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Contents © 2004
by Jim Holman.
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NEWS
October 2004

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MAYBE GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER is only personally opposed to Nevada-style gambling in California. Though in the past he has voiced his opposition to the construction of casinos in urban areas, in order to obtain new state revenues, Schwarzenegger announced on August 19 an agreement with the 259-member Lytton band of the Pomo people over a mammoth casino that tribe wants to build in San Pablo. According to the August 17 and 20 Los Angeles Times, the proposed casino, to be built on the site of an existing card club, would have up to 5,000 slot machines and be as large as 500,000-600,000 square feet -- roughly the size of five Costcos. In return for the state's blessing of the venture, the casino would contribute up to 25 percent of its profits to state coffers. In addition, the Lytton band will receive exclusive rights to shot machines within a 35-mile radius. Under this deal, the state could receive $125 million in revenue a year, while the little city of San Pablo could get $4.8 annually.

Aides to Schwarzenegger say that, under federal law, he is compelled to negotiate with recognized tribes like the Lytton Pomo. In 2002 the tribe had received the casino as their homeland in exchange for its original tribal lands in Sonoma County. But Governor Gray Davis opposed the Lytton casino saying voters did not approve urban casinos in the 2000 ballot initiative which legalized Indian gambling in the state.

Governor Schwarzenegger concluded other negotiations with other tribes that run or wish to run gambling establishments and is looking to conclude agreements with more tribes. Such pacts could undermine the November ballot initiative, Proposition 68, which would require Indian casinos to pay 25 percent of their profits to the state or lose their monopoly on slot machines in the state.

But facing opposition from powerful Bay Area state legislators, the Lytton Pomo announced over the weekend of August 21-22 that they would cut down the number of slot machines in the proposed casino to 2,500. This satisfied state senate president pro-tem John Burton (D-San Francisco), who said, with this change, he would vote for the casino. How the latest change will effect the agreement with Schwarzenegger or the projected size of the complex remained unclear.

SCHWARZENEGGER ALSO WEIGHED IN in support of a California law that would grant most marriage benefits to domestic partnerships, said an August 25 Associated Press report. The law, passed by the legislature and signed by then-Governor Gray Davis last year, is set to go into effect January 1. Previous state legislation already gave domestic partners a host of spousal benefits -- including the right to adopt a partner's child. The latest legislation gives them the right to file joint income taxes and to petition courts for alimony and child support upon "divorce." But in a hearing before Sacramento superior court judge Loren McMasters, two sets of plaintiffs argued that the proposed law violates Proposition 22, the voter-approved measure that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. Plaintiffs' lawyers argued that the intent of Proposition 22 was to confer on unions of men and women alone, not just the name "marriage," but everything that pertains to it. Plaintiffs' attorney Robert Tyler argued that the proponents of the domestic partnership law should present it as a voter initiative to see if the people really wanted domestic partners to have the benefits of marriage without the name.

But Deputy Attorney General Kathy Lynch, arguing on behalf of Governor Schwarzenegger, said that if those who formulated Proposition 22 wanted it "to limit or prevent the Legislature from giving rights to other parties, they should have done so. When the people vote on an initiative, they only get to vote on what's in front of them, so you can't say they were voting on domestic partnerships here." Scott Emblidge, a lawyer representing Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, went further. The authors of Proposition 22, he said, made it ambiguous enough to hide its true scope. "There's a difference between what the voter's could have been told and what they were told," said Emblidge -- thus, perhaps, tacitly admitting that Proposition 22 does forbid domestic partners the benefits of marriage as well as the name.

CONSERVATIVES ON THE EAST COAST eagerly awaited Governor Schwarzenneger at the Republican national convention in New York City, said the August 31 Los Angeles Times. Why? Because, despite Arnold's support for abortion and gun control, and tolerance of homosexual marriage, Eastern conservatives think him their ideological champion. It seems they don't know how truly "moderate" the California governor is.

But it was precisely to give the convention a moderate face that Republicans had Schwarzenegger address the convention at which they would nominate George W. Bush for president. According to the Times, Schwarzenegger's aides said he would address the convention on why he was a Republican. In a similar address to the California Republican party in September 2003, Schwarzenegger said in his youth he recalled seeing Soviet tanks in his native Austria. "I'm a conservative," Schwarzenegger declared, "because I believe communism is evil and free enterprise is good."

The Times reported that the $350,000 price tag for Schwarzenegger's three day visit to New York "was being paid by corporations, including drug companies who oppose healthcare related bills that soon will land on his desk."

JUSTICE JOYCE KENNARD BROUGHT A WOMAN'S TOUCH to the California Supreme Court in her dissent to the majority decision that homosexual marriages sanctioned in San Francisco were "void from their inception and a legal nullity." She seemed to think the August 12 majority decision a trifle insensitive. "I concur in the judgment," she wrote in her "Concurring and Dissenting Opinion," "except insofar as it declares void some 4,000 marriages performed in reliance on the gender-neutral marriage licenses issued in the City and County of San Francisco." Though Kennard agreed that the marriage licenses are invalid, she wished to "refrain from determining ... in a proceeding from which the persons whose marriages are at issue have been excluded, the validity of the marriages solemnized under those licenses." To Kennard, if the marriage contracts are invalid in the eyes of the law, the marriages may still be valid in the eyes of the state or federal constitution. The court, she said, must decide on the "constitutionality of California laws restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples" before it can say "that the thousands of same-sex weddings performed in San Francisco were empty and meaningless ceremonies in the eyes of the law."

Waxing empathetic, Kennard wrote, "for many, marriage is the most significant and most highly treasured experience in a lifetime. Individuals in loving same-sex relationships have waited years, sometimes several decades, for a chance to wed, yearning to obtain the public validation that only marriage can give. In recognition of that, this court should proceed most cautiously in resolving the ultimate question of the validity of the same-sex marriages performed in San Francisco..."

The California supreme court, in a 5-2 decision, ruled that San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom exceeded his authority when, ignoring California law, he granted marriage licenses to homosexual couples. The court, however, refrained from deciding on the constitutionality of state law that limits marriage to a man and a woman.

IT WAS MORE OF A "COLLECTIVE HUG than a protest," said the August 14 San Francisco Chronicle of a demonstration staged at San Francisco city hall on the day following the state supreme court's decision voiding homosexual marriage licenses. According to the Chronicle, homosexual couples paraded through city hall, singing "'Chapel of Love' and other love-themed songs ... to express their gratitude and intention to continue fighting for equal marriage rights." Dressed in tuxedos and wedding dresses, about a dozen homosexual couples dropped off flowers and engagement certificates at the city clerk's office. City assessor Mabel Teng, who officiated at the first homosexual marriage, received two bouquets of yellow flowers, while Mayor Newsom's chambers rang with, "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." To the demonstrators -- or collective huggers -- Teng said, "this is your home... you're welcome anytime. We continue to support you." Teng promised to protect the marriage licenses as part of the city's historic record.

DEMOCRATS may introduce a same-sex marriage bill into the state assembly next year, said the August 14 Los Angeles Times. The same day as the hug-in at the San Francisco city hall, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) said homosexual marriage is "a modern-day civil rights issue;" a same-sex marriage bill, he said, "is controversial ... [but] I suspect it will go to the governor's desk."

Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) last spring pulled a same-sex marriage bill, the California License Nondiscrimination Act, from the assembly, because, he said, he did not have enough votes. The bill would have removed the terms "male" and "female," "man" and "woman" from the California Family Code, replacing them with "person" and "persons." The new language would apply to all but one section of the code (section 308.5), which deals with marriages performed out of state, where language from Proposition 22, the initiative that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, appears. Leno says he will reintroduce the bill next legislative session. Though polls show most Californians do not support same-sex marriage, Leno is confident that this will change. Homosexual couples "married" in San Francisco have put a human face on the issue. "Time is on our side," Leno said. "With every month, public support grows."

WOULD GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER sign or veto a same-sex marriage bill? According to the August 14 Times, the answer is uncertain. In June of this year, asked about the issue, Schwarzenegger said, "I don't care one way or the other." In a radio interview on August 13, the governor said nothing about how he would deal with same-sex legislation. Rather, Arnold reflected: "I think right now our law says that we don't accept same-sex marriage.... If the people change their minds, then so be it. If the courts change their mind, then so be it. Then we will follow those laws."

AMONG THOSE HOMOSEXUAL couples "married" in San Francisco last spring was a teacher at Oakland's Bishop O'Dowd High School and his boyfriend, said the August 20 San Francisco Chronicle. The 2003-04 academic year was Doug Neff's first at O'Dowd, where he taught "story and ritual" and introductory classes on the Old and New Testaments. Neff said he kept his sexual orientation from students, though he confided in some faculty members. But some students found Neff's blog spot on the web -- an online journal with photographs and commentary. After Neff and his "partner," Corey Rothermel, celebrated their nuptials at San Francisco city hall, pictures of the event were posted on Neff's website. Just before spring break, O'Dowd administrators informed Neff that his contract would not be renewed. They gave him no explanation.

Rumors at O'Dowd, however, suggested Neff was dismissed for his "marriage" to Rothermel. Finally, according to Neff, Basilian Father Donald McCleod, O' Dowd's principal, admitted to Neff that the marriage was indeed the cause; but McCleod said his superiors (presumably Oakland bishop Allen Vigneron and diocesan schools superintendent Mark DeMarco) had ordered him to dismiss Neff.

O'Dowd is known for its toleration of homosexuality. This past spring, O' Dowd decided to keep a teacher, Lisa Newman, who had a sex-change and now calls herself Tim. The school also staged the play, The Laramie Project, about the murder of homosexual student Tim Shepard.

BUT IS IT LEGAL? Asked by the Chronicle about whether O'Dowd's firing is a violation of Neff's civil rights, a constitutional lawyer, James Sweeney, who specializes in First Amendment issues, said that, generally, "matters of religious conscience are protectable interests that the law needs to accommodate whenever possible." But, said Shannon Minter, legal director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Neff might be protected by California's anti-discrimination law. The Fair Employment and Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation but makes some exceptions for religious institutions. Neff could be dismissed if he were performing religious duties, but, said Minter, it is unclear whether teaching a religious class is the same as instilling religious beliefs. Also, since a good number of O'Dowd students are not Catholic, the exemption may not apply to Neff's case. Neff did file a complaint with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing, but the case was not accepted for investigation.

A BILL THAT WOULD CHANGE the definition of "hate crimes" to include "gender" passed the state assembly's appropriations committee in August, said an e-mail alert sent out by the American Family Association. Sheila Kuehl's (D-Los Angeles) SB 1234 would define gender in state law as a "person's gender identity and gender related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person's assigned sex at birth." It would thus include homosexuals, trans- and bi-sexuals, and transvestites. The bill would penalize a person or persons who, "whether or not acting under color of law, interferes by threats, intimidation, or coercion," or who "attempts to interfere by threats, intimidation, or coercion, with the exercise or enjoyment by any individual or individuals of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or of the rights secured by the Constitution or laws of this state." According to the American Family Association, "under SB 1234, individuals could claim that someone expressing their sincerely held beliefs presents an 'intimidating' threat, punishable under the law. Even various forms of peaceful conduct, such as prayer vigils outside abortion clinics, could potentially be considered a 'threat of force.'"

The full house had to vote on the measure by August 31 before it could be submitted to the governor for his signature or veto.

QUEERS OF BOTH SEXES were to auction themselves off for dates at the El Rio Bar on Mission in San Francisco on August 26, said the August 21 San Francisco Chronicle. It was to be a benefit for the San Francisco-based Youth Services Project, which provides services to (according to its mission statement) "trans, gender-variant and questioning" young people. Said Brooklyne Thomas, a spokesman/woman for the Project (he/she was "born a male and lives as a female," according to the Chronicle), the benefit was to serve up a veritable smorgasbord of queers. "We have trans men, we have trans women, we have gender queers and we have lesbians," Thomas said. "Almost anyone can come and see somebody onstage that they want to hang out with."

Queer celebrities were also to be auctioned off to the highest bidder (bidding was to start at $10.) Top dollar could buy one a date with "transsexual rock star and political activist Shawna Virago and gender queer revolutionary and gender theorist Seely Quest," said the Chronicle. But, perhaps, as a warning to those thinking money could buy a loving, long-term relationship (or something else), the Chronicle added that "participants will go on a date for one night only, with no commitment other than that they will be together for the evening."

CHARTER SCHOOLS UNDERPERFORM traditional public schools, said data acquired by the federal department of education. According to the August 14 New York Times, the data on charter schools was gleaned from the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress by the American Federation of Teachers. The data shows that fourth graders attending charter schools lag behind their counterparts in traditional public schools by about a half-year in reading and mathematics. Test results were broken down according to income, race, and ethnicity -- comparing students of charter schools (most of which are in cities and poor neighborhoods) with traditional public school students of the same socio-economic background. "The scores are low, dismayingly low," Chester E. Finn Jr., a supporter of charter schools, told the Times. But, said Finn, the results could reflect the predominance in these schools of students who failed in traditional public schools. Finn said charter schools need to be made more accountable. "Somebody needs to be watching over their shoulders," he said.

Though state tests on charters reflect the national test, one test gives more favorable results. According to a two-year study conducted by Tom Loveless with the Brookings Institution, though students at charters score lower on tests, they actually progress faster over time than students at traditional public schools.

LAST MARCH, CALIFORNIA STATE senator Shelia Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) authored a bill at the behest of California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Law Task Force. The bill, SB 1313, was co-sponsored by Republican assemblywoman Shirley Horton (R-Chula Vista).

Pro-family groups are outraged at the bill, since it would strip current child abuse reporting requirements for volunteers who work with children. Under current law, mandated reporters, including volunteers, who have a reasonable suspicion that a child is being abused, are required to report this to authorities. Kuehl's bill drops this requirement for volunteers and instead "encourages" reporting. In addition, the bill modifies current law to allow for consensual sexual relations between minors. Under the current law, an organization such as Planned Parenthood is required to report when a young girl comes into their clinics pregnant. This law is intended to protect young girls who are seduced by older boys. Kuehl's bill removes this reporting requirement. Under Kuehl's bill, a seventeen year boy cannot be reported for having sex with a 14 year old girl, regardless of the circumstances.

IT CAME AS A SURPRISE to some that Assemblywoman Horton, a Republican, would co-sponsor a bill with Kuehl. A legislative staffer in Horton's office said the assemblywoman had not intended to sponsor the bill. "She never intended to be a co-sponsor, she didn't even sign her name," said the staffer. "It was rubber-stamped by her former legislative director." But how could Horton's name appear on legislation that she did not support? The staffer (who asked not to be identified) said that when the bill was first introduced, Horton's legislative director (whom the Faith has identified as Chris Barman) had not told her he had signed her on to co-sponsor the bill. After he left Horton's office to work in the Schwarzenegger administration, new staffers took over his duties and said they were not aware of the bill. Purportedly the bill came to Horton's attention five months after she signed on.

"That's the worst excuse I have ever heard," said James Hartline, who issues the newsletter, the Hartline Report, covering pro-family issues. "What does that say about the qualifications of her staffers?" Hartline pointed out that, like Kuehl, Horton is pro-abortion.

When told of Harline's comments, Horton's staffer replied, "in a sense he has a good point. Our legislative director had left to work for the governor 's office, we had a new chief of staff, and I didn't have the experience. Last time I looked, people can make mistakes."

THEY CAN'T GET ENOUGH of the musical Godspell in the diocese of Oakland. In March, the diocesan paper, the Catholic Voice, announced that seventh and eighth grade students at St. Paul school in San Pablo were performing the psychedelic era musical. Now, according to the August 9 Voice, a theatre ensemble, called the Ruach (Hebrew for "breath," "life" or "spirit") Players will travel about performing Godspell. The Ruach Players was formed by Father Mark Wiesner, pastoral administrator of St. Augustine parish in Oakland. Father Wiesner gave up acting after entering the seminary in 1990. Then, in 2003, he auditioned for Evita, in which he got a part in the ensemble. "Doing 'Evita' actually energized my ministry," Wiesner told the Voice. "My ministry was fed off of doing theatre, which was life-giving for me. My preaching got better (along with) my presiding." To unite his "gift for ministry" with his "gift for performance," Wiesner formed the Ruach Players.

According to the Voice, the Ruach Players have performed Godspell for a number of parish fundraisers in the Oakland diocese. In June they performed a full production at Chanticleers Theatre in Oakland. Wiesner, who plays Judas Iscariot as well as John the Baptist in the production, says the musical has inspired those alienated from the Church with a desire to return.

DOMINICANS SERVE THE DEAF. According to a Catholic News Service article, a new religious community for deaf men is forming, the Dominican Missionaries for the Deaf Apostolate, under the direction of Father Thomas Coughlin, the administrator of St. Benedict Parish for the Deaf in San Francisco. It is the first such community for the deaf in the United States. Eight candidates are scheduled to enter the novitiate in August; ranging in age from 23 to 46, they will live at the convent at Assumption Parish in San Leandro and will study at St. Dominic's parish and novitiate in San Francisco -- where they will be taught the basics of Dominican life, as well as how to provide pastoral care using sign language. "Deaf priests and religious brothers need to live in their cultural milieu as deaf persons," said Father Coughlin. "History has proved that integrating deaf candidates into hearing religious communities is difficult, if not impossible." According to Coughlin, deaf people will be more likely to persevere in their vocation if they can use sign language in all aspects of their lives.

The group will be an autonomous congregation, reporting only to Oakland's Bishop Allen Vigneron. The men were to receive their habits, white tunics with black scapulars, at a September 2 ceremony.

ALLEGED VICTIMS of molestation by clergy have charged that the diocese of Stockton has pulled a fast one on them. According to the August 18 Los Angeles Times, on December 20, 2002, the Stockton diocese transferred title to the Cathedral of the Annunciation and 41 other properties to 23 newly created corporations. This was shortly before the law removing the statute of limitations for civil molestation suits went into effect. Rick Simons, a Hayward victims' lawyer, accused Stockton on August 17 of "shuffling and hiding assets the way they shuffled and hid molester priests." But though Stockton diocesan lawyer Paul Balestracci, according to the Times, denied Simons' charge, he said the diocese considered its potential liability when it made the transfers. Balestracci said the bishop still controls other Church assets.

Victims' lawyers are looking at similar transfers in the dioceses of San Diego, Orange, and Baker, Oregon. Said victims' Costa Mesa lawyer Venus Soltan, "we are concerned that what we see in Stockton might be part of a systemic effort throughout the state to avoid the claims of the victims by transferring, obscuring or failing to disclose assets."

A JUDGE IN OAKLAND ordered Northern California bishops to turn over internal documents touching on priests accused of molesting minors, said the August 6 San Francisco Chronicle. The August 5 ruling by Alameda County superior court judge Ronald Sabraw gave the dioceses until September 10 to give the court clergy personnel records, psychotherapy reports, sub secreto files, and others concerning priests accused of molestation in about 150 lawsuits. Sub secreto files are those which, by canon law, are to be held in the strictest secrecy; only the bishop is to have access to them. But the existence of these files in Northern California dioceses is disputed, said the Chronicle.

Diocesan lawyers have requested mediation of the lawsuits rather than having them brought to trial. Counsel for alleged molestation victims, however, called the request just another stalling tactic and have asked Judge Sabraw to set trial dates.

THE CITY OF OAKLAND "is trying to promote so-called lavender events," said the August 14 San Francisco Chronicle. Perhaps this is scarcely surprising since, according to the Chronicle, Oakland has more lesbians per capita than any other big city in the United States. It also ranks behind only San Francisco and Seattle, Washington, in the number of homosexual households. The lavender events for August included Out at the Ball Park (with lesbians and gays attending an Oakland Athletics game), Bay Area Black in the Life (a festival to celebrate African-American homosexuals), and Lavender Seniors ("honoring gay and lesbian senior citizens of African American descent.")

A SALVADORAN MAN accused of conspiring in the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero was tried in a Fresno court, said an August 24 Associated Press article. Alvara Rafael Saravia, a retired Salvadoran military officer, is alleged to have received from former Salvadoran president Roberto D'Aubuisson an order to transport an assassin, a member of the Salvadoran security service, to a hospital chapel where Romero was scheduled to say Mass on March 24, 1980. The day before, the archbishop in a radio address to the entire country had called on the military to cease killing civilians. Romero was killed while saying Mass. As archbishop of San Salvador, Romero spoke out against El Salvador's military regime, which was responsible for death squads that murdered thousands of Salvadorans.

The suit against Saravia was brought by the San Francisco-based Center for Justice and Accountability in behalf of Archbishop Romero's brother. The plaintiffs are suing Saravia under the U.S. federal laws, the Tort Claims Act of 1789 and the Torture Victim Act of 1991, both of which allow U.S. courts to try foreigners charged with torture or assassinations even if the crimes were committed outside the United States; the defendant only has to have had some contact with the United States. The hearings,which were scheduled to run until August 27, were held without Saravia or his counsel. He was no longer at his latest address and had no counsel in court to represent him.

On September 3, Judge Wanger ruled that Saravia was responsible for organizing the murder of Archbishop Romero and ordered Saravia to pay $10 million to Romero's brother.

THE CALIFORNIA CATHOLIC CONFERENCE and Catholic activists seemed generally pleased with the state's $105.4 billion budget, said the August 21 Catholic Herald, the newspaper of the diocese of Oakland. Al Hernandez, a conference lobbyist, said "we view the final budget as a victory for the poor in California," though he said the conference realized that it depended on borrowing. Hernandez said he was pleased that money for naturalization was not cut and that welfare recipients would receive a cost of living increase.

Sister of Social Service Simone Campbell, who directs the Sacramento-based interfaith advocacy group, Jericho, said the budget "wasn't as bad as it started out to be" in its original form last January. "The Democrats did a good job of protecting the most vulnerable in tough times," she said. But Sister Simone noted that Governor Schwarzenegger cut $17 million from foster care "at a time when everyone says services should be expanded in this area." In signing the budget on July 31, Schwarzenegger used his line item veto power to cut $116 million in health and human services, education and environmental programs.

The answer to the budget shortfall said Campbell and other Catholic activists is to reopen the question of raising taxes. "Corporate taxes have remained steady for the last 10 years," Hernandez said. "It's time for corporations to step up to the plate and do their share for the state."

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