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Angst Over Police Shootings Rocks California Cities

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Community unrest over the deaths of black people at the hands of police in California continued unabated throughout the weekend. And it wasn’t just in El Cajon/San Diego.

Alfred Olango died in El Cajon on Tuesday. A composite video taken from a security camera and a bystander’s cellphone was released on Friday. Carnell Snell Jr. died in Los Angeles on Saturday, the second police-involved death in two days. And a particularly grotesque video of the July 11th death of Joseph Mann in Sacramento surfaced showing police officers trying to run him down before chasing him down and firing 14 shots into him.   [Read more…]

Prop 57 – If Sentencing Reform Passes, Will Hospital Bombers Run Amok?

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Prop 57 is the final part of Gov. Jerry Brown’s mea culpa for the tough on crime laws passed during his first term. As a result, the state prisons were filled to overflowing. Lawsuits and investigative reporting exposed the cruel and inhumane process amounting to little more than warehousing.

The Supreme Court agreed, saying conditions were so bad they violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual treatment. In 2011, California was ordered to reduce its population by more than 30,000 inmates.

California’s penal system became larger than its colleges, and, in fact, functioned as a crime training facility for a lost generation of the economically dispossessed, most of whom were people of color. And, let’s face it, a major legacy of that era’s thinking was the use of the penal system as a means of social control for people of the non-white persuasion.   [Read more…]

Family Calls for Peaceful Protests Over Death of Alfred Olango

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The Rev. Shane Harris of the National Action Network called a press conference on Thursday with the family of Alfred Olango, the Ugandan immigrant killed by a police officer in El Cajon earlier this week.

They gathered before the press, accompanied by supportive clergy and a couple of power lawyers, hoping to reshape what the family believes is a false narrative about the dead man.

In recent days following the official release of a single frame photograph from a bystander video, storylines casting aspersions on the character of Olango have worked their way into media accounts. These accounts include allegations of prior run-ins with law enforcement system and even the use of the word ‘suspect.’   [Read more…]

(UPDATED) Family Calls for Federal Investigation – Alfred Olango Dies After Being Shot by El Cajon Police

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Thirty-year-old Alfred Olango died of gunshot wounds during a confrontation yesterday with police officers from the City of El Cajon. He was mentally ill, unarmed, and the 197th Black man killed by police in the United States this year. And the 172nd mentally ill person, according to the NY Daily News.

Police responded to calls about a man in the street behaving erratically near a strip mall on Broadway near Mollison Avenue shortly after 2 p.m. One of the callers was Olango’s sister, who told bystanders that she’d warned police about his illness. Friends of the dead man told reporters he was having a mental breakdown that caused him to act out in the minutes leading up to the shooting.

When a reporter on scene asked ECPD spokesman Rob Ransweiler if police knew of any calls that referred to the man as being mentally unstable, the spokesperson said, “I do know the answer to your question, but because it’s an ongoing investigation, I’m gonna decline to answer that question.”

News of the shooting spread quickly throughout the San Diego area. By evening, a crowd, estimated at 200 people gathered to protest, including community leaders and members of local churches who led prayers.   [Read more…]

An Insider’s Story About Scams at Wells Fargo Bank & Ashford University

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By Anon / OB Rag

You’ve seen the new recently regarding for-profit education scandals (Corinthian, ITT Tech) and Wells Fargo sales scandal. The following is my account of my employment experiences at two San Diego companies: Ashford University and Wells Fargo.

I have always wanted to help people financially and help them achieve success in their endeavors. I assumed my good intentions would eventually lead me to actually helping people financially. How naïve and wrong I was.   [Read more…]

The Big Difference at Standing Rock Is Native Leadership All Around

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By Sarah van Gelder / Yes! Magazine

This year’s massive buildup of resistance to the Dakota Access pipeline follows closely on the heels of the victory over Keystone XL pipeline, something often credited to feverish organizing by 350.org. But years before 350’s involvement, there was the Indigenous Environmental Network, which launched that movement and its “Keep It In the Ground” messaging. This time, with nearly 200 tribes unified behind the Standing Rock tribe’s opposition to the pipeline and more than 3,000 people gathered at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, Native Americans are clearly leading the movement.   [Read more…]

Know Your Rights During Wildfires and Other Disasters

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Social service agencies should provide disaster-related assistance without asking for information or documents

By ACLU of San Diego

Fire season is upon us. At the moment, there are no fires in San Diego or Imperial County, but we are monitoring a fire in San Bernardino. Please watch our Twitter and Facebook pages for updates. Our thoughts are with all the families in harm’s way.

In 2007, wildfires ravaged huge swaths of San Diego County. In a series of breakdowns in policies, procedures, and standards, many of our county’s most vulnerable residents affected by the devastating wildfires were denied emergency services in their time of greatest need.   [Read more…]

Holy Heatwave! July 2016 Sets Another Record

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Another month has passed and another temperature record for the planet was set.

Results published on the NASA database yesterday indicated July 2016 was the 10th month in a row to break monthly temperature records, a measure obtained by combining sea-surface temperatures and air temperatures on land.

David Karoly, a climate scientist from the University of Melbourne, told The Guardian this latest data means 2016 is “virtually certain” to be the hottest year on record.   [Read more…]

California Poised to Pass Momentous Civil Asset Forfeiture Reforms

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SB 443 establishes stricter standards to protect innocent, vulnerable Californians from having police take and keep their property

ACLU of San Diego

A California bill to limit civil asset forfeiture abuses was approved on August 15 by the State Assembly on a 66 to 8 vote. The bill will now return to the Senate for a concurrence vote.

Senate Bill 443, co-authored by Senator Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) and Assemblymember David Hadley (R-Manhattan Beach), provides individuals with stronger property rights protections by requiring a conviction in most state civil asset forfeiture cases. The bill also addresses a problematic financial incentive that has driven some California law enforcement agencies to bypass state law in favor of federal law, opening the door to abuses.   [Read more…]

Is Anybody Judging the Judges? The California Legislature Wants Answers

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A joint committee of the California Legislature has authorized an audit of the Commission on Judicial Performance, the only entity that can discipline or remove a state judge.

A coalition of two dozen groups reflecting a wide range of interests, led by the Center for Judicial Excellence wrote letters, made calls and sent emails to urge the Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) to call for the audit.

“The Center for Public Integrity gave California an ‘F grade’ on its 2015 report card for judicial accountability, said Kathleen Russell, the executive director of the Center for Judicial Excellence in a press release.   [Read more…]

GOP Down-Ballot Disaster Begins in San Diego As Ellis Drops Out

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The general election is still three months away and Republicans have already lost their first local down-ballot contest.

Republican candidate Ray Ellis has conceded the District One city council seat contest to Democrat Barbara Bry.

This council race was supposed to be the marquee local contest, with the winner’s party having the political balance of power. An up and coming Republican mayor in a big city could have paved the way to a political future for his party.   [Read more…]

DA Dumanis Subpoenaed in Campaign Conspiracy Case

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San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis has been subpoenaed and is expected to testify in federal district court on Monday at the trial of Mexican businessman Jose Susumo Azano Matsura.

Defense attorney Michael Wynne has been questioning witnesses about the DA’s direct knowledge of illegal campaign contributions and told freelance reporter JC Playford in an on-the-street video about the summons.

Although their initial support for her campaign is at the core of the government case against Azano and his co-conspirators, prosecutors have this far crafted a case that avoids avoiding linking her to any participation or awareness of illegal activities.   [Read more…]

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