News
City Attorney Appeals Court’s Ruling in Police Racist, Homophobic Texting Case
City Attorney Dennis Herrera this week filed notice with the California Court of Appeal that he will challenge a San Francisco Superior Court decision allowing police officers who exchanged racist, misogynist and homophobic text messages to avoid discipline.
Although notices of appeal are pro forma and include no substantive arguments, Herrera stressed in an accompanying statement that key aspects of the court’s Dec. 21 ruling reach far beyond the San Francisco police officers that Chief Greg Suhr has moved to discipline.
If affirmed, Herrera said, the decision could seriously jeopardize the ability of local and federal law enforcement authorities in California to investigate and effectively prosecute police misconduct, including corruption and criminal behavior.
Herrera cited the successful prosecution and conviction of former Sergeant Ian Furminger as an example of the need for coordination between local police and federal agents.
“The ramifications of this ruling, should it stand, are worse than many realize,” said Herrera. “Forcing the San Francisco Police Department to retain officers whose expressions of hatred and violence are antithetical to law enforcement roles is the most obvious negative effect of this ruling.”
“Less obvious, but no less serious,” he said, “are the far-reaching effects of this court’s re-interpretation of the statute of limitations under California’s Peace Officer Bill of Rights. If affirmed, this decision would seriously jeopardize the ability of local and federal agencies to cooperate on future investigations into police misconduct in California.
He said the ruling would “hamstring efforts, like those in the Furminger case, that have successfully rooted out corruption and other wrongdoing that has no place in law enforcement. “
The text messages at issue in the San Francisco employment case emerged during a federal criminal investigation into Furminger and several other SFPD officers under the direction of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which enlisted assistance from select officers of the criminal unit of SFPD’s Internal Affairs Division.
The San Francisco officers privy to the grand jury evidence were required to keep investigative material-including the text messages-secret under federal criminal procedure, and a signed agreement memorialized both agencies understanding that San Francisco’s unauthorized use of the evidence would be punishable by federal contempt proceedings.
At trial and in court pleadings, Herrera’s office contended that the San Francisco Police Department acted promptly to investigate the police officers’ misconduct, completing its investigation within five months-well under the one-year period allowed by statute.
The SFPD also properly cooperated with the federal criminal investigation of officers in the Mission Station plainclothes unit, protecting the integrity of the U.S. Attorney’s case by refusing to disclose evidence or information until the resulting prosecution and trial concluded.
The case is: Rain O. Daugherty v. City and County of San Francisco et al., San Francisco Superior Court Case No. CPF-15-514302.
Additional documentation on the case is available on the San Francisco City Attorney’s office’s website at: www.sfcityattorney.org/.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of May 15 – 21, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May May 15 – 21, 2024
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PRESS ROOM: New AARP Pennsylvania Poll: Black Voters 50+ Say Social Security, Inflation, and Medicare Will Influence 2024 Vote
NNPA NEWSWIRE — “With inflation and the rising costs of living squeezing all Pennsylvania households, Black voters 50+ are clearly looking for leaders with a plan,” said Bill Johnston-Walsh, AARP Pennsylvania State Director. “Candidates would be wise to listen to their opinions and concerns if they want to win in November.”
The post PRESS ROOM: New AARP Pennsylvania Poll: Black Voters 50+ Say Social Security, Inflation, and Medicare Will Influence 2024 Vote first appeared on BlackPressUSA.
AARP Pennsylvania’s first 2024 election survey shows that candidates should pay close attention to Pennsylvanian voters ages 50 and older and highlights the priorities and concerns of Black voters ages 50 and older that will likely influence the outcome of the 2024 elections. Seventy-nine percent of Black voters in Pennsylvania are extremely motivated to vote this year. When asked about the issues that are important as they decide whom to vote for this November, older Black voters cited Social Security (92% say extremely or very important), Medicare (89%), policies to help seniors live independently at home as they age (87%), the cost of prescription drugs (86%) as key issues. Social Security and Medicare emerged as their top priority issue in their vote for Senate this year, with nearly twice as many Black voters 50+ choosing Social Security and Medicare as any of the other dozen issues tested.
“With inflation and the rising costs of living squeezing all Pennsylvania households, Black voters 50+ are looking for leaders with a plan,” said Bill Johnston-Walsh, AARP Pennsylvania State Director. “Candidates would be wise to listen to their opinions and concerns if they want to win in November.” Among Black voters 50+, President Joe Biden (D) leads former President Donald Trump (R) by a large margin: 84% to 8%. In the race for U.S. Senate, Senator Bob Casey (D) leads Dave McCormick 87% to 7%.
Other key takeaways include:
- 96% of Black voters 50+ say they are more likely to vote for a candidate for the U.S. Senate who advocated making sure workers get the Social Security they paid for through a lifetime of hard work.
- Four of the five issues measured as cost concerns are important to many Black voters 50+: health care/prescription drugs, utilities, food, and housing; and
- 58% of Black voters 50+ are worried about their financial situation including 63% of women. Health care/prescription drugs and housing are the biggest cost concerns.
- 66% of Black voters 50+ and 73% of Black voters 65+ say Social Security is or will be a major source of their income.
AARP commissioned the bipartisan polling team of Fabrizio Ward & Impact Research to conduct a survey. The firms interviewed 1,398 likely Pennsylvania voters, which includes a statewide representative sample of 600 likely voters, with an oversample of 470 likely voters aged 50 and older and an additional oversample of 328 Black likely voters aged 50 and older, between April 24-30, 2024. The interviews were conducted via landline, cellphone, and SMS-to-web. The margin of sampling error for the 600 statewide samples is ±4.0%; for the 800 total sample of voters 50+ is ±3.5%; for the 400 total sample of Black voters 50+ is ±4.9%.
View the full survey results at aarp.org/PApolling.
For more information on how, when, and where to vote in Pennsylvania, visit aarp.org/PAVotes.
The post PRESS ROOM: New AARP Pennsylvania Poll: Black Voters 50+ Say Social Security, Inflation, and Medicare Will Influence 2024 Vote first appeared on BlackPressUSA.
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Calif. Anti-Sex Trafficking Advocates Discuss Competing Bills, Strategies
OAKLAND POST — “It is time to send a thorough message that if you seek to buy a child for sex, you will pay the highest criminal penalties in this state,” said the Rev. Shane Harris, a San Diego-based activist, former foster youth and founder of the Peoples Association of Justice Advocates, (PAJA), a national civil rights organization and policy think tank. Harris, who was speaking at a rally at the State Capitol earlier this month, was speaking in support of Senate Bill 1414, authored by Sen. Shannon Grove (D-Bakersfield), which calls for people who buy sex from minors to be punished with a felony. The punishment includes a two-year prison sentence and a $25,000 fine.
The post Calif. Anti-Sex Trafficking Advocates Discuss Competing Bills, Strategies first appeared on BlackPressUSA.
By Bo Tefu, California Black Media | The Oakland Post
Advocates from across California are challenging state officials and community leaders to support legislation that provides resources and services for survivors and victims of human trafficking, as well as assistance as they transition back into civil society.
Some of those advocates are also calling for more effective state policy to curtail trafficking, a crime that has an outsized impact on Black children, particularly girls.
According to the FBI, a report covering a two-year period found Black children accounted for 57% of all juvenile arrests for prostitution. In addition, 40% of sex trafficking victims were Black and 60% of those victims had been enrolled in the foster care system.
“It is time to hold the perpetrators who take advantage of our children accountable,” said the Rev. Shane Harris, a San Diego-based activist, former foster youth and founder of the Peoples Association of Justice Advocates, (PAJA), a national civil rights organization and policy think tank.
“It is time to send a thorough message that if you seek to buy a child for sex, you will pay the highest criminal penalties in this state,” added Harris who was speaking at a rally at the State Capitol earlier this month. Harris was speaking in support of Senate Bill 1414, authored by Sen. Shannon Grove (D-Bakersfield), which calls for people who buy sex from minors to be punished with a felony. The punishment includes a two-year prison sentence and a $25,000 fine.
Harris said the PAJA is the only civil rights organization in the state that supports SB 1414.
Harris urged other Black-led groups who favor anti-trafficking legislation more focused on criminal justice reforms (as opposed to stiffer penalties), to “join the movement.”
Many of those civil rights groups fear that SB 1414 could lead to the incarceration of more Black youth.
Those sentiments were echoed in a panel discussion organized by Black women advocates on April 26 to examine the cause and effects of human trafficking in California’s Black communities. The virtual event was hosted by the Forgotten Children, Inc, a faith-based nonprofit that advocates for survivors and victims of human trafficking through anti-trafficking campaigns and initiatives.
Panelists shared the psychological impact of sexual exploitation on youth and children in the long term.
Author and educator Dr. Stephany Powell shared statistics and information revealing that African American women and girls are the most trafficked nationwide.
Powell, who serves as the senior advisor on law enforcement and policy at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation said that national data indicates that sex trade survivors are disproportionately women of color. She stated that male survivors often go unnoticed because boys rarely report trafficked crimes.
Powell said that decriminalizing prostitution in California could increase human trafficking. She argued that Senate Bill 357, authored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), which was signed into law in 2022 and legalized loitering for prostitution, caused a surge in street-level prostitution.
Panelist and psychologist Dr. Gloria Morrow shared opposing views on decriminalizing prostitution. She said that decriminalizing prostitution could help survivors gain access to state resources and support.
Despite opposing views, Powell and Morrow agree that the Black community needs resources and educational programs to address human trafficking.
The post Calif. Anti-Sex Trafficking Advocates Discuss Competing Bills, Strategies first appeared on BlackPressUSA.
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