Finding Aid to the Thomas F. Coleman and Jay M. Kohorn Papers, 1932-2011 Coll2014-031

Kyle Morgan
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. An addendum to this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90007
(213) 821-2771
askone@usc.edu


Language of Material: English
Contributing Institution: ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Title: Thomas F. Coleman and Jay M. Kohorn papers
creator: Coleman, Thomas F. (Thomas Frank)
creator: Kohorn, Jay M.
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2014-031
Physical Description: 12 Linear Feet 12 archive boxes
Date (inclusive): 1932-2011
Abstract: Criminal court records, civil court records, correspondence, law review articles, clippings, reports, state bills and laws, notes, and other professional papers of Thomas F. Coleman and Jay M. Kohorn documenting their careers from 1972-1991. Coleman and Kohorn were attorneys specializing in defending sexual civil liberties, primarily in the LGBT community.

Separated Materials

Separated to the ONE Archives comics, pamphlets, and maps collections
1982 Gay San Francisco Map-Guide. Silver Star.
Barr, Donna. The Desert Peach: Foreign Relations. Seattle: Aeon, 1990-1994.
Barr, Donna. Peach Slices. Seattle: Aeon, 1993.
National Gay Task Force. Gay Civil Rights: Support Statements and Resolutions Packet, volume 1. 1973.
Rudahl, Sharon. Adventures of Crystal Night. Princeton, Wisconsin: Kitchen Sink Enterprises, 1980.
Separated to the ONE Archives periodical collection
Arkansas Gay Writes, v.2, no.5 (October 1981).
California Privacy Reports, no.3 (September/October 1983)
Capitol Hill, v.3, no.2.
Colorado Gay and Lesbian News, v.5, no.1 (December/January).
CSC Newsletter, v.7, no.5 and 6; no.8, v.1 (1981-1982).
Dignity, v.13, no.1 and 6 (1981-1982).
Gay Books Bulletin, no.9 (spring/summer 1983).
Gay Community News, v.9, no.21 (1981).
G.L.A.D. Briefs, a newsletter from Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (Fall 1981).
High Gear, v.8, no.3 and 5 (1981-1982).
Immigration Equality newsletter (June 1996).
Integrity Forum, v.8, no.2 (1982).
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. (Winter 1992).
Lambda Update, v.7, no.1 (Winter 1990).
MOHR Information, v.4, no. 6-7 (May-July 1981).
ONE Institute Quarter of Homophile Studies, v.8, no.22 (1970).
ONEletter, v.26, no. 8, 10 (1981).
PLGTF Bulletin, v.3, no.9 (September 1981).
Sexual Law Reporter, v.4, no.1 (January/March 1978).
SIECUS Dispatch, v.5, no.2 (March 1982).
SIECUS Newsletter, v.6, no.4 (April 1970).
Task Force Report, v.8, no.5 (November/December 1981).
Update, the newsletter of Houston's Gay Political Caucus, election special (1982).
Vegetarian Gay and Lesbian Association (June/July 1995).
Separated to the ONE Archives library
Federal Response to AIDS. Hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations House of Representatives. Ninety-eighth congress, first session. August 1-2, 1983.
Secretary of State for the Home Department and the Secretary of State for Scotland. Report of the Committee on Homosexual Offenses and Prostitution. September 1957.
The South Atlantic Quarterly. "Displacing Homophobia," v.88, no.1. Durham, North Caroline: Duke University Press, winter 1989.
Separated to the ONE Archives audiovisual colletion
Nightwatch with Charlie Rose. San Francisco closure of bathhouses, discussion with Jay Kohorn and Mervyn Silverman. 1984. (VHS)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained. The credit line reads "Thomas F. Coleman and Jay M. Kohorn, equal rights advocates."

Preferred Citation

[Box/folder #, or item name] Thomas F. Coleman and Jay M. Kohorn Papers, Coll2014-031, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Processing Information

Previously in boxes 103-3, 103-4, 103-5, 103-11, 103-19, 103-137, 103-191F, 103-219, 103-293, 104-50, 104-51, and 104-99. Collection processed by Kyle Morgan, 2014.

Related Materials

Extensive records documenting the work of Thomas Coleman and Jay Kohorn can be found in the archives section of the website of The Domino Effect at http://dominoeffectbook.com/archives.htm. The website http://www.unmarriedamerica.org/Archives/ also contains digitized copies of some of the records in this collection.

Other Finding Aids

Sexual Law Reporter records, Coll2013-020, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.
Zeke Zeidler California State University, Northridge, Associated Students Incorporated Senate Papers , Coll2012-166, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Scope and Contents

Criminal court records, civil court records, correspondence, law review articles, clippings, reports, state bills and laws, notes, meeting minutes, grant applications, biographical information, and other professional papers of Thomas F. Coleman and Jay M. Kohorn documenting their work as sexual civil liberty attorneys and advocates from 1972-1991. The records document Coleman's and Kohorn's legal work, publications, participation in government and non-profit commissions and committees, and involvement in sexual civil liberty issues on behalf of the LGBT community.

Biographical / Historical

"Thomas F. Coleman and Jay M. Kohorn see themselves as participants in and shapers of what they call the most important constitutional movement of this century: The growth of the right to privacy and personal autonomy." -quote from "Portrait of a Sexual Civil Liberties Office," box 10, folder 21.
Thomas F. Coleman graduated from the Loyola University School of Law in Los Angeles in 1973. In 1974, Coleman became publisher of the Sexual Law Reporter, a joint venture of the National Committee on Sexual Civil Liberties (NCSCL) and the American Civil Liberties Union to publish analyses on statutory and case law in the field of sexuality. Jay M. Kohorn joined the venture as associate editor in 1979. Coleman and Kohorn served as co-directors for NCSCL and continued to work on issues related to the Sexual Law Reporter through 1982.
Coleman and Kohorn were based in California, but worked nationally on legal cases that affected sexual civil liberties, whether as litigators, consultants, or advocates submitting friend-of-the-court briefs. They fought against the discriminatory use of loitering, solicitation, and lewd and lascivious conduct laws against gay and lesbian people. They fought against discrimination in policing, criminal laws, employment, military service, marriage equality, and family law. They fought the mandated closure of San Francisco's bathhouses in 1984 and California Proposition 6, The LaRouche Initiative, in 1986. They gave seminars, lectures, and special assistance on sexual civil liberty legal issues to college classes, gay and lesbian groups, service providers, special interest groups, public defenders, and prosecutors.
Coleman was director of the Commission on Personal Privacy and authored the commission’s final report (Kohorn wrote the executive summary) in 1982. Coleman and Kohorn served as consultants to the Los Angeles City Council's Task Force on Family Diversity, with Coleman authoring and Kohorn editing the final report. Coleman served as a member of the Attorney General of California's Commission on Racial, Ethnic, Religious and Minority Violence; as a member of the California Legislature's Joint Select Task Force on the Changing Family; and as chairperson of the City Attorney of Los Angeles' Consumer Task Force on Marital Status Discrimination. Kohorn was a founder of the Lambda Lawyers Roundtable, a national collection of lesbian and gay activists who sought to legalize private consensual sexual conduct. Both have published extensively and been honored for their work on behalf of sexual civil liberties and the gay and lesbian community. Coleman's book The Domino Effect details over four decades of his, and to a lesser extent Kohorn's, legal, lobbying, and special project work.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following series:
Series 1. Court records, 1954-1991
Series 2. Administrative records, 1932-1991, 2011

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Deed of gift from Thomas F. Coleman is dated December 3, 2014. Deed of gift from Jay Kohorn and Zeke Zeidler is dated August 16, 2009.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Gay rights -- United States
Privacy, Right of
United States -- Legal assistance to lesbians
Legal assistance to gays -- United States
Gays -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- United States
Coleman, Thomas F. (Thomas Frank)
Kohorn, Jay M.

 

Court records 1954-1991

Scope and Contents

Criminal court records, civil court records, correspondence, law review articles, clippings, reports, state legal codes and policies, notes, and other legal papers of Thomas F. Coleman and Jay M. Kohorn documenting their work as sexual civil liberty attorneys from 1973-1991. The records document Coleman's and Kohorn's legal work in Los Angeles and across the nation as litigators, consultants, and advocates in criminal and civil cases.

Arrangement

California, New York, and military legal cases are listed first, followed by court records listed alphabetically by state.
 

California 1954-1991

Arrangement

Cases are listed in alphabetical order by the name of the plaintiff.
Box 2, Folder 12

City of Santa Barbara vs. Beverly Adamson et al. 1980

Scope and Contents

This decision invalidated the city's zoning law which defined "family" in a manner that prohibited a group of unrelated adults from living together in a large mansion. The court found that there was a constitutional right to form and live in an alternate family relationship.
Box 2, Folder 13-16

Timothy Curran vs. Mount Diablo Council of the Boy Scouts of America 1990-1991

Box 2, Folder 17

Andrew Exler; Shawn Elliott vs. Disneyland 1980

Scope and Contents

Legal pleadings in a case that challenged Disneyland's rule forbidding dancing by same-sex couples.
Box 2, Folder 18-19

Fabian Farnia vs. Municipal Court of the Los Angeles Judicial District and People of the State of California 1980

Scope and Contents

Legal briefs in a case that challenged the constitutionality of 647(b), California's anti-prostitution law.
Box 2, Folder 20

Kenneth Eugene Grassi vs. The Superior Court of Santa Clara County and the People of the State of California circa 1986

Scope and Contents

Also includes People of the State of California vs. The Superior Court of Santa Clara County and Ralph Alexander Caswell et al.
Box 2, Folder 22

William R. Hubert and Cindy Kelly vs. James L. Williams 1982

Scope and Contents

The case applied the Unruh Civil Rights Act to gay housing discrimination.
Box 3, Folder 1

Baby Lasher, Sophie Lasher, and Roni D. Lasher vs. Stephen Kleinberg 1980

Scope and Contents

The decision denied a father's lawsuit against the mother for wrongful birth. The father sued because he became a parent after the mother lied that she was using birth control when they had sex.
Box 2, Folder 21, Box 12, Folder 3

Lesbian/Gay Freedom Day Committee, Inc., et al. vs. United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, et al. in the matter of the petition of Carl Hill for a Writ of Habeas Corpus 1982

Scope and Contents

A federal district court decision that it is unconstitutional for the INS to exclude known homosexuals from entry into the country.
Box 11, Folder 22

Patti Miller vs. Sportscoach Corporation 1984

Box 2, Folder 23-24

Donald W. Odorizzi vs. Bloomfield School District 1967

Box 3, Folder 2

People of the State of California vs. Walter Brown 1984

Box 3, Folder 3

People of the State of California vs. Harlan Delmar Damon 1983-1984

Box 3, Folder 4

People of the State of California vs. Gonzalez, vs. Stinson, vs. Love 1980

Box 12, Folder 4-5

People of the State of California vs. John Arthur McConville 1980-1981

Scope and Contents

Includes a black-and-white group photograph.
Box 3, Folder 5

People of the State of California vs. Phillip B. Mendoza 1980-1981

Scope and Contents

The case involved the constitutionality of sex registration based on a 647(a) conviction.
Box 3, Folder 6

People of the State of California vs. George Mills 1978

Box 3, Folder 7-9

People of the State of California vs. Robert Opel 1974

Scope and Contents

Transcripts of trial court proceedings in which Opel was prosecuted for indecent exposure and disturbing a public meeting for appearing nude at a meeting of the city council of Los Angeles as they debated whether to prohibit nudity at beaches and parks.
Box 12, Folder 6

People of the State of California vs. Steve Peter Padilla 1980-1981

Box 12, Folder 9

People of the State of California vs. John Peter Rylaarsdam and Bruce Edward Loman 1980-1982

Box 3, Folder 10

People of the State of California vs. Roger Kenneth Trantham 1984

Box 3, Folder 11-14

People of the State of California vs. Douglas Robert Williams 1975

Scope and Contents

Transcripts of a trial of a defendant who was prosecuted for lewd conduct under 647(a).
Box 3, Folder 15

People of the State of California vs. Robert Allen Wolf and Fabian Farnia 1982

Box 3, Folder 16

People of the State of California vs. John Edwin Wyatt 1980

Scope and Contents

Legal briefs and court ruling that sex registration of 647(a) defendants is unconstitutional.
Box 3, Folder 17-20, Box 12, Folder 7-8

Don Barry Pryor vs. Municipal Court of the Los Angeles Judicial District and the People of the State of California 1978-1980

Scope and Contents

A state supreme court case that reduced the ability of police and prosecutors to use disorderly conduct laws against gay men.
Box 11, Folder 23

Sanyo Business Systems Corporation vs. Personal Support Computer 1984

Box 3, Folder 21

Michael Randall, William Randall, and Valerie Sue Randall vs. Boy Scouts of America, Orange County Council, Inc. 1991

Box 3, Folder 22-24, Box 12, Folder 10-12

In the matter of application of Allen Eugene Reed for a Writ of Habeas Corpus 1980-1982

Scope and Contents

Petition for a writ of habeas corpus and exhibits in a California Supreme Court case challenging the requirements of registration as a sex offender for a defendant's conviction of misdemeanor lewd conduct under 647(a).
Box 4, Folder 1, Box 3, Folder 25

Vicki Lou Richards vs. Walter Arthur Richards 1980-1982

Scope and Contents

Includes reference materials regarding child custody cases.
Box 12, Folder 13

Lewis A. Wenzell vs. Commission on Judicial Performance 1981-1982

Box 12, Folder 14

Penelope Woodside vs. Leason Leeds 1982-1983

Box 4, Folder 2-9

647(a) and 647(d) cases and reference material 1976-1982

Scope and Contents

Includes the draft of an opening brief in appeal for California v. Ripley regarding the entitlement of a defendant to an evidentiary hearing if he challenges the constitutionality of sex registration based on the facts of his case. Also includes court records for California v. Prior, California v. Meza, California v. Steve P., California v. Rylaarsdam, California v. Lohman, and California v. Mitchell et al.
Box 12, Folder 1-2

California cases, assorted 1975-1984

Scope and Contents

Includes California v. Meza, California v. Dag, California v. Turnbull, California vs. Uhte, California v. Jones, California v. Johnson, Curran v. Mt. Diablo Council of the Boy Scouts of America, Hinman and Advocates for Gay and Lesbian State Employees v. Department of Personnel Administration, Kolender v. Lawson, and a Petition for Leave to File Brief Amici Curiae in Support of Petitions for Hearing in the Matter of the Application of Gay Law Students Association.
Box 4, Folder 10

California cases regarding picture arcades 1984-1985

Scope and Contents

Includes court records for California v. B & I, Inc, California v. NFM Corp., California v. Demott, California v. Blank, California v. Parr and Taylor, California v. Louis, and California v. Wyszomirski.
Box 4, Folder 11

California legal reference material 1954, 1966

Box 1, Folder 1-17, Box 2, Folder 1-11

San Francisco bathhouse closure 1969-1984

Scope and Contents

Materials used by Jay Kohorn in his work with bathhouse owners to oppose closure orders from city and county officials.
 

New York 1979-1991

Box 4, Folder 33

Dennis Bellanca vs. New York State Liquor Authority 1980

Box 4, Folder 34

Hudson View Properties vs. Julia M. Weiss and "John Doe" 1980

Scope and Contents

Includes an American Civil Liberties Union of New York press release about a landlord who was denied from evicting an unmarried woman because she was living in an apartment with an unmarried man.
Box 4, Folder 35

In the matter of adoption of adult anonymous 1981

Scope and Contents

A judge's opinion that one adult may adopt another adult even though the parties are two gay men with an intimate relationship.
Box 6, Folder 1

The New York State Society of Surgeons vs. David M. Axelrod 1991

Box 6, Folder 2

People of the State of New York vs. Timothy Bulzing 1981

Box 5, Folder 1-9

People of the State of New York vs. Conde J. Peoples, III and Phillip S. Goss and People of the State of New York vs. Ronald Onofre 1979-1981

Scope and Contents

Court records of a decision that New York's sodomy laws were unconstitutional.
Box 5, Folder 10-18, Box 12, Folder 16

People of the State of New York vs. Robert Uplinger and Susan Butler 1980-1984

Scope and Contents

Court records of a United States Supreme Court case involving the constitutionality of a New York statute criminalizing loitering for the purposes of soliciting a sex act.
 

Military cases 1966-1991

Box 6, Folder 20

Dennis R. Beller vs. J. William Middendorf, James Lee Miller vs. Donald H. Rumsfeld, and Mary Roseann Saal vs. J. William Middendorf 1978-1980

Scope and Contents

A federal appellate court ruling that the Navy's policy to discharge known homosexuals was not unconstitutional.
Box 6, Folder 21

Miriam benShalom vs. Clifford Alexander 1980

Scope and Contents

A decision ordering the Army to reinstate a lesbian service member who was discharged because of her sexual orientation.
Box 6, Folder 22-23

James L. Dronenburg vs. Department of the Navy and James L. Dronenburg vs. Lando Zech 1984

Box 6, Folder 24

Dusty Pruitt vs. Dick Cheney and Dusty Pruitt vs. Frank Carlucci 1989-1991

Box 6, Folder 25

Gays and lesbians in the military, reference material 1966-1991

Box 7, Folder 1

Gays and lesbians in the military, assorted court records 1980-1983

Scope and Contents

Includes Dusty Pruitt vs. Caspar Weinberger and James L. Dronenburg vs. Lando Zech
Box 4, Folder 12

Alaska 1978

Box 4, Folder 13

Arizona 1977

Box 4, Folder 14, Box 12, Folder 15

Arkansas 1982

Scope and Contents

Comprises court records for United States of America vs. Charles Loyd Lemons, Jr. regarding a conviction of consensual sodomy. The arrest occurred in a federal park, but the criminality was based on an Arkansas statute which prohibited only same-sex sodomy. Jay Kohorn filed an amicus curiae brief in the 8th circuit court of appeal on behalf of the American Association for Personal Privacy. The case challenged the Arkansas statute on equal protection grounds.
Box 4, Folder 15

Delaware 1980

Scope and Contents

Comprises the court records of G.D. and B.D. vs. P.R. regarding the court decision to grant custody of a child to the natural mother, who was a lesbian, over the objections of the maternal granparents who were devout Christians and who had been raising the child for several years.
Box 4, Folder 16-17

Florida 1978-1981

Scope and Contents

Includes the Club Bath chain litigation records over police raids on their bathhouses in Jacksonville, Miami, and Dallas, Texas. Also includes court records for Harris Kimball vs. The Florida Bar regarding the Florida Supreme Court's decision to allow an admitted homosexual to practice law.
Box 4, Folder 18

Georgia 1983

Scope and Contents

Includes court records for the Michael Hardwick vs. Michael Bowers sodomy case.
Box 4, Folder 19

Hawaii 1978-1979

Scope and Contents

Includes court records for Arnold A. Sciullo vs. Sanae Moikeha regarding a complaint for damages against the University of Hawaii for sexual orientation discrimination in employment.
Box 4, Folder 20

Idaho 1978-1979

Scope and Contents

Comprises court records for Lavonne R. Woody vs. John R. Church and Judith Baker vs. John R. Church regarding two women who were fired from the Boise Police Department because they were suspected to be lesbians. The judge granted an award of damages for a violation of due process rights.
Box 4, Folder 21

Illinois 1982

Scope and Contents

Comprises court records for Horst Kraus vs. Village of Barrington Hills regarding a municipality's attempt to use a zoning law to evict the owner of a house who had "swinging" parties of consenting adults at the house, including some who were married.
Box 4, Folder 22-23

Maryland 1979-1980

Scope and Contents

Includes court records for Howard Chester Kelly, Jr. vs. State of Maryland and Gary Earl Neville vs. State of Maryland.
Box 4, Folder 24-26

Massachusetts 1980-1991

Scope and Contents

Includes court records for Brenda A. Bezio vs. Magdalena Patenaude regarding the ruling that homosexual orientation is not sufficient grounds to deny child custody to a natural parent. Also includes court records for Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. Edward J. Sefranka regarding the court's decision that the lewd conduct law was unconstitutionally vague. Also includes court records for Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. Jeffrey A. Smith and Scott Godfrey, Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. Jeffrey Nelson and Jonathan Miller, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. Paul E. Silva.
Box 4, Folder 27-28

Michigan 1980-1983

Scope and Contents

Includes court records for Richard Briggs vs. North Muskegon Police Department, People of the City of Detroit vs. Henry Davis Messer, People of the State of Michigan vs. John Coulter and Ruben LaVictor, People of the State of Michigan vs. Jeffrey Scott Masten, and People of the State of Michigan vs. Van Tyris Mabry regarding a decision that a man who asks another man to have sex with him cannot be convicted of procuring an act of gross indecency. Also includes the Cohabitation Decriminalization report by the House of Representatives Civil Rights Committee Cohabitation Workgroup recommending that the crime of cohabitation by an unmarried man and woman be repealed.
Box 4, Folder 29

Minnesota 1980

Scope and Contents

Includes court records of State of Minnesota vs. Douglas Victor and State of Minnesota vs. Fredrick Jerome Dean, Neil Erickson, Patrick James Schwartz, and James Curtis Vosika.
Box 4, Folder 30

Mississippi undated

Box 4, Folder 31

Nebraska 1981-1982

Scope and Contents

Includes court records for Reginald Country vs. Robert Parratt and Willie Franklin vs. State of Nebraska and Robert F. Parratt.
Box 4, Folder 32

New Jersey 1974-1972

Scope and Contents

Includes court records for Rosemary Dempsey Belmont vs. Edward Belmont regarding the decision to deny a father's request to transfer child custody from the mother to the father because the mother is in a lesbian relationship.
Box 6, Folder 3

North Carolina 1980

Box 6, Folder 4-8

Oklahoma 1980

Scope and Contents

Includes court records from M.J.P. vs J.G.P. Also includes court records from an appeal of the The City of Tulsa vs. Carl Leroy Carmack decision that the city's ordinance on lewd conduct was unconstitutionally vague. Also includes court records and legal review articles from The National Gay Task Force vs. The Board of Education of the City of Oklahoma City regarding the decision that a teacher could not be fired for being publicly gay or lesbian.
Box 6, Folder 9-11

Oregon 1976-1981

Scope and Contents

Includes court records from State of Oregon vs. Mark John Tusek, including an amicus curiae brief as to why Oregon's sexual solicitation statute was unconstitutional.
Box 6, Folder 12-14

Pennsylvania 1979-1980

Scope and Contents

Includes court records for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs. Patrick Gagliano, Michael Bonadio, and Dawn Delight (aka Mildred I. Kannitz and Shanne Wimbel), and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs. Cindy Lou Dodge (aka Cindy Williams).
Box 6, Folder 15

Rhode Island 1980

Scope and Contents

Includes court records for Aaron Fricke vs. Richard B. Lynch regarding a judge's order to allow Fricke to attend a dance with another boy.
Box 6, Folder 16

Tennessee 1979

Box 6, Folder 17-18

Texas 1973-1984

Scope and Contents

Includes court records for Henry Wade vs. Danny E. Hill and Gay Student Services vs. Texas A&M University.
Box 6, Folder 19

Virginia 1975-1979

Scope and Contents

Includes court records for Kenneth M. Pedersen, Jr. vs. City of Richmond and Bonnie C. Cord vs. Duncan C. Gibb.
Box 12, Folder 17

Washington 1983

Scope and Contents

Comprises court records for State of Washington vs. Evan K. Kelly.
 

Administrative records 1932-1991, 2011

Scope and Contents

Criminal court records, civil court records, correspondence, law review articles, clippings, reports, state bills and laws, notes, meeting minutes, grant applications, biographical information, and other professional papers of Thomas F. Coleman and Jay M. Kohorn documenting their work as sexual civil liberties attorneys and advocates from 1972-1991. The records document Coleman’s and Kohorn’s legal work and research, publications, participation in government and non-profit commissions and committees, and involvement in sexual civil liberty issues on behalf of the LGBT community.

Arrangement

The series is arranged in alphabetical order.
Box 10, Folder 1-4

Administrative files 1973-1987

Scope and Contents

Primarily comprises notes, court records, correspondence, and other administrative records of Coleman's professional work prior to 1979.
Box 10, Folder 5

Alternative Sentencing 1983

Box 10, Folder 6-7

Anti-discrimination sexual orientation ordinance, Los Angeles 1976-1979

Scope and Contents

Includes a draft of the ordinance to prohibit sexual orientation discrimnation by private businesses, largely based on Berkeley's ordinance.
Box 9, Folder 1-4

Board of Rights and Police Commission, Los Angeles Police Department 1979-1981

Scope and Contents

The Board of Rights transcripts document a hearing at which an administrative board found a police officer guilty of having engaged in a lewd act in a restroom (off duty) and finding that he should be removed from office.
Box 10, Folder 8

Tom Bradley, gay and lesbian community outreach 1976

Box 10, Folder 9-15

California assembly bills, senate bills, and executive orders regarding sexual civil liberties 1972-1984

Box 10, Folder 16

California Jury Instructions--Criminal (CALJIC) 1982

Box 10, Folder 17

Certified Public Accountant (CPA), new information 1982

Box 10, Folder 18

Clarenbach, David 1983-1984

Box 10, Folder 19-20

Clippings 1980-1983

Box 10, Folder 21

Coleman biographical information 1979-2011

Scope and Contents

Includes a photograph of Coleman.
Box 10, Folder 22

Constitutional law overbreadth 1977

Box 7, Folder 5

Commission on Crime Control and Violence Prevention, State of California 1981

Box 11, Folder 24

Commission on Personal Privacy documents 1983

Scope and Contents

Includes California Privacy Reports numbers 1-3.
Box 8, Folder 10-11

Commission on Racial, Ethnic, Religious and Minority Violence, State of California, Attorney General 1986-1990

Box 10, Folder 23

Correspondence, Art Agnos 1977-1979

Box 10, Folder 24

Correspondence, bar association 1977-1978

Box 10, Folder 25

Criminal records, security of 1977-1982

Box 10, Folder 26

Disability conference 1983

Box 10, Folder 27

Discovery motions, Southern California 1983

Box 10, Folder 28

Discriminatory enforcement brief undated

Box 10, Folder 29

Drunk driving undated

Box 8, Folder 12-18

Family diversity, domestic partnership, and youth suicide 1982-1991

Scope and Contents

Includes records from the Los Angeles City Council's Task Force on Family Diversity, the California Legislature's Joint Select Task Force on the Changing Family; and the City Attorney of Los Angeles' Consumer Task Force on Marital Status Discrimination.
Box 10, Folder 30

Gay Law Students Association 1972

Scope and Contents

Includes two photographs of Coleman with Michael Miller and Rick Angel.
Box 10, Folder 31

Immigration 1980-1984

Box 12, Folder 18-19

Incoming mail 1981-1982

Box 10, Folder 32

Judicial bias 1976-1982

Box 10, Folder 33

Jury instruction 1978-1980

Box 10, Folder 35

Kohorn, Kathy 1976-1984

Box 10, Folder 34

Kohorn personal files and honors 1989, undated

Box 10, Folder 36

Lambda Legal 1984-1990

Box 11, Folder 1

Legal ethics and judicial performance 1979-1982

Box 10, Folder 37-38

Legal referral and support servaces 1978-1982

Box 11, Folder 2

Morals offenses and the model penal code 1982

Box 7, Folder 6-18, Box 8, Folder 1-9

Commission on Personal Privacy, State of California 1967-1982

Scope and Contents

Comprises the commission's records and final report recommending changes in the policy and law regarding sexual orientation discrimination and gay rights.
Box 11, Folder 3

New cases to be read 1980-1981

Box 9, Folder 5-8

National Committee for Sexual Civil Liberties 1971-1983

Box 11, Folder 4

Notes undated

Box 9, Folder 9-13

National Lawyers Guild Project 1983-1985

Box 11, Folder 5

Pacific Professional Associates 1981

Box 11, Folder 6

Pimping and pandering 1932-1978

Box 11, Folder 7

Playboy Foundation, funding application 1983

Box 11, Folder 8

Political, Kohorn files 1981

Box 11, Folder 9

Political functions, mailing lists 1977-1982

Box 11, Folder 10

Privacy 1983

Box 11, Folder 11

Sex law news: cases, articles, etc. 1980-1981

Box 9, Folder 17-20

Reference, assorted publications and clippings 1977-1991

Box 9, Folder 14-16

Reference, law review articles 1957-1986

Box 11, Folder 12

Sexual Law Reporter, administrative records 1981-1982, undated

Box 11, Folder 13

Sexual Law Reporter, correspondence 1981-1982

Box 11, Folder 14

Sexual Law Reporter, fundraising 1979-1982

Box 11, Folder 15

Sexual Law Reporter, loose notes 1982

Box 11, Folder 16

Sexual Law Reporter, office notes 1974-1981

Box 11, Folder 17

South Bay Lesbian and Gay Community Organization grant application 1990

Box 11, Folder 26

Testimony regarding pill parties of Los Angeles juveniles undated

Box 11, Folder 18

Trial preparation, [Sealings?] 1983

Box 11, Folder 19-20

Warner, Arthur 1981

Scope and Contents

Includes records of the National Committee for Sexual Civil Liberties (Warner served as co-chair).
Box 11, Folder 25

Women's Rights Law Reporter, v.2, no.4 June 1975

Box 11, Folder 21

Writings, Coleman 1991

Scope and Contents

Includes "Enforcement of Section 647(b) of the California Penal Code by the Los Angeles Police Department" which was written while Coleman was a law student at Loyola University.