Los Angeles

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February 9, 2012 | 10:00 AM | By

Q&A: Alan Jackson on why counties should be able to send inmates out of state

By Nicole Jones

A new bill is on the block would allow counties to use AB 109 funds to pay for out-of-state contracts to house inmates, similar to how the states currently contract with other states. Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson and Senator Tony Strickland introduced the bill in hopes of giving counties more options for housing inmates sentenced to local jails. Jackson spoke with KALW’S Nicole Jones on why he thinks this is a smart move for overburdened counties.

NOTE: This bill is not endorsed by the LA’s District Attorney’s office, but rather by Jackson as a private citizen, who’s also running for Los Angeles District Attorney.

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FILED UNDER: Corrections, Alan Jackson, Los Angeles, Realignment
October 12, 2011 | 11:38 AM | By

Dispatch from Prison: Why I’m glad I’m not in jail

Amayzun

Los Angeles County's Central Jail for men.

By Richard Gilliam

For those inmates who, like myself, hail from Los Angeles County, it comes as a great relief to know that state prisoners will not be sent back to county jails to finish the remainder of their sentences as part of AB 109′s realignment strategy. This is due to the spate of recent reports of abuse and misconduct perpetrated by L.A. Sheriff’s personnel in particular, and by law enforcement employees in general.

I can tell you from personal experience that the allegations now being leveled have merit, and an investigation, or several, are long overdue. Every detainee who has passed through L.A. County’s detention centers can attest to an environment of oppression, abuse, and dehumanization perpetrated by sheriffs deputies working out of the men’s jail facilities.

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FILED UNDER: Corrections, Los Angeles
June 22, 2011 | 12:42 PM | By

Trouble in LA’s juvenile halls

Two new reports out this week bring troubling news from Los Angeles County’s beleaguered juvenile halls. According to the Crime Report, Los Angeles is not taking court-ordered reforms serious enough to accomplish them by a Fall 2011 deadline. The county has been under federal and state supervision since 2008, when regulators discovered abusive and unprofessional conditions in the juvenile halls. Since then, we’ve seen regular reports of misconduct emerge from LA:

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FILED UNDER: Corrections, Juvenile Justice, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Probation
March 10, 2011 | 4:56 PM | By

As King hearings begin, Calif. Muslims in the spotlight

Ali Winston

Congressional hearings are focusing on the radicalization of American Muslims

The controversial House of Representative hearings on the radicalization of Muslim-Americans chaired by New York Republican Congressman Peter King began this morning, and kicked up quite a cloud of dust. Rep. King defended the purpose of the hearings while enduring criticism from many Democratic members of his own committee.

Texas Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) charged that the hearing’s focus on the potential threat of terrorism from Muslim-Americans was antithetical to the nation’s founding principles. “The Constitution is in pain,” Lee said.

A number of witnesses were called to testimony, including Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca. Baca clashed strongly with Representative Chip Cravaack (R-Minnesota) over the LA Sheriff’s close cooperation with the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Baca bridled at Cravaack’s suggestion that CAIR was a “terrorist association,” and defended his agency’s outreach programs to Muslims. LA’s Muslim community and their relationship with law enforcement was chronicled in a New York Times article this morning:

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FILED UNDER: Politics, Bay Area, King hearings, Los Angeles, Muslims, Surveillance
February 11, 2011 | 2:31 PM | By

SoCal attorneys crack down on protesters

Ali Winston

Arrested protesters are processed by Oakland Police on Nov. 5, 2010

Here’s some interesting news from Southern California: prosecutors in Los Angeles and Orange Counties have leveled their sights on protesters who engage in non-violent acts of civil disobedience.

In Orange County, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has filed misdemeanor charges against 11 protesters who disrupted a speech at UC-Irvine last year by the Israeli ambassador to the United States, accusing them of engaging in a conspiracy to disrupt a public meeting. Rackauckas filed charges after taking the highly unusual step of convening a grand jury to investigate the incident.

In Los Angeles, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has been filing criminal misdemeanor charges against people arrested for offenses such as disorderly conduct and failure to disperse.

This is a dramatic departure from his predecessor Rocky Delgadillo’s policy of allowing protesters arrested for minor offenses to plead guilty and pay a fine. Here’s Trutanich’s rationale for deciding to prosecute such individuals, as told to the Los Angeles Times:

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FILED UNDER: Politics, Civil Liberties, Los Angeles, Orange County
January 6, 2011 | 2:37 PM | By

LA Oscar Grant protests also monitored by law enforcement

Dave Id, Indybay.org

A demonstration outside the Los Angeles Criminal Courthouse in January, 2010

The surveillance of the Oscar Grant protests over the past two years extended beyond Oakland and San Francisco to Southern California, according to another set of internal Oakland Police documents and communications.

Intelligence bulletins and departmental emails indicate extensive communication between Oakland Police, officials in Los Angeles, and Northern California’s “fusion center,” an intelligence agency where Homeland Security and local law enforcement gather and share information.

Last month, the Informant revealed the involvement of federal and state law enforcement agencies in policing the July 8th protests that following Johannes Mehserle’s involuntary manslaughter conviction for the January 1, 2009 shooting of Oscar Grant on the Fruitvale BART platform.

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FILED UNDER: Police, Los Angeles, Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, Oakland, Oakland Police Department, Oscar Grant
November 4, 2010 | 4:54 PM | By

Judge: Housing restrictions on sex offenders unconstitutional

State Senator George Runner authored the law and has continued to champion it.

An interesting development in the south may have ripples statewide. A Los Angeles Superior Court has halted residency restrictions for sex offenders in the county. In 2006, California passed Proposition 83, also known as Jessica’s Law. The law, among other things, set certain housing boundaries for sex offenders: anyone convicted of a crime under criminal code 290 would not be able to live within 2,000ft of a school or park.

In its four years of operation, the law has lead to a number of unintended side-effects. Namely, increased homelessness among sex offenders living in cities like San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles, where there simply aren’t available housing options that comply with the law. In some cities, patches of sex offenders have cropped up: motels that house transient sex offenders, occasionally paid for by parole; and industrial strips of town lined with campers and vans where homeless sex offenders sleep.

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FILED UNDER: Corrections, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Los Angeles, Sex Offenders
October 25, 2010 | 8:49 AM | By

The Blotter: Monday, October 25

North Richmond teens wounded in drive-by shooting Early yesterday afternoon. No suspects or known motives. (Contra Costa Times)

Elementary, My Dears: Signs of gang influence Writer warns parents of dangers of baseball gear. (Inside Bay Area)

$12 million verdict hits California correctional officer union Defamation and breach of contract case involves Corrections USA, a private prison company. (Inside Bay Area)

Woman allegedly killed by Napa mental hospital patient Would be the first murder by patient in a state mental hospital since 1990, though authorities say assaults are common. (Inside Bay Area)

Baca ordered criminal probe outside jurisdiction on behalf of political donor The LA Sheriff, at the heart of the No on Prop19 campaign, takes heat. (Los Angeles Times)

FILED UNDER: Police, California Correctional Peace Officers Association, Gangs, Los Angeles, Prison hospital, Richmond