ACLU on the Radio

KALW 91.7 FM and ACLU-NC Bring Civil Liberties Home to Bay Area Listeners

The ACLU of Northern California has teamed up with KALW 91.7, one of the most innovative local public radio stations in the country, to produce radio commentaries for the station's award winning nightly news show, Cross Currents.

In three-minute segments, ACLU attorneys, organizers and card-carrying activists answer the question "What's at stake?" when it comes to battles over civil liberties currently in play in Bay Area communities. Many of the audio essays relay the courageous stories of local residents who are standing up to defend their rights - our rights - in courts, schools, school boards, city councils and legislative offices across Northern California.

Have a listen by clicking on the voices below. If you like what you hear, please support the ACLU's work to safeguard rights and freedoms by becoming a member. And learn more about KALW by visiting the KALW website and tuning in.

9/22/09 Civil Liberties and Gang Injunctions
A recent rash of violence in Fairfield led the City to also seek an injunction against members of the Norteños. The proposal covers four square miles in central Fairfield. The City of Fairfield has named 28 people on the injunction, but commentator Andre Segura, a Civil Liberties Fellow at the ACLU, says he worries about the implications.

Read the transcript »

7/30/09 ACLU: Stopping Abstinence-Only Sex Education
Listen as Phyllida Burlingame, the sex education policy director for the ACLU of Northern California, explains why getting rid of abstinence-only sex education is a good thing. In July, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to end funding for abstinence-only sex education. The proposal now heads to the Senate.

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6/11/09 ACLU: School Discrimination
ACLU attorney Elizabeth Gill tells the story of Rochelle Hamilton, a Vallejo student who challenged the anti-gay bias and harassment she experienced from teachers and staff at her former high school, and won.
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5/14/09 1st Person: Kill the Death Penalty
Anti-death penalty activist and new grandmother Delane Sims sums up California's death penalty: it's arbitrary, biased, completely ineffective and unbelievably expensive. Sims explains how shifting our priorities can help end the cycle of violence in Oakland.
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4/7/09 Two Takes on Illegal Immigration
ACLU attorney Julia Harumi Mass shares what the ACLU has learned from records gathered on the activities of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. ICE agents have been going far beyond the agency's stated priority of targeting "criminal fugitives," instead sweeping up parents walking their kids to school and anyone living in or visiting the home -- or former home -- of a target. Harumi Mass tells the story of what happened to Guadalupe Carreno, a U.S. citizen and straight-A student in one of San Francisco's high schools.
Read the transcript »