September 2012 - Page 4 of 4

Commentary: Leaps to Conclusion About Pepper Spray Suit Unwise

By David GreenwaldSeptember 6, 201212 comments

After the Vanguard broke the story about the pepper-spray suit’s settlement on Tuesday, we were taken aback by some of comments, and not just on the Vanguard, that assumed that this suit was just about money.

The comment that surprised me the most was made by Supervisor Matt Rexroad, who said that the protesters “do not deserve a dime” even though he admitted that he had not spoken with or met any of the protesters, nor was it likely that he read the complaint itself.

Vanguard Court News: Update on Juvenile LWOP, Death Sentence Overturn and a Potential Alford Plea Withdrawn

By David GreenwaldSeptember 6, 20123 comments

Senator Leland Yee has been pushing for the end of life without parole sentences for juveniles for several years now and his legislation, SB 9, awaits the governor’s signature. In the meantime, the State Supreme Court has overturned a death sentence based on prosecutorial misconduct by a former DA, now a Santa Clara judge.

Meanwhile, in Ohio, a potential exoneree has balked at taking an Alford Plea that would have resulted in his release from prison after 24 years. At issue is Brady Material, exculpatory information that must be released to the defense by the prosecution, and now a deceased witness.

Commentary: Message From Woodland on Water Grows More Clear

By David GreenwaldSeptember 5, 20125 comments

The op-ed by Woodland’s representatives on the JPA, Mayor Skip Davies and Councilmember Bill Marble, drew a response on Monday from the Vanguard.

As we argued, reading through the lines it is clear that their patience with Davis is wearing thin. Indeed, they seem to suggest that they will only consider cost-sharing after Davis commits to the project.

City Manager Pinkerton Notes New Legislation Filled with Uncertainty, Downplays Immediate Impact on Budget

By David GreenwaldSeptember 5, 20126 comments

The Vanguard continues its series of articles examining the impact of the landmark pension reform legislations that was agreed upon last week by the governor and legislature, with a discussion of the impact on the city of Davis by Davis’ City Manager Steve Pinkerton.

Mr. Pinkerton’s take-home message is that this is probably as good a piece of legislation as we could have gotten, under the circumstances, but it is unclear some of the implications of it at this point, as few have had the chance to cull through the text line by line.

Commentary: Law Enforcement Use of Social Networking Sites Needs Judicial Oversight

By David GreenwaldSeptember 5, 201220 comments

It is relatively easy to gauge the impact of social media on some levels of law enforcement. Simply watch expert testimony at gang trials as they cull incriminating photos of youths dressed in particular colors, adorning specific tattoos or slashing specific hand signs, and you can see how the advent and proliferation of social network sites, first MySpace and now Facebook and Instagram, have impacted law enforcement.

But while we may have particularized questions about such techniques, the use of photos to link defendants to gang activity is relatively straightforward, and even mundane, in most respects. After all, social network sites act more as a repository of images, and thus facilitate law enforcement efforts rather than create new issues.

Settlement Agreement in Place For Pepper Spray Suit

By David GreenwaldSeptember 4, 201215 comments

The Vanguard has learned that a settlement agreement is in place for the pepper spray lawsuit that was filed in late February following the November 18, 2011 incident on the Quad at UC Davis. However, the deal will not be finalized until the UC Regents meet next week and until the federal court certifies the agreement.

Steve Montiel, the Media Relations Director for the UC Office of the President, told the Vanguard on Tuesday morning, “Lawyers for the University of California and the 21 plaintiffs in a case related to the pepper spray incident at UC Davis in November 2011 are involved in a confidential mediation and settlement process, which includes obtaining approval from the individual plaintiffs, the Board of Regents and the federal court. “

Clinton Parish Out of Yolo County DA’s Office?

By David GreenwaldSeptember 4, 201223 comments

Deputy District Attorney Clinton Parish has apparently been on leave since his failed bid to win a judgeship seat from Dan Maguire this past June. According to several sources, Mr. Parish has not returned to work since the June election.

He has been placed on paid leave, according to those sources, and has interviewed at multiple DA offices in the Sacramento Valley.

Continued Scrutiny of District’s GATE Program

By David GreenwaldSeptember 4, 201230 comments

This figures to be one of the more interesting school board elections in recent times. The unfortunate part of it is that the debate may be drowned out by the bigger stage national elections. One issue that appears to be ripe for further community discussion is the issue of GATE.

Last week, Jann Murray-Garcia asked provocatively, “Will GATE be Davis’ Watergate?” She expressed her discomfort “about labeling some of our children as ‘gifted,’ and, by default, other children as ‘not gifted.’ “

Gauging Impact of Pension Reform on Cities

By David GreenwaldSeptember 4, 20124 comments

The Vanguard sees the pension reform legislation as one of the most significant pieces of state legislation impacting the finances of the city of Davis.

Ed Mendel of CalPension argues, “Pension reform approved by the Legislature last week gives many cities new cost-cutting power that some have been unable to win from public employee unions at the bargaining table.”

Woodland Leaders Subtly Draw the Line with Davis

By David GreenwaldSeptember 3, 201265 comments

As Davis continues to keep its options open, even as it was seemingly moving toward the Woodland option last month, the city of Woodland with its JPA leaders Bill Marble and Skip Davies, remain “committed to timely completion of the project.”

As they write in an op-ed over the weekend: “We must replace degrading groundwater supplies with higher-quality, treated surface water. There is simply too much at risk and no viable alternatives!”

Labor Day: History and Progress Stained in Blood and Sweat of Countless Nameless Heroes and Victims

By David GreenwaldSeptember 3, 201252 comments

Labor Day has become a celebration of laborers and workers everywhere. And while we treat Labor Day as a day to honor workers, perhaps a day to celebrate workplace protections – and some take it as a day to extoll (or attack) organized labor and unions, perhaps we ought to treat Labor Day more like we do Memorial Day or Veterans Day.

You see, most of the protections that we take for granted today – the eight-hour work day, the 40-hour week, work place protections and collective bargaining – were achieved literally at gun point, stained in blood, in battles that were not all that different from the battles we celebrate in war.

Analysis: Realignment and Yolo County

By David GreenwaldSeptember 3, 201230 comments

The story of realignment figures to be a complex story. From the start we believed that, without changes to both charging and sentencing policies, sustainable declines in prison population may be impossible to achieve. The data that is now emerging may bear that out.

In a report from the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, written by Senior Research Fellow Mike Males in mid-August, the latest data analysis shows “that during the first 9 months of realignment there has been a 39% overall reduction in new prison admissions as of June 30, 2012, and a drop of 26,480 in the prison population as of August 8, 2012, compared to October 1, 2011.”

Commentary: Long Term Pension Issues Largely Fixed, But…

By David GreenwaldSeptember 2, 201219 comments

If you have read the analysis, most are not happy with the pension reform. We can understand why, but I think the Sacramento Bee editorial nails it: “Given the political realities under California’s Capitol dome, the pension measure awaiting final action in the Legislature today is probably the best reform package that could have been achieved.”

They actually come up a bit short on that, because they forget that the courts have ruled that pensions are a vested right.

Sunday Commentary: The Arrogance of Power

By David GreenwaldSeptember 2, 201277 comments

I had my first and only conversation with Chief Deputy DA Jonathan Raven in January of 2010. We had just launched Yolo Judicial Watch and I was interested in having some sort of dialogue with the District Attorney’s office. It was a strange and meandering conversation.

The upshot is this – the Vanguard covers public agencies all over Yolo County, but the only agency and agency head that will not speak with us are the Yolo County’s District Attorney’s office and DA Jeff Reisig.

TODAY: Vanguard – Davis Media Access Host School Board Candidates Forum

By David GreenwaldSeptember 1, 20125 comments

The Davis Vanguard and Davis Media Access (DMA) will co-host a candidates forum for Davis Joint Unified School Board at Harper Junior High Multipurpose room TODAY. The doors open at 6:30 PM and the forum begins at 7:00 PM. The forum will have a unique set-up in that candidates will be seated facing each other in a discussion format. Each of the five candidates will ask one question to be answered by themselves and the other candidates, and then there will be time at the end for question and answer of the candidates.

In advance of the event the Vanguard sent out written questions to the candidates, which were published last week on the Vanguard (Part One, Part Two).

My View: Is It the Party Conventions or TV Networks That Are Irrelevant?

By David GreenwaldSeptember 1, 201235 comments

There are three basic trends for conventions. First, the TV networks have been cutting back on their coverage of conventions for years. Now they are just covering about four hours over three nights.

Second, the Republican convention’s audience dropped about 30 percent over the audience from four years ago. Experts suspect there will be a similar drop next year.

Special Commentary: Explaining the Vanguard Court Watch Project

By David GreenwaldSeptember 1, 201218 comments

I will never forget the feeling as we were watching reporters, cameras and news crews lined up to watch a high profile trial that everyone was covering. Everyone but us. We climbed past them, walked the other way.

In our courtroom there were five kids – quite literally, their lives in the balance. It was that day, nearly two years into the project, that I realized what we were really about. We are not reporters covering the high profile cases. Instead, we are the watchdogs that monitor the system and report when things go wrong.

Month: September 2012