Press Releases from the ACLU of Sacramento County

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, Sept. 6, 2010
Contact: Jim Updegraff 916/421-5951 or ACLU-Sac press office 916/996-9170

Local ACLU again urges Sacramento City Council to act in public's best interest, and reconsider its decision to move public comment to end of meetings; matter on Tuesday agenda

SACRAMENTO – The Sacramento Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Monday said it still believes the Sacramento City Council's decision to move the public comment period to the end of its meetings is wrong, not practical and urged the council Tuesday to rescind that vote when it re-considers the issue Tuesday.

ACLU-Sacramento board chair Jim Updegraff will hold a press availability TUESDAY, 5:15 P.M. OUTSIDE CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS to answer questions.

Updegraff, in a letter to be hand-delivered to council members Tuesday morning, said, "exceptions" to the new rule to be discussed Tuesday by the council are not "practical" and being offered only in an attempt "to placate critics of the proposed change."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010
Contact: Nikos Leverenz, ACLU press office 916/248-0338 or 916/996-9170

ACLU Sacramento Condemns Area Violence Targeting Places of Worship;
Position Consistent with ACLU Support of New York City Islamic Center

SACRAMENTO – The Sacramento County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Wednesday joined the Council on American-Islamic Relations California (CAIR) and other civic groups to condemn the rash of violence targeting places of worship in the larger Sacramento area in recent years.

“We condemn and deplore violent acts of intimidation against houses of worship. They are wholly contrary to the culture of mutual respect and tolerance that we continue to strive for in this city,” said Nikos Leverenz, vice-chair of the Sacramento County ACLU.

Leverenz said the local ACLU position is consistent with the national ACLU's support if the building of a mosque and cultural center in lower Manhattan. That statement underscored the ACLU’s steadfast commitment to religious liberty, noting that it has “defended the right of all religious denominations — from majority faiths to marginalized religions — to establish places of worship, and for Americans to pray, or not, as they choose…. Preventing Muslims or any other group from freely practicing their faith is unconstitutional and goes against the very core of American freedom.”

ACLU Criticizes Sacramento City Council Decision to Muffle Public Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, Aug. 30, 2010
Contact: Jim Updegraff 916/421-5951 or ACLU press office 916/996-9170

Local ACLU urges Sacramento City Council to rescind decision to move public comment to end of meetings to 'best serve' interests of members of the public

SACRAMENTO – The local ACLU today weighed in on the Sacramento City Council's decision to move the public comment period to the end of its meetings, noting it "undoubtedly will preclude members of the public from having the opportunity to voice their grievances, concerns and comments to their elected representatives."

The ACLU asked the council rescind its decision.

"The Sacramento County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union strongly opposes moving the public comment period for issues not on the agenda from the start of meetings to the end of meetings. We assume...public servants would be anxious to hear from as many as possible of your constituents.

"(But) people will not be able to stay to the end of the meeting because they rely upon (public transit) for transportation, have family commitments or for health reasons cannot sit for the long hours meetings often run," said Jim Updegraff, chair of the ACLU of Sacramento County board of directors.

In his letter to the council, Updegraff urged the City Council to "change the public comment period back to the start of the meeting. Such action would best serve the people of the City of Sacramento."

Updegraff will attend the City Council meeting Tuesday and be available for comment before its start.

URGENT PRESS ADVISORY
Sunday, July 11, 2010
For more information contact: Rebecca Sandoval 916 505-8947

Monday Daybook/Assignment Desk

LONG-AWAITED TRIAL TESTING GANG INJUNCTION
SET in YOLO COUNTY; COMMUNITY RALLIES MONDAY,
CALLING INJUNCTION UNNEEDED and RACIALLY BIASED

WOODLAND – Residents here and from surrounding counties will rally here Monday
morning at a 9 a.m. news conference at the entrance to Yolo County Courthouse
against a so-called “gang injunction” that civil libertarians say violates civil
rights and has been criticized by the community it purportedly seeks to protect.

Opening motions will be heard Monday morning, with a trial set for Tuesday in
Dept. 1 on the injunction that was first proposed and allowed to be implemented
several years ago despite protestations by residents of Broderick and Bryte who
claim the injunction is unneeded and racially motivated.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Contact: Nikos Leverenz, ACLU Press Office, (916) 996-9170 aclu-sacramento@comcast.net

Sacramento candidates largely refuse to answer
ACLU survey on civil rights and civil liberties issues,
including those on racial profiling and 1st Amendment

Questionnaire can be downloaded here.

SACRAMENTO – Only 10 of 27 candidates for Sacramento City Council, Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, Sacramento Sheriff and Sacramento County District Attorney bothered to complete a questionnaire concerning their thoughts on civil rights issues, including racial profiling and the 1st Amendment, said the American Civil Liberties Union of Sacramento.

A complete look at the questions, who responded to the questionnaire (and who did not) and their responses are available upon request. Answers will be available Friday at www.aclusac.org.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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

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

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

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

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

URGENT
Tuesday, 9:39 p.m., Sept. 29, 2009
Contact: ACLU press office 916/996-9170

ATTN: News Desk

Sacramento City Council accepts surveillance camera grant Tuesday, but won't implement project until ‘guidelines' are produced by police, says ACLU

SACRAMENTO – The Sacramento City Council – following a presentation by the ACLU of Sacramento warning about the dangers to privacy of surveillance cameras – voted Tuesday evening to require the Sacramento Police Department submit "guidelines" about how 32 new surveillance cameras and four mobile units would be used before they are implemented.

The cameras are funded via a $614,994 grant from Homeland Security to Sacramento, which the City Council accepted Tuesday with the condition that concerns by the ACLU about privacy be addressed.

"We still believe that the cameras will do little to combat crime, as studies show, and that they are a threat to privacy," said Jim Updegraff, chair of the ACLU board of directors in Sacramento. "However, we are pleased that the council, in particular Steve Cohn and Rob Fong, understood that the police - no matter how well meaning - cannot be allowed to utilize these high tech tools without at least guidelines to protect everyone's basic rights."

The ACLU has been asked by the City to work with the SPD to produce the guidelines, he said.