, are transferred to the next highest continuing ranking on the
eliminated candidate's ballots. The ballots in which the eliminated candidate was indicated by the
highest ranking are transferred to the candidate indicated by next highest continuing ranking on that
ballot at full value. Ballots received from previously elected or previously eliminated candidates are
transferred at the transfer value at which the ballots were received.

               (i) Tabulation of votes shall continue in the following sequence: (1) The surplus votes of
elected candidates shall be redistributed until no more candidates receive the minimum threshold
of votes necessary to be elected. The surplus votes of the newly elected candidate with the greatest
surplus will be distributed first, and the surpluses of the other newly elected candidates will then be
distributed in order according to the number of surplus votes of each elected candidate awaiting
transfer of surplus votes. (2) Candidates are eliminated as specified in subdivision (h) and the votes
of eliminated candidates are redistributed until another candidate receives the minimum threshold of
votes necessary to be elected. (3) When all but one of the candidates to be elected have been
elected, and only two candidates remain in the count, the candidate with the most votes is declared
elected, even though the candidate may not have reached the minimum threshold of votes necessary
to be elected.

               (j) A tie between two or more candidates for fewest votes, as specified in subdivision (h),
shall be resolved by lot and that candidate chosen by lot shall be eliminated. A tie between two or
more candidates for the number of highest ranking votes received, as specified in subdivision (f),
or the most surplus votes, as specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (i), shall be resolved by lot
and the candidate chosen by lot shall be the first to have his or her surplus votes transferred.

Sec. 5.6. Directors and officers shall assume office when elected. Officers are elected by the Board, which may be postponed until the next regularly scheduled meeting.

Sec. 5.7. In the event of a vacancy for an at-large Board Director seat or a chapter officer, the Board shall appoint a Director or an officer to serve until the next scheduled election. In the event of a vacancy for a representative Board Director seat, the Chair shall notify the respective student organization and request a special election be held by that organization to choose a replacement to serve until the next scheduled election, whom the Board shall ratify the appointment of prior to assuming office.

Sec. 5.8. The criteria for nomination and election to the Board shall be (a) membership in good standing in the ACLU-NC and the chapter; and (b) commitment to fulfill the duties and responsibilities required by the Board, including regular attendance at Board meetings.

ARTICLE 6: MEMBERSHIP AND MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS

Sec. 6.1. All members of the ACLU in good standing are considered members of a particular chapter when: (a) their address is in the geographic jurisdiction of the chapter; or (b) they have elected to become members of a non-geographic chapter like the Gay Rights Chapter. Those who elect to join a non-geographic chapter must indicate such intent in writing to that chapter or to the affiliate staff; otherwise, they will automatically be assigned to this geographic chapter if their zip code corresponds to those listed above.

Sec. 6.2. The chapter shall hold an annual membership meeting (once a year) for the purpose of electing Directors, providing reports of chapter activities and discussing other chapter or ACLU business, including a review of the Chapter budget and annual report. An educational program, fundraising activity or award ceremony may be included in the meeting. The public should be notified to encourage new membership.

Sec. 6.3. A special membership meeting may be called at any time by the Board or by written request to the Board by 5% of the membership.

Sec. 6.4. Written notice of a membership meeting shall be sent to all members giving them at least seven days prior notice of the meeting. Where available, telephonic or electronic notice is sufficient.

ARTICLE 7: ADOPTION AND AMENDMENT OF BY-LAWS

Sec. 7.1. These by-laws shall become effective when approved by a majority of the Board, the ACLU-NC, and the chapter members present at the annual meeting. A copy of these by-laws shall be given to each Director when elected and shall be made available to any member upon request.

Sec. 7.2. These by-laws may be amended at any meeting of the Board by a majority of the Directors, subject to approval of the ACLU-NC Board. Any amendment so approved shall be effective only until the next annual meeting unless it is then ratified by a majority of the members present.

ARTICLE 8: RULES OF ORDER

Sec. 8.1. Except as otherwise provided, Robert’s Rules of Order, Revised, shall govern the conduct of meetings.

(Note: Only 95527, 31, 32, 38, 40, 43, 52, 67, 87, 89, 96046 are being added)

ACLU Expresses Dismay At Arcata Spy Cam Plan

2007-09-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 20, 2007

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

ACLU Expresses Dismay At Arcata Spy Cam Plan

At the regular monthly meeting of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU Board of Directors today, local civil rights leaders condemned the 3-2 vote last night by the Arcata City Council to move forward with plans concocted by Arcata Police chief Randy Mendosa to install a high-tech surveillance camera system on the Arcata Plaza.

“The Council unanimously defeated this same plan back in 2001 after a massive public outcry over the civil liberties implications of spying on local residents as they work, shop, protest and play in their town square,” said Redwood ACLU chair Christina Allbright. “Their flip-flop in favor of an intrusive and ineffective spy camera system will not go unnoticed in our community.”

After several public comments against the plan by ACLU spokespersons and local residents, including former councilmember Dave Meserve, the City Council did agree to bring back to a future meeting a policy under development by city manager Michael Hackett.

“Thankfully there are members of the City Council such as Paul Pitino and Harmony Groves who see the danger to civil liberties inherent to this proposal,” said Redwood ACLU boardmember Stephen Davies. “We thank them for their strong stand against a repeat of this foolish idea.”

The Council also received a 28-page page report prepared this summer by the ACLU of Northern California which provided detailed research on how public surveillance camera systems have proven ineffective and prone to corrupt uses such as racial profiling.

“Government-run video surveillance can radically alter the relationship between law enforcement and the public. By itself, pervasive video surveillance threatens privacy rights. But even more disturbing, the threat multiplies when government combines cameras with emerging technologies…” stated the report. “Surveillance cameras will not improve public safety, and limited funds can be better spent on programs that are both proven effective and less invasive, such as improved lighting, foot patrols, and real community policing.”

In response to the forthcoming Arcata public surveillance policy, the Redwood ACLU plans a series of public forums in Arcata to disseminate the report’s findings, provide an account of the previously defeated spy cam plan in 2001 and promote community input prior to the adoption of the new policy.

“A diverse set of Arcata residents from across the political spectrum mobilized to put a stop to this scheme six years ago, and we were successful,” said Redwood ACLU vice chair Greg Allen. “We did it before, and apparently we will have to do it again since some of the councilmembers subsequently elected just didn’t get the message.”

Local ACLU leaders also express particular concern with the appearance of a conflict of interest on the part of councilmember Alex Stillman, who owns several properties on the Plaza and who even stated last night that she was considering installing a substantially similar private surveillance system at her own expense and on her own building – that is, unless the City of Arcata spent public tax dollars to do much the same thing.

“Stillman cast the tie-breaking vote to move in the direction of a policy that would by her own admission materially affect her property and her business affairs,” said Allen. “The appearance of conflict under the Brown Act and under Arcata’s own Code of Ethics makes it clear she should step aside when this policy comes back for a vote later this year.”

The state affiliate of the ACLU has made their report, entitled “Under the Watchful Eye: The Proliferation of Video Surveillance Systems in California,” available for public viewing on their website, www.aclunc.org. For more information about the Redwood Chapter’s forthcoming public forums on local surveillance issues, call Arcata attorney Greg Allen, or call the Redwood ACLU hotline at 215-5385.

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ACLU Arts Alive! September 1st

2007-08-25T18:45:00.000-07:00

Redwood ACLU Chapter Board Meeting Thursday September 20th Noon

2007-08-24T13:04:00.000-07:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Thursday, September 20th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include review and approval of the Nominating Committee slate of potential new and continuing Board members to stand for election at the Annual meeting; review and approval of the new Chapter Newsletter; reports from Chapter officers and committees; consideration of amendments to the Chapter Bylaws; consideration of the request by the Voter Confidence Committee for support of a policy to require the use of hand-counted paper ballots in Humboldt County elections; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 215-5385 for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

Redwood ACLU Nominating Committee Thursday August 2nd 12:00 p.m.

2007-07-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

The first and only meeting of the year for the Nominating Committee of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet on Thursday, August 2nd at 12:00 p.m at our office on 917 Third Street, Suite Q in Eureka.

The members of the Nominating Committee include three current Boardmembers and two at-large ACLU members who are not currently on the Chapter Board: Christina Allbright, Charles Douglas, Maria Hershey, Xandra Manns, Jamie Rose.

This committee is charged with developing a slate of up to ten [10] candidates for consideration by the Chapter Board (three [3] of which will be one-year terms, seven [7] of which will be two-year terms). The Chapter Board on August 16th will then adopt this slate, with or without amendment, to be presented to the Redwood Chapter membership to stand for election to the next Chapter Board at the Annual Meeting in October.

Redwood ACLU Chapter Board Meeting Thursday August 16th Noon

2007-07-24T13:04:00.000-07:00

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Thursday, August 16th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include review and approval of the Nominating Committee slate of potential new and continuing Board members to stand for election at the Annual meeting; reports from Chapter officers and committees; consideration of amendments to the Chapter Bylaws; review plans for first ACLU Arts Alive! event; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 215-5385 for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.