Judge Tells DA’s Office She Wants to See Real People in Gang Injunction Trial
The West Sacramento Gang Injunction trial took an interesting turn late Wednesday afternoon when Judge Kathleen White, as the proceedings were wrapping up, suddenly admonished the plaintiffs. Thus far the plaintiffs’ case has been a series of West Sacramento police officers testifying to various incidents they have witnessed and questionably admissible hearsay statements that have been relayed to them by the defense.
The result has been a long, tedious, incongruous process that has left all involved fatigued and at times puzzled as to how the pieces will fit into place. Judge White has already made it clear that while she will not tell the plaintiffs how to call their witnesses and layout their case, that she thinks it would benefit them to at least get some experts to layout an overarching theory.
Proposition 18, one of the more contentious issues on the upcoming ballot, has been pushed back to 2012. Yesterday Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that would delay the vote until 2012. The governor and other supporters of this measure fear that with the state’s economy struggling, the proposition would be defeated.
by Chris Prevatt
When Mike Nolan announcement in mid-July that he would run for the Davis School Board, it meant suddenly there were four candidates for three spots and the incumbents would now have to run for office and defend their records. That is exactly what Mr. Nolan was hoping for.
On August 4, a story ran in the Woodland Daily Democrat entitled, “West Sacramento gang member sentenced in domestic violence case,” and once again it was a strange title for a case that had nothing whatsoever to do with gangs. Instead it is a story about how a simple misdemeanor domestic assault turned into a nearly eight-year prison sentence. And how once again, the Yolo County District Attorney’s office took a minor incident and turned it into a major criminal act.
A few weeks ago, Former Davis School Board Member Jan Bridge, a long time Davis resident most recently noted for her role on Sydney Vergis’ City Council Campaign, membership on the Senior Citizens Commission, support of CHA, and role on the committee that recommended the closing of Valley Oak, announced she would run for the open seat on the County Board of Education.
When Jeff Reisig ran for re-election this year, part of his focus had been on “increased conviction rates.” He writes on his webpage, “Jeff has improved efficiency in the District Attorney’s Office, lowered crime rates, increased conviction rates, put more violent felons behind bars and dramatically improved services to victims of crime.”
When the city of Davis decided to seek a new source of revenue, it tapped Target as a goal. Never mind that Target had almost as bad a labor reputation as Wal Mart. Never mind that they had been cited for numerous labor violations. And never mind they had utilized sweatshops in third world countries. Someone in the Davis leadership thought if they strapped on some green, Target would fit Davis’ community values.
In the past weeks there were two major court decisions, not handed down by the US Supreme Court, both of which struck down laws, one law enacted by the Arizona State Legislature and one by the California voters through the initiative system. Both were met by cries of overthrowing the will of the people, judicial activism, unelected judges, and more.
Last summer I went on police ridealongs, first with the Davis Police Department and the next night with the Woodland police department. Both nights we encountered individuals in respective parks in possession of marijuana. In both cases the police took the marijuana from the individuals without issuing a citation.
I was going through the list of hearings scheduled for today in the Yolo County Superior Court. On a daily basis we have our interns watching these cases and it just struck me how many of them are no more serious than this one: “F poss controlled subs; M poss narc paraphern.” Or this: “F transp/sell cntl sub; M use cntrlld substance.” Another one, “F transp/sell cntl sub; F poss controlled.” Another: “F poss controlled subs E commit on bail/or E commit on bail/or M poss narc parapher.” Another: “F poss controlled subs.”
The juvenile justice system, as well as the entire criminal justice system, have swung too far in the estimations of many toward long and harsh sentences. Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) has introduced SB 399. While it is a rather modest reform bill, it is a step in the right direction, as it allows those juveniles sentenced to life without parole to have a court review their cases and potentially allow some individuals to receive a new sentence of 25 to life.
