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Remembering the Racism of Pot Prohibition, Celebrating 420 Day

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So, today is national stoner day. You know, 4/20, dude. Californians will likely be voting to Legalize It in November, though it’s not certain at this point what language will be approved.

Legalizing pot won’t free it from its long history of association with racism, and we need to talk about it. And I’ll share some of the fun 420 coverage from around the state.

Harry Anslinger, made commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics after alcohol prohibition failed, was one of the driving forces behind pot prohibition. He pushed it for explicitly racist reasons, saying, “Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men,” and complaining about “its effect on the degenerate races.”   [Read more…]

A Democratic Spring: Thousands March on Washington Demanding Fixes to a Broken Political System

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By Steven Rosenfeld / Alternet

Thousands of protesters from across America descended on the U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court on Monday, where hundreds of pro-democracy activists were arrested for blocking Congress’ doorstep and loud crowds of young people, undocumented familes and immigration advocates rallied at the Court.

The action was a stunning display of a growing and vibrant progressive spectrum, reflecting a determination to work together on a range of justice issues that define much of what’s wrong with America’s political system.

The day began together, with thousands filling a nearby park for early morning speeches, prayers and pledges to protest non-violently. They then marched toward the citadel of political and legal power, the Capitol and Supreme Court, where hundreds of democracy protesters broke off to get arrested and highlight their agenda—driven by the recent loss of voting rights and the reach of big money in politics. The immigrant rights advocates, including teenagers and children whose parents have been deported, gathered and rallied for hours before the Supreme Court, which was hearing a Republican-led lawsuit challenging President Obama’s executive orders to suspend immigration enforcement.   [Read more…]

Replacing Rasputin: A Subtext of the Election Contest for City Attorney

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Termed-out City Attorney Jan Goldsmith felt free to drop the pretense of serving all the public last week during his introduction of Texas Senator Ted Cruz at a campaign rally in Mission Valley.

“We believe in jobs, freedom and security. You know something? The Democrats don’t believe in these values,” Goldsmith said. So much for my theory that he wasn’t an ideologue.

The point here is that the current occupant of that office has utilized the resources available to him to protect political allies, namely the ones who believe that a plurality of the electorate owes its allegiance to a political party in the city engaged in undermining “jobs, freedom and security.”   [Read more…]

Justice Stalled: Backlog of 2,873 San Diego Rape Kits

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By Suzanne E. Morse/ Heartfelt Voices United

There is a hidden number in San Diego, one that barely anyone ever speaks about. That Number: 2,873. What is that number?

As of June, 2015, that is the amount of rape kits that lie unprocessed in storage facilities in San Diego, backlogged. That means there are 2,873 rape victims that have never received justice. And that upsets me. Does it upset you?   [Read more…]

Downtown Double Cross: Hoteliers Walk Back Briggs Lawsuit Settlement (Or Did They?)

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This week’s twists and turns involving Attorney Cory Briggs, the City, the Chargers and the barons of the hospitality industry are simply stunning. Get your popcorn now, folks, cause this mess is likely to go on for a while.

Forget for a moment about whether a new stadium or convention center or combination facility is desirable; yesterday’s shenanigans peeled back the facade on local politics to reveal a mess of squabbling interests and a mayor paralyzed by the prospect of actually doing something, anything.

At the center of all this are ballot measures potentially paving the way for a joint use facility in the East Village, aka the convadium. I’ll do my best to sort this out.   [Read more…]

Immigrants Shouldn’t Be Locked Up for Being Poor

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By Michael Tan, Staff Attorney, Immigrants’ Rights Project, ACLU

In the federal criminal bail system, judges are required to consider someone’s financial ability to pay a bond and determine if alternative conditions of supervision — check-ins, travel restrictions — are enough to get the person to show up for court.

But such protections don’t apply to immigrants locked up in detention centers. The result is that people like Cesar Matias, a gay man from Honduras, end up jailed simply because they’re poor.

Matias fled to the United States more than a decade ago to escape the persecution he suffered because of his sexuality. He worked as a hair stylist and in a clothing factory in Los Angeles, renting a small, one-bedroom apartment.   [Read more…]

So-Called Religious Freedom Laws Amount to An Attack on Democracy

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The culture wars aimed at dividing the nation are once again prominent in the media. Having lost battles in the courts and in the arena of public opinion, extremists have turned to state legislatures mired in the stone ages, thanks in large part to partisan gerrymandering.

Mississippi is the latest state to enact legislation allowing religious groups and private businesses to deny services to gay and transgender people in the wake of last year’s Supreme Court ruling effectively legalizing same-sex marriage.

Schools and companies would be allowed to set “sex-specific standards or policies concerning employee or student dress or grooming.” In other words, women could be told not to wear pants in Mississippi.   [Read more…]

Lies of the Rich and Famous: Off-Shoring Dark Money and Fighting the Minimum Wage

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As leaks of confidential documents go, the Panama Papers dwarf past disclosures. The story isn’t new: rich people use offshore shell corporations to avoid taxes. But the detail is stunning. And there is reportedly much more coming over the next month.

Enough documents to fill six hundred CD’s leaked from the law firm Mossack Fonseca reveal the dark money dealings of world leaders, celebrities and dozens of Fortune 500 billionaires. More than 370 journalists from more than 70 countries are following up on leads using corporate filings, property records, financial disclosures, court documents and interviews with money laundering experts and law-enforcement officials.

A much ‘smaller’ story impacting a much larger number of people in the US appears today in the Washington Post (via the Center for Media and Democracy) showing internal polling commissioned by Chambers of Commerce revealing a large majority of business owners being supportive of increasing minimum wages, paid sick leave and other reforms.   [Read more…]

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Very Precise Female

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By Brett Warnke

On the trip to Brooklyn, there is a large sign that says “OY.” From another perspective it also spells “YO,” an insider joke to the division of the borough between the Jewish and African-American diaspora population. Christopher Wallace (“Biggie Smalls”) and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (“The Notorious RBG,”) both were born and raised in Brooklyn. Both grew up in families without much money. And both had to gain respect in a world that had marginalized them.

Just as Justice Stevens was the best decision to come out of the mediocre Gerald Ford administration, RBG was undoubtedly Bill Clinton’s only decision that has had a progressive result.

President Clinton’s goal was to find someone who, when their name was uttered, said, “Yes. Wow. A home run.”   [Read more…]

Assault on Public Employee Unions Fizzles at the Supreme Court

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Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association Gets Split Decision 

Rebecca Friedrichs, the elementary school teacher honored with a ‘Torch of Freedom Award’ at the San Diego County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln-Reagan dinner last weekend, won’t be celebrating this weekend.

This morning, in a single-sentence order, the Supreme Court announced that the judgment of a lower court rejecting an effort to defund public sector unions “is affirmed by an equally divided court.”. A four-decade-old opinion protecting public sector unions will live to see another day.

Friederichs and nine other teachers served as plaintiffs in a lawsuit brought by the conservative Center for Individual Rights (CIR) and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. The claim being made was that the free speech rights of non-union members entitled them to contribute nothing to the costs of representation, even if they’d already opted out of fees supporting unions’ political activities.   [Read more…]

FBI to Apple: Nevermind

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‘The FBI’s credibility just hit a new low. They repeatedly lied to the court and the public in pursuit of a dangerous precedent that would have made all of us less safe.’

By Common Dreams

Following a high-profile attempt by the FBI and Department of Justice to force Apple to hack its own security encryption features, the federal government threw in the towel on Monday as it announced that it had successfully accessed information on the iPhone belonging to one of the perpetrators of the mass shooting in San Bernadino, California late last year.   [Read more…]

On Government Abuse, Democracy and Poverty, California Has Work to Do

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ACLU of California-sponsored bills will advance

By Becca Cramer / ACLU San Diego

Every year, the ACLU of California sponsors several bills in the California Legislature. What does it mean to sponsor a bill? In most cases, it means we have collaborated with other advocacy groups and the legislative author in drafting the bill, providing our input on the text. We also may lobby legislators, testify in support of the bill, seek support from other groups, work with opposition to address their concerns, draft fact sheets and sample support letters, and provide communications and media support.

Here are the 10 bills we are sponsoring this year:   [Read more…]

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