ACLU of Santa Cruz County, CA

A UCSC Rally was held at Bay Tree Bookstore in May 2008 in support of immigration reform and against ICE raids. ACLU Board member Mike Rotkin spoke at the rally as a representative from the ACLU and the Santa Cruz City Council about Constitutional rights and immigrants. There were about 200 students present.

Arranged by the Inside Out Writing Project of the UCSC Women's Center, the week will include events throughout the week designed to inform people of issues related to the fast growing prison system in America.

The Inside Out Writing Project has set up a weeklong event entitled Prison Industrial Complex Awareness Week. ACLU-Santa Cruz Chapter has signed on as a sponsor of this event. Throughout the week of May 19^th through May 24^th events will take place on the UCSC campus with the following goals in mind:

Since at least 2005 there has been an alarming amount of instances in which a combination of UCSC, Santa Cruz, and other police forces have used physical force against students and other protesters on campus. A variety of methods have been used and most have been documented by photos and videos, some of which have been linked to below. More recently, the tree-sitters and their supporters protesting the Long Range Development have been subjected to violent scenes that may inhibit their right to free speech and assembly. This includes arresting individuals who attempt to pass food up to the tree-sitters. Anti-trespassing and camping laws have been cited as cause to keep the peace.

Is this necessary?

Related YouTube videos:
    KSBW story on Novemeber LRDP protest and tree sitters.

2005 Tent University Protest (student video)
 

UC Santa Cruz’s 24th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Convocation on January 30, 2008 features a talk by Julian Bond, chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Bond will speak on the topic “Civil Rights, Then and Now.” For more information, see the notice on the University of California at Santa Cruz website:

http://www.ucsc.edu/news_events/text.asp?pid=1800

The event, which is open to the public, will take place at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium.