Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words
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The Santa Monica City Council voted to approve a temporary pay increase of $5 per hour for grocery and drug store employees in the city. A similar measure in Long Beach resulted in Kroger (parent company of Food-4-Less and Ralphs) closing two stores in less affluent parts of Long Beach. Sponsored by Kevin McKeown last week, the "Hero Pay" measure is similar to a temporary urgency ordinance that Los Angele County Supervisors approved on Jan. 26. It applies to unincorporated...
The Santa Monica City Council held a special meeting last Saturday to discuss the community priorities that will guide the biennial (2021-23) budget. In a 4-3 vote, the Council selected the following priorities: addressing homelessness, creating a clean and safe Santa Monica, and cultivating an equitable and inclusive economic recovery. "The City Council chose to focus for the next two years on the two issues overwhelmingly favored in the unscientific survey of the public's pr...
In a press release that proves he has no idea of his job description, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon boasted of the ways he has helped criminals and flouted state and local laws during his first 100 days in office. The top "accomplishments" he lists are "no longer seeking the death penalty in 17 active cases" and "a 71 percent reduction in enhancements filed" in sentencing demands. Gascon claims his electoral victory gives him the justification to institute...
March 5, 2021 On Thursday, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon released a press statement regarding a poll conducted by Californians for Safety and Justice, claiming the results proved that crime victims prefer public resources go toward crime prevention and rehabilitation of criminals rather than their incarceration. Gascon wrote, "Large majorities [of victims of violent crime] support policies to shift resources away from incarceration and move toward prevention and...
Most cities in California have struggled to come up with solutions to curb homelessness in their municipalities and it was no different for the Santa Monica City Council last night. At its annual study session on homelessness, the City Council discussed and rehashed at great length current programs for the homeless instead of focusing on new initiatives. "I don't know if we know how to solve this (homelessness) but we have to do something about it," said Councilmember Phil...
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...
Los Angeles's new district attorney, George Gascon, announced yesterday that he is seeking a life sentence for Tracy Walker, 56, accused of murdering three transients between June 7, 2020 and February 7, 2021. The defendant, an ex-felon, will face additional charges for possession of a firearm although a knife was also used in all three murders. Gascon's choice to apply sentencing enhancements and attempt gaining a life sentence for the defendant is a surprising break from...
2/17: A bill was introduced yesterday in the California State Assembly that would limit the ability of government agencies that are not health departments from using information collected in contact tracing. According to AB 814, introduced by Marc Levin (D-Marin County), no law enforcement personnel would be allowed to engage in contact tracing. Nor could data collected in the course of contact tracing for carriers of disease be "used, maintained, or disclosed for any purpose...
FEBRUARY 16 Los Angeles County's Department of Public Health announced yesterday that they expect to reach a level of Covid-19 cases that will allow elementary schools to reopen today. The state of California set an adjusted case rate of 25 per 100,000 residents as the threshold, and the county believes they will meet that threshold today. "This encouraging news means that dozens of elementary schools will be permitted to reopen for in-class instruction for students grades TK-...
Over the weekend, California Governor Gavin Newsom agreed to change the current lockdown guidelines regarding places of worship in which all indoor worship is prohibited. Newsom's change in policy follows a United States Supreme Court Ruling in favor of South Bay United Pentecostal Church and against the State of California. The court, split 6-3 along ideological lines, ruled that the government cannot ban indoor worship. The government may, however, restrict capacity to 25%...
2/8/21: Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant ruled in favor of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys for Los Angeles County (ADDA) in a lawsuit against District Attorney George Gascón. The ADDA brought a civil lawsuit against the District Attorney to seek a court ruling to clarify Deputy District Attorneys' legal obligations in light of the District Attorney's directives. It is not about the District Attorney's beliefs on what criminal laws should...
The Recall George Gascon Campaign is prepared to file a Notice of Intention and serve Los Angeles County's new district attorney with the papers on March 8. This is the earliest possible date, 90 days after Gascon was sworn into office. Gascon ran on a justice reform platform, promising to straddle, somehow, the rights of victims with a rehabilitative approach to criminals. As soon as he entered office, he made good on his campaign promises to eliminate cash bail and drop all...
A group called Protect Ballona Wetlands, has filed a Petition for Writ of Mandate with the LA Superior Court. The lawsuit seeks to restrain the Calif. Dept of Fish and Wildlife from approving a project to “restore, enhance, and establish native coastal wetland and upland habitats on approximately 566 acres within the Ballona Reserve.” The group alleges that the State’s description of the plan as restoration is “disingenuous.” They say that the plan will actually harm wildlife,...
On Sunday, a crowd of about 30 demonstrators met at the Santa Monica Pier to protest the arrest of Alexei Navalny. He was sentenced today to two and a half years in Russian prison on a parole violation. Alexei Navalny is a Russian opposition leader, politician, lawyer, and anti-corruption activist. He came to international prominence by organizing demonstrations and running for office to advocate reforms against corruption in Russia, president Vladimir Putin, and Putin's gover...
February 1 - Today Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon gave the oath of office to Robert Arcos, who will serve as head of the Bureau of Investigation. The Bureau of Investigation comprises 300 peace officers who provide investigative work for the 1,000 deputy district attorneys working on prosecuting criminals. Or are they? Gascon's statement on Arcos's appointment stressed the former assistant chief of the LAPD's commitment to "reform." According to Gascon,...
Los Angeles (CA) Last night, Chief Michel Moore released new statistics on the shocking increase in shootings so far this year, compared to last year, with South Los Angeles suffering from the largest impact in the surge in violent crime (as shown in the LAPD charts above). The Los Angeles Police Protective League issued this statement in response: "Two pandemics are ravaging Los Angeles right now; both are dangerous and deadly. COVID is spreading rapidly in L.A. while...
After eleven months of varying stages of lockdown in the State of California and during a botched local delivery of COVID vaccine, a campaign to recall Governor Newsom appears to be gathering steam. Newsom has been the target of recall efforts almost since he took office, but this one appears to have legs. With 1,495,709 valid signatures required, over a million signatures have already been collected. The campaign has until March 17 to reach its goal. "Voters are angry, and...
Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin continued his attack on the city's police union January 12, with an emailed statement claiming the police union alone is standing in the way of the metropolis regaining financial solvency. According to Bonin, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, alone of all employee unions in the city, is refusing to delay taking contracted pay raises. The Los Angeles Police Protective League quickly released their own statement, which saw matters...
State Assemblymember Richard Bloom announced he will run for Los Angeles County Supervisor in 2022. There are five county supervisors, representing roughly 10 million people in Los Angeles county. Incumbents are generally voted back into office but present supervisor Sheila Kuehl has said she will not seek a third term when her service ends at the close of 2022. This gives an opportunity to the progressive Westside Bloom, currently representing District 50 in the State...
The Santa Monica City Council unanimously voted on Tuesday to establish a Public Safety Reform and Oversight Commission which would "promote best practices in community-based policing for the fair treatment and safety of all." The new panel will be comprised of 11 residents of Santa Monica, appointed by the Council, and tasked to provide oversight of the Santa Monica Police Department and work with SMPD to recommend "appropriate proposed reforms to its policies and practices."...
LA County District Attorney George Gascon announced today that he is charging two "young adults" with one count of murder each in the fatal beating of David McKnight-Hillman, a counselor at the Wayfinder Family Services facility. McKnight-Hillman was responsible for the care of the residents at the youth hall and was reportedly trying to break up a fight at the home when seven teenagers turned on him and beat him. McKnight-Hillman succumbed to his injuries later at the hospita...
The person with the nuclear codes has been deemed too dangerous to have a twitter account, as the Social Media giant locked down the president's account for 12 hours. "I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!" tweeted @realdonaldtrump at 11 am EST. "I can assure you that my departure from office is going to be very boring." Tweeted A...
The most expensive U.S. Senate race in history was that of incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham and his Democratic challenger, Jaime Harrison, where between the two $238 million was spent in South Carolina prior to November 3, 2020. In the third quarter Harrison alone raised $57.9 million which became the record for a three month effort-until now. In the past two months, since November 3, all four Georgia U.S. Senate contenders have raised more than this. Challenging Democrats Jon...
UPDATE: The Association of Deputy District Attorneys dispute Gascon's interpretation of today's court ruling as a victory. In fact, says the ADDA, the court ordered Gascon to show cause why an injunction against his behavior should not be issued. Gascon has until January 15 to file papers supporting his position, and a hearing will be held on February 2, 2021. December 30, 2020 After a month of suffering under the radical leadership of new Los Angeles District Attorney George...
A group of law professors from prominent, left-leaning California law schools sent out a press release preemptively striking against a yet-to-be-filed lawsuit by the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys against newly installed District Attorney George Gascon. The press release claims the ADDA will not prevail in their coming restraining order against Gascon to prevent him from forcing his deputies to drop sentencing enhancements in charging criminal...
