1992_05 Insight May 1992

              AINMENT
Lecture series features ACLU president
ByAJ.Kurth	
Staff Writer
What organization is 72 years old,
loved by some, hated by many,
always embroiled in legal controversy,
receives a lot of negative press and was
blasted by George Bush in the 1988
presidential campaign?
If you answered "The United States
Congress/' you're a little off.
The American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) is the correct answer.
But if the damage done to Michael
Dukakis in the 1988 Presidential campaign
when George Bush called him a "card-
carrying member of the ACLU" is any
indication of America's opinion of the
organization, Congress and the ACLU
have much in common.
Bred from the red scare and free-speech
nwemmtdurmg World War I, the ACLU
was founded on January 19,1920,by Roger
Baldwin to combat the government's
imprisonment of vocal opponents of the
war.
When the ACLU was founded, several
dvil rights organizations existed: These
included the NAACP (1909), the Anti-
Defamation League (1913), and the
American Jewish Congress (1916). But
each of those groups had formed to serve
a specific interest group The ACLU was
founded to impartially defend the dvil
liberties of all Americans.
Nadine Strossen is the youngest person, and the first woman, ever elected
president of the organization. She is a law
professor at the New York School of Law
and is in her second year as president of
the ACLU.
Nadine Strossen ~
"We're the only organization defending the dvil liberties of Americans that is
completely impartial and neutral,"
Strossen said. "All rights of all Americans, irregardless of religion, ethnidtyand
political beliefs should be respected. And
that's what we try to ensure."
Strossen strongly believes in the mission of the ACLU and stresses tha t most of
what the organization does is not controversial.
"To say the the ACLU is controversial
is to say the Bill of Rights is controversial," Strossen said.
Strossen, who is scheduled to speak at
CSUF on May 12 as part of the University
Lecture Series, was elected president of the
300,000-member organization in January
1991. Although the first woman to beelected
to the position, Strossen said that one must
place that fact in historical context.
"I'm only the fifth president the ACLU
has had. My predecessor was elected in
1976," Strossen said. She added that she
would like to be president of the ACLU
for the rest of her life. But, she also realizes the positive energy of changeStrosscn
said in a recent telephone interview.
Although Strossen is president of the
national ACLU, the strength of the group
and its membership rests with its affiliates nationwide, the ACLU maintains
staffed affiliates in 46 states. The often-
feisty and independent affiliates handle
80percentof theACLU'slegal cases. Many
refer to the ACLU as the nation's "largest
law firm."
At any given moment, the ACLU is
involved in an estimated 1000 cases, and
only the federal government appears before the Supreme Court more.
Cooperating attorneys are the backbone ot the organization's litigation, and
the ACLU has almost 5,000 volunteer attorneys. In addition, more than 60 paid
staff attorneys are spread throughout the
U.S. The ACLU Washington office employs 11 full-time lobbyists, dwarfing
other dvil rights groups.
In San Francisco, home of the ACLU
Northern California affiliate office, staff
attorneys have just completed the unsuccessful appeals on behalf of executed-
murderer Robert Alton Harris. It is issues
and positions such as these that bring the
anger, wrath and negative public opinion
of the ACLU.
According to Samuel Walker, author
of In Defense of American Liberties,
"Defense of the unpopular has always
been the ACLU's touchstone, its proudest
prindple, and the cause of the most bitter
attacks on it."
Its positions on pornography, separa-
tionof church and state, reproductive rights
for women, the death penalty, gay rights
and others is what many call a public relations nightmare for an organization trying
toconvince an American public thatitexists
to protect all Americans.
Opponents of the ACLU often cite the
organization's fixation on minority and
fringe groups' rights. Harry Lopes is a
Fresno minister who opposes the ACLU
and many of its positions.
"I disagree with the ACLU mostly because they don't seem to have the interests
of the average working man in their policies," Lopes said. "I've often heard from
others that theACLU really stands for'Anti-
Christian Liberties Union.' It could be difficult to convince some people otherwise."
"What I see in the media I don't like.
They (ACLU) advocate free speech for minorities, but want to limit speech of the
majonty if it'snot politically correct," Lopes
said. "As far as their other positions,! don't
thi nk the ACLU is really get tingits message
across very well."
The Fresno Chapter of the ACLU is active and has nearly 300 members in the
Central Valley. The chapter aggressively
pursues an educational and informational
agenda in the Valley in an attempt to promote awareness in the community.
"We hope that the simple fact that we are
here, organized and active, would hdp
rjreservedvU liberties in Central California,"
said Howard Watkins, a Fresno attorney
who serves on the board of directors in
Fresno.
"We try to get our message across
through the media, through events like
"Rock The Vote," and speeches like the
one coming up with Nadine Strossen at
Fresno State," Watkins said. "But we're
also here to bring about a change if the
dvil liberties of Valley residents are being tread upon. We have brought litigation in the past and may do so in the
future."
"We have a hot-line phone number
with an answering machine, and we
maintainapostofficeboxdown town for
people who want to write us and ask for
hdp," Watkins said.
Unfortunately, according to Watkins,
the resources of the Fresno chapter are
limited.
"Even cases that would fall under the
scope of the ACLU have to sit on the
back burner for lack of resources. In a
dty like Fresno, you don't get many
attorneys who are willing or able to work
as a volunteer," said Watkins.
However, Watkins did say the chapter sometimes recdves a case that is so
blatant and violates dvil liberties so
clearly, that they cannot pass it up.
One such case involves a high school
class in Tulare that produced a video
about teenage pregnancy. The video is a
realistic look at teenagers and the problems they face in today's society. In their
approach to the subject, vulgarities are
used that the school board of trustees
has found objectionable. The board ordered the students to remove the words
from the film. The students refused and
called the ACLU. A Fresno attorney and
staff attorney in San Frandsco are now
handling the case.
"It can be frustrating at times, especially in today's political dimate. But
the rewards when you can help somebody makes you forget all the disappointments," Watkins said.
Laugh, cry at 'Breaking the Rules'
By Jesse Chenault	
5ifWrUer	
TAT hy is this Wdjrom the
"Valerie" TV show
wearing a stupid wig at the
start of "Breaking the
Rules."
I didn't,
ike this kid
pn the TV
show and 11
definitely]	
didn't like him at the start of this
movie.
But wait, there's a reason Phil
(Jason Bateman) is wearing the
wig. He's lost most of his hair
Thb is not lavjwn to the moviegoer because of the misleading
way the studio is promoting this
film. I though this was just
going to be your average beer
guzzung.let's-get-laid teen flick
Instead, I found a film with a
mixture of comedy and drama
and unexpected twists.
After Phil tricks his lifelong
buddies into a reunion, he lets it be
known that he is terminally ilL His
last wish is for them to accompany
him on a trip from Ohio to Los
Angelestoauditionfor'Jeopardy."
How could they say no?
His two best friends ha ve grown
apart and now hate each other,
mainly because Gene (C Thomas
Hdwefl) slept with Rob's (Jonathan
SOverrnarOgirL So Phil has the task
of rjyingtogettrerwoba^ together
while strugglingto prolong his own
life.
The road trip itself is where rhe
comedy peaks. Some of the one-
liners had the audiences sides splitting with laughter.
While on the road, the trio stops
off for a bite to eat where they are
accosted by a waitress named Mary
Albert (Annie Potts) who blatantly
lets her feelings be known to
Rob/passwnately kissing him within
minutes of meeting him. He knows
an easy lay when he sees one so he
invites her along for the rest of the
ride
Mary turns out to be a person
who brings out the innermost
emotions in each of the three.
Gene hates her and hates the
idea of an outsider chumming
around with the boys. Geneex-
r^odesatherthroughoutrnostof
the trip, Mary calls Gene a
"booger-whileRobdefendsher
which leaves Phil in the middle
again to be the referee.
The way Phil deals with
death is by doing whatever he
wants from picking fights in a
red-neck bar to getting married
to Mary at a moments notice.
Gene finds it extremely difficult toacceptthat hisbest friend
is dying and is generally upset
all the time.
Scenes with Gene and Rob
seem to be a little heavy and
contrived at times, but these
scenes are few. The comedy,
bdteve it or not, is what keeps
this movie going
This movie entertains with
comedy and drama at the same
time. FmaBy,onascaleofl-10
I give this movie 8 Kleenex
Deep Cover' hits mark
By Calvin Paschal
Satff Writer
//
Deep Cover," called one of
the year's best films by
critics, has everything movie-goers
look for. It has action, romance, a
good plot and best of all, great acting.
Larry Fishburne, whose work last
summer was "Boyz N the Hood,"
plays his new role in "Deep Cover"
with a straight face and his head up.
Fishburne is Russel Stevens, a
Cleveland police officer who wants
to cut down on street crimes and
drugs. He's recruited by DEA agent
Jerry Carver, played by Charles
Martin Smith, to go undercover for
the agency in Los Angeles. Stevens
has hisdoubts, but Carver convinces
him that he would be more useful
undercover than if he were wearing
a uniform.
Once in Los Angeles, Carver
gives Stevens the information he
needs to take down a "middle man"
who has been smuggling dm gsinto
Los Angeles. But Stevens wants the
top man, a diplomat in a foreign
country, first
Carver informs Stevensitdoesn't
work that way, this diplomat is too
powerful and has too many friends.
Carver tellsStevens, "..and besides,
this way you will save your butt."
On the streets, Stevens begins
purchasing cocaine from small
"street dealers" with money supplied by Carver and the DEA, letting the street people know tha t he's
just another buyer. At one point
Stevens buys a large quantity of
crxaine,rnorethan Carver can afford
to buy back from him. Stevens ends
up selling the cocaine on the streets.
Stevens begins to wonder Is he
really doing the right thing? He re-
members that he took this job to get
the cocaine off the street now he is
oneof the rxopleputorigitout there.
Deep inside, Stevens knows that he
is getting involved deeper undercover than he really wants to be.
Fishburne gives his character everything he needs to make Stevens
believable and likable. He gives a
strong performance.
Jeff Goldblum does a great job,
too, playing David Jacobs, Stevens'
drug dealing partner. Jacobs is a
lawyer who is dealing drugs because he needs money to back his
idea for a cocaine-like "designer
drug"
Goldblum starts out wimpy, at
first taking orders from his supplier, but eventually taking over the
supplier's whole operation with
Stevens'hdp.
Stevens and Jacobs working together, soon become bigger than
thdr immediate supplier. But the
supplier does not want Jacobs taking over his job, so he tries to enlist
Stevens and cut Jacobs out.
When Stevens doesn't go for it,
the supplier sets them up fora bust.
Things go wrong for the supplier,
but good for Stevens and Jacobs.
The middle man meets with them.
"Deep Cover" makes you wonder how undercover officers stay
clean with all these temptations
thrown in their face everyday. Can
and does this happen in real life?
I'm sure it does and always will - as
longasdrugsand illicit money flows
fredy on the streets of our dries.
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