Crime

Local Lawmakers Pushing for Bail Reform to “Fix Broken System”

Published

8 years ago

July 8, 2016

Experts, advocates and lawmakers gathered on Tuesday to discuss changes to California’s bail system, which often requires defendants to pay a fee upfront in order to be released while their case is pending.

“In my view, the current system is broken,” said Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), who led the discussion at the Elihu Harris State Building in Oakland.

“The purpose of bail was to provide a path for an individual to go back to their life while they await trial with the guarantee they would return for their court date. It’s not happening that way today,” he said.

Bonta said that now, those who have the money can be released pretrial no matter how dangerous they may be, while those who can’t afford to pay bail may sit in jail for something as minor as a traffic ticket.

“The majority of people in California jails are unsentenced. Ninety percent of people retained pretrial are there because they cannot make bail,” said panelist Zachary Norris, executive director of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.

Panelists attributed this to California’s cash bail system, which they said evaluates defendants on their ability to pay, rather than the danger they pose to society or whether they are willing appear at court.

Bonta and other speakers stressed how this can cause poor people to lose their jobs or housing if they cannot pay for their release, and that the inability to post bail disproportionately affects communities of color.

Some panelists suggested shifting away from a cash bail system and towards free trial services and “risk-assessments,” through which officials use data and evidence to determine whether a person should be released when making decisions about pretrial populations.

According to panelist and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, nearly 29 other jurisdictions have developed risk-assessment models.

Also on the panel was Senator Loni Hancock (D-Oakland), who previously presented bail reform legislation that passed the Senate but died in the Assembly.

Hancock emphasized that over a billion dollars have been invested in the state’s jail system in the last six years, and advocated for reinvesting the money that could be saved by reforming the bail system into education and other rehabilitation programs.

“Money bail is an ineffective way to promote public safety. The amount of money someone has bears no relation to the risk they pose,” Norris said. “Bail and pretrial is really the widest part of the funnel, and if we want to take on mass incarceration this is where we should start.”

Bonta plans to introduce this legislation at the start of the next session in December.

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

Published

22 hours ago

November 1, 2024

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Alameda County

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price Announces $7.5 Million Settlement Agreement with Walmart

The settlement resolves allegations that Walmart unlawfully disposed of hazardous waste and medical waste from its facilities statewide to municipal landfills. Walmart agreed to pay $4,297,040 in civil penalties and $3,202,960 in costs, to be split among the prosecuting agencies, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, and some local environmental protection agencies. There are nine Walmart stores in Alameda County.

Published

5 days ago

October 28, 2024

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Oakland Post Staff

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, the California Attorney General’s Office, and eleven other prosecutors’ offices secured a $7.5 million settlement with Walmart on behalf of the People of the State of California.

“Large corporations must be held accountable when they do not follow the law and put the health and safety of Alameda County residents at risk,” said Price. “I commend my office’s Consumer Justice Bureau’s active involvement in this investigation, which helped bring this settlement forward and holds Walmart to account.”

The settlement is the result of over 70 covert waste inspections conducted by the district attorneys’ offices statewide from 2015 through 2021, including many assisted by Alameda County District Attorney’s Office environmental protection investigators. During those inspections, the offices inspected the waste that Walmart sent from its stores to local landfills and found hundreds of containers of toxic aerosols and liquid wastes (including spray paints, rust removers, bleach, and pesticides), as well as medical waste (such as over-the-counter drugs).

Improperly disposed of private consumer information was also found.

The People filed a civil law enforcement complaint against Walmart in 2021, wherein those unlawful disposals were alleged to violate the Hazardous Waste Control Law, Medical Waste Management Act, and Unfair Competition Law.

The civil action and stipulated judgment were filed in Alameda County Superior Court. The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has been involved in the investigation and civil case preparation since 2015.

The settlement also imposes injunctive terms, which require Walmart to maintain an independent, third-party auditor to conduct three annual rounds of waste audits at its facilities throughout California during the next four years. Walmart’s auditor must use specific requirements in the settlement to ensure that hazardous waste is properly classified, handled, disposed of, and transported according to California law.

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Activism

Black Tulip Calls for Action and a Cultural Shift in Oakland for Black Women’s Safety

Anyka Howard, founder of the Betti Ono Foundation and visionary of Black Tulip, expressed the core value of the movement and urgent need for change. “We’re not going to tolerate Oakland being a hotbed for dysfunction and violence, and perpetuating harms against Black women and girls,” Howard said. “We deserve better, we are worthy, our lives matter, and it’s time for us to boldly, and collectively proclaim that and expect the appropriate response.”

Published

5 days ago

October 28, 2024

Oakland Post

Jada Imani and another Black Tulip attendee building an altar at the Lake Merritt Amphitheater in honor of artist Zoe Reidy Watts, 25, who was killed in Oakland in March. Courtesy photo.

By Kristal Raheem
Special to The Post

Last week, Oakland City Council voted to adopt a resolution supporting the federal Protect Black Women and Girls Act, (H.R. 7354). The federal law would establish an interagency task force to examine the experiences of Black women in U.S. society, from education to health care to jobs to housing.

A 2020 study by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation reported that 40% of humans being trafficked in the U.S. are Black women. In 2022, the FBI reported 97,000 Black women were missing. That same year in Oakland, 400 Black women were reported missing.

The Council vote on Oct. 15 was just the latest reflection of a blossoming movement in Oakland demanding greater protection for Black women and girls.

From Oct. 3-5, the Betti Ono Foundation, in partnership with the Black Arts Movement Business District and Community Development Corporation (BAMB CDC), hosted their inaugural Black Tulip Cultural Week of Action.

The Black Tulip event series included a write-in at the BAMB CDC, an Oakland’s First Friday partnership, and a Day of Action at Lake Merritt.

Howard said everyone must support Black Tulip’s mission, regardless of race and other social identities. She specifically called for men to show up more as allies.

West Oakland native and founder of Black Terminus AR, Damien McDuffie, said the Town’s “pimp culture” has warped how Black women are treated. “Oakland has a complex history around sexual assault and pimp culture, so I think we have a warped sense of what safety might look like, especially for women and girls,” Damien saud. “I think a real impact on how women are treated here in Oakland or in the Bay Area will come from a culture shift.”

The Black Tulip Day of Action took place on Saturday, Oct. 5. Healers, poets, and musicians joined forces to amplify joy, remembrance, and hope.

Oakland educator and healer Venus Morris co-hosted the event alongside honorary guest speaker and singer Dawn Richard.

Richard is the artist relations director with the Hip Hop Caucus, an organization that helps artists use their platform to advocate for important issues. She is also one of 120 people being represented in a lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs for alleged sexual assault and abuse.

Despite the media frenzy regarding the legal case, Richard showed up in Oakland to stand in solidarity for the mission of Black Tulip. “I think our narrative has been stolen from us,” Richard said. “We’ve lost the narrative of what we represent in this culture and in this society. We are more and I think this event exemplifies that.”

Participants gathered to honor the lives of Black women who lost their lives to violence while also celebrating one another as the journey for justice continues.

“We are the mothers, the womb of this earth. There is no America, no globalization, no capitalism, without us,” Howard told Oakland Voices. “People are taught to see us in a particular way that does not honor who we are. Black Tulip is a reclamation of our sacredness. It’s an affirmation, a calling, a demand.”

This story was initially published by Oakland Voices (http://oaklandvoices.us). The author previously worked as a communications and public relations manager for Councilmember Treva Reid.