Pubdate: Sun, 23 Dec 2007
Source: Honolulu Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2007 The Honolulu Advertiser, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
Contact:  http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/195
Cited: American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i http://www.acluhawaii.org
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

ACLU ON RIGHTS IN SCHOOL, RELIGION, GUNS

Each week Editorial and Opinion Editor Jeanne Mariani-Belding hosts 
The Hot Seat, our opinion-page blog that brings in elected leaders 
and people in the news and lets you ask the questions during a live 
online chat.

On The Hot Seat last week was Vanessa Chong, executive director of 
the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i, who answered questions 
on civil rights issues, including drug testing for Hawai'i's public 
school teachers. The following is an excerpt from that Hot Seat 
session. To see the full conversation, go to The Hot Seat blog at 
www.honoluluadvertiser.com/opinion and click on "The Hot Seat." 
(Names of questioners are screen names given during our online chat.)

Kyle: I'm a junior in high school and I don't see what the big deal 
is over locker searches. The school owns the lockers, and if it 
improves safety for the rest of us, doesn't that count?

Chong: The ACLU opposes random searches of Hawai'i public school 
students because it offers a false sense of security, tramples the 
Bill of Rights and wastes precious education dollars.

Debra: On a national level, what would the ACLU say are the most 
troubling developments concerning personal liberties?

Chong: The ACLU is concerned about several issues which threaten 
fundamental rights. We want to end rampant surveillance and 
warrantless spying on Americans; shut down Guantanamo Bay and give 
those held there access to justice; restore habeas corpus and due 
process; and stop torture and the government's practice of secretly 
kidnapping people and sending them to countries that torture.

Curtis: I am a secular person who has the distinct impression that 
the ACLU is too active in its efforts to wipe religion entirely from 
government. A reference to Jesus, or a display of the Ten 
Commandments on government property gathers far too much of your 
organization's attention, in my opinion. What is the basis for such 
apparent animosity toward religion in general, and Christians in particular?

Chong: Among our cherished fundamental rights is freedom of religion 
and the ACLU in Hawai'i and nationally has long defended individuals, 
families and religious communities who wish to express their religion 
privately and publicly.

Hawai'i has more religious diversity than many states. For example, 
my own family includes Buddhists, Mormons, Catholics and Seventh-day 
Adventists.

We can enjoy so many religions because government is supposed to keep 
out of private religious choice and not, by its actions, prefer one 
religion over others.

Andy Hall: I live in a harbor, and the cops almost always respond 
slowly or ignore calls for help from the area. There seems to be 
overlapping jurisdictions depending on whether you are talking about 
the roads (HPD), parking lot and docks (DLNR), or actual boats (Coast 
Guard). It's like a hands-off area in terms of law enforcement. So a 
neighborhood watch program has been organized. One option on the 
table is install 24-hour surveillance which would be recorded and 
streamed on a public Web site. Docks and the parking lot would be the 
target areas. What is your take in general about this idea, and what 
civil liberty concerns might such a plan create?

Chong: The ACLU has concerns about the government's increasing 
reliance on surveillance to achieve public safety. Many questions may 
arise with the program you speak of which may affect the fundamental 
right to privacy. There may be more effective ways to deal with 
public safety - such as increasing police staffing - than camera 
surveillance. It may only provide a false sense of security.

Jocelyn: Aside from publicly filing lawsuits, what does the ACLU do 
on a daily basis, how large is the staff and where do the funds come 
from? Is this a nonprofit?

Chong: The ACLU is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit that takes no 
government funds. We provide our services - legal, legislative 
advocacy, public education - statewide at no cost to the public. We 
have a staff of six professionals supported by over 100 volunteers 
statewide and a volunteer board. Funds come primarily from individual 
donations.

Christopher: One of the most chilling civil liberties issues in 
Hawai'i is the lack of a media shield. In a highly publicized case on 
Kaua'i, a journalist was taken to court for exposing crimes in the 
press. Can you make journalist protection a high priority next year?

Chong: We would be happy to take a closer look at this issue and I 
will be forwarding your concern to our Legislative Committee, which 
is in the process of developing our agenda for the coming 2008 session.

You may be interested in a federal bill being proposed to also 
address this issue - Free Flow of Information Act HR 2102. Go to the 
national ACLU Web site for more info.

Lisa: Are teachers opposed to just random drug testing or all drug 
testing? Drug testing is not uncommon in the private sector. Why are 
teachers opposed to it?

Chong: Safe schools are of utmost importance to us all. Random drug 
testing of Hawai'i's public school educators fails us all. At a time 
when Hawai'i's students are in desperate need of essential school 
supplies and services, this policy wastes precious resources while 
trampling the Bill of Rights and does nothing for the well-being of students.

School officials already have a process in place to handle problem 
employees. Teachers are not objecting to suspicion-based drug testing.

Scott Sato: There are many other professionals that require drug 
testing, such as construction workers and human-services workers. 
Does the ACLU also believe these people's rights have been violated?

If so, why have they only recently gotten involved in this area when 
the issue came up for teachers? It makes the other professions seem 
like they are not as important as teachers for some political reason, perhaps.

Chong: The ACLU is called into action when government fails to 
protect the fundamental rights of the people. In this case, the 
governor wants an entire group of public employees to sacrifice their 
rights when they have done nothing wrong. There is already a process 
in place to punish those educators who do violate the public trust.

John K.: Is the ACLU a left-wing organization?

Chong: The only client of the ACLU is the Bill of Rights. It doesn't 
matter who the target is; when the government tramples on fundamental 
rights, the ACLU is called into action.

In the nearly 30 years I have been with the local ACLU, our affiliate 
has represented many individuals including those from across the 
political spectrum (we are nonpartisan). The government often targets 
those folks whom they view as unpopular, poor, or marginalized - 
populations they are counting on to be uninformed about their rights 
and won't assert them.

Micah L.: What presidential candidates is the ACLU backing? If you do 
not endorse candidates, why not, since elected officials create the 
very policies you are challenging?

Chong: The ACLU is non-partisan. We find that political leaders of 
every stripe can and do make, propose and push for public policy 
affecting the Bill of Rights.

Tina: Could you please update us on the homeless children who were 
having problems with access to public education? ALL children deserve 
access to education.

Chong: The state has failed in its responsibility to follow federal 
law and used federal funds to assertively outreach to homeless 
children to ensure that they have an equal opportunity to a public education.

The state has been on notice for over a year and has done nothing - 
for example, they have not provided basic transportation services, 
they have denied children access to schools over lack of paperwork.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of several children and we are 
waiting for a court date to be scheduled.

Allan: Some time ago your organization was successful in setting a 
maximum capacity at O'ahu's only jail. Since that time no one has 
kept tabs on its overcrowding/population situation. Is there anyone 
who oversees each successful litigation to ensure the responsible 
party is complying with the mandates?

Chong: The ACLU of Hawai'i in 1984 filed a lawsuit over prison 
conditions at OCCC and WCCC which resulted in a federal consent 
decree affecting conditions, practices and population. Congress has 
passed laws which have made it more difficult for public interest 
groups like the ACLU to push for prison reform. But we continue to do 
as much as we can in this area.

Lee: What is the ACLU's position on civil unions?

Chong: The ACLU supports same-gender marriage which goes beyond civil 
unions in providing all the rights and responsibilities of marriage 
to committed couples.

Osamu Makiguchi: If the Supreme Court (D.C. v. Heller) decides that 
the Second Amendment is an individual right, will ACLU Hawai'i as 
well as the national ACLU also accept the Second Amendment as an 
individual right?

I find it odd that the ACLU would rationalize the limiting of any 
civil liberty, in this case the individual's right to own a firearm. 
Shouldn't the ACLU take the broadest interpretations of how the 
rights are interpreted in the Constitution?

Chong: Fundamental rights are not absolute and there is a balance 
between the rights of the individual and the government's interests.

Once the government allows gun ownership, the ACLU's concern would be 
in ensuring that policies governing gun ownership are enforced in a fair way. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake