“July 13, 2012 / Ninth Circuit Public Information Office – The Ninth Circuit will reschedule its 2013 Circuit Conference to 2014 in Monterey, California. The postponement responds to the current budget constraints facing the federal judiciary and the federal government in general. The decision was reached earlier this week after consultation with the host hotel in Monterey, the Hyatt Regency.
“We firmly believe in the importance of the Conference in educating the federal bench and bar and in advancing governance of the Circuit. But we also recognize the need to conserve financial resources during the present fiscal crisis,” said Cathy A. Catterson, Circuit and Court of Appeals Executive. “We think this approach will meet both goals.”
The Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference has been held annually since 1944. Conferees include federal judges, lawyers, court staff, academics and government officials. The event provides a rich educational program and the opportunity to hold numerous business meetings.”
But the new news is that you can watch this flick for free now via the NetFlix.
It’s just released. See?
“This movie is: Exciting”
(But, sorry streamer-only NetFlix people, right now you can only have them mail you the DVD or the Blu-Ray – you can’t just stream this to your device.)
And no, I don’t think Vietnam Tom Bruso, or anyone else on the bus that day…
“Former state Supreme Court Justice and UC Davis School of Law Professor Emeritus Cruz Reynoso is the first member of task force that will review report about UC Davis pepper spraying from ex-L.A. police chief William Bratton.”
I, for one, am prepared to allow our UC some breathing room on this one. Let’s give them a little while and then see what they come up with, on both this incident and the prior UC Berkeley baton incident, m’kay?
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“Cruz Reynoso chairs task force on pepper spray incident
Date: 2011-11-28
University of California President Mark G. Yudof announced today (Nov. 28) the appointment of former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso to chair the task force formed to address the pepper spraying of UC Davis students.Reynoso, a UC Davis law professor emeritus who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000, will be “absolutely fair,” Yudof said.The task force is part of UC’s efforts to address policing issues in the wake of the Nov. 18 pepper spraying of UC Davis students and other incidents involving law enforcement officers and protesters. Acting in response to a written request from UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, Yudof last Tuesday announced that former Los Angeles police chief William J. Bratton would lead an independent fact-finding of the pepper spray incident and report back the results to him within 30 days.Bratton, who also led the New York City police department, now heads the New York-based Kroll consulting company as chairman. He is a renowned expert in progressive community policing. Assembly Speaker John A. Perez also had made a request to Yudof and UC Regents Chair Sherry Lansing for an independent investigation.Under the plan, Bratton’s report also will be presented to the task force that Yudof is forming, again at Katehi’s request. The task force will consist of a cross-section of students, faculty, staff and other UC community members. Reynoso is the first member named to the task force. The task force will review the report and make recommendations to Katehi on steps that should be taken to ensure the safety of peaceful protesters on campus. She will present her implementation plan to Yudof.
Reynoso, a farmworker’s son, rose from an Orange County barrio to become the first Latino to serve on the California Supreme Court. He has a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College and a law degree from UC Berkeley. His distinguished career includes serving as director of the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, a UCLA law school professor and as vice chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He joined the UC Davis law school faculty in 2001 as the inaugural holder of its Boochever and Bird Chair for the Study and Teaching of Freedom and Equality.
In remarks at the regents meeting today, Yudof reiterated his support for protecting the right to peaceful protests on campus and emphasized that Bratton’s investigation will be independent.
Last Tuesday, in a separate effort, Yudof also appointed UC General Counsel Charles Robinson and UC Berkeley School of Law Dean Christopher Edley Jr. to lead a systemwide examination of police protocols and policies as they apply to protests at all 10 UC campuses. The review is expected to result in recommended best practices for policing protests across the 10 UC campuses.
University of California President Mark G. Yudof moved on two fronts today (Tuesday, Nov. 22) to address policing issues in the wake of the pepper spraying of UC Davis students and other incidents involving law enforcement officers and protesters.
Acting in response to a written request from UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, Yudof agreed to conduct a thorough review of the events of Nov. 18 on the Davis campus.
As a first step, Yudof reached out to former Los Angeles police chief William J. Bratton to undertake an independent fact-finding of the pepper spray incident and report back the results to him within 30 days.
Bratton, who also led the New York City police department, now heads the New York-based Kroll consulting company as chairman. He also is a renowned expert in progressive community policing.
“My intent,” Yudof said, “is to provide the Chancellor and the entire University of California community with an independent, unvarnished report about what happened at Davis.”
Assembly Speaker John A. Perez also had made a request to President Yudof and UC Regents Chair Sherry Lansing for an independent investigation.
Under the plan, Bratton’s report also will be presented to an advisory panel that Yudof is forming, again at Katehi’s request. The panel will consist of a cross-section of students, faculty, staff and other UC community members.
The advisory panel, whose members will be announced at a later date, will review the report and make recommendations to Chancellor Katehi on steps that should be taken to ensure the safety of peaceful protesters on campus. She will present her implementation plan to President Yudof.
On a second track, Yudof appointed UC General Counsel Charles Robinson and UC Berkeley School of Law Dean Christopher Edley Jr. to lead a system-wide examination of police protocols and policies as they apply to protests at all 10 UC campuses.
This effort will include visits to campuses for discussions with students, faculty and staff, and consultation with an array of experts.
The review is expected to result in recommended best practices for policing protests across the 10 UC campuses.
“With these actions,” Yudof said, “we are moving forward to identify what needs to be done to ensure the safety of students and others who engage in non-violent protests on UC campuses. The right to peaceful protest on all of our campuses must be protected.”
“UC Board of Regents chair Sherry Lansing says in a video statement that she is “shocked and appalled” by the images of police actions during recent student protests at UC Berkeley and UC Davis.
Lansing supports UC President Mark Yudof’s effort to review systemwide procedures so that students can engage in peaceful protests.
“We regents share your passion and your conviction for the University of California,” Lansing says. “We want all of you to know that we fully and unequivocally support your right to protest peacefully.”
Lansing also invites the people to express their views at the Board of Regents meeting on Nov. 28. The rescheduled meeting will be open to the public and connected by a teleconference with regents participating from UC San Francisco-Mission Bay, UCLA, UC Davis and UC Merced. As usual, the meeting will also be streamed online. The public comment period has been expanded from 20 minutes to at least one hour.”
"We had a technical issue updating Forum last night - Pat Buchanan will not be our guest at 10am. The guests will be:
Linda Katehi, Chancellor, University of California, Davis Nathan Brown, Assistant Professor Organization: Department of English - University of California, Davis. And member of the Davis Faculty Association, which on Saturday called for the resignation of Chancellor Katehi over the pepper spray incident. Fatima Sbeih, Senior at UC Davis - She was among those demonstrators pepper-sprayed"]
“The pepper-spraying of Occupy Wall Street protesters at the University of California, Davis by a law enforcement officer on Friday has drawn criticism outrage from around the world. At 10am pst KQED’s popular call-in show, Forum, will discuss the incident with UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi, who has been the target of student protests following the pepper-spraying and has been asked to resign by the university’s faculty association.
UC Davis announced today that it has placed university police chief Annette Spicuzza on leave after her officers used pepper spray to move seated Occupy UC Davis protesters on Friday. The incident, which has gained international media attention, also led the campus faculty association to call for the resignation of Chancellor Linda Katehi. She says she will not step down. We discuss the controversy.”
University of California President Mark G. Yudof today (Sunday, Nov. 20) announced the actions he is taking in response to recent campus protest issues:
I am appalled by images of University of California students being doused with pepper spray and jabbed with police batons on our campuses.
I intend to do everything in my power as President of this university to protect the rights of our students, faculty and staff to engage in non-violent protest.
Chancellors at the UC Davis and UC Berkeley campuses already have initiated reviews of incidents that occurred on their campuses. I applaud this rapid response and eagerly await the results.
The University of California, however, is a single university with 10 campuses, and the incidents in recent days cry out for a system-wide response.
Therefore I will be taking immediate steps to set that response in motion.
I intend to convene all 10 chancellors, either in person or by telephone, to engage in a full and unfettered discussion about how to ensure proportional law enforcement response to non-violent protest.
To that end, I will be asking the Chancellors to forward to me at once all relevant protocols and policies already in place on their individual campuses, as well as those that apply to the engagement of non-campus police agencies through mutual aid agreements.
Further, I already have taken steps to assemble experts and stake-holders to conduct a thorough, far-reaching and urgent assessment of campus police procedures involving use of force, including post-incident review processes.
My intention is not to micromanage our campus police forces. The sworn officers who serve on our campuses are professionals dedicated to the protection of the UC community.
Nor do I wish to micromanage the chancellors. They are the leaders of our campuses and they have my full trust and confidence.
Nonetheless, the recent incidents make clear the time has come to take strong action to recommit to the ideal of peaceful protest.
As I have said before, free speech is part of the DNA of this university, and non-violent protest has long been central to our history. It is a value we must protect with vigilance. I implore students who wish to demonstrate to do so in a peaceful and lawful fashion. I expect campus authorities to honor that right.”
OAKLAND — The University of California Board of Regents meeting, postponed this week because of public safety concerns, has been rescheduled for Monday, Nov. 28.
The time for public comment, scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., will be expanded from the usual 20 minutes to a full hour with regents, UC staff and members of the public in attendance on four campuses — UC San Francisco-Mission Bay, UCLA, UC Davis and UC Merced. The sites will be connected to each other via teleconference. The public notice of the meeting, where they will take place on campuses and the agenda are available at www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/nov28.html.
Get all the deets on this special day at UCSF below.
The red carpet up at 505 Parnassus:
Just after the unveiling:
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“Members of the UCSF community are invited to celebrate the second annual Art Day at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital on Wednesday, Nov. 16, featuring a red carpet fashion show with hospital gowns completely redesigned by young hospital patients.
All of the creations are designed by the kids, and will be modeled by a mix of staff and patients. Other activities include a photo booth, where patients can insert themselves into famous works of art, and professional artists who will share their artistic processes.
“Re-designing the hospital gowns gives these kids an opportunity to share their feelings about what the hospital gowns mean to them and what they signify,” said UCSF Child Life Services Manager Michael Towne. “The kids are allowed to feel and actively express the way they want to.”
The art therapy program at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital provides a creative way for children and their families to communicate and better cope with their hospital experience. Art therapy encourages patient engagement, expression and an increased understanding of the emotional impact of illness and medical treatment.
The Child Life Department recognizes the integral role hospital child life programs play in the healing process and works with children, teens and their families to ensure that each child’s developmental and emotional needs are met.
“Patients need a forum to express what it means to have cancer, or cystic fibrosis or to have experienced a major trauma,” said Towne. “The whole issue of illness has a profound impact on a person’s identity, and awareness of mortality. And sometimes, all the words in the world aren’t going to capture what’s going on.”
[UPDATE: Senator Leland Yee is on the case this AM - he's doing a presser involving this latest allegation. (I guess it's too late to call this an October Surprise, and frankly, it's not all that surprising neither. Let's call it a November Expectation. Brace yourself for more.) Oh, and Leland is onto some Chinatown voting sting operation as well.
And there's this: "Statement from Chiu Campaign on Money Laundering Allegations - SAN FRANCISCO (November 2, 2011): Addisu Demissie, spokesman for the David Chiu for Mayor campaign, released the following statement about a San Francisco Chronicle report of potential money laundering by supporters of Mayor Ed Lee:
"This is now the fourth allegation of illegal conduct by Mayor Lee's supporters, and it should be investigated fully by the District Attorney and appropriate authorities,” Demissie said. “With six days to go before Election Day, it will be up to the voters to decide whether this kind of bullying, pay-to-play politics is what they want to see at City Hall for the next 4 years. David is going to spend the last 6 days of this race talking about why he represents a new generation of leadership for San Francisco that will stand tough against the special interests and shake things up at City Hall."
Paid for by David Chiu for Mayor 2011, P.O. Box 641541, San Francisco, CA 94164, FPPC##1337108]
“Too many of Ed Lee’s supporters act as though they’re above the law — on money laundering, on ballot tampering, and more – and Ed Lee isn’t strong enough to stop it.
Amen.
Earlier this year, Ed Lee was picked unanimously to be an Interim Mayor. He wasn’t picked to be a Reformer. He’ll never be a Reformer.
Is Ed Lee Breaking Bad? Has the City Family corrupted him? Or has he corrupted the City Family? A little of both?
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All the deets:
“Herrera calls on FPPC to join D.A. in investigating new Ed Lee campaign money laundering charge - CitiApartments’ former eviction goon led reimbursement-for-donation scheme, suggesting political payback for City Attorney’s 2006 tenant-protection lawsuit
SAN FRANCISCO (Nov. 2, 2011) — City Attorney Dennis Herrera this morning called on the state Fair Political Practices Commission to join District Attorney George Gascón in reviewing new allegations reported in today’s San Francisco Chronicle that Ed Lee’s mayoral campaign received donations that appear to have been illegally laundered to skirt San Francisco $500 per donor contribution maximum.[1] Andrew Hawkins, a property services manager whose harrowing tenant intimidation tactics were central to Herrera’s lawsuit five years ago against the Lembi Group landlords’ once high-rolling CitiApartments empire, promised reimbursements to at least sixteen employees in exchange for maximum contributions to Ed Lee’s mayoral campaign at an Oct. 18, 2011 fundraiser, according to the Chronicle.
It is the second major allegation of campaign money laundering to benefit Ed Lee’s campaign. The first, involving GO Lorrie’s airport shuttle, is the subject of separate investigations by Gascón’s office and the FPPC, the state commission responsible to investigate and impose penalties for violations of the California Political Reform Act. Such schemes have been prosecuted as felonies in California for conspiring to evade campaign contribution limits, and for making campaign contributions under false names.
“I think San Franciscans have now seen enough,” said City Attorney Dennis Herrera. “Too many of Ed Lee’s supporters act as though they’re above the law — on money laundering, on ballot tampering, and more — and Ed Lee isn’t strong enough to stop it. If this is how they behave before an election, just imagine how they’ll behave after the election, if Ed Lee wins. This scheme is clearly a bid for political payback by CitiApartments henchmen for my litigation to protect tenants five years ago. It is patently illegal, and I call on the FPPC to join the District Attorney in investigating.”
Hawkins is listed in Ed Lee’s campaign disclosures as the owner of Archway Property Services. As the one-time head of CitiApartments’ “tenant relocation program,” the gun-carrying Hawkins is reported to have coerced more than 2,500 tenants out of their rent-controlled units, and once boasted in civil court testimony, “I run people out of their apartments for a living. It’s what I do.“
Several recipients of Hawkins’ email invitation to an Oct. 18 event on Russian Hill made contributions to Ed Lee’s campaign on the same date. All contributed the maximum $500.
Herrera sued the CitiApartments residential rental property behemoth in Aug. 2006 for an array of unlawful business and tenant harassment practices, which sought to dispossess long-term residents of their rent-controlled apartments. The coerced vacancies freed the company to make often-unpermitted renovations to units, and then re-rent them to new tenants at dramatically increased market rates. The illegal business model enabled CitiApartments, Skyline Realty and other entities under the sway of real estate family patriarch Frank Lembi to aggressively outbid competitors for residential properties throughout San Francisco for several years — before lawsuits and a sharp economic downturn forced the aspiring empire into bankruptcies, foreclosures and receiverships.
A 2009 San Francisco Magazine feature story on the Lembi real estate empire[2] described Andrew Hawkins as “a burly former nightclub bouncer who headed up CitiApartments’ relocation program.” Hawkins reportedly led teams as large as 14 full-time employees, according to the report, and the company estimated that “Hawkins relocated more than 2,500 tenants.” An earlier exposé in 2006 by the San Francisco Bay Guardian[3] cited civil court testimony in which Hawkins boasted to one tenant’s family member, “I run people out of their apartments for a living. It’s what I do.”
From the SF Bay Area Observer comes the news that journalists at The Bay Citizen will affiliate with the Pacific Media Workers Guild, Local 39521 of The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America.
Perhaps things aren’t all locked down yet, but the MWG was confident enough to issue a press release this AM, so that’s good enough for me.
All the deets, below.
“Bay Citizen becomes first start-up news website to organize. New model in journalism leads way in workplace democracy
New model in journalism leads way in workplace democracy
San Francisco, July 20, 2011 – Journalists at the nonprofit news website The Bay Citizen have voted to affiliate with the Pacific Media Workers Guild, Local 39521 of The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America.
“We believe The Bay Citizen, as one of the pioneering exponents of new civic journalism, should also be a leading example in the area of workplace democracy,” The Bay Citizen’s editorial staff wrote in a letter to TBC President and CEO Lisa Frazier ahead of filing cards with the National Labor Relations Board.
The majority of the organization’s editorial staff signed union cards seeking to be represented by the Guild on May 26th, the one-year anniversary of The Bay Citizen’s launch. Voting was conducted June 27 at The Bay Citizen’s San Francisco headquarters and by mail-in ballot. NLRB officials counted the votes on Tuesday, July 12.
Two votes out of the 14 cast are being challenged. The remaining ballot count resulted in a 7-5 win to form the union. The two challenged votes have not been opened, however the Guild is certain that whether these two voters are included in the unit or not, the concluding tally will remain in favor of forming a unit. The Guild is asking the NLRB to count all votes cast.
Bernie Lunzer, international president of The Newspaper Guild in Washington, D.C., said the result marks an historic advance for media workers, as traditional newsrooms shrink and the industry struggles to find new models to stay competitive in the online era.
“The future of quality journalism depends on reporters and editors shaping the vision of innovative new media organizations. By voting to be represented by the Guild, employees at The Bay Citizen have given themselves this voice,” Lunzer said.
Support came from unionized journalists at The New York Times and KGO radio, which have agreements to obtain local news content from The Bay Citizen.
“For more than a year, journalists from The Bay Citizen have provided important coverage for the pages and website of The New York Times, and these talented journalists are an asset to the Guild at an important time, ” wrote Grant Glickson, New York Times Staff Assistant and Unit Chairperson.
Bay Citizen staff members are committed to the success of the organization and expect their new Guild unit to work in partnership with management to create a contract appropriate for their nonprofit startup.
The Bay Citizen was founded in 2010 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to fact-based, independent reporting on civic and community issues in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its newsroom of award-winning journalists covers Bay Area civic and cultural news topics that are under-reported today. TBC also partners widely with independent media organizations and produces the Bay Area pages of the The New York Times.
The Bay Citizen unit joins one of the premier affiliates of TNG-CWA. Formed after a series of recent mergers, the San Francisco-based Pacific Media Workers Guild (known as the California Media Workers Guild until a name change in January) represents about 2,000 news workers, freelancers, court interpreters and union staffs throughout California and Hawaii. News units include the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Bay Area News Group-East Bay, Bay City News Service, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Sacramento Bee, Fresno Bee, Modesto Bee, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Hawaii Herald-Tribune and Maui News. The Guild also includes the California Federation of Interpreters, print shops and union staffs at AFSCME Local 3299, the ILWU and California Labor Federation.”
