Campaigns and civil disobedience
One of the neatest things about blogging is that you can actually have someone who works for Segway back East read about Riverside Councilman Mike Gardner's accident while using one of its products. Gardner is of course okay though he might think about wearing a helmet in the future and the company which makes the product is aware of the accident.
Councilman Frank Schiavone once said he voted against Proposition 187 (which prohibited undocumented immigrants from receiving social services) because he wanted Mexicans to go back to their country with a strong sense of democracy and patriotism regarding the United States so they might implement change in their own government. He also didn't want the children to be penalized by being denied an education.
However as of late, he has done a bit of a turn and now has committed himself to enforcing the same provisions under Proposition 187 that passed but then were tossed out by a higher court. His explanation for his apparent decision to vote against the initiative was interesting, innovative for a political candidate and clearly took some serious self-reflection on the issue. Whether or not you agree with his philosophy at the time, it's an interesting chain of thoughts for discussion. Unfortunately, he apparently has rejected that belief and has taken the other stance or maybe he didn't really believe what he had said to me.
Another reason to take any politician's words on any issue with a grain of salt because they really want to get elected to political offices badly.
Brochures can be cute. Computerized phone calls can be annoying but you have to look at the candidate over a period of years, not just through images, words and sound bytes on any civic issue.
Press Enterprise Columnist Dan Bernstein solves the mystery of the missing "brown-skinned man" in several campaign brochures put out by the Schiavone campaign.
(excerpt)
B" is for Brochure (a campaign cliff-hanger)...
Riverside Councilman Frank Schiavone, running for RivCo supe, sent a mailer that assures: "Frank Schiavone Fights Illegal Immigration."
The mailer includes a photo of Schiavone talking to a Riverside cop. Way in the background, perched in the back of a truck: a brown-skinned man.
Another Schiavone brochure focusing on leadership includes the same photo, reduced in size. The brown-skinned man has vanished. Cropped out! Were his subliminal services required only for the illegal-immigration mailer?
"I have no idea," said Schiavone, adding he hadn't even noticed the man before I called. "I don't think he was a prop. If I'd known he was there, I would have hired him."
Schiavone said the photo dates back to his council re-election campaign and was taken about "a mile" from his home. The man in the background, he said, is Samoan. "These guys work the neighborhood." Schiavone hires them and has no doubt they're legal. "I have never heard of an illegal Samoan. It's a long swim from Tonga (a nearby island)."
As for the missing Samoan, Schiavone asks, "Did the guy call to complain that he was left out of the other picture? We'll put him back in."
Because of course if you're "brown-skinned", you must be an undocumented immigrant and in any discussion of undocumented immigrants, only those who are "brown-skinned" are discussed or envisioned, apparently including in campaign brochures. But many undocumented immigrants are White and the majority of undocumented immigrants are individuals who come into the country using visas who stay after they expire. Not those crossing any border or swimming or traveling across an ocean. And it's interesting how even in cities where most undocumented immigrants are from European countries, the focus by federal and local law enforcement is still on "brown-skinned" immigrants.
It's also interesting given how many undocumented immigrants are hired under the table for construction jobs so that contractors and developers can up their profit margins by keeping labor costs low that there's no discussion on the contributions that undocumented immigrants make to the industry which also employs Schiavone and others. These contractors and the property owners get their houses built and those who build them get more money in their wallets and perhaps the home buyers save money as well.
Instead, the only discussion of undocumented immigrants is through use of public resources from local governments on how much they "drain" from those programs when the truth is, if there were no undocumented immigrants working on the cheap in this state, many industries would be in serious trouble. Anything to win an election for a county seat.
A film recommendation is, A Day Without a Mexican which illuminates this reality better. So you demonize your cheap labor source (but of course not the businesses who rely on this "illegal" labor force) and rely heavily on it at the same time. You arrest today, the same immigrant who picked that head of lettuce you didn't want to pay $8 a head for your salad or who replaced the roof of your house so that you could save money on its cost.
I haven't received the latest brochure from the Schiavone camp on "fighting illegal immigration" and I'm sure the Schiavone who put it out is probably different than the Schiavone that discussed this issue with me several years ago. I'm still waiting for the one on "fighting irresponsible development", "fighting hiring some employees who are probably mostly men but laying others off who are mostly female (library)" and tongue in cheek of course, the brochure on "fighting the placement of restrictions on public comment".
DHL is no longer the number one issue faced by the March Joint Powers Authority but opening the airport up to general aviation use and rocket use is.
A public hearing will be set on this matter and the following information has been provided so if you're concerned about these issues, you should attend and at least get your concerns off of your chest because it's not a given that you'll really be heard.
Who: March Joint Powers Commission
When: 3 p.m. Wednesday
Where: 23555 Meyer Drive, Riverside
Information: 951-656-7000 or marchjpa.com
San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Deputy John Thomas Laurent plead not guilty to extortion charges.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
Laurent was arrested March 4 after sheriff's officials investigated a complaint filed by Ray Carr Green, a San Manuel Band of Mission Indians member who has two convictions for possession of a controlled substance, court and prison records show.
Green, 45, told sheriff's officials on Jan. 15 that Laurent wanted $80,000 and a new pickup truck after planting a bag of methamphetamine in Green's girlfriend's car, a court record said.
Laurent said Green had offered him cash and a vehicle rather than providing information about his methamphetamine source, court records state.
"Laurent told him 'okay' because he was going to put a bribery case together against him," a sheriff's report said.
Former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona's ability to have a fair trial on corruption charges has not been compromised by the actions of two KFI radio show hosts.
But an attorney for a jail inmate blames the problems in the Orange County jails on the deputies' labor union.
(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)
Fighting words spoken in almost hushed tones. They land with more impact and, of course, deserve a retort.
I wanted to get one from Wayne Quint, head of the Orange County deputies union whose members staff the jails, but he was out of town on business and unreachable, according to his office.
That Herman is still talking about problems in Orange County jails is remarkable, considering he was the lead attorney in a federal case 30 years ago that drew attention to overcrowded conditions and the fact that not every inmate had a bed.
The local jail situation is very much back in the news, however, since the filing of charges against nine inmates in the fatal beating of another prisoner in 2006. In a report last month detailing the findings of a special grand jury, Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas itemized systemic failures at Theo Lacy Jail but said he didn't have enough evidence to charge any deputies with a crime.
The renewed attention on the jails -- acting Sheriff Jack Anderson says he'd like to replace jail deputies with corrections officers -- naturally leads one to make a house call on Herman, as close as the county has to a jail guru.
He supports Anderson's idea and is unsparing in laying the blame for jail problems at the doorstep of the deputies union. Its culture, Herman says, has been to tolerate jail staffers who don't perform properly and, worse, to perpetuate the mistreatment of some inmates.
Herman quickly says that "a lot of deputies want to do the right thing," but that they don't carry the day.
In New York, Gov. David Paterson said he revealed his own history of extramarital affairs because he was concerned about a rogue group of state police officers.
(excerpt, Seattle Press-Inquirer)
Paterson said that he had no proof, but that "over 10" lawmakers from both parties statewide told him about traffic stops and leaks by police to news organizations about brushes with the law.
"I don't know that that's actually the case. These are things that are said to me," the Democrat told reporters after his initial comments on a radio show earlier in the day.
"That was also on my mind when I made my own personal revelations," Paterson told WFAN-AM sports radio in Manhattan. "There was obviously an element in the police force and it wasn't Republican or Democrat, it was just out-of-control people who had power that were clearly monitoring a lot of the elected officials, and I was kind of afraid of leaks of inaccurate information about something, and that was another thing that pushed me to speak."
The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat Editorial Board addresses the fact that the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department has had six fatal shootings in 14 months by stating that more public scrutiny of the process of investigation and review is needed.
(excerpt)
We haven't seen any evidence to undermine Passalacqua's conclusion that the DeSantis shooting -- or any others -- was justified.
But there are legitimate public concerns about the use of lethal force and the training for police officers who regularly deal with people suffering breakdowns, especially since the closure of inpatient psychiatric facilities in Sonoma County.
A public presentation of the findings in the DeSantis case and others like it could allay some concerns.
But a civilian review board may not provide that forum because of a 2006 state Supreme Court ruling that eliminated public access to police disciplinary proceedings. Since then, some cities have scaled back the information released by their civilian review boards about officer-involved shootings.
A Friday afternoon press release isn't the answer, either.
Passalacqua and other law enforcement leaders should release full reports and consider a public presentation to the Board of Supervisors or a city council, with an opportunity for public questions.
Should investigations of police shootings be more open? That's a question that's being asked in Northern California much as it's been elsewhere. California law promotes the most secrecy regarding any misconduct issue involving law enforcement in the country, attributed to the dual strength and drives of both the peace officer labor unions and the correctional officer unions to whom more than a few state politicians are beholden to.
City officials in New York City prepare for this evening's protests and indeed that's what came.
Beginning at 4 p.m. EST and during the evening commuting hours, hundreds of protesters clogged the streets in different parts of the city. Among those arrested were the Reverend Al Sharpton.
(excerpt, New York Daily News)
The most dramatic demonstration was on the Upper East Side, when about 100 protesters waded into traffic and made for the bridge.
"Get on your knees! Get on your knees!" an organizer yelled.
And they did before the police, who greatly outnumbered the protesters, could stop them.
"It has nothing to do with race or being anti-NYPD," said demonstrator Antwan Minter, 31, of Harlem. "This is about basic human rights."
Cops had dozens of demonstrators in handcuffs within 15 minutes and the bridge was reopened.
About 150 protesters were also briefly blocked the entrance to the Midtown Tunnel and refused to move.
Several dozen demonstrators were also marching in the street toward the Holland Tunnel, apparently intending to block traffic there.
"Today we are here to be peaceful," Hazel Dukes, president of the New York chapter of the NAACP, said. "Sean Bell will never be back with his wife and his two children, so there will never be justice for Sean Bell. We don't want there to ever be another Sean Bell."
In Harlem, two dozen people were arrested when they tried to block the entrance to the Triborough Bridge.
The Rev. Al Sharpton had promised the protests would be peaceful, but he also vowed to get arrested if necessary to get the feds to try the Bell detectives on civil rights charges.
Arrests all across New York City
New York Daily News columnist, Michael Daly comments on the sit-ins.
Sean Bell's fiancee, Nichole Paultre-Bell who was among those arrested said that she accepted the apology of NYPD Det. Marc Cooper according to the New York Daily News.
(excerpt)
As we were sitting in court every day, he would be the only one who looked remorseful. So I accepted his apology," Nicole Paultre Bell told Essence.com.
"I'm sad to say that's the only apology we got from anyone on their side."
While city residents protested in the streets, the NYPD's police unions met in the judiciary committee in Washington, D.C. urging them to stop the federal agencies from charging the officers with human rights violations.
Meanwhile, the NYPD's "stop and frisk" policy is the focus of civil litigation.
( excerpt, New York Daily News)
The New York Civil Liberties Union lawsuit lists New York Post reporter Leonardo Blair as the sole plaintiff, saying he was stopped and frisked by police officers as he walked from his car to his Bronx home last November.
He was taken to a police station, where officers expressed surprise that though he was black, he was not from “the projects,” the lawsuit said. Blair, 28, has a master’s degree from Columbia University.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan said the NYPD has stopped people in New York nearly 1 million times over the last two years. It said more than half of the people targeted were black, and some 90 percent were either black or Latino.
U.S. Census Bureau statistics show 25 percent of the city’s population is black, 28 percent is Hispanic and 44 percent is white.
The lawsuit asks that the stop-and-frisk practice be declared unconstitutional and that Blair be awarded unspecified compensatory damages.
Kate O’Brien Ahlers, a city law department spokeswoman, said, “We are awaiting the legal papers and will review them thoroughly.”
“Leo Blair was handcuffed and hauled to a precinct house for simply walking down the street,” said Donna Lieberman, NYCLU executive director. “Walking while black is not a crime, and yet every year hundreds of thousands of innocent New Yorkers are stopped, searched and interrogated by the police for doing just that.”
Councilman Frank Schiavone once said he voted against Proposition 187 (which prohibited undocumented immigrants from receiving social services) because he wanted Mexicans to go back to their country with a strong sense of democracy and patriotism regarding the United States so they might implement change in their own government. He also didn't want the children to be penalized by being denied an education.
However as of late, he has done a bit of a turn and now has committed himself to enforcing the same provisions under Proposition 187 that passed but then were tossed out by a higher court. His explanation for his apparent decision to vote against the initiative was interesting, innovative for a political candidate and clearly took some serious self-reflection on the issue. Whether or not you agree with his philosophy at the time, it's an interesting chain of thoughts for discussion. Unfortunately, he apparently has rejected that belief and has taken the other stance or maybe he didn't really believe what he had said to me.
Another reason to take any politician's words on any issue with a grain of salt because they really want to get elected to political offices badly.
Brochures can be cute. Computerized phone calls can be annoying but you have to look at the candidate over a period of years, not just through images, words and sound bytes on any civic issue.
Press Enterprise Columnist Dan Bernstein solves the mystery of the missing "brown-skinned man" in several campaign brochures put out by the Schiavone campaign.
(excerpt)
B" is for Brochure (a campaign cliff-hanger)...
Riverside Councilman Frank Schiavone, running for RivCo supe, sent a mailer that assures: "Frank Schiavone Fights Illegal Immigration."
The mailer includes a photo of Schiavone talking to a Riverside cop. Way in the background, perched in the back of a truck: a brown-skinned man.
Another Schiavone brochure focusing on leadership includes the same photo, reduced in size. The brown-skinned man has vanished. Cropped out! Were his subliminal services required only for the illegal-immigration mailer?
"I have no idea," said Schiavone, adding he hadn't even noticed the man before I called. "I don't think he was a prop. If I'd known he was there, I would have hired him."
Schiavone said the photo dates back to his council re-election campaign and was taken about "a mile" from his home. The man in the background, he said, is Samoan. "These guys work the neighborhood." Schiavone hires them and has no doubt they're legal. "I have never heard of an illegal Samoan. It's a long swim from Tonga (a nearby island)."
As for the missing Samoan, Schiavone asks, "Did the guy call to complain that he was left out of the other picture? We'll put him back in."
Because of course if you're "brown-skinned", you must be an undocumented immigrant and in any discussion of undocumented immigrants, only those who are "brown-skinned" are discussed or envisioned, apparently including in campaign brochures. But many undocumented immigrants are White and the majority of undocumented immigrants are individuals who come into the country using visas who stay after they expire. Not those crossing any border or swimming or traveling across an ocean. And it's interesting how even in cities where most undocumented immigrants are from European countries, the focus by federal and local law enforcement is still on "brown-skinned" immigrants.
It's also interesting given how many undocumented immigrants are hired under the table for construction jobs so that contractors and developers can up their profit margins by keeping labor costs low that there's no discussion on the contributions that undocumented immigrants make to the industry which also employs Schiavone and others. These contractors and the property owners get their houses built and those who build them get more money in their wallets and perhaps the home buyers save money as well.
Instead, the only discussion of undocumented immigrants is through use of public resources from local governments on how much they "drain" from those programs when the truth is, if there were no undocumented immigrants working on the cheap in this state, many industries would be in serious trouble. Anything to win an election for a county seat.
A film recommendation is, A Day Without a Mexican which illuminates this reality better. So you demonize your cheap labor source (but of course not the businesses who rely on this "illegal" labor force) and rely heavily on it at the same time. You arrest today, the same immigrant who picked that head of lettuce you didn't want to pay $8 a head for your salad or who replaced the roof of your house so that you could save money on its cost.
I haven't received the latest brochure from the Schiavone camp on "fighting illegal immigration" and I'm sure the Schiavone who put it out is probably different than the Schiavone that discussed this issue with me several years ago. I'm still waiting for the one on "fighting irresponsible development", "fighting hiring some employees who are probably mostly men but laying others off who are mostly female (library)" and tongue in cheek of course, the brochure on "fighting the placement of restrictions on public comment".
DHL is no longer the number one issue faced by the March Joint Powers Authority but opening the airport up to general aviation use and rocket use is.
A public hearing will be set on this matter and the following information has been provided so if you're concerned about these issues, you should attend and at least get your concerns off of your chest because it's not a given that you'll really be heard.
Who: March Joint Powers Commission
When: 3 p.m. Wednesday
Where: 23555 Meyer Drive, Riverside
Information: 951-656-7000 or marchjpa.com
San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Deputy John Thomas Laurent plead not guilty to extortion charges.
(excerpt, Press Enterprise)
Laurent was arrested March 4 after sheriff's officials investigated a complaint filed by Ray Carr Green, a San Manuel Band of Mission Indians member who has two convictions for possession of a controlled substance, court and prison records show.
Green, 45, told sheriff's officials on Jan. 15 that Laurent wanted $80,000 and a new pickup truck after planting a bag of methamphetamine in Green's girlfriend's car, a court record said.
Laurent said Green had offered him cash and a vehicle rather than providing information about his methamphetamine source, court records state.
"Laurent told him 'okay' because he was going to put a bribery case together against him," a sheriff's report said.
Former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona's ability to have a fair trial on corruption charges has not been compromised by the actions of two KFI radio show hosts.
But an attorney for a jail inmate blames the problems in the Orange County jails on the deputies' labor union.
(excerpt, Los Angeles Times)
Fighting words spoken in almost hushed tones. They land with more impact and, of course, deserve a retort.
I wanted to get one from Wayne Quint, head of the Orange County deputies union whose members staff the jails, but he was out of town on business and unreachable, according to his office.
That Herman is still talking about problems in Orange County jails is remarkable, considering he was the lead attorney in a federal case 30 years ago that drew attention to overcrowded conditions and the fact that not every inmate had a bed.
The local jail situation is very much back in the news, however, since the filing of charges against nine inmates in the fatal beating of another prisoner in 2006. In a report last month detailing the findings of a special grand jury, Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas itemized systemic failures at Theo Lacy Jail but said he didn't have enough evidence to charge any deputies with a crime.
The renewed attention on the jails -- acting Sheriff Jack Anderson says he'd like to replace jail deputies with corrections officers -- naturally leads one to make a house call on Herman, as close as the county has to a jail guru.
He supports Anderson's idea and is unsparing in laying the blame for jail problems at the doorstep of the deputies union. Its culture, Herman says, has been to tolerate jail staffers who don't perform properly and, worse, to perpetuate the mistreatment of some inmates.
Herman quickly says that "a lot of deputies want to do the right thing," but that they don't carry the day.
In New York, Gov. David Paterson said he revealed his own history of extramarital affairs because he was concerned about a rogue group of state police officers.
(excerpt, Seattle Press-Inquirer)
Paterson said that he had no proof, but that "over 10" lawmakers from both parties statewide told him about traffic stops and leaks by police to news organizations about brushes with the law.
"I don't know that that's actually the case. These are things that are said to me," the Democrat told reporters after his initial comments on a radio show earlier in the day.
"That was also on my mind when I made my own personal revelations," Paterson told WFAN-AM sports radio in Manhattan. "There was obviously an element in the police force and it wasn't Republican or Democrat, it was just out-of-control people who had power that were clearly monitoring a lot of the elected officials, and I was kind of afraid of leaks of inaccurate information about something, and that was another thing that pushed me to speak."
The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat Editorial Board addresses the fact that the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department has had six fatal shootings in 14 months by stating that more public scrutiny of the process of investigation and review is needed.
(excerpt)
We haven't seen any evidence to undermine Passalacqua's conclusion that the DeSantis shooting -- or any others -- was justified.
But there are legitimate public concerns about the use of lethal force and the training for police officers who regularly deal with people suffering breakdowns, especially since the closure of inpatient psychiatric facilities in Sonoma County.
A public presentation of the findings in the DeSantis case and others like it could allay some concerns.
But a civilian review board may not provide that forum because of a 2006 state Supreme Court ruling that eliminated public access to police disciplinary proceedings. Since then, some cities have scaled back the information released by their civilian review boards about officer-involved shootings.
A Friday afternoon press release isn't the answer, either.
Passalacqua and other law enforcement leaders should release full reports and consider a public presentation to the Board of Supervisors or a city council, with an opportunity for public questions.
Should investigations of police shootings be more open? That's a question that's being asked in Northern California much as it's been elsewhere. California law promotes the most secrecy regarding any misconduct issue involving law enforcement in the country, attributed to the dual strength and drives of both the peace officer labor unions and the correctional officer unions to whom more than a few state politicians are beholden to.
City officials in New York City prepare for this evening's protests and indeed that's what came.
Beginning at 4 p.m. EST and during the evening commuting hours, hundreds of protesters clogged the streets in different parts of the city. Among those arrested were the Reverend Al Sharpton.
(excerpt, New York Daily News)
The most dramatic demonstration was on the Upper East Side, when about 100 protesters waded into traffic and made for the bridge.
"Get on your knees! Get on your knees!" an organizer yelled.
And they did before the police, who greatly outnumbered the protesters, could stop them.
"It has nothing to do with race or being anti-NYPD," said demonstrator Antwan Minter, 31, of Harlem. "This is about basic human rights."
Cops had dozens of demonstrators in handcuffs within 15 minutes and the bridge was reopened.
About 150 protesters were also briefly blocked the entrance to the Midtown Tunnel and refused to move.
Several dozen demonstrators were also marching in the street toward the Holland Tunnel, apparently intending to block traffic there.
"Today we are here to be peaceful," Hazel Dukes, president of the New York chapter of the NAACP, said. "Sean Bell will never be back with his wife and his two children, so there will never be justice for Sean Bell. We don't want there to ever be another Sean Bell."
In Harlem, two dozen people were arrested when they tried to block the entrance to the Triborough Bridge.
The Rev. Al Sharpton had promised the protests would be peaceful, but he also vowed to get arrested if necessary to get the feds to try the Bell detectives on civil rights charges.
Arrests all across New York City
New York Daily News columnist, Michael Daly comments on the sit-ins.
Sean Bell's fiancee, Nichole Paultre-Bell who was among those arrested said that she accepted the apology of NYPD Det. Marc Cooper according to the New York Daily News.
(excerpt)
As we were sitting in court every day, he would be the only one who looked remorseful. So I accepted his apology," Nicole Paultre Bell told Essence.com.
"I'm sad to say that's the only apology we got from anyone on their side."
While city residents protested in the streets, the NYPD's police unions met in the judiciary committee in Washington, D.C. urging them to stop the federal agencies from charging the officers with human rights violations.
Meanwhile, the NYPD's "stop and frisk" policy is the focus of civil litigation.
( excerpt, New York Daily News)
The New York Civil Liberties Union lawsuit lists New York Post reporter Leonardo Blair as the sole plaintiff, saying he was stopped and frisked by police officers as he walked from his car to his Bronx home last November.
He was taken to a police station, where officers expressed surprise that though he was black, he was not from “the projects,” the lawsuit said. Blair, 28, has a master’s degree from Columbia University.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan said the NYPD has stopped people in New York nearly 1 million times over the last two years. It said more than half of the people targeted were black, and some 90 percent were either black or Latino.
U.S. Census Bureau statistics show 25 percent of the city’s population is black, 28 percent is Hispanic and 44 percent is white.
The lawsuit asks that the stop-and-frisk practice be declared unconstitutional and that Blair be awarded unspecified compensatory damages.
Kate O’Brien Ahlers, a city law department spokeswoman, said, “We are awaiting the legal papers and will review them thoroughly.”
“Leo Blair was handcuffed and hauled to a precinct house for simply walking down the street,” said Donna Lieberman, NYCLU executive director. “Walking while black is not a crime, and yet every year hundreds of thousands of innocent New Yorkers are stopped, searched and interrogated by the police for doing just that.”
Labels: corruption 101, labor pains, officer-involved shootings, public forums in all places
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