Alaska Wants to Know:

If you're an unmarried mother in Alaska applying for welfare aid, the government wants to know who you're sleeping with. And the number of times you had sex with the child's father. And during which "'incident"' you believe the child was conceived (give date and place). And the names, addresses, dates and locations at which you had sex with anyone else. And whether you are currently involved in a sexual relationship.

A form including all the above questions is routinely given to Alaska women applying for Aid to Dependent Children. Its disclosure recently sparked a flurry of indignation in the state legislature. Several state representatives have called for defunding the agency responsible for the questionnaire.

The form was the brainchild of the Child Support Enforcement Agency (CSEA), charged by the federal government to establish paternity for illegitimate children, track down the fathers, and obtain child support.

New Evidence on Shakur

New York (LNS)--New evidence points to collaboration among the FBI, New York Police Department and other government agencies targeting black militant Assata Shakur, her supporters announced at a March 21 press conference. The evidence, contained in FBI files finally released to her lawyers, outlines the COINTELPRO campaign against Shakur and other black activists nationwide. The conference was held the same day that press New York State moved to drop the last of its charges against Shakur, paving the way for her to start serving a life sentence in New Jersey on charges of murder stemming from a 1973 "shoot-first-and-askquestion-later" attack by New Jersey State Troopers.

Shakur and two others were stopped for "speeding slightly" and then fired on by the troopers. Zayd Shakur and a state trooper were killed during the shoot-out.

At the press co ference, supporters charged that Shakur's arrest and the subsequent shoot-out were a result of a spate of police theories and media reports coining Shakur as the “soul and queen of the Black Liberation Army." Though Shakur at the time was sought by police under six indictments, the government has failed to obtain a conviction on any of these charges to date.

Assata Shakur was a hunted person. A member of her legal defense committee described how COINTELPRO targeted her. "Whenever there was a black woman involved in a bank robbery or any other criminal act, Assata's name inevitably popped up as as suspect, identified, or a co-conspirator in the act. Given the nature of the charges leveled against her, particularly the shooting of a cop, she was a shoot-tokill target. Quite naturally she feared for her life." Attorneys for Shakur have filed a motion to halt her transfer from an all-male New Jersey prison to the even more restrictive maximum security wing of the federal prison in Alderson, West Virginia. They are also in the process of filing a suit charging that her civil rights were violated by government-inspired myths about her activities.

the feminist funnies by nicole hollander

They threw in

jat me; pushed

me into the Mod; caftred

with Sline

obvieast you were provocative.

NATIONAL

How's Your Sex Life?

"We need a strong case to prove paternity in court," CSEA director Phil Nash said in defense of the questionnaire.

Although the agency was ostensibly created to help women obtain support payments from delinquent fathers, it has concentrated instead on harassing welfare mothers. Only 9 out of 844 cases handled by CSEA this year involved nonwelfare women. "What they are doing," said one state representative, "is requiring women to cooperate with the CSEA in filling out this form and filing suit against the fathers as a condition for receiving help."

--The Guardian April, 1978

Patri Sentenced to 10 Years Last year, Jennifer Patri's ex-husband attacked her and threatened her with a knife, enraged because she refused to let him visit their teenage daughter, whom he had been sexually abusing. He had beaten her many times during their marriage, and terrified, Jennifer grabbed a shotgun and killed him. For this she was convicted of man. slaughter in December, 1977. On February 22, 1978, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison, Wisconsin's maximum manslaughter sentence. Patri's defense committee believes that the Governor will be responsive to public sympathy. Letters and wires requesting her pardon should be sent to: Governor Martin Schreiber State Capitol Madison, Wisconsin 53702

Max Factor Retracts Ad

More/cpf

(Her Say)--Max Factor, the maker of cosmetics for women, has agreed to withdraw its promotional ad campaign for a skin moisturizer called "SelfDefense.'

Cropping up on billboards around the country, the advertising display had read: "Warning: A pretty face isn't safe in this city. Fight back with selfdefense."

The company said this month that it was rede-. signing the ad campaign after being deluged with letters and complaints from women's groups around the country which charged that the billboards made a mockery of women trying to defend themselves.

How?

By Flaunting

your Cleanliness

Stovall Saves Ky. ERA

(Her Say)--A long-time backer of the Equal Rights Amendment, Lieutenant Governor Thelma Stovall recently vetoed the Kentucky Legislature's effort to rescind its passage of the ERA. Kentucky's state constitution allows a lieutenant governor to act in the governor's place when the chief executive is out of town.

Aides to Kentucky's Governor Julian Caroll have denied that Carroll left town so that Stovall could ax the anti-ERA measure in his absence. Kentucky initially ratified the ERA in 1972.

Stovall claimed that in vetoing the resolution, the Legislature lacked the legal power to take back its earlier ratification. ERA opponents in the current Legislature say they plan to go to court to contest Stovall's right to veto a constitutional resolution. Hundreds of thank-you telegrams are pouring in from ERA supporters all over the country.

“Massive Action” on ERA NOW Goal

Forced to acknowledge the inadequacy of its lobbying and electoral efforts, the National Organization for Women (NOW) last month announced new plans for winning ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. NOW announced a "state of emergency" for passage of the ERA after four Southern states defeated the measure in 1978 sessions. With less than a year to go before the March 22, 1979 deadline, the ERA is still three states short of rati. fication. A measure to extend the time limit for another seven years is tied up in a congressional subcommittee.

New Jersey NOW called for the national board to endorse "a massive, visible action" to be held in conjunction with the NOW national conference. The proposal was accepted at a national board meeting last month, and plans are underway for a march and rally in Washington, D.C. on July 9. Participants will be asked to wear white, a symbol of the early suffrage movement.

Other local NOW groups have also expressed reservations about dropping work on other projects-such as abortion rights and affirmative action--to concentrate solely on the ERA campaign. The connection between the anti-ERA forces and other antifeminist, right-wing issues was demonstrated in Pittsburgh recently, when an anti-abortion group declared opposition to the ERA.

The announcement of People Concerned for the Unborn Child came a day after 200 Pittsburgh ERA supporters rallied March 22 to demand extension of the ratification deadline. The spokesperson for the antiabortion organization said the group opposes the ERA because passage could jeopardize antiabortion legislation.

Meanwhile, several NOW chapters have called for public demonstrations supporting the ERA and the deadline extension. Activities planned include an April 29 march and rally in Chicago; a rally in St. Louis April 30; and a statewide rally in New Orleans May 13.

--The Guardian April, 1978

A PRETTY FACE ISNT SAFE IN THIS CITY PROTECT YOURSELF WITH

SELF DEFENSE

SKIN

Hoisturne

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