Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Sorted by date Results 51 - 75 of 123
Courts & Rulings The Supreme Court found a Sonoma County man's arrest illegal. A state appeals court upheld his conviction anyway Six months ago, a North Bay man who was pursued into his garage by police scored a rare defense victory in the U.S. Supreme Court, which limited officers' authority to enter a suspect's home without a warrant. That meant the entry into Arthur Lange's garage was illegal - but because the officer couldn't have known that in advance, Lange's...
The following letter was sent to the entire city council, the city manager, and police chief. Chief Batista and City Manager White both replied with thanks to the author. A. SHORT TERM (IMMEDIATE) Objective: Stabilize safety 1) Update the current requirement of property and/or business owners having to renew the NO SITTING OR LYING IN THE ENTRANCE NOTICE from every 30 to 45 days, to INDEFINITELY. This would immediately create a uniform enforcement environment which would...
Courts & Rulings Federal judge rejects California's bid to postpone vaccination of prison staff With COVID-19 already having taken the lives of nearly 300 California inmates and prison staff, a federal judge has ordered all prison employees to be vaccinated by Jan. 12, and criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom and the prison guards' union for seeking to postpone his order. In the face of "undisputed scientific and medical evidence" that vaccines are both effective and essential in conf...
Saving the United States Postal Service and stopping disingenuous forces from dismantling and privatizing it must be a national priority. We have witnessed the destruction of our post office and that must end, service levels must be restored and expanded, postage rates reduced; PO box rental prices slashed and new PO boxes added, local post offices re-opened, mail boxes that this postmaster general blatantly confiscated weeks before a national election must all be returned;...
Courts & Rulings Qualified immunity: Supreme Court sides with police, overturns denial of immunity in two cases The Supreme Court sided Monday with police in two cases in which plaintiffs claimed officers used excessive force, overturning separate lower court rulings that had allowed the officers to be sued for civil rights violations. In two unsigned opinions, the court stressed police are entitled to be shielded from liability unless it is "clear to a reasonable officer"...
To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to express my concerns regarding the news of the State of California Bar appointing George Cardona as Chief Trial Counsel. Since the California State Bar is currently undergoing much awaited reforms, it is particularly important that the new Chief Trial Counsel is highly skilled and has a history of ethical and professional conduct. This communication is being submitted to the California Bar in the form of an open letter because the Bar...
Infectious Disease Doctor From UCLA Health Warns City About Threat of Typhoid and HIV in Garages Used as Campground by Homeless Third Street Promenade property owner John Alle asked Dr. Lewis Simon, an infectious disease doctor from UC San Diego, currently working for Santa Monica's UCLA Health Center, to walk through the city's public garages with him over a year ago, when Alle first noted the meth manufacture and human waste in the structures. Dr. Simon came on his own tour...
Courts & Rulings California Supreme Court rules prison inmates not allowed to have marijuana The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state's law allowing the use of recreational marijuana does not apply to prison inmates, overturning a 2019 appellate court ruling that allowed prisoners to possess up to 1 ounce of pot. In a 5-2 decision, the state's high court ruled that "it seems unlikely" voters sought to decriminalize possession of marijuana in prisons....
A rising tide of violence in Los Angeles There were more aggravated assaults in Los Angeles in July than during any month in over a decade, with 1,299. The spike highlights one of the emerging concerns about public safety during COVID-19. Overall crime has fallen sharply, as social distancing and lockdowns kept people apart. But violent crimes - from murders to shootings and assaults - have been climbing to alarming levels. Crosstown With 46 murders, Los Angeles sees...
If you are planning to attend classes on campus at Santa Monica College this fall, you need to be vaccinated. So says the local college as it is gearing up for the fall semester which starts August 30. In a letter to students, Santa Monica College detailed its mandatory vaccination program. The major requirements include: Evidence of vaccinations for all students taking on-ground classes beginning in the fall semester; All employees must report their vaccination status to the...
Courts & Rulings Judge asked to boot Gascón's special assistant from case Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brian C. Yep will be asked this morning to recuse a prosecutor who, according to a motion on behalf of the family of a murdered man, is a former deputy public defender who, after becoming a special assistant to District Attorney George Gascón, continues to fight for the interests of criminal defendants. The recusal is sought in a case where, at stake, is whether a man w...
Courts & Rulings CHP not liable for shooting by drunken off-duty officer Conclusory allegations pinning blame on the California Highway Patrol for a non-fatal shooting by one of its deputies while drunk and off-duty did not suffice, the Court of Appeal for this district held yesterday, affirming a judgment of dismissal which followed the sustaining of demurrers without leave to amend. Justice Kenneth Yegan of Div. Six wrote the opinion, which was not certified for...
Courts & Rulings Ninth Circuit overturns drug conviction because search for weapon surpassed frisking Police conducting a "stop-and-frisk" can pat someone down for guns or other weapons if they have reason to believe they're in danger. But inside the pockets is out of bounds, and any evidence the officers find there is inadmissible, a federal appeals court said Wednesday. San Francisco Chronicle Warrantless search of motel room of parolee was justified - court A parolee's...
Depp to get drafts of article at center of defamation case against Heard--WHAS Johnny Depp's lawsuit accusing his ex-wife Amber Heard of defamation enters its third year in court with a ruling that the actress must turn over drafts of an editorial she published in The Washington Post. Fairfax County Circuit Court Chief Judge Penney S. Azcarate ruled from the bench Friday that Heard must also turn over certain communications with partners and associates, along with a passel of...
As the trial of Derek Chauvin begins to draw to an end with the jury beginning its deliberations this week regarding the death of George Floyd, Santa Monica's Police Chief, Jacqueline Seabrook, delivered a message addressing concerns of possible civil unrest. "There have been no threats or any activities specifically targeting our community," Seabrook wrote although she acknowledged "concerns happening in the broader environment." Apparently because of those concerns (and poss...
A fight that broke out among pier vendors on Sunday afternoon highlights a persistent and dangerous problem at the Santa Monica landmark: criminal gang involvement in illegal street vending. Several police officers were called after a fight began in the parking lot just north of the Santa Monica Pier at 2:30 on Sunday afternoon. After the fight was stopped, with great difficulty, six individuals were eventually cited and released. According to a highly placed government...
Courts & Rulings Commissioner Campos says DA's policy doesn't override CA's remand order Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Benjamin Campos on Friday reconsidered his March 3 order that dispositional proceedings involving a man who was convicted in 2016, at age 22, of a murder committed six years earlier, while a minor, will take place in Juvenile Court, deciding that, instead, he will conduct a "transfer hearing" to determine if the case did belong in the criminal court,...
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District has just announced it will officially reopen its campuses for full-time, in-person instruction on April 19 for elementary students and on April 26 for secondary students. In a letter to parents, posted online over the weekend, SMMUSD Superintendent Ben Drati said the newly-released, distancing guidance from County Department of Public Health – which allows students to sit three feet apart in classrooms instead the old r...
Courts & Rulings Grieving family shocked as getaway driver freed in bloody murder of USC grad student from China: 'Reluctant' judge has 'no discretion' Saying he had no choice under a new narrower felony murder rule, a judge Monday changed the conviction against the getaway driver involved in the beating death of a USC graduate student from China to attempted robbery from second-degree murder and sentenced him to time served. MyNewsLA State appeals court won't hear DA's...
Courts & Rulings Court narrows law used to target white supremacists A federal appeals court on Thursday struck down portions of an anti-riot law used to target white supremacists. Still, the ruling found enough of the law constitutional to reinstate charges against four men prosecuted under the statute. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision overturned a district court judge's ruling in 2019 that found key sections of the Federal Anti-Riot Act violated the First...
ADDA Lawsuit Association of Deputy District Attorneys on LA DA Gascón's reforms (Audio) Last month, we spoke with Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón about his various criminal justice reforms which were meant to address incarceration and racial inequity. Today, we follow that conversation with Michele Hanisee, president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys for Los Angeles County. Plus, we'll contextualize with our criminal justice correspondent F...
ADDA Lawsuit Judge blocks some of LA district attorney's reform policies A judge has decided some of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon's justice reform policies aimed at reducing punishment for some of the most serious crimes were, "unlawful," and cannot be implemented as the new DA ordered. L.A. Superior Court Judge James Chalfant said in a ruling Monday Gascon cannot direct prosecutors to dismiss sentencing enhancements for certain prior convictions, or...
Courts & Rulings Sementilli judge torpedoes LADA's scheme to go easy on accused black widow A Toronto family is breathing easier after a Los Angeles judge torpedoed a gambit from the city's new soft-on-crime district attorney to cut an alleged black widow sentencing slack. Superior Court Judge Ronald Coen refused to dismiss the special circumstance clause that can potentially send a convicted felon to prison for life without the possibility of parole. Toronto Sun Judge...
Courts & Rulings Allegation of strike as to one count applies to others The Court of Appeal for this district, in a 2-1 opinion, held on Friday that where an information alleged in connection with three counts a prior which, under the Three Strikes Law constituted a "strike," the trial judge did not err in doubling the sentence under another count although a strike had not been pled as to that count. Metropolitan News-Enterprise Requiring daily visits to probation officer by...
The main purpose of this letter is to urge the City Council and Councilmember McCowan to reconsider Mr. Cardona's position as stated in his January 6, 2021 response to Olga Zurawska's Demand to Cure and Correct. Mr. Cardona's position invites a dangerous precedent for democracy by normalizing Brown Act violations In his letter, Mr. Cardona claims that the very fact that Councilmember McCowan had publicly disclosed her serial meetings with the Council majority prior to the...
