When District Attorney Jeff Reisig submitted his op-ed in support of the Death Penalty, he probably had no idea the response it would trigger. Oh sure, the Vanguard's response was a given. But unlike his string of unanswered press releases, many of which have distorted the facts of the case and even the jury's verdicts and were reprinted verbatim without response, the op-ed generated considerable response.
First, Yolo County's Public Defender, then two letters to the editor from citizens, then a brief commentary by Cosmo Garvin in the Sacramento News and Review. This weekend we saw and pointed out commentary from Deputy Public Defender Richard Van Zandt and an editorial from the Woodland Daily Democrat, which does not mention the Reisig piece, but comes out decidedly against the death penalty.
So far, no one has stepped forward to defend the Yolo County District Attorney. More importantly, surprising voices, perhaps, have come out against him. To us, the silence speaks volumes, but the voices speak even louder.
'LIKE' FREE SPEECH? Attorneys for Facebook and the American Civil Liberties Union want a federal appeals court to rule that clicking "Like" on the site is constitutionally protected free speech.
BACKROUND: The case revolves around six employees in Virginia who were fired after they supported a sheriff's re-election opponent in 2009. One of them had "liked" the Facebook page of the opponent. A judge ruled against the workers in April.
FACEBOOK, ACLU SWING BACK: Facebook and the ACLU want the appeals court to vacate the judge's decision. The ACLU also is advocating for the other fired workers.
This is video from Occupy Oakland livestreamer and hella courageous citizen Jessica Hollie (aka Bella Eiko), who was apparently downtown for the “Justice for Alan Blueford” rally that had taken place earlier yesterday afternoon at Oscar Grant Plaza. Jessica confronts police who have just detained two young black men at gunpoint. I strongly encourage anyone who has ever fantasized about standing up to the police to watch all 17-1/2 minutes; you’ll get a lesson in defending your rights and a reminder that these thugs are supposed to be accountable to us.
A three judge panel of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals filed an unanimous ruling in Nelson v. City of Davis. The student plaintiff, Timothy Nelson was seriously and permanently injured by the excessive use of force by police in a 2004 incident at UC Davis. The Court found that the police actions violated a basic constitutional right, the Fourth Amendment right to be free of unreasonable seizure and invalidated qualified immunity for the police, meaning that police could be held liable for damages. ...
Timothy Nelson, a former student of the University of California at Davis (“U.C. Davis”), suffered permanent injury when he was shot in the eye by a pepperball projectile fired from the weapon of a U.C. Davis officer when U.C. Davis and City of Davis police attempted to clear an apartment complex of partying students. Officers shot pepperball projectiles in the direction of Nelson and his friends as the students stood in the breezeway of the apartment complex, attempting to leave the party and awaiting instruction from the officers. The officers did not provide any audible warning prior to shooting towards the unarmed and compliant students, and never informed the young partygoers how to appropriately extricate themselves from the apartment complex in order to avoid becoming the target of police force.
I thought you would be interested the the latest city attempt to quash free speech rights. The City Hall exception to the park curfew is about to be radically changed - in effect, it appears any free speech, or other, activities on City Hall grounds will not be allowed unless and until the City Manager approves it, and then only with insurance and permit fees.
Rally and press conference for Juana Reyes, a Sacramento mother who has lived in the US for over 20 years after undocumented entry, protesting her arrest and possible deportation.
A Book Signing and Reception in the Curtis Hall Courtyard will follow Ms. Stewart’s presentation and Q&A. Her book will be available to purchase (between $15-$20). There is no admission charge; donations are welcomed.
About the topic: Good News Clubs are sponsored by the Child Evangelism Fellowship and funded by numerous conservative legal groups. The goal of this movement is, unabashedly, to repurpose America’s public school system with a particular form of Christian fundamentalism—to “take back” America’s public schools. They have thus far succeeded in establishing almost 4,000 clubs on public school campuses throughout the country—including a few in Sacramento County and surrounding areas. The following quote leaves no doubt about their agenda:
“Knock down all the doors, all of the barriers, to all of the 65,000-plus elementary schools in the country and take the gospel to this open mission field now! Not later, Now!” — Matthew Staver, President and Founder of Liberty Counsel, at the National Convention of the Child Evangelism Fellowship, 2010
TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 6 P.M.SOL COLLECTIVE (2574 21st Street, Sacramento):
A panel of experts will explore how people are targeted by law enforcement for "preventive
prosecution" based on their political and religious beliefs. The panel will also include a
discussion about the chilling effect this has on our 1st amendment right to political and religious expression.
Panelists include:
Sunaina Maira – Professor of Asian American Studies and author of the book Missing:
Youth, Citizenship, and Empire After 9/11; Bradley Crowder - Former political prisoner who
was entrapped by an FBI informant at the 2008 Republican National Convention protests; Jenny Esquivel - Member of Sacramento Prisoner Support and partner of entrapped
environmental activist Eric McDavid.
