Lawyer To Discuss New McCarthyism:

During her recent book tour, Ann Fagan Ginger stated that “the U.S. is now in a period that is harsher and more deleterious than the McCarthy era of the 1950s … UCLA and its professors are among the latest targets with a Bruin Alumni Association specifically targeting professors ’who just can’t stop talking about President Bush.’”On Saturday, March 11, Ginger will detail why she believes that this period is “worse than the McCarthy period” and what can be done to fight back, at a brunch in Santa Monica hosted by the Americans for Democratic Action, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the National Lawyers Guild and The Paul Robeson Community Center.Ginger will also delineate some new “paths for action” that people can take in their communities and on campuses to protect human rights and democracy, and to assist in getting the U.S. out of the war in Iraq. Ginger is executive director of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute (MCLI), a think tank in Berkeley that she founded, which uses peace law and reporting to stop violations by government officials at all levels. A lawyer and retired professor, she does frequent radio commentaries, based in part on her experiences in the McCarthy era, when she won a case in the U.S. Supreme court against the Ohio UnAmerican Activities Commission. On a local level, Ginger convinced the Berkeley City Council to adopt a Human Rights Ordinance based on the UN Charter that changed actions and attitudes in that city’s administration.This is the fortieth anniversary of the Institute, which Ginger founded in 1965. Linus Pauling and Justice Frank Newman were founding board members. It has trained 400 college and law school interns on ways to use the UN Charter and the UN human rights reporting treaties in their work on many issues. It has published 17 books, from “The Cold War Against Labor” to “Challenging U.S. Human Rights Violations Since 9/11.”Ginger will receive the Elaine Black and Karl Yoneda Award from the Southwest Labor Studies Association at UCLA on Friday, and she will go from here to New York to testify before the United Nations.The brunch will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday morning in a private home in Santa Monica. Suggested donation is $25, which will benefit the Institute.For reservations or more information about the brunch, contact (310) 458-7213.