County supervisors vote to create sheriff's civilian oversight panel

Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to set up a civilian oversight commission to oversee the Sheriff’s Department, marking a major milestone for the troubled law enforcement agency. 

Advocates of the move have long called for such a panel to oversee a department that has been beset in recent years by allegations of widespread abuses in the jails.

A divided board voted down a similar proposal in August, with then-Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky casting the swing vote against the proposal.

But with Yaroslavsky termed out of office last week, his successor, Sheila Kuehl, voted with the 3-2 majority in favor of the civilian oversight panel.

Kuehl, along with supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Hilda Solis, said a civilian commission would help monitor and restore public trust in the department. They said the move is particularly important in light of the growing national controversy about police practices stemming from incidents in Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere. Ridley-Thomas said there should be a "clear signal from the largest county in the nation with respect to reform."

Kuehl said the commission will provide a needed public forum to air issues in the department before crises develop.

"The public really doesn’t feel that they knew – or knew in time – what was going on," she said.

Advocates praised the decision to create a civilian oversight body.

"This is a historic moment," said Kim McGill, organizer of the Youth Justice Coalition. She asked members of the audience to stand up and remind the board of the county’s oft-cited mission to take care of the most vulnerable members of the community. "We are the people that have been in your jails and the people that buried our family members when they’ve been killed by the sheriffs."

Patrisse Cullors, founder of Dignity and Power Now, which has advocated for a civilian commission for the last two years, said the commission needs to be "legally empowered, community centered and independent." The commission should have subpoena power and should oversee the inspector general, she said.

Advocates also said they do not want the commission to include any current or former law enforcement officials.

Supervisors Michael Antonovich and Don Knabe voted against creating the civilian oversight commission. Antonovich said creating a separate oversight body would be "a step backwards" from efforts to focus on setting up an office of inspector general as a watchdog for the department.

Richard Drooyan, an attorney who oversaw implementation of reforms proposed by a panel that studied the issue of jail violence, argued that a new civilian commission would "dilute" the supervisors' ability to influence the Sheriff's Department. He said the most effective means of oversight would be a strong inspector general reporting to the board.

Inspector General Max Huntsman did not give an opinion on whether the board should create a new civilian commission, but said his office is still having problems getting access to documents from the Sheriff's Department. Without full access, he said, "I do not think this will succeed."

Key details of how the panel will operate remain to be worked out. Over the coming weeks, a panel of county attorneys and representatives of the sheriff, inspector general and supervisors will recommend a structure for the new commission, as well as what powers it would be granted.

Representatives of the deputies’ union said they want to ensure that their members have a representative on the panel that will figure out the powers and structure of the commission.

New Sheriff Jim McDonnell, who inherited a department facing a likely federal consent decree over poor conditions for mentally ill jail inmates, has also voiced support for civilian oversight.

The sheriff was out of town Tuesday, but said in a statement that civilian oversight "can provide an invaluable forum for transparency and accountability, while also restoring and rebuilding the community's trust."

McDonnell also offered some preliminary recommendations for structuring the commission. They include: The panel should be made up of seven to nine members, appointed by the board and other community or law enforcement representatives; the members should be appointed for a set term and removable only for cause; the commission should oversee the work of the inspector general.

For the full article click here. 

Via: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sheriff-oversight-20141209-story.html

California Assembly announces committee chairs

BY JEREMY B. WHITE

A new California Assembly class has been sworn in – and now members have begun to receive the committee assignments that will guide the fate of legislation and shape the power dynamics of the Democratic caucus.

Committee assignments, and particularly committee chairmanships, matter for a variety of reasons. Committee leaders have substantial sway over which bills get hearings and which bills perish quietly. Most significant bills must pass through the Assembly Appropriations Committee, for instance, and the Budget Committee chair has a key role in shaping the annual budget bill. Campaign contributions often flow to members who sit on committees overseeing powerful industries.

And with Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, holding power only through 2015, committee assignments are sure to prompt speculation about who is in position to next seek the leadership mantle.

Atkins’ office announced committee chairs for the new session Wednesday morning – the list is below. Last session’s committee leaders are in parentheses. An asterisk (*) next to former chairs indicates that the member no longer serves in the Assembly.

Accountability and Administrative Review: Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield (Assemblyman Jim Frazier)

Aging And Long-Term Care Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, D-San Bernardino (Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada,*)

Agriculture: Assemblyman Henry Perea, D-Fresno (Assemblywoman Susan Eggman)

Appropriations: Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles (Assemblyman Mike Gatto)

Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media:Assemblyman Ian Calderon, D-Whittier (was Calderon)

Banking and Finance: Assemblyman Matthew Dababneh, D-Los Angeles (Assemblyman Roger Dickinson*)

Budget: Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego (Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner*)

Business, Professions and Consumer Protection: Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord (Bonilla)

Education: Assemblyman Patrick O’Donnell, D-Long Beach(Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan*)

Elections and Redistricting: Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, D-Culver City (Assemblyman Paul Fong*)

Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials: Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville (Alejo)

Governmental Organization: Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced (Assemblyman Isadore Hall*)

Health: Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Oakland (Assemblyman Richard Pan*)

Higher Education: Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside (Assemblyman Das Williams)

Housing and Community Development: Assemblyman Ed Chau, D-Monterey Park (Chau)

Human Services: Assemblyman Kansen Chu, D-San Jose (Assemblyman Mark Stone)

Insurance: Assemblyman Tom Daly, D-Anaheim (Assemblyman Henry Perea)

Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy: Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, D-Riverside (Assemblyman Jose Medina)

Judiciary: Assemblyman Mark Stone, D-Scotts Valley (Assemblyman Bob Wieckoswki*)

Labor and Employment: Assemblyman Roger Hernández, D-West Covina (Hernández)

Local Government: Assembly members Brian Maienschein (chair) and Lorena Gonzalez (vice chair) (Assembly members Katcho Achadjian and Marc Levine)

Natural Resources: Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara (Assemblyman Wes Chesbro*)

Privacy and Consumer Protection: Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Glendale), Chair (new committee)

Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security: Bonta (Bonta)

Public Safety: Assemblyman Bill Quirk, D-Hayward (Assemblyman Tom Ammiano*)

Revenue and Taxation: Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco (Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra*)

Rules: Assemblyman Richard Gordon, D-Menlo Park (Gordon)

Transportation: Assemblyman Jim Frazier, D-Oakley (Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal*)

Utilities and Commerce: Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood (Assemblyman Steven Bradford*)

Veterans Affairs: Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks (Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva*)

Water, Parks and Wildlife: Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael (Rendon)

Call Jeremy B. White, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5543.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article4258642.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#storylink=cpy

A Badge is an American Halo

A badge is an American halo,

We have to abide just because you say so?

But what if your intentions are not rightful...

They give you a badge and the same rule I'm supposed to follow, you don't follow.

Is it justice or do you have your own gang that supports you just because you have that metal thing?

Treyvon, Michael, or Samantha were just some that were taken from a badge with a gun.

When will it stop?

By Nakila

San Bernardino sees more votes amid historically low turnout

SAN BERNARDINO >> Record-low voter turnout throughout the state, including San Bernardino County, had an anomaly Tuesday — significant turnout growth in the city of San Bernardino.

Out of about 77,000 registered voters, the vote on whether to change the city charter’s drew nearly 19,000 votes (all of this election’s turnout numbers will increase slightly as another 15,365 votes are counted countywide, according to the Registrar of Voters). That’s more than 50 percent more than voted in what elections officials thought was a “compelling” but disappointingly ill-attended February election that chose Carey Davis as mayor.

Measure Q still received votes from less than one in every four registered voters — a group that already consists of only a fraction of the city’s 210,000 residents.

“It’s still nothing to be proud of,” City Clerk Gigi Hanna said. “Part of that might be people not feeling connected — but the way to be heard is to vote. It’s so sad that people let this issue, however you feel about it, be decided by such a small number of people.”

But the increase — a large one — comes amid almost universal drops in turnout. The national turnout isexpected to be the lowest in a midterm since World War II. California expects to fall below 2002’s record low. San Bernardino County’s 33 percent is almost certain to be a record low, according to Registrar of Voters Michael Scarpello.

So what’s different about this city, this year?

For one thing, people come out to vote when state and federal offices are on the line, said Fernando J. Guerra, director of the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University and assistant to the president for civic enagement.

“You should have elections where the voters are,” Guerra said. “If people are voting in November of even years, that’s when you should have the elections.”

Guerra was head of a commission charged with finding ways to boost voter turnout in Los Angeles, whose first recommendation this year was to change the LA city charter to consolidate its elections with the state’s.

Proposition 47 Passes!

Proposition 47 lowers penalties for some nonviolent, low-level offenses and in doing so gives women and men a fair chance to rebuild their lives. Penalties for six low-level offenses will be reduced from potential felonies to misdemeanors, shortening the time people spend behind bars.

At the same time Proposition 47 saves the state money, as high as $1.25 billion in the first five years. Those savings will be allocated to K-12 after school programs, mental health and substance abuse treatment programs and victim services programs.

Read our October 3, 2014, Huffington Post article in support of Prop 47.

Why did we support this proposition? Because Proposition 47 supports women. Women are more likely to have been convicted of a crime involving drugs or property, just the offenses covered by this initiative. In California, women are three times more likely to be in prison for forgery or fraud and twice as likely for petty theft.

Our research also shows that women suffer disproportionately upon release from prison. Our recent report Bias Behind Bars revealed that, compared to men, women incarcerated for felonies are less likely to obtain public benefits and find stable housing. Despite the low risk women with criminal records for nonviolent crimes pose to public safety, women also have more difficulty finding employment upon release. This is due to the over representation of women in the fields of retail, childcare and home health care—all fields where criminal records are of great concern. Some states legally bar those with criminal records from working with children and seniors. Fields that tend to be male-dominated, such as construction and manufacturing, generally are focused less on employees’ backgrounds.

The harmful effects of a felony charge extend beyond women’s lives to those of their families. Today, six out of 10 women behind bars are mothers of minors. Thousands of children are growing up without a mother at home to fix their meals, get them ready for school or contribute to the family income. While mothers are languishing in prison, children are languishing at home.

So how does Proposition 47 work? It changes six non-violent, low-level offenses (such as simple drug possession, petty theft and writing a bad check) from felonies to misdemeanors. Of course, women and men who commit these offenses would be held accountable for their actions… but they would not be considered felons, would avoid the stigma that comes with that charge, would serve in county jails closer to home and closer to their children and, because their sentences would be shorter, they would be reunited with their families sooner.

We wanted to acknowledge our Race, Gender and Human Rights (RGHR) giving circle for supporting Proposition 47 from the get-go by funding the organizing and outreach efforts by the Californians for Safe Neighborhoods and Schools.

The mission of RGHR is to promote human rights and racial and gender justice by challenging the criminal justice system and its use of mass incarceration in California.

via: http://womensfoundationofcalifornia.org/proposition-47-passes/

2014 California Ballot Measure Results!

California voters on Tuesday approved billions in borrowing for water projects, the creation of a tighter budget reserve fund, and lighter penalties for drug crimes and theft while rejecting measures to regulate health insurance rates and to drug test doctors while raising a cap on medical malpractice payouts.

Two ballot initiatives passed by the Legislature and promoted by Gov. Jerry Brown more vigorously than he campaigned for his own re-election – a water bond and a measure creating a rainy day reserve fund for state budgets – passed handily. You can read more about the water bond here.

A pair of health-related measure that ignited massive spending lost by large margins.

Proposition 45 sought to empower California’s elected insurance commissioner to oversee health insurance rates, prompting a well-funded opposition campaign by the insurance industry. Proposition 46 was the latest flareup in a long-smoldering fight between doctors and lawyers over California’s medical malpractice laws. In addition to lifting a $250,000 cap on pain-and-suffering damages recoverable in malpractice lawsuits, the measure would have imposed mandatory physician drug testing.

Proposition 45 lost by nearly 20 points. The gap for Proposition 46 was close to 35 points.

With California in the midst of a years-long effort to reduce prison overcrowding, proponents of Proposition 47 said the measure would improve criminal justice efforts by converting petty theft and drug possession from felonies to misdemeanors, while targeting savings at programs to reduce truancy and substance abuse. Despite law enforcement warnings that the measure would reduce penalties for possession of date-rate drugs and gun theft, Proposition 47 led by 17 percentage points in unofficial returns.

Voters rejected Proposition 48, a referendum that targeted a single casino but carried a broader context.

The “no” vote on the measure blocks a pact with the state to allow the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians to operate a Vegas-style casino miles from the tribe’s existing land. Opponents of the facility warned that the deal would lead to a spike of new casinos near urban areas. Some tribes with nearby casinos poured millions of dollars into the campaign to defeat Propositio 48.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article3577731.html#storylink=cpy

Get Out the Vote Tomorrow!

 

Tomorrow, join the thousands that will make their voice heard and Get Out Your Vote!

Polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. You can find your polling place  

here. 

This election Gladys (right) voted for the very first time in her life. After years of incarceration and people making decisions for her she finally had the opportunity to choose for herself and let her voice be heard! 

Take Action California wants you to remember that Your Voice Matters! 

You are NOT Invisible!