Blanca Bosquez
Listen to the radio interview of ACJP members Blanca Bosquez and Mary Rosas as they join Dr. Elsa Chen, as they discuss the merits of Prop.36, and why Three Strikes Law is in dire need for reform on “A Meeting of the Ways”, hosted and produced by Diane Solomon on KKUP 91.5fm. Rosas’s brother is currently doing a life sentence due to Three Strikes.
On Tuesday, October 2, 2012, the East Palo Alto City Council unanimously adopted a resolution to urge the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and Probation Chief Stu Forrest from referring youth to federal immigration officials. San Mateo County continues to be one of the highest referring counties in California to ICE, even after the Department changed their policy in January 2012 after discovering they were referring youth under the jurisdiction of an outdated law. De-Bug’s ACJP has been part of the San Mateo County Coalition for Immigrant Rights that continues to assert that all youth, regardless of their citizenship status, should be rehabilitated — and that the threat of deportation should not be in anyone’s pocket as a potential for punishment. Our youngest ACJP member, a 14 year old from Redwood City, experienced 42 days in immigration detention before being reunified with his parents. He is still fighting his deportation case, but the lapse in services has impacted him tremendously — as now he has to also deal with the trauma of being separated 3,000 miles away from his family. We applaud the EPA City Council for standing with this young man and sending a message that an entire community has his back. — Submission Post by Charisse Domingo
To read the resolution, click the image below….
Rosie and her daughter Denise first came to our ACJP meeting at East Valley Pentacostal Church when Rosie’s son, and Denise’s brother, David was facing a life sentence for a crime he did not commit. The private attorney the family hired said the best possible resolution of the case would be for him to accept a plea deal of 7 to Life. Denise was fighting cancer, and before David was detained he was the main person helping Denise — taking her to doctor appointments, getting medications,and her other daily needs. Despite their medical issues, Rosie and her daughter would come to ACJP meetings every week to see how they could help David fight for his freedom. David and his family stayed united, removed the attorney, and got appointed an attorney from the Public Defender’s Office, and worked with that attorney to advocate for David. David was home with his family within a couple months. Above, on the left, is a picture of Rosie and Denise at their first ACJP meeting, sharing David’s story. On the right is a picture of David who came to his first ACJP mtg, just two days after his release.
De-Bug’s ACJP joined up with family, friends, and supporters of Elvira Zayas — a young community leader in San Francisco to challenge her unjustified incarceration. While she is still fighting a misdemeanor offense, she is out of custody and back home after shedding fabricated felony offenses through the pre-lim exam. Check out the photos chronicling the emotional victory for family and loved ones who have fought for the release of Elvira for the last 3 weeks. Arrested on charges that were up to 10 years max, Zayas was released on Tuesday night at 9:30pm and reunited with family and community yesterday. Photos are taken by Elvira’s older brother Alex Zayas and Jean Melesaine. (Click image to see rest of photo essay.)
At a forum ACJP//De-Bug held at the end of last year, as Santa Clara County imagined the best ways to build a realignment strategy that reduces recidivism, Steeda McGruder gave her testimony as an offering of hope to a crowd of community members, elected officials and public safety officials. She shared a vision of peer mentorship built from ideas she developed while she was incarcerated. She called her dream “Sisters That Been There.” She made her dream real, and now Sisters That Been There has become a unique blueprint of redemption, re-invention and tangible impact. Check out the Mercury News profile of her success story!
For a Santa Clara County contract employee, Steeda McGruder doesn’t exactly have a pristine résumé:
Age: 29
Occupation: Drug dealer/user, thief
Work history: In and out of custody for past 17 years
Attitude during last jail stint: Angry, suicidal, high-risk (allowed out of maximum-security cell only every 48 hours to shower)
So why has the probation department eagerly put her on its payroll at $400 a week?
Because officials believe her criminal record, powerful rap and magnetic personality make McGruder the ideal person to run a support group for recently released repeat female offenders called “Sisters That Been There.” Continue reading
This is a photo taken in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in San Francisco. Adults who are jailed and youth who are detained and catch an ICE hold are sent to this facility so they could be processed for immigration proceedings. One East Palo Alto youth remembers being shackled upon her release from Hillcrest Juvenile Detention facility in San Mateo County, put in a van where you can’t see what’s outside, and then taken here. She was then placed in a room for “hours and hours” until she was put on a plane to go to a group home in Southern California, where she spent four months before being reunited with her family to fight her deportation proceedings.
The flag that flies on a street pole by the detention facility reads “Change the World From Here”. In a place filled with fear and uncertainty, hope comes in the form of the families who fight tenaciously for their loved ones’ release. They all walk in the metal doors of the building knowing that they will bring their loved one home. — Submission Post by Charisse Domingo
Gang enhancements are a device prosecutors use to greatly increase (or threaten to increase) sentences for defendants who they feel meet the extremely loose definition of having committed a crime to benefit a “street gang.” By adding this enhancement, ACJP has seen families where a defendant felt forced to take a plea due to the extremely high sentence they would face if they lost a trial due to the enhancements. And as defense attorneys will tell you, walking into a jury trial with a “gang” tag already puts the defendant at a serious disadvantage. But this is the first time we have seen prosecutors expand the net of gang enhancement to include graffiti charges — as they have just done here in Santa Clara County. As you will see in the article written by Tracey Kaplan for the Mercury News, the DA’s office acknowledges these are non-violent acts, but nonetheless are applying gang enhancements. We are concerned with this precedent of treating the enhancement like a rubber band — stretching it to include whomever they want to force a plea out of. And of course, we know that such extraordinarily severe sentencing will not deter the act of graffiti. As such, these youth are being sacrificed (records with strikes and the looming threat of lengthy prison sentences) for a rationale that carries no logic in the real world. Continue reading
Very informative piece about the ever increasing hurdle for those who are challenging their wrongful convictions. Also, it comes from a very good blog called Wrongful Convictions Blog. Thanks to our friends at the Innocence Project for sending this along!
Many post-conviction innocence cases rely upon the discovery of new evidence to support a claim of actual innocence. But to be admissible in the case, the new evidence must meet the prevailing legal standard for admissibility.
In Ohio, this standard is called the Petro standard, because it resulted from the case of Ohio vs. Petro in 1947. OH vs. Petro Most states use some version of this standard. There are six prongs to the standard: Continue reading
This photo was just sent to us from a small town in Georgia by a longtime De-Bug/ACJP member Benny Love. It’s an image of victory — evidence of a dream made real, that he wanted the rest of us in San Jose to see. It’s his Harley resting in the backdrop of the town he was raised in. He was able to pay for the trip home, and the Harley, with the settlement win he received against the San Jose Police Department a while back. A few years ago, Benny was the recipient of an unjustified tasing, and was wrongfully arrested. Rather then just take the deal, and the abuse, Benny refused to plead guilty to something he didn’t do and filed a complaint against the officer. Benny, an African-American man in his 50’s, was homeless living in San Jose at the time. All criminal charges were eventually dismissed. He came to De-Bug after someone referred him. Benny at the time was standing out on the corner with a homemade sign that read “Need a Lawyer.” De-Bug hooked up with a great attorney Michael Reiser who fought hard for him. The city eventually settled to avoid civil trial. Through the whole experience, Benny would tell us all he wants is to go back home to his family. Through his perseverance, he returned home, and did so with style — cruising in his new Harley. Miss ya Benny!
On Wednesday, July 11, 2012, the San Mateo County Coalition for Immigrant Rights held a county-wide forum to urge the Board of Supervisors and Probation Chief Stu Forrest to stop reporting youth to ICE. More than 250 people attended. Check out the video below, and to see other media coverage of the campaign check out our storify! And to stay posted in our progress, check out www.stopdeportingyouth.com!
Albert Cobarrubias Justice Project 