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The California Apartment Association (CAA) has been meddling in the affairs of city after city in Northern California in an effort to stop any and all renter protections being promoted by renters, tenant activists, and their supporters. On March 3, the same day that Oakland tenant activists filed a ballot initiative to strengthen renter protections called the Renters Upgrade, the California Apartment Association announced that they were keeping an eye on things, and are coming up with their own plan to counter the tenants' movement efforts, including in Richmond, and Alameda. The CAA also has been targeting the tenant’s movement in the cities of San Jose, Mountain View, Healdsburg, Lafayette, Pacifica, Santa Rosa, and San Mateo. At times the CAA and it’s partners create astro-turf websites to launch it’s attacks on the tenant’s movement and cities considering reasonable renter protections, and often they falsely claim that tenants are against renter protections.
Read More |
Renter protections are being considered in three cities
Familias Unidas por la Justicia (FUJ) has embarked on an historic 28-day tour of the West Coast to organize a major offensive on the world’s largest berry distributor, Driscoll’s Berries. FUJ President Ramon Torres and a crew of FUJ members are making stops in communities throughout Oregon and California. The local independent farmworker union, based in Burlington, WA, is touring the coast at a crucial moment in their campaign for a union contract at Driscoll's producer Sakuma Brothers Farms in Washington.
Driscoll’s and Sakuma are feeling pressure from the growing amount of boycott activity, which has grown tremendously since FUJ called for the boycott in the fall of 2013. The pressure has grown even more since over 80,000 farmworkers who also pick berries for Driscoll's in San Quintín, Mexico went on strike, formed a union, and endorsed the boycott in March of 2014.
The main goals of the tour are to strengthen the existing boycott committees that are playing a crucial role in the struggle, and to recruit activists to form new committees where they don’t exist. Demonstrations and other events are taking place throughout the San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas, Central Valley, and southern California, as well as at the U.S. / Mexico border. On Thursday, March 31, there will be a major action at Driscoll’s headquarters in Watsonville, and a smaller demonstration at Whole Foods in Palo Alto.
Read More ||  Events: Wednesday, March 30 at UCSC || March 30 in Santa Cruz || Thursday, March 31 and Saturday, April 2 in Watsonville
Previous Events: Saturday, March 26 in Sacramento || Sunday, March 27 in San Francisco
Previous Coverage: Boycott Driscoll's Action at Whole Foods Market in Santa Cruz || Boycott Driscoll’s Action in Watsonville || U.S. and Mexican Workers Call for Boycott of Driscoll’s Berries
Oil companies use dozens of extremely hazardous chemicals to acidize wells in California, raising water contamination and public-safety concerns, according to a new study in the Journal of Toxicological and Environmental Chemistry.
The University of California-Los Angeles study, which has national significance because it seems to be the first ever to examine the toxicity of acidization chemicals, finds that almost 200 different chemicals have been used in the process, which is frequently employed in urban areas of Los Angeles County.
Researchers at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability found that at least 28 of these substances are F-graded hazardous chemicals — carcinogens, mutagens, reproductive toxins, developmental toxins, endocrine disruptors or high acute toxicity chemicals. Hydrofluoric acid, for example, is acutely toxic, and exposure to fumes or very short-term contact with its liquid form can cause severe burns.
Read More | Center for Biological Diversity
Terrie Best of San Diego Americans for Safe Access writes: On March 1, the prosecution began its case against John Mazula, who was being charged with manufacturing medical cannabis concentrates. The case came down to whether the process John used to extract cannabis concentrate made use of butane gas or not.
The prosecution rested their case after not having proven anything but that law enforcement are experts at reciting how to make butane honey oil. They were to have proven John was making BHO (butane hash oil), they didn’t do it. And, there’s no honey oil, no blasted plant material, no used filters, piles of empty butane tanks or lengths of glass tubing to help them either.
I pulled into the El Cajon courthouse parking lot just in time to see one of John’s jurors. He turned out to be the jury foreman. He gave me a glimpse of what happened in that jury room. In the first few minutes the 12 introduced themselves, then at exactly 4:20, a fact that made some of them chuckle, they took their first and only poll. Without hesitation each juror at the table one-by-one pronounced John not guilty. Then they discussed why. The jurors blamed the police. They knew the case was poorly put together with no evidence to convict John. It was a manufactured case. The case against John was vapor, a waste of time and resources and the jurors took ten minutes to destroy it. The prosecution never lost the case because they never had one. John was not guilty, the DA only tried to make 12 people believe he was.
Day One of John Mazula's Medical Marijuana Trial - Presecution's Case Built on Dishonesty || Perjury Entangles Sheriff Deputy in Embarrassing Web As Activists Look On || Ten Minutes to a Not Guilty Verdict in San Diego Medical Marijuana Concentrate Case || San Diego Americans for Safe Access
On February 19, State Senator Mark Leno introduced SB 1286, a bill allowing greater public access to police records related to serious uses of force and sustained charges of misconduct. While California statutes and case law prevent the disclosure of most peace officer records, states such as Texas, Kentucky, Utah, and several others, make information available to the public when an allegation of misconduct has been confirmed. At least 10 other states, including Florida, Ohio and Washington, also make these same records public regardless of whether the incident has been confirmed.
The California Police Bill of Rights as it is known today could be on its way out if California SB1286 becomes law, shining increased light on police misconduct in the state. Police "unions" and lobbyists like the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) are expected to fight to maintain the secrecy that currently shields their bad behavior — and legislators historically tend to kowtow to their wishes. The public, however, clearly wants greater access to police records. Polling data shows that nearly 80 percent of Californians believe the public should have access to the findings of police misconduct.
 Read More |
Deadly Secrets: How California Law Has Shielded Oakland Police Violence (2011) |
The Police Bill of Rights, Copley, and Where We Are Today in CA with Police Accountability
(2009)
Fearful of a shift in domestic public opinion, Israel’s defenders in the United States—a network of advocacy organizations, public relations firms, and think tanks—have intensified their efforts to stifle criticism of Israeli government policies. Rather than engage such criticism on its merits, these groups leverage their significant resources and lobbying power to pressure universities, government actors, and other institutions to censor or punish advocacy in support of Palestinian rights. In addition, high-level Israeli government figures, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and wealthy benefactors such as Sheldon Adelson and Haim Saban have reportedly participated in strategic meetings to oppose Palestine activism, particularly Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns.
At least twenty-two bills aimed at suppressing the BDS movement were introduced last year in states across the country. These bills are part of a broader effort to shut down the movement for Palestinian rights, and BDS efforts in particular. In New York state, two proposed bills would blacklist individuals, businesses, and organizations that boycott (or encourage others to boycott) Israel. The version that passed the NY State Senate also affects those who boycott several other "allied" nations. New York State would be prohibited from contracting with or investing in individuals and entities on the blacklist should the bill pass the Assembly and be signed into law by Governor Cuomo. Other similar bills have become law or are being considered in at least Illinois, Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Indiana, as well as within the U.S. Congress.
In California, two anti-BDS bills were introduced by Assembly member Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach, on January 4. AB 1551, the “California Israel Commerce Protection Act”, would prohibit the state from investing in businesses and institutions that comply with boycotts called for by a foreign country or international organization against Israel or Israeli-controlled territories. AB 1552, introduced by Assemblyman Allen in tandem with AB 1551, would prohibit the state from contracting with entities that engage in what he calls “boycotts due to discrimination and bigotry.”
Read More:
 California Legislators Urged to Oppose Anti-Boycott Bills |
New York State wants to blacklist BDS supporters |
Anti-BDS provision signed by Obama won’t stop this movement |
The Palestine Exception to Free Speech: A Movement Under Attack in the US
On February 18, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced the reclassification of the Santa Cruz cypress from “endangered” to “threatened” status under the Endangered Species Act. The tree was protected in 1987 due to threats to its habitat, but now the habitat for all five populations is secure.
Norman “Wounded Knee” DeOcampo (Miwok), a long-time resident of Vallejo, will be taking part in the Longest Walk 5 beginning February 13 at La Jolla Shores in San Diego, California. Wounded Knee is the Founding Executive Director of the Vallejo based organization Sacred Sites Protection and Rights of Indigenous Tribes. (SSPRIT). He is the only person who will have participated in all five Longest Walks.
Super Bowl City, a corporate playground for tourists, was set up in San Francisco in late January. Before it opened, SFPD began pushing homeless people out of the area. Several protests focused on the taxpayer-financed "city". On January 30, hundreds marched for justice for Mario Woods. On February 3, hundreds of homeless advocates held another protest. On February 6, hundreds more marched to the site to protest unrelenting economic displacements. SFPD repressed all of these protests with at least one hundred cops each time.
On January 23, hundreds of local activists met the anti-choice Walk for Life at Market and Powell Streets, shouting down their repressive message with loud, spirited, no-holds-barred pro-choice chants. The religious-based walk busses in thousands of anti-choice activists annually on the anniversary of Roe v Wade in an attempt to drown out locals in the pro-choice city of San Francisco.
Walk for Life marchers are told to keep eyes forward and not engage with their adversaries, but some members of the anti-abortion group giggled, pointed and stared when they witnessed a counter-demonstrator in a clever vagina costume on the sidewalk alongside their march. The two sides were kept apart by a long line of policemen with riot gear. Other street theater tactics included women wearing bloodied white pants and men waving hangers. One of the Raging Grannies held up a twisted wire hanger and a knitting needle shouting, "illegal abortions...never again!"
Stop Patriarchy organized the pro-choice response for the second year in a row, bringing a renewed radical presence to the annual event. The Walk for Life has marched through San Francisco since 2005.
 Audio |
Photos|
Pro-Choice Counter Protesters Block Anti-Abortion Walk for Life in Washington D.C. | Stop Patriarchy
Previous Related Indybay Feature:
Anti-Abortion Forces Bused in to San Francisco Counter-Protested by Pro-Choice Activists
(2015)
On January 5, two environmental groups filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over its failure to protect the monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species Act. The Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety first petitioned for the monarch’s protection in August 2014, following a more than 80 percent decline in the butterfly’s population over the past two decades.
On January 1, family and friends marked the seventh anniversary of the police murder of Oscar Grant at the Oakland BART station where his death sparked a justice movement that has caught fire nationally in recent years. About 125 people attended the afternoon vigil at Fruitvale BART Station to hear words from family, faith leaders and activists, and poetry and song in memory of Grant and Black youth lost to violence.
In September 2003, Lakota Sioux Richard Iron Cloud and Armando Black Bear, novice swimmers from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation near the Badlands of South Dakota, swam from Alcatraz Island to the San Francisco shore in the first PATHSTAR Alcatraz swim. PATHSTAR is a nonprofit organization committed to inspiring and revitalizing sustainable health and well-being practices within Native American communities.
That tradition continued on Oct. 19, 2015, when Native Americans made the crossing from the “Rock” to San Francisco to conclude this year’s annual PATHSTAR Alcatraz Swim Week. The eight-day event is a component of a year-round program to encourage healthy eating and a stay-active lifestyle among Native Americans who have the highest rates of Type 2 diabetes in the United States, according to the Indian Health Service (IHS).
Eloy Martinez, Southern Ute, a member of the band of Native Americans who occupied Alcatraz in November, 1969 and remained for 19 months before they were removed by federal authorities, offered a sage blessing and prayer for a safe swim.
Read More |
Pathstar.org
Previous Coverage: 2011 | 2012 | 2013
Led by those inside California prisons, who often put their lives on the line, a settlement was reached on September 1 in the federal class action Ashker v. Governor of California that will mostly end indeterminate, long-term solitary confinement in all California state prisons. Subject to court approval, the agreement will result in a dramatic reduction in the number of people in solitary across the state and a new program that could be a model for other states going forward. The class action was brought in 2012 on behalf of prisoners held in solitary confinement at the Pelican Bay, but the settlement reaches prisoners across California with over a thousand people set to make it out of Security Housing Units (SHU).
When the case was filed in 2012, more than 500 prisoners had been isolated in the SHU at Pelican Bay for over 10 years, and 78 had been there for more than 20 years. They spent 22 ½ to 24 hours every day in a cramped, concrete, windowless cell, and were denied telephone calls, physical contact with visitors, and vocational, recreational, and educational programming. Hundreds of other prisoners throughout California have been held in similar SHU conditions. Extensive expert evidence in the case established severe physical and psychological harm among California SHU prisoners as a result of prolonged solitary confinement.
The new settlement transforms California’s use of solitary confinement from a status-based system to a behavior-based system; prisoners will no longer be sent to solitary based solely on gang affiliation, but rather based on infraction of specific serious rules violations. It also limits the amount of time a prisoner can spend in the Pelican Bay SHU and provides a two-year step-down program for transfer from SHU to general population.The agreement creates a new non-solitary but high-security unit for the minority of prisoners who have been held in any SHU for more than 10 years and who have a recent serious rule violation. They will be able to interact with other prisoners, have small-group recreation and educational and vocational programming, and contact visits.
The National Lawyers Guild and other parties to the settlement note that the settlement does not completely eliminate indeterminate long-term solitary confinement and that prison guards and other officials may create new forms of harassment. Carol Strickman, Guild member and staff attorney at Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, cautions, "This important victory is only one step towards the abolition/transformation of the prison system. We must continue to push for change."
Landmark Agreement Ends Indeterminate Long-Term Solitary Confinement in California |
NLG Plays Pivotal Role in Solitary Confinement Victory
See Also:
Janetta Johnson on Trans Resistance and Resilience: From Solitary to Re-Entry |
Extreme Isolation of Gang Leaders in Prisons is Un-Constitutional and Amounts to Torture |
Torture Continues: CDCR Settlement Screws Prisoners |
Unconstitutional Solitary Confinement in America |
Struggle against solitary confinement and a new humanism |
Strategy & Organizing Training on Ending Solitary Confinement |
BBQ at Mosswood Park to Build California Families Against Solitary Confinement |
Santa Cruz Supports Statewide Coordinated Actions To End Solitary Confinement |
Oakland-Statewide Coordinated Actions to End Solitary Confinement |
Santa Cruz-Statewide Coordinated Actions To End Solitary Confinement (SCATESC) |
Statewide Coordinated Actions to End Solitary Confinement Continue |
SF-Statewide Coordinated Actions To End Solitary Confinement (SCATESC) |
Statewide Coordinated Actions To End Solitary Confinement Begin |
Coastside Vigil in Santa Cruz Protests Use of Solitary Confinement |
Santa Cruz Statewide Action to End Solitary Confinement |
Oakland-Statewide Coordinated Actions To End Solitary Confinement (SCATESC) |
Sin Barras meeting — Statewide Action to End Solitary Confinement
Previous Related Indybay Features:
Statewide Actions to End Solitary Confinement Grow in Third Month |
Rallies Statewide Commemorate the Day 30,000 Prisoners Refused to Eat |
Supporting California and Santa Cruz Prison Hunger Strikers at 'Hunger for Justice' |
Community Education in Solidarity with Prisoners' Hunger Strike |
Rallies and Demos Begin in Support of 2013 California Hunger Strikers |
March and Noise Demonstration in Solidarity with SHU Hunger Strike |
Prisoner Hunger Strike Begins at Pelican Bay in Crescent City
On November 2, red paint was splashed across the front door of Mission Santa Cruz. Following the Catholic church's canonization of Junipero Serra, a series of acts of vandalism has occurred on the Central Coast, including the beheading of a Serra statue in Monterey in October, and the splashing of paint on Mission Carmel and the toppling of a statue of Serra in September.
A state-convened working group is recommending a series of initial steps toward reducing whale entanglements in crab gear in California, including more monitoring and retrieval of lost fishing gear. The Dungeness Crab Fishing Gear Working Group was convened in September after the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups found that whale entanglements in 2014 and 2015 had reached historic highs.
Commercial Dungeness crab season in California opens Nov. 15, so remedies requiring legislative or regulatory changes couldn’t be implemented before this season. The new short-term recommendations focus on training commercial crabbers to respond to whale entanglements, expanding the lost-gear recovery program, improving data collection, testing gear modifications (such as breakaway lines), and developing a best-practices guide.
“It’s been heartbreaking to see so many humpback and gray whales tangled up in fishing lines along California’s coast,” said Kristen Monsell, a Center attorney who serves on the working group. “We’re glad to see the crab industry involved with finding solutions and these recommendations are a good first step.”
Read More | See Also: New Data Shows West Coast Whale Entanglements Now at Record High Levels
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