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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(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

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 -
CHOICE VOTE FOR 8

Peter Martin (incumbent)

Jack Munsee (incumbent)

Roger Herick (incumbent)

Bill Henneberry (incumbent)

Christina Allbright (incumbent)

Cathy Dreyfuss

Stephen Davies (incumbent)

Steve Bridenbaugh

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

(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

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 -
CHOICE VOTE FOR 8

Peter Martin (incumbent)

Jack Munsee (incumbent)

Roger Herick (incumbent)

Bill Henneberry (incumbent)

Christina Allbright (incumbent)

Cathy Dryfuss

Stephen Davies (incumbent)

Steve Bridenbaugh

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

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.