Politics

Prosecutors Fight for Eric Garner Grand Jury Record Secrecy

Published

9 years ago

June 17, 2015

In this Dec. 3, 2014, photo, security personnel stand outside Richmond County Supreme Court after a grand jury’s decision not to indict a New York police officer involved in the police-chokehold death of Eric Garner, in the Staten Island borough of New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

TOM HAYS, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers battling over whether the grand jury record in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man should stay sealed came under sharp questioning by an appeals court on Tuesday, with one judge asking whether secrecy was a way of glossing over prosecutors’ role in a decision not to charge a white police officer in the case.

The four-judge state panel in Brooklyn heard the arguments in the Eric Garner case after the New York Civil Liberties Union and others appealed a March ruling keeping the minutes under seal. A lower-court judge agreed with the Staten Island district attorney’s office that lifting the veil of secrecy in grand jury proceedings could subject witnesses to harassment or retaliation after they were promised anonymity, an argument repeated on Tuesday.

“The intense public scrutiny of this case should result not in disclosure but even more zealous protection,” Assistant District Attorney Anne Grady said.

But Judge Leonard Austin zeroed in on accusations that then-District Attorney Daniel Donovan was being duplicitous in the Garner case for going to court to get permission for a partial disclosure of details like the number of witnesses, only to turn around and argue against the release of more meaningful information like the testimony of Officer Daniel Pantaleo and prosecutors’ instructions to the grand jury.

“Your office seems to have wanted to put a very pretty gloss on what happened and kind of sweep everything under the rug and use grand jury secrecy as its protection,” Austin said.

Pantaleo and other officers stopped Garner last July 17 on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. A video shot by an onlooker and widely watched online shows Garner telling the officers to leave him alone and refusing to be handcuffed.

The officer responded by wrapping his arm around Garner’s neck in what he said was a sanctioned takedown move and not a banned chokehold. The heavyset Garner, who had asthma, is heard on the tape gasping, “I can’t breathe.” He later was pronounced dead at a hospital.

The medical examiner ruled Garner’s death a homicide and found that a chokehold contributed to it. The death helped spark nationwide debate about the role of race in policing.

The judges on Tuesday also pressed the NYCLU and others on whether they had established a “compelling and particularized need” for the release of the grand jury record as required by law, a standard the lower-court judge found they failed to meet. Attorney Arthur Eisenberg responded that the disclosure was needed to better inform legislative proposals aimed at making grand jury deliberations more transparent.

NAACP attorney James Meyerson went further, saying disclosure was needed because allowing secrecy “reinforces the perception, if not the reality, that the system is rigged.”

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Barbara Lee

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Issues Statement on Deaths of Humanitarian Aid Volunteers in Gaza 

On April 2, a day after an Israeli airstrike erroneously killed seven employees of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization delivering aid in the Gaza Strip, a statement was release by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA-12). “This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Congresswoman Barbara Lee

By California Black Media

“This is a devastating and avoidable tragedy. My prayers go to the families and loved ones of the selfless members of the World Central Kitchen team whose lives were lost,” said Lee.

The same day, it was confirmed by the organization that the humanitarian aid volunteers were killed in a strike carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Prior to the incident, members of the team had been travelling in two armored vehicles marked with the WCF logo and they had been coordinating their movements with the IDF. The group had successfully delivered 10 tons of humanitarian food in a deconflicted zone when its convoy was struck.

“This is not only an attack against WCK. This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the direst situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable,” said Erin Gore, chief executive officer of World Central Kitchen.

The seven victims included a U.S. citizen as well as others from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Palestine.

Lee has been a vocal advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza and has supported actions by President Joe Biden to airdrop humanitarian aid in the area.

“Far too many civilians have lost their lives as a result of Benjamin Netanyahu’s reprehensible military offensive. The U.S. must join with our allies and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire – it’s long overdue,” Lee said.

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Community

Financial Assistance Bill for Descendants of Enslaved Persons to Help Them Purchase, Own, or Maintain a Home

California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) vice chair Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood) introduced new legislation related to reparations to the Senate Committee on Housing on April 2 in Sacramento. Senate Bill (SB) 1007, “establishes the Homeowner’s Assistance for Descendants of Enslaved Persons Program to make financial aid or assistance available to descendants for the purposes of purchasing, owning, or maintaining a home,” the legislation states.

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood). Photo Courtesy of L.A. Sentinel

California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) vice chair Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Inglewood) introduced new legislation related to reparations to the Senate Committee on Housing on April 2 in Sacramento.

Senate Bill (SB) 1007, “establishes the Homeowner’s Assistance for Descendants of Enslaved Persons Program to make financial aid or assistance available to descendants for the purposes of purchasing, owning, or maintaining a home,” the legislation states.

The Senate Housing Committee advanced the bill with an 8-1 vote. It will be re-referred to the Appropriations Committee for consideration.

Sen. Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta) was the only member who voted against the bill.

“SB 1007 is about starting a long process of paying back a debt that is not only owed, but that was also promised, and is 160 years overdue, to African Americans,” Bradford told the committee chaired by Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley). “It is the first step in closing the wealth and equity gap created by centuries of slavery and racial discrimination policies.”

The bill aligns with one of the 115 recommendations listed in a two-year study conducted by the California reparations task force, of which Bradford was one of nine members.

Bradford said the report reveals that, in the state of California, a typical Black-owned home is 22% less valuable than a White-owned home.

Various advocacy groups from around the state attended the hearing held at the State Capitol Annex Swing Space. The California Housing Partnership, Bay Area Regional Health and Inequities Initiative, Coalition for A Just and Equitable California, Disability Rights of California, the American Civil Liberties Union of California, and California Community Builders all voiced their support of the bill.

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AG Bonta Says Oakland School Leaders Should Comply with State Laws to Avoid ‘Disparate Harm’ When Closing or Merging Schools

California Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a letter this week to the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) Board of Education saying the district has a duty to comply with state education and civil rights laws to protect students and families from “disparate harm,” such as segregation and discrimination, if the district goes ahead with school closures, mergers or consolidations in 2025-2026.

Published

3 days ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

Teachers and students protest the closing of schools in Oakland. Photo courtesy of PBS.

AG Bonta said DOJ investigation of 2022 closure decisions would have negatively impacted Black and low-income families.

By Post Staff

The letter and an accompanying media release announced the findings of the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation into the OUSD Board’s Feb. 8, 2022, decision to close Parker Elementary, Brookfield Elementary, Carl B. Munck Elementary, Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy, Grass Valley Elementary, Horace Mann Elementary, and Community Day School and eliminate grades 6-8 of Hillcrest Elementary and La Escuelita Elementary.

“All school districts and their leadership have a legal obligation to protect vulnerable children and their communities from disparate harm when making school closure decisions,” said Attorney General Bonta.

“The bottom line is that discrimination in any form will not be tolerated,” he said. “I am committed to working with OUSD’s leadership to achieve successful outcomes for students.

“My office will continue to monitor OUSD’s processes and decision-making as it moves forward with the required community engagement, equity impact analysis, and planning to implement any future closures, mergers, or consolidations” to ensure compliance with California’s Constitution, AB 1912, and anti-discrimination laws.

By press time, the school district did not respond to a request for comment from OUSD.

The DOJ’s findings showed that the February 2022 decision, later partially rescinded, would have disproportionately impacted Black and low-income elementary students, as well as high-need students with disabilities, according to the media release.

The Attorney General outlined concerns about criteria OUSD has announced that it may rely on to determine future closures, mergers, and consolidations and provided recommendations to ensure OUSD does not violate state law, including prohibitions against closure decisions that reinforce school segregation or disproportionately impact any student group as required by the State Constitution, AB 1912, and anti-discrimination laws.

According to AB 1912, passed in September 2022, financially distressed school districts contemplating school closures, mergers, or consolidations must engage the community before closing schools; conduct an equity impact assessment; and provide the public with the set of criteria the district plans to utilize to make decisions.

In the letter, DOJ identified a “problematic” approach to planning for closing schools in 2025-2026 and “strongly recommends” steps OUSD should take going forward.

“Take affirmative steps to ensure that its enrollment and attendance boundary and school closure decisions alleviate school segregation and do not create disproportionate transportation burdens for protected subgroups.”
Don’t solely utilize criteria such as school facilities’ conditions, school operating costs, and school capacity without also including an assessment of past and present inequities in resources “due to educational segregation or other causes.”
Some of OUSD’s proposed guidelines “may improperly penalize schools serving students with disabilities and students who have high needs.”
The district’s decisions should also include “environmental factors, student demographics and feeder attendance patterns, transportation needs, and special programs.”
Avoid overreliance on test scores and other quantitative data without also looking at “how each school is serving the needs of its specific student body, especially as it relates to historically marginalized communities.”
“Engage an independent expert to facilitate community input and equity impact.”

The letter also emphasized that DOJ is willing to provide “feedback and consultation at any time during the process to ensure that OUSD’s process and outcomes are legally compliant and serve the best interests of the school community and all of its students.”