AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
of Champaign County
Steering Committee
September 6, 2007
Present: Bill Brown,, Susan Cohen, Mary Cory, Ben Grosser, Ward Henson, Carol Inskeep, Allan Levy, Stan Levy, Esther Patt, Paul Pless, Richard Schnuer, Carol Spindel, Shirley Stillinger, Paul Wisovaty, Marsha Woodbury, Law School: Tristan Bullington
The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. by the chair, Esther Patt. There were not copies of the June minutes to distribute.
Reports from the Chair:
1) Esther will participate in a conference call of ACLU chapters around the state.
2) Some members of the steering committee met with Sean Brown about activities promoting legislation for reproductive freedom; this is an Illinois ACLU priority over the next two years.
3) A vote on the Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, is expected within the next sixty days. When Esther met with Rep. Johnson to ask for his support, he said he would look at the bill but would not commit to supporting it.
4) There will training September 10 for people interested in speaking on marriage equality.
Law School Chapter
Tristan reported that the chapter is just getting started; they want to recruit new members and educate law students about the ACLU. They are not ready to take on issues of student discipline and think that the Student Bar Association would be more appropriate; in addition, the Law School has a separate discipline policy. In the Law School, issues seldom go all the way through the discipline procedure but are settled informally.
Student Discipline at the University of Illinois
in loco parentis is gradually being reinstated. Esther said that our concern with the policy should be around the issue of due process. It was suggested that the steering committee invite Joe Goldberg to come talk with us about the policy. Stan will get information out to us by e-mail as soon as he can so that we can discuss it at the November meeting.There was extensive discussion about student discipline. Allan and Stan shared information on the formulation of a new policy. Stan believes that the old
Other Business
1) Carol Spindel reported that Brian Dolinar had thanked the ACLU for our help in getting the Champaign Police Department to allow him at their news conferences.
2) Farmer’s Market: Esther asked for help at our table on September 15.
3) The Fall Gathering will be Sunday, October 28, at Carol Spindel’s home.
4) Newsletter: Esther and Carol Inskeep will write articles; Marsha will write something if needed. Brian Dolinar will be asked for permission to use his article written for The Public Eye. The deadline for getting copy to Bill Brown is September 15.
5) Randy Rosenbaum, the Champaign County Public Defender, will come to our December meeting.
6) The minutes will no longer list those who are absent with notice.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:55.
Respectfully submitted,
Shirley Stillinger
NEXT MEETING: Thursday, October 4
The June minutes were approved with these corrections: Mary Cory and Ben Grosser were present and Kristen Solberg is no longer the steering committee.
Reports
Treasurer: Bill Brown distributed the report showing total assets of $3,415.30.
Student chapter: Colin reported that on Quad Day, 120 people signed up to be on the chapter’s e-mail list and about ten people registered to vote. The chapter is working on a web site explaining privacy issues. They are considering an ad on FaceBook which would be targeted to the U. of I.; an ad costs $5/day for up to 10,000 hits. They have thousands of door hangers and bar cards left; they plan to distribute these soon.