Highlighting our work this week…
We have had an amazing week and I need to highlight some of the great work we have done.
Thanks to the great work of Assistant Director Michelle Lagos and board member Morgan Poindexter, not to mention some of our amazing interns, we have put out this three minute video laying out exactly what we are doing these days.
Making an Impact
This week our work has been featured in the Crime Report – the proposed state bill AB1542 would “authorize the court to divert an offender to confinement in a secured residential treatment facility if it determines that the crime was caused in whole or in part by that individual’s substance abuse.”
Our story by an officer in Sacramento who faces felony charges for kicking a robbery suspect in the head – ended up in the Marshall Project newsletter. Aishwarya Rajan and Natasha Feuerstein write, “Former Elk Grove peace Officer Bryan Schmidt found himself at the center of a use-of-force internal affairs investigation following an incident with a robbery suspect outside of Burlington Coat Factory in Sacramento County on June 5, 2019.” (See article here).
Our article on the retirement of Cy Vance as Manhattan’s DA was highlighted by DA candidate Dan Quart. “Systemic, deep reform of the #ManhattanDA office will allow us to achieve public safety without punishing people experiencing poverty, mental illness, or other societal problems who for all sorts of reasons have ended up in the Manhattan criminal courtroom over the last decade.” The Vanguard article was featured in his press release sent out this week to NY Media. (See article here).
Hadar Aviram, a law professor at UC Hastings, featured our work in the COVID Behind Bars Project headed up by Aparna Komarla in her published article: “One such resource is a regional collection effort by the Davis Vanguard, which includes an accessible database covering several counties The Davis Vanguard relies on the websites maintained by the Sheriff’s Departments in Alameda, San Francisco, Solano, Yolo, Los Angeles, Orange, Santa Clara, and Sacramento counties; the Vanguard also reports BSCC numbers, but state that the BSCC database ‘remains incomplete as many facilities have refused to comply…” (See article here).
Finally, today’s lead story is a massive effort by three amazing young writers: Lovepreet Dhinsa, Linhchi Nguyen, and Kathryn Wood. These three highlighted the case of Bart McNeil, who has served 23 years in prison for the death of his three year old daughter and now will get a new trial as he attempts to clear his name. (see article here).
It has been an amazing week and we have an amazing team helping to uncover everyday injustice in every part of the country.
Help us continue our amazing work by becoming a sustaining member: http://davisvanguard.networkforgood.com
Dropping by just to give a massive shout out to the Vanguard’s amazing staff and team of interns, all across the state of California. (Didn’t you also have someone in Oregon, at some point?) You’re all phenomenal! Thanks for the stories you’re covering, keep up the good work!