ATTORNEY GENERAL IN CALIFORNIA TO TACKLE POLICE BRUTALITY

CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL KAMALA HARRIS

When California Attorney General Kamala Harris was sworn in for her second term on Monday, she announced plans to address excessive use of force and continue the dialogue about policing tactics. Harris hopes to ease the tension between police officers and the general public, as other attorney generals stay silent on the issue of police conduct.

During her inaugural speech, Harris outlined her plan to investigate how the state’s Department of Justice conducts training on bias and use of force. Specifically, the state’s Division of Law Enforcement has been asked to produce a thorough report of special agent training.

The attorney general also committed to talking with law enforcement and the communities they serve, in order to address the tensions between them. “The work to build trust with the communities we are sworn to protect never ends. Trust is a reciprocal relationship. We must acknowledge that too many have felt the sting of injustice,” she said. “As a career prosecutor, I have always known one central truth: the public and law enforcement need each other to keep our communities safe.”

In light of numerous police killings of unarmed civilians last year, which disproportionately impacted mentally ill persons and people of color, Harris’ remarks seem hopeful. However, tied in with national demands for a reduced use of force are calls for independent prosecutors to review incidents of police brutality, which Harris does not endorse.

“I don’t think it would be good public policy to take the discretion from elected district attorneys,” she expressed last month. “I don’t think there’s an inherent conflict. … Where there are abuses, we have designed the system to address them.”

Most officers are not charged, let alone convicted in excessive force cases, and prosecutors have a far-reaching hand in those trials. Many believe there are conflicts of interest when local prosecutors, like Robert McCulloch in St. Louis who oversaw the grand jury review of Darren Wilson, are involved in the investigation of officers they work with on a daily basis and lean on for re-election.

So if the way indictments and prosecutions are conducted is not reformed, a commitment to addressing excessive force cases may not actually lead to the reforms people want. Still, it remains to be seen if and how Harris will address the deaths of Ezell Ford and Omar Abrego, who were killed by police in Los Angeles. Local police say they are still investigating the cases in the face of community protest. And the autopsy in Ford’s case dubs it a homicide. People have petitioned the attorney general to either appoint a special prosecutor to investigate their cases or press charges herself.

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FAKE [GOP] ACA SITE IN CALIFORNIA

FAKE WEBSITE MAIN PAGE PHOTO

Cross-posted from thinkprogress

Republican members of the California Assembly are distributing seemingly innocuous guides about the coverage options available under the Affordable Care Act that downplay the law’s benefits and misinform voters.

The flyers, which are being sent out at taxpayer expense, are also directing residents to “CoveringHealthCareCA.com,” a domain that closely resembles the official marketplace website for Covered California (CoveredCA.com) But rather than helping Californians enroll in coverage, this site appears to be the creation of the Republican party: it warns senior citizens about health care rationing and “provisions that have driven up insurance costs”. The site is designed to look like a non-partisan guide, but actually mirrors Republican talking points and criticisms of the law:

IRS WILL SINGLE OUT CONSERVATIVES. “In light of the recent revelation of questionable processes at the IRS for approving the tax-exempt status of certain groups, several members of the State Legislature, led by Assemblyman Dan Logue, introduced Assembly Joint Resolution 23 to urge Congress and the President to remove any financial oversight responsibilities of the IRS with regard to the administration of the Affordable Care Act.” 

YOUNG PEOPLE ARE SCREWED. “Young invincible or healthy adults visit the doctor very seldom and are money makers for insurers and medical groups that contract to provide them services. As low-cost additions to insurance pools, young adults would help dilute the expense of covering older, sicker people. Depending on how Congress requires insurers to price their policies, this group could even wind up paying disproportionately hefty premiums — effectively subsidizing coverage for the less healthy.” 

EMPLOYERS WILL STOP HIRING. “There are subsidies in the program for health insurance. However, there is an argument that the Affordable Care Act provides strong incentives for firms to avoid hiring workers from low-income households. … Many economists believe that the employer mandate contained in the federal law has resulted in many employers who currently have fewer than 50 employees from deciding not to hire new workers so that they are not subject to the new mandate or penalty provisions. News stories are beginning to confirm these concerns.” 

SENIORS WILL EXPERIENCE RATIONING. “For seniors that use Medicare’s prescription drug program, the Affordable Care Act gradually closes the “donut hole” until its complete elimination in 2020. To pay for other components of the Affordable Care Act such as expanding Medicaid and creating state health exchanges, Medicare providers will see rate cuts near $200 billion over the next decade. These cuts could potentially result in the exodus of doctors from the Medicare system and force Medicare recipients to find new providers, possibly facing longer wait times for care as that pool of doctors shrinks.”

Despite the GOP’s effort to dissuade Californians from purchasing coverage, however, nearly 80,000 people signed up for health insurance in the state’s new exchange as of late November, with approximately 2,7000 people enrolling daily.

A disclaimer on the site — which is situated next to a link to the Assembly Republican Caucus — notes that “The California State Assembly does not warrant or make any representations as to the quality, content, accuracy, or completeness of the information, text, graphics, links and other items contained on this server or any other server.” Indeed.

Typical Teabaggers, honesty is not a part of their modus operandi, a snake in the grass, just like their don't tread on me flag. I think this calls for the total destruction of the conservative movement. Fortunately, we don't have to do much.






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Roger West

CALIFATE, A LAND THAT IS TEA PARTY FREE

THE STEAMING DOG PILE THAT IS THE GOP

Bill Maher ended Friday nights show with a proud boast that California is creating the kind of “moderate liberal nation” the country as a whole really needs to be, and it’s doing so thanks to the lack of a Republican “legislative cock-block.”

Maher boasted, “We’re not just gluten-free and peanut-free and soy-free, we’re tea party-free! Yes, we can live in reality!” He tore into the “caboose part of America” that isn’t embracing the kind of change California is, saying that conservatives may love the free market and states rights, but those two things will ultimately “bend the country in California’s image as a socialist fagtopia.”

In California, Maher said, NRA stands for “nuts, racists, and assholes,” and while other states are “working with Jesus to make abortion more miserable,” California is making it easier, not to mention being more welcoming to illegal immigrants.

Maher concluded, “We can’t be worrying about the nonsense that keeps Fox News up at night.”

Video courtesy of HBO:



Imagine how grand this land would be, if it was truly American Taliban free!

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Roger West

FINALLY, SOMEONE WITH A SET OF TESTICLES

CALIFORNIA DEMS SEEKING TOUGH GUN REGULATIONS

California Democrats Propose Strictest Gun Regulations In The Nation:

Last Thursday, a group of California Senate Democrats rolled out a legislative package that would create what would likely be the tightest gun regulation system in the nation, ranging from sweeping prohibitions on semi-automatic rifles to restrictions on guns in the home. The proposal consists of ten points:

1. Ban all semi-automatic rifles that accept detachable magazines. California’s assault weapons ban only restricts the possession of semi-automatic rifles that accept detachable magazines if they have an additional, “military-style” feature like flash suppressors. The new laws would tighten this law by banning all such rifles regardless of external features.

2. Ban possession of high-capacity magazines. California law bans the transfer, not possession, of magazines that can hold over ten bullets. This allows people wanting to skirt the law to buy the constituent parts and make the magazines themselves. The new law would close that loophole.

3. Ban “bullet button” conversion kits. State law defines “detachable magazines” as, in part, magazines that can be released “without the use of a tool.” Bullet button kits allow magazines to be released quickly by pressing a bullet into them, thus creating an end-around the intent of the assault weapons ban. The new provisions would ban such kits.

4. Bans shotgun-rifle combinations. It would ban this class of class of weapon.

5. Universal registration of all guns. The law would create “ownership records consistently across-the-board, ensuring all firearms are recorded” so that the background check system can prevent criminals from getting guns.

6. Background checks on ammunition. This provision requires a “full and complete” background check on ammunition sales, “building on” laws existing in Los Angeles and Sacramento.

7. Regulating gun loans. The legislators propose setting up an as-yet undefined regulatory system for the loan, as opposed to sale, of guns.

8. Prevent prohibited individuals from living in homes with guns. California’s Armed Persons Prohibition (APP) database lists people who can’t legally own weapons (as a consequence of criminal or mental health records) under state law. This addition would prevent people on the list from living in a house that has a gun.

9. Cracking down on people who can’t own guns legally but do anyway. Currently, 19,700 people who are on the APP list own guns. Police estimate that these people own roughly 39,000 firearms. This new law would authorize additional funding to enforce the law in this area.

10. Required safety training for handgun owners. People with concealed carry permits are required under California (and many other) state laws to pass a mandatory safety and firearm instruction course. This provision would require all handgun owners, regardless of permit status, to undergo a similar process.

 

 

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