See JALSA statement on these executive orders.
http://jewishalliance.org/info/00000032.htm 

Social and Economic Justice
New concerns about DOMA - the proposed amendment that would have banned gay marriages and expanded other discriminatory treatment of gays. In a last-minute, year-end ambush, the anti-gay pressure group Massachusetts Citizens for Marriage (MCM) is trying to revive a sweeping anti-gay constitutional amendment that would permanently outlaw marriage, civil unions, domestic partner benefits -- in fact, any protection for families formed by same sex couples.

On July 17th, the Legislature voted overwhelmingly 137 to 53 to kill the amendment, despite extraordinary bullying and harassment from MCM (including nasty demonstrations outside of Senate President Birmingham's office, and a personal lawsuit against him). So MCM started harassing Governor Swift.

Now -- as one of her last acts, just weeks away from leaving office -- Governor Swift is dredging up the anti-gay amendment. While she says she agrees with the vote lawmakers took this summer, she might drag them all back to the State House during the holidays and force them to vote again on the amendment.

The pressure on her from the anti-gay group is so great that she's just asked the Supreme Judicial Court to intervene with an opinion on what action she should take. While it's impossible to know what the Court will say, we need to be prepared to respond quickly.

Action requested: Write the Governor and send an email to everyone you know who might respond. See possible text for email message to friends: http://jewishalliance.org/info/00000033.htm

Sweatshop Disclosure
JALSA's Sweatshop Disclosure bill has been filed in the legislature by Senator Dianne Wilkerson. Rep. Jay Kaufman and Sen. Wilkerson have assembled a broad group of legislators to support the proposed bill. The object of the legislation is to bring to public attention any goods or services produced under sweatshop conditions which are procured with public funds of the Commonwealth. Under the proposed legislation, an advisory committee would volunteer to monitor working conditions in facilities where goods or services are produced, assembled or shipped.The initiative for investigations and the responsibility for reporting will lie with the non-governmental entities undertaking monitoring. However, under this bill, the state of Massachusetts will be obligated to make the findings accessible to the general public through
electronic means.

Organizational support is desired. Persons who would like to work on JALSA's Sweatshop Committee to help encourage passage are urged to call. Contact Shirley Partoll, partoll@worldnet.att.net or Jonathan Fine, honorallpersons@yahoo.com

Homelessness
Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries is urging member congregations to help collect signatures on petitions that ask the new governor to appoint a Task Force on Family Homeless. The
Task Force would develop programs to help homeless families find and afford permanent housing and develop solutions to prevent homelessness.

The petition drive is one activity of the One Family Campaign to End Family Homelessness, a collaboration of many religious organizations, human services organizations and businesses, including the Jewish Community Relations Council. If you would like petitions to circulate, call the JCRC, 617-457-8888 or contact bkramer@jcrcboston.org

Extension of Unemployment Benefits
Write your congressional representatives urging an immediate extension of unemployment benefits. The current extension runs out on December 28th. Democrats and Republicans had different proposals in this last session of Congress and the session ended without action. ABC News says that President Bush would like to limit the extension to five weeks in those states with very high unemployment rates - at a cost of $900 million; The Democrats would like all unemployed to be eligible for a longer extension of time - at a cost of $5 billion. Over one million workers have already run out of benefits; another 830,000 are expected to run out of benefits on December 28, every week thereafter, 95,000 workers are expected to be added. The Congressional Budget Office continues to forecast 6 % unemployment through the second half of 2003.
Do you have friends and relatives in other states. Write them and ask them to send off letters to their congressional representatives urging immediate action.

Civil Liberties

"To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists, for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America's enemies and pause to America's friends."

              John Ashcroft, Testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, December 6, 2001

Participate in JALSA work on Civil Liberties. Email readers who would like to work on JALSA's Committee on Civil Liberties should contact Allan Roth, arroth@worldnet.att.net

Local Civil Liberties Resolutions:

JALSA is informed by the Civil Liberties Task Force of the ACLU of Massachusetts that at least eighteen (18) cities and towns in the U.S. have now passed resolutions upholding the Constitution and Bill of Rights, including four (4) in Massachusetts.

The Boston resolution, sponsored by City Councilor Chuck Turner, will come to a vote on December 18th at the City Council. If you live in Boston, please call your councilor and ask them to support "the Resolution in Defense of the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution." JALSA testified at the public hearing conducted by the Boston City Council some weeks ago indicating our concern over the erosion of civil liberties since September 11th and questioning whether these measures will make Americans any more safe. For a list of councilors and phone numbers, go to www.cityofboston.com/citycouncil/

The Town of Arlington has also scheduled a vote on a Civil Liberties Warrant article for April.

Petition Drive. The ACLU of Massachusetts is launching a drive for 100,000 signatures for a
petition to be sent to the Massachusetts Congressional delegation. If you would like to download the petition and help get signatures, go to: http://aclu-mass.org/petition.html

Public Education
Boston School Assignments. There are significant changes that have been proposed for Boston school assignments. Some of the changes are in response to the Unz proposal to end bilingual education. Although the legislature is expected to revisit this issue in the new session, Boston is considering a proposal that would gather together a significant number of students now requiring transitional English programs into one separate school. Another proposal would bring together students who are now disciplinary problems into one building. The Shaw Middle School would be converted to other use, notwithstanding the very positive upbeat work now reported from that school. A recent vote provided that 75% of available seats in one new school could go to neighborhood children.

All of these proposals serve to increase racial separation and isolation in Boston schools. These are very significant proposals and JALSA is concerned that the Boston School Department would make such changes with very little time for public discussion. The Citywide Parents group tells JALSA that almost no input to these proposals has been encouraged from principals, faculty, parents and community. A vote is expected this week: Wednesday, December 18th. Members are urged to express concern to Mayor Menino, 617 635-4500.

Health Policy
AIDS activists have informed JALSA that a recent conference convened by the CDC to review federally funded HIV prevention efforts had a disproportionate representation from homophobic "Family First" groups that were pushing abstinence-based programs. A coalition of AIDS treatment and advocacy groups signed on to a document demonstrating how effective more culturally-competant programs are. The document urges that the CDC maintain these existing structures, and resist the excessive external interference in program management that is being driven by political agendas, rather than scientific imperative. Members who are concerned that right-wing political agendas might interrupt HIV prevention effort should read these additional materials and write the president, the Secretary of HHS, and their legislators.

See:http://jewishalliance.org/info/00000030.htm

Community Meeting on Kashrut Policy of local Nursing Home
Will Coolidge House Nursing Home remain a kosher facility?
Wednesday, December 18, 7:30 pm
Young Israel of Brookline, 62 Green Street
Brookline is in danger of loosing its only kosher nursing home.
Meeting to hear the nature of the problem and discuss potential action.
JALSA members may remember that the New England region of AJCongress
had been very much involved in the effots to get a license for this nursing home.
The state planning agencies had ruled that the home wasn't needed and we
provided research to those agencies to demonstrate the need.

4. OUR WISH LIST:

Volunteers: Our coalition on MCAS -- the Alliance for High Standards not High Stakes -- needs a lawyer to represent it (pro bono) in participating as amicus curiae in the anti-MCAS suit now filed in state court. If the state courts allow the business groups to intervene in this suit, the Alliance needs to file on behalf of all the groups who believe the single high-stakes graduation requirement is not authorized by law and impacts unfairly on minority students. The business groups had successfully intervened in the federal suit, so their participation in the state case is anticipated. The Alliance has already prepared a substantial amount of material for this brief.

Special Project support: JALSA would like to distribute copies of a Political Research Associates report on the Pioneer Institute to policy makers, business leaders and community activists, and is looking for donations so that we might purchase at least 75 copies of the study. One of the two authors of this report is our CPS (Citizens for Public Schools) research analyst Paul Dunphy. The Pioneer Institute is one of the right-wing think tanks established in recent years that provide materials to the media and public officials promoting privitization. The report details Pioneer's influence in the privatization of health care and education and outlines how privatization has lead to higher public costs, less public oversight and weakened public institutions. Pioneer is now believed to be taking aim at the court system in Massachusetts. JALSA would like to raise $500 for distribution of this report to opinion leaders.

Three donations of $50 each have already been received from JALSA leaders. If you would like to help facilitate the distribution of this report, please send your donations earmarked for this project to the JALSA office, Suite 320, 18 Tremont Street, Boston, 02108.

Office needs: JALSA continues to need additional clear image computer monitors and a multi-page fax. We are looking at production copiers to help make our office more efficient, but they are out of our reach financially at the moment. If you have access to such a copier or would like to help us purchase one, it would be very appreciated.

Can you help us by supplying any of these? Contact decter@jalsa.org

5. SUPPORT THE JEWISH ALLIANCE

The Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action is a new organization dedicated to being 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! This is the end of the tax year for many of our members.

Please keep JALSA in mind so that we can continue to make a difference.

6. EVENTS OF NOTE

ל ' ז

In Memorium
Chiae Herzig
Devoted her life to Jewish education and political activism
Worked tirelessly for Israel and Soviet Jewry
Served as president of the Women's Division of the American Jewish Congress
A Supporter of New England AJCongress and JALSA
Our condolences to her family in Waban and Maryland

Online Student Essay Contest
Sponsored by Massachuseetts League of Women Voters Citizen Education Fund
Judges needed to evaluate the student essays. It is all done online and runs until March 1, 2003. You can judge the three grade categories on your computer whenever you find the time. Contact
lwvma@lwv.org

Be a Drum Major for Peace
Martin Luther King Day Student Celebration

January 20, 2003

Northeastern University
Contests for Students in middle schools and high schools
Students can enter contests in art, poetry, and oratory
Sponsored by National Conference on Communities and Justice
Final oratory contest on MLK Day, January 20, 2003
All award winners announced at MLK Youth Forum
see: http://jewishalliance.org/info/00000034.htm for information on the contests.
see: http://jewishalliance.org/info/00000035.htm for information on the student forum and celebration

Lost Ground: Homeland Security for American's Poor
Tuesday, December 17, 6:30-8:30PM
Cambridge Public Library, 45 Pearl Street in Central Square
Boston Global Action Network Community Forums.
A conversation about poverty and the consequences of "welfare reform" in the world of the global economy.
Speakers: Ann Withorn and Randy Albelda.
Randy Albelda is Professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts in Boston and an activist around the family medical leave issue. Ann Withorn is an activist and a writer and Professor of Social Policy at the College of Public and Community Service at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. They have both just published the book, Lost Ground, on welfare reform and poverty and the political and economic dynamics underlying them.
Admission Free, Wheelchair Accessible, Food Provided. Information Phone: 617-497-5273 (Paul Shannon, American Friends Service Committee)

Leaflet with Star of David and other nursing home workers
Wednesday, December 18, and Friday, December 20, 2-4 pm
Walden Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, 785 Main Street, Concord, MA
Join with Star of David nursing home workers and their supporters to reach out to caregivers and families of residents with informational picketing. Star of David workers have organized a union with SEIU 285 to improve the quality of care and working conditions at the Kindred-owned nursing home where they work, and are still fighting for a contract. Kindred is one of the state’s largest for-profit nursing home chains. A recently released report showed that 22 out of 25 of Kindred's homes were below the Massachusetts average for staff hours per patient. Kindred even received taxpayer money to improve staffing and it's still cutting hours! At Star of David, these cuts will not only hurt the quality of service the clients receive, but represents over a 6 percent cut in the weekly pay of caregivers.

Community Servings Mitzvah
Community Servings is the home-delivered hot meals projects we helped to found.
Thank you to those who are preparing holiday baskets. If you are interested in delivering
holiday baskets on Saturday, 12/21 or delivering our holiday meal on 12/24, please
email Betsey at (btraver@servings.org). Because extra meals are delivered on
12/24, the regular drivers for community servings need extra help.

For your Reading and Viewing

Invasion of privacy since 9/11 is not way out there somewhere, but here.
See what's been happening on the U-Mass Amherst campus

“Citing Free Speech Concerns, ACLU of MA Seeks FBI Records on Campus Surveillance Activities December 12, 2002
The request was prompted by recent disclosures that a police officer at the University of Massachusetts campus at Amherst was recruited by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to spend several days a week working exclusively for its Anti-Terrorism Task Force. The arrangement came to light after FBI agents, apparently acting on the basis of information provided by the campus officer, questioned a faculty member and an organizer for a campus union. The faculty member is of Iraqi descent and the union organizer is from Sri Lanka. ….
See: http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=11452&c=206

Media coverage of Conflicts of Interest in Charter School Initiative in Massachusetts

by Citizens for Public Schools analyst Paul Dunphy
http://jewishalliance.org/info/00000031.htm

Articles on the President's Executive Orders on Faith-Based funding.

From the NYTimes on the President's Executive Orders on Faith Based Funding
 

Bush Will Allow Religious Groups to Receive U.S. Aid
"Under the new rule, organizations can accept public funds and then refuse to employ persons because they are Jewish, Catholic, unmarried, gay or lesbian," said Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts. "Rather than use the faith-based initiative to undermine our national commitment to civil rights, the president's executive order should have made clear that no organization receiving taxpayer money can discriminate in its services or its employment practices."
"No funds will be used to directly support inherently religious activities, yet no organization that qualifies for funds will ever been forced to change its identity," said the President.
www.nytimes.com/2002/12/13/politics/13BUSH.html

From the Washington Post
The order will continue to ban overt proselytizing in government-funded programs but allows grant recipients to maintain a religious tone and iconography.
Bush declared that "charities and faith-based programs should not be forced to change their character or compromise their mission" to receive federal money.
Bush's orders in fact closely follow the provisions of a compromise reached earlier this year by Sens. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) but never enacted. The executive actions significantly scale back a legislative version drafted by House Republicans with White House support, and the orders avoid the most controversial provisions of that legislation.
Significantly, Bush did not exempt religious groups that receive government grants from state and local hiring discrimination laws, a protection sought by some religious groups opposed to homosexuality and included in the House version of the legislation...
One order Bush signed explicitly allows religious groups serving as government contractors to hire on the basis of religion..... But Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) said the provision "violates one of the most fundamental principles of civil rights."
/www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47936-2002Dec12.html

Full text of the order
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/12/20021212-6.html

Fact sheet from the White House on this initiative
www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/12/20021212.html

If your computer allows you to listen to archived programming (eg. you have speakers and can go to the internet), the following programs may be of special interest:

Faith-based funding. The President's Executive Order Reported by NPR
Go to http://discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfId=875171
Morning Edition Thursday, December 12, 2002
Bush Set to Implement Faith Based Initiatives

What is the Fate of the Great American Middle Class
Squeezed - the top 1% Equals all of the Middle 5th
NOW with Bill Moyers (text)
Go to: www.pbs.org/now/politics/middleclass.html
December 13, 2002

Class in America
NOW with Bill Moyers
Go to: www.pbs.org/now/commentary/moyers7.html
May 3, 1902

Leaders of 48 American Catholic and Protestant organizations issue an open letter to President Bush opposing war with Iraq. Read the pastoral letter.
http://www.clal.org/update_links.html

This week: See:Muhammed, Wednesday, December 18
Channel 2 in Boston, 9 pm

Do you want to teach your children about social justice?
Diana Cohn and Francisco Delgado, author and illustrator of "Si, Se Puede! Yes, We Can" a children's book about the janitors' strike in LA told through the eyes of a boy who's mom is a janitor.

Nat Hantoff article in the Village Voice, commenting on the ACLU Campaign to Defend the Constitution, included two pertinent quotations:

"Shrouded in ambiguity and cloaked in deep secrecy, this administration continues to suddenly, and sometimes unexpectedly, drop its decisions upon the public and Congress, and expect obedient approval, without question, without debate, without opposition." -West Virginia Democratic senator Robert Byrd, West Virginia Gazette, June 29, 2002

"Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it." -Judge Learned Hand, speech delivered on "I Am an American Day," New York City, May 21, 1944

2nd Amendment on Right to Bear Arms

A recent ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, upholding California's ban on military-style assault weapons, could mean that the U.S. Supreme Court would have to address the interpretation of the Second Amendment, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Dec. 6.The appeals court essentially said that individuals have no constitutional right to bear arms, the direct opposite of a stance taken by U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft and a decision made last year by a federal appeals court in New Orleans."The amendment was adopted to ensure that effective state militias would be maintained, thus preserving the people's right to bear arms," wrote Judge Stephen Reinhardt for the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "The amendment was not adopted in order to afford rights to individuals with respect to private gun ownership or possession."

Persons who want more detailed information on weekly basis on gun control can go to the website www.jointogether.org to get their weekly news summary.

 

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