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The Vanguard Court Watch 3^rd Annual Dinner & Awards Ceremony has been set for Saturday, November 9^th at the Davis Veterans Memorial Center starting at 5PM.  The theme this year is “Restorative Justice & Reforming the Judicial System.”

We have an exciting line up that you won’t want to miss including Public Officials of the Year Assemblyman Ammiano who will speak on his “Innocence Project Bill” AB 604 and Public Defender Jeff Adachi will speak on Indigent Defense 50 years after Gideon v. Wainwright. We also have Fresno County Judge David Gottlieb, who is our Keynote Speaker and who will speak during the Restorative Justice Education portion of the event and talk about a restorative justice program he has implemented in his courtroom.   This year we will honor award recipients:

On Sunday, April 28, 2013 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM in Woodland at the Celebration Center Church (100 Woodland Ave), the Vanguard Court Watch Council of Yolo County (VCWCYC) is inviting the public to come forward to express their concerns about the judicial system, providing testimony and giving personal accounts of contemporary cases in the Yolo County Court system.

“The public has an opportunity to tell of their experiences in the Yolo County judicial system.  Experiences that normally are not covered in the newspaper,” said David Greenwald, Executive Director of Vanguard Court Watch.  “The Council will take public comment, testimony from invited speakers, and then deliberate in closed session to determine our course of action.”

We have had an amazing amount of support in the last three months and I would like to give a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed to help the Vanguard.

Vanguard Court Watch of Yolo County is seeking applications from members of the community to become committee members for a newly-formed Vanguard Court Watch Council.

We are coming to the end of another year here at the Davis Vanguard.  It has been a very good year, another record breaking year in terms of readership.

Dear readers:  The Vanguard is a vital community-based organization and news site.  It is a non-profit that depends heavily on reader support.  There are a variety of ways to do so including a direct donation.

There is another very easy way to help.  This holiday season (and throughout the entire year), as you purchase gifts and other products through Amazon.com, a portion of that purchase, at no additional cost to you, can go to the Vanguard.

On Saturday December 1, the City of Davis Human Relations Commission will sponsor an event entitled, “Breaking the Silence of Racism,” which will take place from 1pm to 3pm in Community Chambers, 23 Russell Blvd.

Community members are invited to share their recent experiences and thoughts regarding racist incidents in the Davis community and ask questions of a panel comprised of local leaders and officials.

UC Davis School of Law is set to launch the state’s only law school clinic focused on litigating cases before the California Supreme Court.

The California Supreme Court Clinic, which will begin operating this fall, will give students the invaluable opportunity to work on actual cases pending before the state’s highest court.

Now that Yolo County has approved studying the formation of a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) agency for the county, Davis must consider whether to join the movement.   For Davis, the answer was “yes” for joining SMUD when that was on the ballot a few years ago.  But Community Choice Energy is not exactly the same thing.

A public workshop will explore Community Choice Energy , which would amount to an independent electric utility for Davis, from 6:30 until 8:30 p.m.  on Thursday, June 14, at the Davis Senior Center at 646 A Street.

This is posted without commentary for 24 hours.  Story is forthcoming —David M. Greenwald reporting FINAL Revised…

By Michael Risher

Staff Attorney
ACLU of Northern California

The long-awaited report on the infamous incident of UC Davis police pepper-spraying non-violent, seated student protesters has been released. It concludes what we all know from watching the shocking videos: “The pepperspraying incident that took place on November 18, 2011 should and could have been prevented.” That’s the opening to the report, which outlines the various ways that Chancellor Katehi, other Administration officials, and the UC Davis Police Department completely mismanaged the situation at every level.

Task Force and Kroll Find Pepper Spray Not a Reasonable Use of Force; Hammers Chancellor and Lt. Pike –

The findings of the long-awaited Pepper-Spray Report are basic and succinctly summarized in the introduction: “The pepper-spraying incident that took place on November 18, 2011 should and could have been prevented.”  They find that “the decision to use pepper spray was not supported by objective evidence and was not authorized by policy.”

The report paints a damning picture of the university’s response to the protests from the top to the bottom, including indecisiveness by Chancellor Katehi and an unreasonable use of force by Lt. John Pike.

The Vanguard this week launches the Davis Vanguard Youtube Channel.  We have two clips from last night’s presentation from Cruz Reynoso covering 33 of the approximately 90 minutes presentation.

Please click on these to view portions of the presentation by Justice Reynoso.  In addition, there are other video clips available as well.

UC Davis has released the 190-page pepper-spray report, click here to read it

The Vanguard will have news and commentary shortly.

by Nikhil Joshi & Jenn Hill
Entertainment Directors
Whole Earth Festival 2012

We are looking for ecstatic, amazing bands to play at WEF 2012!  A diversity of music is one of our goals so help us achieve that! Our festival is a humble, yet fabulous place to play.  WEF is self-sufficient and does not charge admission. Our entertainment budget is modest, but we do compensate our performers. Our festival does not condone racist, misogynist, sexist, homophobic, or excessively profane music of any kind.  If you feel your band would fit well at WEF, please apply!