In the first case of its kind following the implementation of Proposition 209, civil rights advocates filed a federal class action lawsuit (Lucy's Sales et al. v. Contra Costa County) in U.S. District Court today. The suit charges that Contra Costa County systematically and intentionally excludes minority- and women-owned businesses from doing business with the County in violation of federal law.

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, the Employment Law Center, the ACLUs of Northern and Southern California and the private law firm of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati filed the suit on behalf of businesses that are denied equal opportunity to bid for contracts with the County. The case is brought under the Equal Protection Clause of the United States constitution, as well as under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

"Proposition 209 must not be used as an excuse to close the door to women and minorities." said Dan Tokaji, an ACLU staff attorney. "This lawsuit is an effort to make sure the door is open to them. Unless affirmative steps are taken, women and minorities will continue to be denied an equal opportunity to compete."

Plaintiff Lucy Lacy, an African American woman who owns a supply company, has experienced the County's exclusionary policies firsthand. Despite the fact that she is certified by the County as a minority and woman-owned business and has repeatedly approached the County for business, County officials have never asked her to compete for a contract. "I can't even get my foot in the door," said Lacy. "All I want is a chance to compete, but the County's system is just closed off to anyone who's not in the `good ole boys' network."

Other named plaintiffs include Lidia Tarango, a Hispanic owner of a trucking company; Lisa Harrison, owner of Harrison's Consulting; Glen Fox, owner of a flooring business; and Frederick Jordan, an African American civil engineer. Several organizations representing the interests of minority- and women-owned businesses are also parties to the lawsuit, including the Contra Costa branches of the NAACP, the Northern California Latin Business Association, and the Coalition for Economic Equity.

Contra Costa County is the first local government in northern California to drop its affirmative action program in the wake of Proposition 209. The County's own statistics show that white male-owned businesses receive almost 99% of the $100 million in County contracts for goods and services each year.

A crucial piece of legislation C AB 1264 C aimed at documenting the apparently widespread practice of racially motivated vehicle stops by California police officers is currently scheduled to be heard by the state Senate Appropriations Committee on August 3.

The bill, formally titled the "California Traffic Stops Statistics Act," but more commonly known as the "DWB" C Driving While Black or Brown C bill, was introduced in June by the Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus Democratic Assemblyman Kevin Murray of Los Angeles. The measure would provide the first comprehensive data on routine traffic stops in California, showing the extent to which discriminatory enforcement patterns may exist. The bill would require law enforcement to collect and report statistical information on motorists pulled over for a three-year period.

The bill has garnered strong support from minority law enforcement organizations such as the National Black Police Association, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the National Latino Peace Officers' Association and the California organization Minorities in Law Enforcement.

"Passage of the bill is crucial in addressing the long-standing problem of racial discrimination in traffic stops," said Ramona Ripston, Executive Director of the ACLU of Southern California. "DWB stops continue to erode public confidence in law enforcement."

"The phenomenon of `Driving While Black' is a disturbing trend affecting African Americans, Latinos and other minorities across the nation," Assemblyman Murray said. "The fact that we do not know how many drivers are being pulled over or how many law enforcement officers are engaging in racial profiling is truly disturbing."

Murray's bill would require that the data be reported to Sacramento and summarized as part of an existing statistical report released annually by the California Department of Justice. Murray himself was celebrating winning a primary election for Democratic nomination to the state Senate on June 2 when his Corvette was inexplicably pulled over by a Beverly Hills police officer.

Other high profile African American public figures pulled over in questionable traffic stops in California, include actors Wesley Snipes and LeVar Burton; athletes Marcus Allen, Al Joyner, Jamaal Wilkes and Shawn Lee; and renowned former prosecutor Christopher Darden.

AB 1264 mirrors a bill introduced last year in Congress. The federal bill, HR 118 (the federal Traffic Stops Statistics Act), has passed the House but is currently stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Today, the City Council voted to support Assembly Bill 1793, a bill that would require state-funded libraries that provide Internet access to adopt a policy regarding access by minors by January 1, 2000.
The ACLU recognizes the importance of protecting children from harmful material but reminds libraries that they must be careful to craft policy in accordance with First Amendment principles.
The ACLU is pleased that the City Council deferred action on three other bills that would have severely restricted Internet access by children in schools and public libraries. These bills (AB 2350, H.R. 3177 and S. 1619) would require an Internet filtering system on computers in schools and libraries. These proposed bills would censor a wide-range of socially valuable, constitutionally protected speech.
ACLU Staff Attorney Peter Eliasberg commented, "Proponents of filtering software rely on a completely false premise - that filtering software only blocks obscene sites or sites that are harmful to minors. This premise is wrong. A typical filtering software product that claims to censor obscene material actually blocked the web site for the San Francisco Examiner, the Yale Biology Department, the American Society of University Women, and the Quakers, among others."
There is a second false premise here: filtering software protects minors by keeping certain information away from them. In fact, filtering software blocks web sites that target atrisk youth, that provide safe sex information, and sites aimed at lesbian and gay teenagers.
We urge City Council members to oppose the remaining three Internet filtering bills as overly broad and dangerous restrictions on information critical to teens, and remind members that filters clearly are unconstitutional violations of the First Amendment.