[ACLU-NM] ACLU Membership Conference News Advisory!

[Kimberly Lavender]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 2, 2004

CONTACT: Paul Silva, ACLU Nat'l
(212) 549-2689 or 2666

NEW YORK - Thousands of "card-carrying" members and supporters of the
American Civil Liberties Union will convene in San Francisco from July 6-8
for the organization's second annual membership conference, to meet with and
hear from some of the nation's top political leaders and policy makers.

In addition to ACLU leaders, confirmed speakers and program participants at
the conference include: Richard Clarke, former member of the National
Security Council and author of Against All Enemies; Seymour Hersh, Pulitzer
Prize-winning investigative journalist whose reports in the New Yorker
helped expose prisoner torture in Abu Ghraib; Gavin Newsom, Mayor of San
Francisco; Coleen Rowley, FBI whistleblower; Bob Barr, former U.S.
Representative; Arianna Huffington, nationally syndicated columnist and
author; John Sayles, Oscar-nominated director and political satirist; Eve
Ensler, activist and "The Vagina Monologues" playwright.

The conference program includes panel sessions and workshops on some of the
most important topics facing Americans today, including marriage for
same-sex couples, racial profiling, domestic spying, new challenges to
reproductive freedom, and balancing our need for national security with our
right to personal privacy. The conference will end with a spirited debate
between former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and current Colorado Governor
Bill Owens on the role of civil liberties in the war on terror.

During the intensive three-day conference, members will be able to dispatch
messages to lawmakers through the ACLU Action Center, an information and
communications hub for instant political activity. The Membership Conference
will also celebrate freedom of expression with an array of world-renowned
artists, writers and entertainers at the ACLU Dinner and Gala Tribute to the
First Amendment on July 7th. As part of the closing ceremonies on July 8th,
classic rock legend Jefferson Starship will pay a special tribute to the
ACLU and its defense of First Amendment freedoms.

For a conference agenda and complete list of confirmed speakers to date, go
to http://www.aclu.org/2004memberconf/Program/program.htm

To register for press credentials, go to
http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=15880&c=207