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ACLU of Utah Reporter: Fall 2005
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Inside this issue:
ACLU Forum: Domestic Partnership Benefits for City Employees
Divine Design
ACLU of Utah Files Amicus Brief on Behalf of Transgender Employee
Frequently Asked Questions on Student Privacy, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and the No Child Left Behind Act
ACLU of Utah Joins Lawsuit Challenging Raids of Concerts
and Violation of Free Speech
Utah State Tax Commission Approves Personalized License Plates with Gay-Positive Messages
From Our National Office
ACLU of Utah Membership Business
About the ACLU of Utah
_________________________
ACLU Forum: Domestic Partnership Benefits for City Employees
On September 21, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky
Anderson made Utah history when he signed an executive order extending
health benefits to city employees’ gay and unmarried partners. ACLU
of Utah attorney Margaret Plane answers questions about the order and
opponents’ claims that Utah’s constitutional amendment prohibiting
same-sex marriage also prohibits state and local governments from providing
these types of benefits.
Where do partnership benefits for Salt Lake City employees stand?
Although the executive order’s effective date was September 21,
it may take a court order before employees can enroll their unmarried
partners in the insurance benefits plan. That’s because less than
one week after the order was signed, the agency that administers health
insurance for state and local government employees in Utah filed a petition
with the state court requesting clarification about whether Utah law prohibits
Salt Lake City from offering health insurance benefits to domestic partners.
The Public Employees Health Program (PEHP) is awaiting an answer from
the court before amending Salt Lake City’s health insurance contracts.
What are domestic partners?
Under Mayor Anderson’s order, a qualified domestic partner is someone
who has a long term, committed relationship with a Salt Lake City employee,
who lives with that employee, and who shares financial obligations with
that employee. Domestic partners may not be related by blood to a degree
that would prohibit marriage. Under the city’s definition, a domestic
partnership can be same-sex or heterosexual.
Does Amendment 3 prohibit this kind of a
benefit?
Absolutely not. Our state constitutional amendment prohibits government
from giving same-sex relationships the “same or substantially equivalent
legal effect” as marriage, and providing health insurance benefits
to same-sex partners is simply not equivalent to marriage. In fact, health
insurance is not one of the statutory rights or benefits of marriage,
and employers aren’t obligated to provide health insurance for their
employees’ husbands or wives—or even, for that matter, for
their employees.
Does Utah law prohibit Salt Lake City from offering this benefit to its
employees?
No. In its petition, PEHP refers to Utah’s Marriage Recognition
Policy. This statute, like the amendment, says that Utah will not recognize
any law creating benefits that are “substantially equivalent to
those provided” to married couples. Again, the opportunity to buy
into your partner’s health insurance plan is in no way “substantially
equivalent” to marriage. Moreover, the statute expressly states
that it does not impair contractual rights, and the administration of
a benefits package is clearly a contract between the government employer
and its employees.
Have other courts looked at similar cases?
Yes. Coincidentally, on the same day PEHP filed its petition, a state
court in Michigan ruled that that state’s new constitutional amendment
does not preclude city and state government employers from providing health
insurance benefits to domestic partners. While Michigan’s constitutional
amendment is worded slightly differently from Utah’s, much of the
court’s reasoning applies to Salt Lake City’s situation. In
its ruling, the court wrote: “There is nothing in the amendment
that evidences the intent of the people to go beyond disallowing same
sex marriage and civil unions to preventing employers from voluntarily
providing health insurance benefits to those who meet certain criteria
that the employer has established.” The court went on to state:
“The criteria [for receiving health care benefits] . . . pale in
comparison to the myriad of legal rights and responsibilities accorded
to those with marital status.” The Michigan court’s reasoning
applies with equal force in this case.
What happens now?
Salt Lake City hopes to offer the benefits starting November 1, 2005,
and both PEHP and Salt Lake City have requested that the judicial process
be expedited. We presume the court will uphold Salt Lake City’s
right to provide these benefits to its employees. If it does not, the
ACLU of Utah will consider what role we might play.
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Divine Design
This spring, State Senator Chris Buttars
gave Utahns a heads-up on one legislative issue we may soon be facing
when he stated that he wants Utah public schools to teach “divine
design” alongside the scientific theory of evolution. His efforts
to bring divine design (aka intelligent design) to Utah schools received
a significant and unexpected boost when President George Bush stated in
August that he also believes teachers should explain intelligent design
when discussing evolution.
Ever since the famous 1925 Scopes “monkey trial,” in which
the ACLU defended a Tennessee teacher convicted of teaching evolution,
opponents to the scientific theory of evolution have attempted to forbid,
limit, or otherwise undermine the teaching of evolution in public schools.
Challenges have included laws or policies to prohibit the teaching of
evolution, to require teachers to make statements or disclaimers questioning
the validity of the scientific theory of evolution, and to require teachers
to present anti-evolutionary views, including religious views not based
on scientific evidence such as creationism, and more recently, intelligent
or divine design.
Intelligent design is a belief that the origin and development of living
organisms cannot adequately be explained by the scientific theory of evolution
and natural selection, and require instead the action of a supernatural
and intelligent creator.
As Governor Jon Huntsman recognizes, the Establishment Clause does not
require that intelligent design be banned from the school curriculum.
Calling the ideology “science” and teaching it in a science
class, however, is a problem. Teaching for the purposes of furthering
a religious doctrine or protecting that doctrine from another theory is
constitutionally forbidden. That’s what the United States Supreme
Court found with regards to creationism in 1987. And that is what the
ACLU of Pennsylvania is at this moment arguing in federal court with regards
to a Dover School District policy that requires high school science teachers
to read a statement questioning the theory of evolution and presenting
intelligent design as an alternative.
In its brief, the ACLU of Pennsylvania argues that intelligent design
is inherently a religious argument that falls outside the realm of science.
The school district policy essentially mandates that Dover public schools
treat intelligent design as a bona fide scientific theory competing with
the theory of evolution. The brief accurately points out that school board
members confuse the everyday meaning of the word “theory”
with the scientific meaning, which requires an explanation that is testable,
grounded in evidence, and able to predict natural phenomena better than
competing theories. There is no way to prove or disprove the existence
of a supernatural creator, and opponents of evolution are in effect asking
the government to give the prestigious label of “science”
to their personal religious beliefs.
While intelligent design proponents claim that the theory is not religious,
they are often unable to hide their religious motives. For example, an
internal memo from the Discovery Institute, the organization behind much
of the recent push to teach intelligent design, states that the purpose
of advocating intelligent design is “[t]o defeat scientific materialism
and its destructive moral, cultural and political legacies” and
“[t]o replace materialistic explanations with theistic understanding
that nature and human beings are created by God.”
Another example comes from the Dover controversy, which began with a dispute
over the purchase of a high school biology textbook. School board member
William Buckingham stated that he and others were looking for a book that
offered a balance between the biblical view of creation and Darwin’s
theory of evolution. He also said there need not be any consideration
for the beliefs of Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, or other competing faiths
and views because, “[t]his country wasn’t founded on Muslim
beliefs or evolution. This country was founded on Christianity and our
students should be taught as such.”
And finally, in an opinion piece printed in USA Today in August, Senator
Buttars stated that “those fighting against the teaching of intelligent
design in schools have an ulterior motive to eliminate references to God
from the entire public forum.”
The Supreme Court has already held that requiring public schools to teach
creation science along with evolution violated the Establishment Clause
because the belief that a supernatural being is responsible for the creation
of human kind is a religious viewpoint. Arguments in the Dover case began
September 26. In Utah, we’ll watch the proceedings with interest
and prepare for a lively debate next legislative session.
Excerpt from a statement teachers must read
to students in the Dover High School ninth grade biology class:
“Because Darwin’s Theory is a theory, it is still being tested
as new evidence is discovered. The Theory is not a fact. Gaps in the Theory
exist for which there is no evidence. A theory is defined as a well-tested
explanation that unifies a broad range of observations.
“Intelligent design is an explanation of the origin of life that
differs from Darwin’s view. The reference book, Of Pandas and People
is available for students to see if they would like to explore this view
in an effort to gain an understanding of what intelligent design actually
involves. As is true with any theory, students are encouraged to keep
an open mind.”
More information, including fact sheets, briefs, and a history of court
cases, is available online at www.aclu.org/evolution,
www.acluutah.org/divinedesign.htm,
and www.aclupa.org/legal/legaldocket/intelligentdesigncase.htm.
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ACLU of Utah Files Amicus Brief on Behalf of Transgender Employee
On October 5, the ACLU of Utah filed a
friend-of-the-court brief in an important case regarding the rights of
transgender employees. The brief is on behalf of Krystal Etsitty, a former
Utah Transit Authority employee, who was fired shortly after she revealed
to her employers that she is a transsexual. Although UTA had received
no complaints about Etsitty, her employers informed her that she was being
terminated because they could not determine which rest room she should
use.
Etsitty, represented by the law firm of Strindberg Scholnick &
Chamness, argued in federal court that she was protected by Title VII
of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination
based on sex, including nonconformity to sex stereotypes. Unfortunately,
in June 2005, the district court granted summary judgment to UTA, holding
that transsexuals are not protected by Title VII, and that even if Title
VII did apply, UTA’s decision was not based on Etsitty’s
lack of conformity to sex stereotypes. Etsitty has now asked the Tenth
Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the district court’s decision.
Etsitty, who identifies and lives as a woman, has legally changed her
name from Michael to Krystal and has changed her Utah driver’s
license designation from male to female. UTA told her she would be eligible
for rehire only after undergoing sex reassignment surgery.
“Like all employees, transgender people are protected by Title
VII and they should not be fired because they don’t fit their
employers’ ideas of masculinity or femininity,” said Margaret
Plane, ACLU of Utah staff attorney. “There is no principled distinction
between discrimination against a female employee because of her unfeminine
personality or appearance, and discrimination against a transsexual
woman, either for retaining some masculine characteristics or for assuming
a feminine identity.”
The amicus briefs notes that the denial or restriction of access to
rest rooms by employers has been used as a means to degrade and humiliate
persons of color, to exclude women from traditionally male jobs, to
exploit workers, to exclude persons with disabilities from access to
public accommodations and employment, and now to discriminate against
transgender people.
The ACLU of Utah is joined by the national ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights
Project, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the National Center
for Lesbian Rights.
The amicus brief is available online at
www.acluutah.org/docket.htm#etsitty.
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_________________________
Frequently Asked Questions
on Student Privacy, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and
the No Child Left Behind Act
What is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and what does it
have to do with student privacy?
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) makes student records
confidential. However, FERPA permits schools to release “directory
information” to the public. “Directory information”
may include the following: the student’s name, address, telephone
listing, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation
in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members
of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, and
the most recent previous educational agency or institution attended by
the student.
FERPA requires schools to honor a parent’s request that any or all
of that information not be released without the parent’s prior consent.
A parent must affirmatively notify the school not to release any or all
directory information in order to protect that information from disclosure.
If a parent does not opt-out under FERPA, directory information is available
generally to the public.
What is the No Child Left Behind Act, and
what does it have to do with student privacy?
Enacted by the U.S. Congress in 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)
primarily deals with improving standards in education. However, one section
of the NCLB requires high schools that receive federal funding to release
the name, address, and telephone number of students to military recruiters
and institutions of higher education upon request. This information must
be disclosed even if a parent has directed the school not to release directory
information under FERPA. Under NCLB, schools are also required to inform
students and their parents of their right to opt-out to protect their
privacy.
If a parent or student does not opt-out under NCLB, schools must disclose
a student’s name, address, and phone number upon request by military
recruiters or institutions of higher education, even if the parent has
already opted-out under FERPA.
What information about students are recruiters
entitled to under NCLB?
The NCLB Act says that only the student’s name, address, and phone
number must be shared with military recruiters or institutions of higher
education.
How do I opt-out?
Students or their parents or guardians may opt-out by sending written
notice to the school district that the schools do not have permission
to share their information with military recruiters or institutions of
higher education or both. Some schools provide forms for this purpose.
If your school does not provide such a form, a print-and-mail opt-out
form is available from the ACLU of Florida at www.aclufl.org/issues/privacy/NCLBoptoutformFINAL.pdf.
School districts appoint different people to oversee NCLB requests. You
should contact your school’s administrative office to find out who
should receive the form or letter.
What happens if I do nothing?
Your school will keep your name on a list of students whose directory
information is available to the public, including military recruiters,
institutions of higher education, and private companies.
Can I change my mind?
Yes. At any point during the school year, you are permitted to change
your status with your school by informing the district in writing that
you wish to opt-out or opt-in again. If you have previously opted-out,
a parent or guardian must make the request to opt back in.
If I opt-out of the military recruitment
part, can I still be included in the yearbook and student directory?
Yes. Your school should give you the option of separately opting-out of
the military recruitment contact list, and the yearbook or student directory.
If the school does not provide this option, request it in writing from
the school principal’s office. As with any correspondence, keep
a dated copy of your letter or request form for your records.
I don’t want my information going
to recruiters, but I do want colleges to be able to contact me.
Students or parents may request that information be released to institutions
of higher education but not to military recruiters.
My school has a military recruiter on site.
Can I still opt-out?
Yes. Students should be aware that if they voluntarily give their phone
number or address to a recruiter at school, they may be contacted at home.
Do I have to renew my opt-out status every
year?
It depends on the policy of your school district. Contact the district
to find out the requirement.
What if the school district tells me I can’t
opt-out or stalls my request?
Under federal law, schools are required to honor a request to prevent
disclosure of student information without prior consent. If your school
refuses to honor your request, contact the ACLU of Utah at (801) 521-9862
ext 104 or aclu@acluutah.org, or
fill out an online complaint form available at www.acluutah.org.
The above information is provided by the ACLU
of Florida.
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ACLU of Utah Joins Lawsuit Challenging Raids of Concerts
and Violation of Free Speech
The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah
and the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project have joined a lawsuit challenging
law enforcement raids of electronic music concerts. The suit charges Utah
County law enforcement with widespread violations of the constitutional
rights of concert promoters and venue owners during concerts on July 16
and August 20.
“Utah County’s actions strike at the heart of First Amendment
freedoms,” said ACLU of Utah attorney Margaret Plane. “The
ACLU is joining this fight to help protect our fundamental rights from
this kind of unjust law enforcement action.”
During the August 20 concert, dozens of battle-ready Utah County law
enforcement officers, accompanied by police dogs and a helicopter, stormed
concertgoers and threatened some with arrest. Both concerts took place
in Spanish Fork Canyon. The owners of the 350-acre ranch, which has
hosted several concerts over the last three summers, were also ordered
off the land. Police did not have warrants to enter the land or to search
concertgoers at either event.
“It was like a war zone. I’ve never seen anything like
it,” said one of the concert promoters, Brandon Fullmer. “Although
I plan to organize more concerts, I know lots of people would be afraid
to come because of the police raid and, honestly, I am afraid too.”
Utah County Sheriff James Tracy, one of several defendants in the suit,
authorized and implemented the August 20 raid based largely on the presumption
that the concert would continue beyond the twelve hours for which promoters
had secured necessary permits. The police entries, however, occurred
only a few hours into each concert. In fact, the August 20 concert was
not scheduled to run beyond twelve hours, nor were any event staff contracted
to work beyond twelve hours. The promoters, additionally, had assured
the property’s owners in advance that the concert would not last
twelve hours.
At no point did police ask the promoters or property owners how long
the August 20 concert would run, nor did they request the acquisition
of further permits. While police claim to have conducted a handful of
undercover drug buys at the event, these did not, according to the lawsuit,
justify the termination of the concert and forceful dispersal of the
roughly seven hundred people in attendance.
“The sheriff misinterpreted and wrongly applied an overly vague
ordinance, which unfortunately, remains intact,” said attorney
Brian M. Barnard who filed the initial lawsuit on behalf of the concert
promoters and landowners. “No promoter or venue can successfully
put on concerts if they never know when or why the cops will end an
event.”
The case is Uprock v. Tracy. More information is available online at
www.acluutah.org/docket.htm#uprock.
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Utah State Tax Commission Approves Personalized License Plates with Gay-Positive Messages
In a win for free speech, the Utah State
Tax Commission has ruled that it will approve three personalized license
plates with gay-positive messages. The ruling is a first for the commission,
which, until this decision, had never approved a personalized plate containing
the word “gay.”
In December, Elizabeth Solomon applied for three personalized license
plates: “GAY WE GO,” “GAYS R OK,” and “GAY
RYTS.” After the Tax Commission approved the
“GAY WE GO” plate but denied the application for the latter
two plates, the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah represented Solomon
in appealing the decision.
“I have kids who are gay and I wanted these plates so that I could
publicly express support for my children,” said Solomon, explaining
why she applied for the personalized plates. “I’m delighted
that I will now be able to do so.”
Margaret Plane, ACLU of Utah staff attorney, was also pleased by the
Tax Commission’s decision. “Too often, public officials
are scared by the word ‘gay’ and they refuse to recognize
that gays and lesbians are an increasingly public and positive part
of our communities,” said Plane. “The commission rightly
recognized that their own rules don’t allow them to censor gay-positive
messages like Mrs. Solomon’s.”
Solomon has put the personalized license plates on the cars she owns.
“I want other drivers to read my plates and think about their
gay relatives, neighbors, and peers; to quote my favorite button, ‘Someone
you care about is lesbian or gay,’” she said.
A result of the decision is that personalized plates with gay-positive
messages are now clearly permissible, so long as the requested plates
do not violate any statutory or regulatory restrictions.
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From Our National Office
Patriot Act Reform
As both houses of Congress prepare to vote on Patriot Act renewal and
reform, thousands of emails from the ACLU Action Network have helped convince
163 Republican and Democratic lawmakers to sign the “Dear Conferee”
letter. The letter urges Members of Congress negotiating the final Patriot
Act bill to support the Senate reforms to some of the secretive powers
in the Patriot Act, and to reject the reauthorization package passed by
the House of Representatives.
Just last week, a bipartisan group of powerful business leaders sent a
letter to the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Pennsylvania
Senator Arlen Specter, urging Congress to support reforms in the Senate
reauthorization bill. This is an important victory because these leaders
represent businesses that have a great deal of influence in Washington.
The Patriot Act battle continues in our courts as well. Last month, a
Connecticut judge told the government to give an ACLU client his First
Amendment right to speak out in the Patriot Act debate about his experience
with these powers, but while the case is on appeal the client remains
gagged under the National Security Letter provisions expanded by the Patriot
Act. Thousands of you spoke out in a petition we delivered to the Department
of Justice, urging the government to lift the gag and “Let John
Doe Speak.”
For more information about what you can do to support important Patriot
Act reforms, visit www.reformthepatriotact.org.
The ACLU Freedom Files
At a time when the civil liberties of ordinary Americans are at great
risk, the ACLU and producer/director Robert Greenwald proudly present
The ACLU Freedom Files,
a new 10-part television series that explores the pressing issues that
threaten our most precious freedoms. Through 30-minute episodes told from
the perspectives of ordinary Americans, The
ACLU Freedom Files examines the Patriot
Act, the Supreme Court, free speech and dissent, religious liberty, lesbian
and gay rights, drug policy, racial profiling, women’s rights, and
youth freedoms. The series features ACLU clients and the attorneys who
defend them, as well as well-known actors, activists, and comedians.
The ACLU Freedom Files
is available through the satellite network Link TV, on college campuses
across the country through Zilo TV, and via new media, technology, and
grassroots networks such as video blogs, podcasts, streaming video, viewing
parties, and community screenings. On September 8, thousands of viewers
watched Episode 1, “Beyond the Patriot Act,” and then took
action. October 13’s timely episode, “The Supreme Court,”
featured Lindsay Earls, a high school sophomore who opposed her school’s
drug testing policy.
To find out how you can watch The ACLU
Freedom Files, visit www.aclu.tv.
Voting Rights Act
America’s long and deliberate misadventure with segregation was
ended by many things, but nothing dismantled the Jim Crow South and created
true opportunities for equal political participation more than the Voting
Rights Act of 1965. In 2007, three crucial sections of the VRA will expire
unless Congress votes to renew them. In light of the history of discrimination
that racial and ethnic minorities have experienced when voting, and of
the proven effectiveness of the VRA, Congress should:
1. Re-enact VRA’s Section 5 pre-clearance requirements. These provisions
directly impact nine states with a documented history of discriminatory
voting practices and local jurisdictions in seven others by requiring
them to submit planned changes in their election laws or procedures to
the U.S. Department of Justice or the District Court in Washington, D.C.
for pre-approval.
2. Renew Section 203 for 25 years so that new citizens and other Americans
who are limited in their ability to speak English can continue to receive
assistance when voting. These provisions currently impact some 466 local
jurisdictions across 31 states, including Utah. Congress also should modify
the formula by which these covered jurisdictions are identified in order
to provide more communities with Section 203 assistance.
3. Renew Sections 6 to 9, which authorize the attorney general to appoint
election monitors and poll watchers.
4. Provide for the recovery of expert fees in voting rights litigation.
5. Enact language that restores the original intent of Congress as expressed
in the 1982 reauthorization and repairs the damage done by two narrowly
decided U.S. Supreme Court decisions which fundamentally weaken the administration
of Section 5: Reno v. Bossier Parish Sch.
Bd (2000) and Georgia
v. Ashcroft (2003).
To find out what you can do to support the renewal of these critical sections
of the VRA, visit www.votingrights.org.
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_________________________
ACLU of Utah Membership Business
The ACLU of Utah is made up of two entities
with separate funds, accounting, and bylaws. The first entity is the ACLU
of Utah Union, an IRS 501(c)(4) organization that can participate in lobbying
and other activities. The Union is comprised of its “card-carrying”
members, who carry out certain organizational business like approving
the basic bylaws, overseeing financial expenditures, and voting on nominations
to the ACLU of Utah Union Board of Directors. The second entity is the
ACLU of Utah Foundation, an IRS 501(c)(3) organization that engages in
litigation, public education, and very limited lobbying activities. At
the ACLU of Utah, the executive officers of the ACLU of Utah Union Board
of Directors serve as the governing board of the ACLU of Utah Foundation.
This year, we have two items of business for the
ACLU of Utah Union membership:
1. Approval of Bylaws
The Executive Committee of the ACLU of Utah Union Board of Directors has
recommended a revision of the ACLU of Utah Union bylaws. These revisions
incorporate past bylaws and more accurately reflect actual practice. We
are asking for a membership vote and approval of the Revised Bylaws of
the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, 2005. These proposed bylaws
must be accepted or rejected as a whole.
The details of the proposed bylaw changes are as follows:
• The maximum number of directors on the board changes from 15 to
20.
• A quorum is defined as a simple majority rather than as a fixed
number.
• The term for board members changes from 2 years to 3 years.
• The Executive Committee, which was made up of the four board officers
(president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer) and an at-large
director, increases to include the representative to the national ACLU
board and the director of the Legal Panel.
• Any reference to state chapters includes a caveat “if chapters
exist.”
In order to take effect, the proposed bylaws must be approved by two-thirds
of the membership who choose to vote and then certified by the full Board
of Directors following the vote. The proposed bylaws are available online
at www.acluutah.org/bylaws.htm. Please call us at (801) 521-9862 ext 101
if you would like us to mail you a hard copy.
2. Elections for the ACLU of Utah Union
Board of Directors
The Executive Committee, acting in its capacity as the ACLU of Utah Nominating
Committee, has selected the following individuals to serve on the ACLU
of Utah Union Board of Directors: Jennifer Allred, Karen Denton, Jason
Lewis, David Tundermann, and Laurie Wood. Membership on the board requires
that each director be a member of the ACLU of Utah Union and support the
principles of the organization; participate fully in the development and
implementation of policies established by the Board of Directors; accept
responsibility, in collaboration with the ACLU of Utah’s executive
director, for fund-raising; and determine and approve, upon recommendation
of the Legal Panel and staff attorney, the ACLU of Utah’s docket.
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About the ACLU of Utah
Founded in 1920, the American Civil Liberties
Union is a nationwide, nonpartisan organization dedicated to working in
the courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual
rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by both
the Constitution and the laws of the United States.
The ACLU of Utah was chartered in 1953 to work on constitutional issues
that are pertinent to those living in this state. Our priorities include
freedom of speech, expression, and association; freedom of religion, including
the separation of church and state; the right to privacy; safe prison
and jail conditions; and equal protection and due process of the laws.
Staff
Dani Eyer, Executive Director
Carol Gnade, Development Coordinator
Reinard Knutsen, Office Manager/Intake Coordinator
Stephanie Peterson, Project Coordinator/Field Organizer
Margaret Plane, Staff Attorney
Cori Sutherland, Communications Director
Interns and Volunteers
Philip Austin, Penny Breiman, Nate Burke, Monica Maio,
Joan O’Brien & Jud Soderborg
Board of Directors
Sue Marquardt, President
Karen Denton, Vice President
Laurie Wood, Secretary
Robert Wood, Treasurer
Lincoln Hobbs, Legal Panel Director
Jill Sheinberg, National Board Representative
Peggy Battin
Tim Chambless
Christine Contestable
Roberto Culas
Beverly Dalley
Emma Gross
Marc Hoenig
Lee Martinez
Andy McCullough
Tarek Nosseir
Jennifer Schwartz
David Tundermann
Legal Panel
Erika Birch
Dianna Cannon
Stephen Clark
Russell Hathaway
Linda Jones
Laura Kessler
Derek Langton
Cathy Roberts
Trystan Smith
Karen Stam
Mary Woodhead
Contact Information
355 North 300 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84103
Phone: (801) 521-9862
Fax: (801) 532-2850
aclu@acluutah.org
www.acluutah.org
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