ACTIVIST
Cultural background can affect legal decisions in the
courtroom. Alison Dundes Renteln, a professor of politi-
cal science and anthropology at the University of Southern
California will be speaking on minority rights and cultural
bias in the courtroom in her talk “The Right to Culture as a
Human Right: Religious Liberty, Gender Violence and the
Cultural Defense,” at the UO Jan. 29.
Renteln says that in her opinion, actions that cause
“inoperable harm” to another individual should not be
changed due to cultural background. However, she says
culture should help create the context in each case that is
presided upon.
“I’ll be talking about a range of cases where people
were motivated by cultural imperative or cultural consider-
ations,” Renteln says.
Renteln, author of the book The Cultural Defense, spe-
cializes in discussing whether judges should take religion
SOCIAL ACTIVIST
HARSHA WALIA
TO SPEAK AT UO
Author and social activist Harsha Walia is best known
for co-founding the Vancouver chapter of the movement
No One Is Illegal, a network of anti-racist groups that
campaign for and represent non-resident immigrants. Her
book explores immigrant rights movements through an
international look at capitalism, labor exploitation, settler
colonialism, state building and racialized empire. In it, she
CONTINUED P. 10 >>>
MIKE GRUDZIEN
BY PAUL NEEVEL
CULTURAL BIAS IN
THE COURTROOM
as a defense in court cases and has been working the last
20 years to shine light on cultural bias in our legal sys-
tem. For example, a baptized Sikh may be required to wear
a ceremonial dagger called a kirpan as a symbol of reli-
gious commitment, but someone else might see a kirpan
as a weapon, and that creates a cultural and possible legal
conflict.
“It’s a question of how much adjustment should be
made,” Renteln says. “I think we need to be flexible where
we can, even if it’s beyond our comfort level.”
One of Renteln’s biggest accomplishments in creating
more awareness is writing the article “Making Room for
Culture in the Court,” which was published in The Judges
Journal and received by every judge in the country.
Although she knows that not every person will agree
with her on such a controversial subject, her goal, she says,
is to get the conversation started.
“I’m hoping people will come away with an under-
standing of worldview and how that affects our legal sys-
tem,” Renteln says.
Renteln’s free lecture, “The Right to Culture as a Hu-
man Right: Religious Liberty, Gender Violence and the
Cultural Defense,” will be held at 3:30 pm Jan. 29 in the
Ben Linder Room of the EMU at the UO. — Kevin Sullivan
HAPPENING PEOPLE
or sexually. In the survey, 19 percent of respondents reported
being turned down for housing due to their gender expres-
sion.
“We see a lot of homelessness, particularly in young
people,” Cleveland says. “They are asked to leave or feel
like the safest thing to do is to leave the homes of their par-
ents and guardians.” When that happens, she says, some
people live on the streets and resort to unsafe survival tac-
tics that further threaten their well-being.
While the amendment is partly a housekeeping measure
to make Eugene’s code consistent with the state’s, advo-
cates for transgender rights say that protections against dis-
crimination in employment, housing and elsewhere are vital
to protecting a group that experiences a lot of prejudice.
“This affirms to vulnerable populations within Eugene
that the city of Eugene is there and supportive of this popu-
lation,” Cleveland says. — Shannon Finnell
“I started work as a bus boy when I was
14,” says Mike Grudzien, then a Catholic-
school kid in Northwest Chicago. “I’ve
never not worked.” A straight-A student, he
pumped gas during high school, put in a
year at Wright College, then joined the
Marines. “I was looking for adventure and
college benefits,” says Grudzien, who
served on embassy security duty in
Bucharest, Romania. He made sergeant in
22 months, but he left active duty to
return to college and earned a master’s
degree in advertising from the University
of Illinois. He worked in ad marketing and
in computer wholesale, then ventured into
telecom after the breakup of Ma Bell. “In
15 years I worked for nine different
companies,” says Grudzien, who moved to
Eugene in 1995. “A thousand businesses
knew me as Mike the phone guy.” During
the past year he has become “Mike the
Mead Guy,” national sales director for Blue
Dog Mead of Eugene. “By the end of 2014
we’ll be in 20 states,” he notes. A dedicated
community volunteer, Grudzien has
served 30 hours at the Egan Warming
Center this winter. He made his 100th
blood donation earlier this month. Also a
fitness buff, he does 1,000 crunches
before 7 am every day, in the gym, at
home or on the road. He plans to perform
12,000 crunches in a fundraiser for
Womenspace on May 18. To learn more,
look for Mike Grudzien on Facebook and
LinkedIn.
LERT
• A film screening of Ocean Frontiers will begin
about 5:45 pm Thursday, Jan. 23, at the UO School of
Law, Room 175. Mayor Kitty Piercy will introduce the
film and a panel of local experts will discuss the film at
about 7 pm, followed by a reception. Live music, beer,
wine and refreshments are planned. $5 suggested
donation. See ocean-frontiers.org for more information.
• Local climate recovery activists and affiliated
groups are forming a new 350.org group with a meeting
at 7 pm Thursday, Jan. 23, at First United Methodist
Church (small chapel), 1376 Olive St. Email
marydemocker@gmail.com or call CALC at 485-1755.
• A three-hour “Democracy School” led by the
Community Legal Defense Fund will be from 6 to 9 pm
Thursday, Jan. 23, at Westminster House, 101 NW 23rd
St. in Corvallis. RSVP to dana@bentonCCRC.org.
• A series of free workshops for trainers on “Know
Your Rights” will begin from 1 to 4 pm Saturday, Jan. 25,
at 214 McKenzie Hall on the UO campus. The series will
continue at the same time Feb. 1 and Feb. 8. The series
is open to anyone serious about learning to give training
to others on exercising civil rights when interacting with
police. Taught by Lauren Regan and sponsored by the
Civil Liberties Defense Center, the Survival Center and
the UO National Lawyers’ Guild. Bring a laptop and
thumb drive to download materials. Email lregan@cldc.
org or call 687-9180.
• A second public hearing on Eugene city budget
options will be at 5:30 pm Tuesday, Jan. 28, at the
Eugene Public Library (not Jan. 29 as we noted last
week). Community members are being asked to
respond to a list of Budget Committee options or suggest
their own. Five of the six current options being put
forward present different combinations of service
reductions, while the sixth option calls for a citywide
across-the-board reduction of 2 percent for all
departments. See eugene-or.gov/budget.
• The documentary Take Back Your Power will be
shown free at 6:30 pm Wednesday, Jan. 29, at Tsunami
Books, 2585 Willamette. Sponsored by Families for Safe
Meters. Call 342-8461.
LANE COUNTY AREA
SPRAY SCHEDULE
• Freres Timber Inc., (503) 859-2121, plans to hack
and squirt unwanted trees on 160 acres near Swartz
Creek with Polaris AC (Imazapyr). See ODF notice 2013-
781-00610-C.
• Jason Klemp, 927-3118, plans to spray 5 acres
near Lake Creek and Triangle Lake School for Dan
Klemp, 927-3118, with 2,4-D Amine, 2,4-D Ester,
Glyphosate and/or Imazapyr. See ODF notice 2014-781-
00051.
Compiled by Jan Wroncy & Gary Hale, Forestland Dwellers: 342-
8332, www.forestlanddwellers.org.
lighten up
BY RAFAEL ALDAVE
Those who think the city has no plan for
dealing with the Whoville homeless camp
are wrong. The city has a well-thought-
out plan. Step one is to let the camp
operate for several months while keeping
an eye on it. If only a few problems show
up, close the camp down. For best results,
close it before there is an alternative site
available. This way 50 homeless people
get dumped onto the downtown streets
where they can get busy actually creating
some problems. The beauty of it would
impress Chris Christie.
eugeneweekly.com • January 23, 2014
9