Happy New Year - Shana Tovah - wishing all of you and your families health and happiness in the coming year!
- Sheila Decter, Director
- David Guberman, President
Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action

Committee on Law and Social Action
Thursday, September 25, 12:30pm
JALSA Office, 18 Tremont Street, Suite 320, Boston

1. Discussion of lawsuit challenging charter schools: Suit by town of North Adams contends that they are not under public control and that such expenditure of monies is prohibited by the anti-aid amendment. Possible parallel suit.
2. Discussion of state single payer legislation.
3. Discussion of federal CLEAR Act: One of three proposed bills extending federal executive power. This proposal - H.R. 2671 - would require state and local law enforcement officers to assume responsibility for the enforcement of civil immigration law. Civil liberties groups are urging opposition to this Act, saying it would blur the line of distinction between federal officials and local/state officials, thereby causing confusion and disruption in each of the agencies. (See: http://jewishalliance.org/info/00000058.htm) Future CLSA meetings will continue on Thursdays, 12:30pm, JALSA office

JALSA Board Meeting
Tuesday, September 30, 12:30pm
JALSA Office, 18 Tremont Street, Suite 320, Boston
Future board meetings scheduled for November 5 and December 10

A. US Senate on judicial nominations

Call senators about Wednesday's hearing in the Judiciary Committee on the nomination of Claude A. Allen to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Abortion Access Project tells us that Allen is a staunch opponent of abortion rights, going so far as to claim that abortion is causing a genocide of the black population. He helped draft Virginia's parental notification law and supported a law imposing a 24 hour waiting period and requiring biased information be given to women seeking abortions. Furthermore, Allen has been a vocal supporter of abstinence-only education programs and backed the Bush Administration's decision to remove information about condom effectiveness and teen pregnancy prevention from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) (see http://jewishalliance.org/info/00000059.htm)

Please thank our senators for their continuing efforts against the nominations of conservative nominees: William Pryor, Charles Pickering (another vote expected this week), Carolyn Kuhl, and Priscilla Owen. Latest conservative nominees include Janice Rogers Brown and Brett Kavanaugh. For additional information on these nominees, see: www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=11894 

B. Urge your Senators to Oppose School Vouchers in DC

The District of Columbia Appropriations Act of 2004 (S. 1583), introduced by Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH), would divert public tax dollars to fund a school voucher program in Washington, D.C. The voucher proposal contained within this bill would funnel public money towards tuition, fees, and transportation costs for private and religious schools. Given the federal budget deficit and the inadequate funding appropriated for education reforms authorized in the No Child Left Behind Act, Congress should not divert funds to a voucher program that is designed to help, at best, only a few students, leaving the vast majority behind. The House voucher proposal passed by just one vote (209-208) earlier this month. The battle has moved to the Senate where a vote on vouchers could happen anytime this week. http://jewishalliance.org/info/0000005a.htm

C. Massachusetts legislature to oppose anti-gay legislation

Once again, anti-gay pressure groups are trying to make all legal protections for same-gender couples and their kids unconstitutional in Massachusetts. Even domestic partner benefits (which they refer to as "sex partner subsidies") would be banned. But just like last year, DOMA is a direct assault on marriage benefits, civil unions, and domestic partner health insurance - even simple decencies like bereavement leave and survivor benefits. JALSA urges you write legislators to oppose H3190.

D. Boston City Council on Civil Liberties

Write letters to the president of the Boston City Michael Flaherty, who has interpreted an internal rule of the Boston City Council to prevent the consideration of a resolution regarding the US Patriot Act. A similar resolution had been considered last year, without such prohibition. Over 500 persons attended a public hearing last year conducted by the Boston City Council. Many communities in Massachusetts and around the country have passed similar resolutions. JALSA urges that letters be sent to Councillor Flaherty urging consideration of this resolution. 

E. Single Payer Health Care Hearing and Lobby Day

Wednesday, October 8, 10am
Hearing: Gardner Auditorium, Massachusetts State House, Boston
Lobby Day Coordination: Room 222
JALSA urges attendance. Call, write, or email legislators and ask them to testify in support of S. 686, a state single-payer proposal. Call, write, or email members of the Health Care Committee and urge positive "ought to pass" report from committee. (See  http://jewishalliance.org/info/0000005d.htm)

F. Write your legislator to overturn budget cuts in MassHealth.

Ask members of the Joint Committee on Health Care to report House Bill #3784 out favorably. Hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents rely on MassHealth, the state Medicaid program for low-income children, adults and people with disabilities. In January, 2002, Governor Swift cut nearly all dental benefits for adults - over 600,000 people. In January, 2003, about 600,000 adult MassHealth recipients lost access to eyeglasses, dentures and chiropractic therapy.

Urge inclusion of MassHealth benefits for adult legal immigrants in supplemental budget. On August 1, 2003, many adult legal immigrants lost health coverage. Benefits were cut for 10,000 persons and only when a lawsuit was initiated did state officials check the eligibility for some of these immigrants under federal programs. See: www.massadvocacy.com/campaign.php?subject=masshealth&aid=1979

G. Massachusetts SJC on equal marriage

Goodridge et al v. Department of Public Health. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is now considering a landmark suit seeking civil marriage for Lesbian and Gay couples. Suit contends that the Massachusetts Constitution protects the right to marry the person of one's choice and that the state cannot justify excluding gay and lesbian couples and their families from the institution of marriage and the hundreds of protections it provides. See GLAD website for an analysis of the difference between civil marriage and civil union, www.glad.org/Publications/CivilRightProject/OP7-marriagevcu.shtml 

Citizens for Public Schools and Alliance for High Standards NOT High Stakes
School Accountability and Assessments
Tuesday, October 7 12-1:30pm
Chapa Office, Room 401, 18 Tremont Street, Boston
Guests: Beverly Miyares and Kathy Skinner of the Massachusetts Teachers Association. Beverly attends meetings of EMAC (Educational Management Audit Council). As a former staff member of DOE she has interesting comments and insights. Kathy will talk about "value added assessments."

Massachusetts Coalition for Equitable Education
Conference Committee
Tuesday, October 7 1:30pm
Conference on equity set for October 21 at Northeastern University. See: http://www.jewishalliance.org/mcee_conf.htm

JALSA Executive Committee Meeting
Tuesday, October 14 12:30 pm
JALSA Office, 18 Tremont Street, Suite 320, Boston
Future Executive Committee meetings
Wednesday, October 29; Tuesday, November 8; Wednesday, November 19

JALSA Young Social Activists: Supper in the Sukkah
Hunger in our House: Combating the Problem of Hunger in Our Community
Tuesday, October 14, 6:30-8:45pm
Temple Ohabei Shalom, Brookline
Light supper followed by program. Presenter: Susan Schrader, Marketing Director, The Greater Boston Food Bank. Message Mazon, the Jewish Response to Hunger (See: 5)

Jewish Women's Studies Coalition
Wednesday, October 14, 9:30-11am
Hebrew College, Newton, Executive Dining Room

Citizens for Public Schools
"Charter Schools And Race: A Lost Opportunity For Integrated Education"
Tuesday, November 4, 12-1:30 pm
Chapa Office, Room 401, 18 Tremont Street, Boston
Guests: Chungmei Lee and Erica Frankenberg, co-authors of an important report by the Harvard Civil Rights Project

Citizens for Public Schools and Massachusetts Coalition for Educational Equity
Comfort v Lynn School Committee, the Lynn federal suit on school integration
Thursday, November 20, 12-1:30 pm
Location to be announced
Guests: Richard Cole, Senior Counsel for Civil Rights, office of the Attorney General, and Jan Birchenough, Parent Information Center of the Lynn Public Schools

The Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action is dedicated to continuing a strong, progressive, inter-generational voice inspired by Jewish teachings and values for social justice, civil rights, and civil liberties.

Membership is open to all who wish to work for progressive goals in the development of public policy.

Join us! Visit www.jewishalliance.org and fill out the online donation form today!

Civil Liberties - Professor David Cole
Wednesday, September 24, 6:00 PM
Ames Courtroom, 2nd Floor, Austin Hall, Harvard Law School, Cambridge
Discussing his new book, Enemy Aliens: Double Standards and Constitutional Freedoms in the War on Terrorism. Comments by Professor Charles Fried, former Solicitor General and a Book Signing to Follow. Former New York Times columnist Anthony Lewis has called David Cole "one of the country's great legal voices for civil liberties today." Former CIA Director James Woolsey has called Enemy Aliens "the essential book in the field." Please RSVP to Melissa Hoffman at hoffman@law.harvard.edu

Early Education for All Campaign - Planning Meeting
Wednesday, September 24, 6:30-8:30pm
Vietnamese American Community Center
Boston Family Child Care Network
42 Charles Street, Dorchester

The Lynn School Assignment Case
Wednesday, September 24 7:30-9:30pm
Goldfarb Building, Rapaporte Treasure Hall, Brandeis University
Speaker: Judge Nancy Gertner. The Lynn, Massachusetts, school assignment plan "takes race into account in permitting children to transfer from their neighborhood schools to other schools within the district." In June, Judge Gertner dismissed the legal challenge to the "Lynn Plan" in a very important local school assignment case.

Meeting to Plan Hearing on Achievement Gap in the Boston Public Schools
Thursday, September 25, 4pm
For information, write Steve Fernandez at chango@gis.net

Department of Justice Training
"Identifying & Reporting National Origin Discrimination"
Thursday, September 25, 4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Suffolk University Law School, 120 Tremont St., Boston, 1st Floor Conf Room
Learn more about federal laws that protect immigrant/ethnic communities against national origin discrimination in *employment * housing * voting * education * bias crimes.

Leadership workshops for Parents
Boston location, different times.
Conducted by The Institute for Responsive Education. Series of free workshops for parents interested in becoming leaders at their schools and/or in local organizations that focus on school reform. This week: first steps toward developing Leadership Skills Institute for Responsive Education, 21 Lake Hall, Northeastern University. 616-373-5813

Science in the News
Wednesday nights from September 24 through November 19
Harvard Medical School
Seminars at on hot biomedical topics such as stem cell research, genetically modified food, ethical and policy issues. For more information, see www.hms.harvard.edu/sitn. To register, e-mail mail to: SITNBoston@yahoo.com or call 800-699-2466, ext SITNboston

Freedom Ride for Immigrant Rights Send-off
Sunday, September 28, 4 pm
Faneuil Hall, Boston
Riders will be boarding buses on Monday, the 29th for a trip to Washington DC, with rallies in cities and towns along the way. Other riders will be leaving Boston for a New York City rally on Saturday, October 4. Contact Lizz Matos at MIRA (617) 350-5480 x 205.

The Mass Insight Education and Research Institute
Hosted by The Boston Foundation, 75 Arlington Street, 10th Floor
Wednesday, October 1, 11am-12:30pm
"Seizing the Day: Massachusetts' At-Risk Students Speak Out on Their Experiences at the Front Lines of Education Reform" The First Report from the Three-Year Keep the Promise Research Initiative. Lead Sponsor: The Nellie Mae Education Foundation. Guest Commentator: David P. Driscoll, Commonwealth Commissioner of Education. Mass Insight has been a major cheerleader for the current Commonwealth Board of Education and the MCAS exams. RSVP to Jason Shepard, at jshepard@massinsight.com or 617-722-4160 ext 10

Odd Fellows and Mugwumps: Learning from the Past to Revive Civic Life Today
October 1, 8:00-10:00am
Omni Parker House, Boston
Commonwealth Forum, A joint project of MassInc and Mass. Foundation for the Humanities. There is growing concern about the decline of “social capital” in America, but bowling alone may be the least of our problems. Speaker: Theda Skocpol, author of Diminished Democracy: From Membership to Management in American Civic Life, argues that efforts to renew civic life should take their lead from the voluntary associations of old--places of fellowship that also connected individuals beyond their local spheres and on a scale that could have real impact. She also says that political reformers should stop trying to make Mugwumps--independent beings free of attachment to groups and causes--out of all of us. How can we counteract the trend toward professionalization of advocacy - and get ordinary citizens more involved in community life and politics? Responding panel: Deborah Banda, Massachusetts AARP Ron Bell, Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, Dunk the Vote David Crowley, Social Capital, Inc. Call (617)742-6800, ext. 120 or rsvp@massinc.org

Pro-Choice Counter-Demonstration to MA Citizens for Life March for Life
Sunday, October 5, 1:15pm
Boston Common/Public Garden. Corner of Beacon and Charles St, by Starbucks
Sponsored by the Abortion Access Project
For more information, call 617-661-1161 or email info@abortionaccess.org 

Preventing Juvenile Crime: The Role of the CHINS Law
October 7, 8:00-10:00 a.m.
The Boston Foundation, 75 Arlington Street, 10th Floor
Keynote Address: Molly Armstrong, Vera Institute of Justice, New York City. Panel Discussion: Martha P. Grace, Cheif Justice, Juvenile Court; Neva Grice, Officer, Youth Violence Strike Force, Boston Police Department; Harry Spence, Commissioner, Department of Social Services; Patricia Wynn, Deputy Chief Counsel, Committee for Public Counsel Services; A youth from the Massachusetts Families for Kids Speak Out Team. Sponsored by The Boston Foundation, The Gardiner Howland Shaw Foundation and coordinating partners MassINC and The Crime and Justice Institute.

"The current situation in the Middle East: What can US Jews be doing?
Brit Tzedek v'Shalom
Wednesday, October 8, 7:30pm
Temple Beth Zion, 1566 Beacon Street, Brookline
Parking on Beacon Street, T stop nearby
Speakers: Diane Balser, National Chair of Advocacy, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom; Mark Rosenblum, Founder and Policy Director, Americans for Peace Now; Rabbi Ben-Zion Gold, Director Emeritus, Harvard Hillel. For more information: boston@btvshalom.org

Anti-Racism Discussion Sponsored by Community Change
Women's Theological Center and Haymarket People's Fund
Thursday October 9, 6-9pm
Conference Room, Third Floor, Simmons College, 300 The Fenway
Food, 5:30 pm
Supported by Simmons Institute for Leadership and Change. Call Meck Groot at the Women's Theological Center. 617-536-8782 or meck@theworld.com

"Don't Dessert Us" Benefit for Community Servings
Thursday, October 9, 6:30–9:30pm
Boston Design Center, One Design Center Place, Boston
Delight in the sweet creations of Boston’s most-acclaimed chefs. Browse the showrooms of Boston Design Center. Support Community Servings, Boston's free home-delivered meals program for people ill with AIDS, a program initiated by members of JALSA. RSVP to Marlene Smith at 617-445-7777 or msmith@servings.org Hors d’oeuvres and cocktails.

Human Rights/ U.S./Mexico Border Film "The Gatekeeper" opens in Boston
October 10 for one week
Kendall Square Cinemas
The film is about one man's journey through the underbelly of the U.S./Mexico border and details the story of hopeful immigrants who come to the U.S. in search of a better life. "The Gatekeeper" has won numerous national/international awards, includes music donated by Mr. Bruce Springsteen, has been featured nationally on CNN, NPR, and CBS radio. www.GatekeeperFilm.com 

North American Indian Center of Boston (NAICOB) presents
"So Who Is This Columbus Guy Any Way?"
Columbus Day, Sunday, October 12, 12-6pm
NAICOB, 105 So. Huntington Ave, Boston, MA
Rediscover America through Native eyes! Film shown: "Is the Crown at War with us" @ 1pm 617 661-6130

Grassroots Conference to Restore Civil Liberties
October 18-19 
Washington DC area
See: www.bordc.org 

City Year Serve-a-thon!
Saturday, October 25

Second National Conference
Israel's Road to Peace: The Role of American Jews
October 31 - November 2
Boston Park Plaza, Boston
Brit Tzedek v'Shalom. Keynote Speakers: Amram Mitner (Member of Knesset, former Mayor of Haifa, and Labor Party Candidate for Prime Minister), Naomi Chazan (former Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, feminist peace activist and scholar), Congressman Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts), Sumaya Farhat-Naser (co-founder and former director of the Jerusalem Center for Women), and Stephen P. Cohen (President of the Institute for Middle East Peace and Development and National Scholar for the Israel Policy Forum). Register at www.btvshalom.org

Civil Liberties: See JALSA website for an article by Carol Rose of the ACLU-Mass on the occasion of Attorney General Ashcroft's visit to Boston. www.jewishalliance.org/news2/carolrose_oped.htm

Civil Liberties: NY Times editorial on the Patriot Act. Editorial speaks against the extension of the US Patriot Act. See: http://jewishalliance.org/info/0000005b.htm

Kennedy stands by criticism of Bush on Iraq: DeLay says Democratic senator 'went too far'. By Sean Loughlin, CNN Washington Bureau, Friday, September 19 (See http://jewishalliance.org/info/0000005c.htm)

"Remember that we were strangers in Egypt": JALSA, Tekiah, and Workman's Circle have provided a mailing for local rabbis urging discussion of treatment of immigrants during the coming holiday of Sukkot. On the premise that this "season of our joy" is diminished by the pain of others, three organizations committed to social justice are urging rabbis to talk about exploitation of immigrant labor and/or the erosion of civil liberties of immigrants since 9/11. If you would like copies of the materials, call 617-227-3000 or office@jalsa.org

Budget Crisis Brochure: The JCRC of Boston has sent a brochure to area synagogues on the need for restoration of sufficient funding for state services. JALSA continues to encourage all efforts to restore essential state funds. For copies of their brochure, write mkarpman@jcrcboston.org. See the JCRC statement on the need for supplemental funding: www.jcrcboston.org/TzedekNewsletter/la.html

The Controversy Surrounding Mel Gibson's "The Passion": "The Passion," an as yet unreleased film about the last 12 hours of Jesus' life has stirred a great deal of debate. The movie, which is written, directed, and produced by actor Mel Gibson, may be released as early as June 2004. Web discussion: http://rj.org/interreligious/pub/passions.html

On public funding of faith-based organizations:  Harvard Law Review Article by Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of the Reform Movement. "Public Accountability and Faith-Based Organizations: A Problem Best Avoided". An abstract of the article is available at: www.harvardlawreview.org/issues/116/5_1353.pdf 

GLAD seeks volunteers: Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, HIV status and gender identity and expression is looking for volunteers for their Legal Information Hotline one weekday afternoon each week - helping people who have experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation, gender expression and/or HIV status. Fall Hotline Training on a variety of legal issues, October 21-28. 6 month commitment required. All volunteering on site at GLAD's downtown Boston office. Download a volunteer application at www.glad.org/Join_Us/volunteer.shtml, or volunteering@glad.org for more info.