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Chapters

The work of the ACLU could not be accomplished without the ongoing efforts of its chapter members. Each affiliate has chapters which help to do local lobbying and serve as extensions of the organization. Chapter activists monitor local school boards, city councils, county supervisors and community issues to help protect civil liberties and civil rights. Chapter activists also sponsor public forums and help to educate their communities about current issues.

Take a look at the chapter listings below to see what's afoot in your area.

To view our Chapter Manual, and other important Chapter documents, visit our Chapter Resources Site (login required).

Desert

Contact: Drop us a note or call (760) 345-6293

News & Events: 

The 800 Mile Wall: The Deadly Reality of Border Security

The screening of this documentary is co-sponsored by Gatekeeper Productions. Please bring a gallon of bottled water to donate.

When: Thursday, March 4. Reception 6:30-7 p.m.; screening 7:830 p.m.; discussion 8:30-9 p.m.

Where: Palme D'Or Theater in the Westfield Shopping Center, 72840 Highway 111 Palm Desert, CA 92260-3324.

Cost: Admission is one gallon of bottled water

Information: 760.779.0730

Talk by Michael Rapkin

Michael Rapkin will discuss his experiences representing a detainee who has been held in Guantanamo Bay for over four years.

When: 1-3 p.m. Sunday, March 7.

Where: Unitarian Universalist Church, 72425 Via Vail, Rancho Mirage 92270-1773

Cost: Free.

Information: 760.321.0694

Last updated: Feb 17, 2010

Hollywood

Contact:  Drop us a note, or call (213)977-9500 ext.255

Last updated: Mar 2, 2009

Kern County

Contact: Drop us a note.

Last updated: Jan 13, 2009

LGBT

Contact: Drop us a note, or call Rob Hennig, 310.843.0020.

Last updated: Jan 13, 2009

Long Beach

Contact: Drop us a note.

Last updated: Jan 13, 2009

Orange County

Contact: Drop us a note, or call 949.660.5502.

Meeting Info: Chapter meetings are held the first Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. for social, 7:30 p.m. for speaker (but no meeting in December). Meetings are at 15600 Sand Canyon Avenue, Irvine (Irvine Ranch Water District).

News & Events: 

History of the Mexican Bracero Program

The monthly meeting of the ACLU/SC Orange County Chapter will feature Gilbert Gonzalez, a Chicano Studies professor at the University of California Irvine, discussing his video about the Bracero Program.

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 4

Where: Irvine Ranch Water District Offices, 15600 on Sand Canyon Ave., between the 5 and 405 freeways.

Cost: Free

Information: 714.956.5037

Last updated: Feb 17, 2010

Pasadena-Foothill

Contact: Drop us a note, or call 626.389.4107, or join our Yahoo groups page.

Chapter's Region: Altadena, Arcadia, Glendale, La Canada, La Crescenta, LA (Glassell Park, Mt. Washington, Highland Park, Eagle Rock), Monrovia, Montrose, Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Marino, and Sierra Madre

Meeting Info: Public Forums are held on the second Tuesday of January, March, May, July, September and November at Neighborhood Church, 301 N. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena. Exiting off the 134 freeway, the church is two blocks north. Exiting off the 110 freeway, it's two miles north. Meetings are held in the large building in the rear.

News & Events: Download our August 2009 newsletter.

Public Forum

California's Prisons: Who's Getting Mugged?

When: 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Where: Scott United Methodist Church, 444 N. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena, 91103. (At the corner of Rosemont and Orange Grove.)

Cost: Free

California's out of control prison building is a national disgrace and a bottomless pit for tax dollars. California's incarceration rate costs over $50,000 a year per prisoner and produces men and women with the highest return to prison rate in the country. Meanwhile, California's spending on education leaves us near the bottom of state spending per pupil. Yet Sacramento plans to build tens of thousands more prison and jail cells. The prison guards' union, Three Strikes law, hard time for non-violent crimes, all have helped create a prison system that threatens public safety. and causes severe damage to public education, to prisoners and their families, and to the community at large. Hear Craig Gilmore of The California Prison Moratorium Project & Californians United for a Responsible Budget talk about how California can get out of the prison mess we're in. All are welcome.

Gang violence, the scourge of poor communities and costly to all for generations in Southern California, is being addressed in new ways with promising results in Los Angeles and now in Altadena-Pasadena. Current and former gang members trained to intervene and prevent violence, in cooperation with professional law enforcement, are replacing suppression-only methods.

Last updated: Mar 4, 2010

Pomona Valley

Contact: Drop us a note.

Last updated: Mar 2, 2009

San Fernando Valley

Contact: Drop us a note, or call Ken Ronney, 818.996.1630 or Norm Beal, 818.344.9241.

Meeting Info: Monthly chapter Board meetings are held in Reseda, on the third Monday of each month, at 7:00 p.m. Contact Ken Ronney, 818 996-1630 for address information.

News & Events: 

The ACLU, Civil Liberties and People with Disabilities

with ALAN TOY President, ACLU-Southern California; Associate Director, UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge

Alan Toy will examine the current and past state of disability rights in America and in California and the role of the ACLU in fighting for those protections. Alan Toy is himself a member of the disabled community. As such, he encounters issues of personal access to or denial of civil liberties every day. He is an authority on the politics and culture of disability in the urban environment at UCLA’s School of Public Affairs. Through the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge he has developed a unique web site to empower Los Angeles County’s disabled residents through information sharing and mapping of resources.

When: 7 p.m. Sunday, March 14

Where: VIVA Art Center, 13261 Moorpark St. (at Fulton), Sherman Oaks, 91423

Cost: Free

Information: Ken Ronney, chapter president, 818.996.1630

Last updated: Feb 17, 2010

Santa Barbara County

Contact: P.O. Box 30645, Santa Barbara, CA 93130, 805.966-1216.

Meeting Info: Chapter meetings, open to all members, are held the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Franklin Center, 1136 East Montecito Street in Santa Barbara.

News & Events: 

Save the Date! Garden Party Sept. 12, 2009

The Santa Barbara Chapter of the ACLU presents its annual garden party on Saturday, September 12 from 2-5 p.m. at the home of Susan Rose and Allan Ghitterman, 928 Las Palmas, Santa Barbara.

Delicious hors d'oeuvres, wine and music, graciously hosted.

The featured speaker at the event will be Ann Bardach, award winning journalist and author. We will also honor Belen Seara and Selma Rubin, community activists, as civil rights heroes.

Suggested donation: $30 per person, $50 for two, $5 per student.

For ticket information please contact Gail or mail your reservation with your name, address, phone and e-mail address to ACLU-Santa Barbara County Chapter, Box 30645, Santa Barbara, CA 93130.

Download our Fall, 2009 newsletter.

Last updated: Aug 26, 2009

Singles

Contact: Drop us a note, or call Dean, 310. 392.7149 or Jake, 310. 559.1493.

Meeting Info: The Singles Chapter holds public forums on issues related to civil liberties. All meetings are free and light refreshments are provided. The usual format includes a question and answer session following the speakers. Parking is free. The meeting location is wheelchair accessible.

Last updated: Jan 13, 2009

South Bay

Contact: Dan Pasley at 310.519.1500

Meeting Info: The South Bay Chapter has its regular planning meetings at 7:00 p.m. on the first Friday of each month at the Harry Bridges Institute, 350 W. 5th Street, Suite 209, San Pedro (please enter through the back door & take the elevator or stairs to the 2nd floor).

Last updated: Mar 2, 2009

Ventura County

Contact: Drop us a note, or call 805.389.0859.

News & Events: 

“My Name is Rachel Corrie”

A Live Reading by actors Mimi Kennedy and Meredith Dilg

Rachel Corrie was a 23-year-old American woman who traveled to Gaza in 2003 during the second Palestinian intifada. She was killed by a Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer operated by an Israeli soldier as she attempted to prevent the Israeli army from demolishing the home of a Palestinian family.

My Name is Rachel Corrie consists entirely of words written by Corrie and recorded in diary entries as well as emails from her early childhood until a few days before her death. Since its three sold-out runs at London’s Royal Court Theatre, the play has been surrounded by both controversy and impassioned proponents. An abridged version of the play will be read by professional actors Mimi Kennedy and Meredith Dilg.

Kennedy, Chair of Progressive Democrats of America, co-stars with James Gandolfini in In The Loop, a newly released, critically acclaimed satirical anti-war film. Dilg, Kennedy’s niece, currently plays in The Lake, a webisode series directed by Jason Priestley for WB.com.

The Simi Valley Community Forums at UCC Simi encourage the exploration of topics related to the pursuit of justice and peace; as well as a wide array of issues that promote greater understanding of diversity and difference of opinion as stated in our congregation's core values.

When: 7-8:45 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5

Where: UCC Simi Valley, 370 Madera St, Simi Valley. Directions.

Cost: Free

More information: Call 805.241.8855 or contact Joanie McClellan, or contact Simi Valley Community First Friday Forums

Immigration: Past and Present

with Hector Villagra, attorney, ACLU of Southern California

The Ventura County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union presents an afternoon discussing the issue of immigration and the struggle to develop and protect rights in the Golden State as well as a current review of ACLU immigration cases and what/when to expect reform.

Mr. Villagra will be speaking on past and current ACLU positions on immigration; past and current ACLU immigration cases; and predictions on future immigration reform.

When: 1-3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13

Where: Newbury Park Library 2321 Borchard Road, Newbury Park (just off the #101).

Cost: Free

More information: Call R. Henry, 805.578.0563 or drop us a note.

Last updated: Feb 2, 2010

Westside

Contact: Drop us a note, or call 310.390.6640.

Meeting Info: 

The next meeting will be held 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 22 at1459 S. Rexford Dr. #2. Please take careful note of the signs for street parking so you don't get a ticket.

The meeting agenda includes discussion of the last board and chapter council meetings; news from the National office; chapter elections; the upcoming Garden Party; chapter forums; and the book club.

Last updated: Jul 20, 2009

Chapter Council

Contact: For meeting schedule and information drop us a note.

News & Events: Meetings are held at the ACLU of Southern California 1313 West Eighth St. Los Angeles All chapter activists are invited to attend.

Last updated: Jan 13, 2009

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