O.C.’s ACLU: ‘Making a Comeback’

The American Civil Liberties Union has jumped into the recent Little Saigon brouhaha over free speech rights. Officials said Wednesday that they will help defend a video rental store owner who angered many fellow Vietnamese by posting a picture of Communist Ho Chi Minh in his shop.

However you feel about the store owner’s rights, seeing the ACLU back in action is a welcome sign. It’s been away too long.

“We’ve been in a slump,” admits Sy Grassman of Huntington Beach, a longtime ACLU activist in Orange County. “But we’re making a comeback.”

The organization hasn’t been a power player here since the 1980s, when it took on then-Sheriff Brad Gates and the Board of Supervisors on the issue of overcrowding at the Orange County Jail.

The ACLU will defend anybody it believes has had his or her civil rights violated--which leads people to love them or loathe them.

I can remember seeing Gates wince at the mere mention of the ACLU. With good reason.

The ACLU was kicking him all around the courthouse in that jail case. And with every pounce, its lawyers were scoring points with a federal judge. It led to a dramatic overhaul of the county’s inmate bed space.

But that was a dozen years ago. Little has been heard about the ACLU in Orange County in recent times.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, based in Los Angeles, lists Orange County as one of its few “non-actives” among its 15 chapters. But Executive Director Ramona Ripston says that’s about to change. The Orange County chapter, she said, is undergoing a revitalization.

It has a new, enthusiastic president, patent attorney D.J. Meincke of Irvine, and a new slate of officers who say they want to make the ACLU an important player here again. But that will take time.

True, the ACLU has agreed to assist Orange County attorney Ron Talmo, once one of its board members, in the Little Saigon case.

But that’s still essentially a Los Angeles-backed effort. What Ripston wants to see is an Orange County chapter that can carry such cases on its own.

That used to be standard here. The jail overcrowding issue helped revive ACLU interest in this county. After that, the chapter raised funds to hire its first full-time attorney, set up an office in Costa Mesa and hired someone to staff it. A lawyer support group swelled to 25 active attorneys.

Grassman is proud of some of the issues it tackled. Like a case where some area hospitals were not informing rape victims that they had the option not to follow all the recommended procedures for treatment after being raped.

But the attorney group eventually faded away. The staff member is long gone, and last summer its Costa Mesa office closed.

Call the ACLU here now and you get a voice that says if you feel your civil liberties have been violated, call the Legal Aid Society. Talk about passing the buck.

When I left a message, no one returned my telephone call. But Grassman says that’s because the voice you hear is a fellow who quit last year.

Grassman, a retired parcel post worker who is not an attorney, is credited by the Los Angeles headquarters with helping keep the Orange County chapter alive.

“Those of us who are veterans have been begging the younger ones to take over; now I think they’re doing it,” he said.

The new president, Meincke, has only been in Orange County a year. He immediately plunged into the ACLU, he said, because it’s a strong vehicle for advancing civil rights causes. His goal is to make the ACLU so appealing here--both to lawyers and to community activists--that callers won’t have to seek help elsewhere.

Grassman believes every county in America needs an ACLU presence:

“You always need somebody willing to take on the longshot case, someone for the underdog. We have had some clients who are slime, but we represent the principle, not the individual.”

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Monday and Thursday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling (714) 564-1049 or by e-mail at jerry.hicks@latimes.com.