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Brown can release prisoners early without compromising public safety
May 7, 2013
After a year of defying court orders to alleviate the state’s prison crisis, Gov. Jerry Brown seems to have finally pushed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to its limit. In an April 11 ruling, the exasperated federal judges gave Brown until May 2 to develop a plan that will reduce the prison population by nearly 10,000 people by the end of the year.
My husband, my hero: The story of a prisoner labeled ‘worst of the worst’
April 6, 2012
Imagine you were framed again by prison gang officers using a tattoo you got as a child and a symbol in a birthday card to “validate” you as a “prison gang associate” and label you “worst of the worst” and placed in segregation in a Security Housing Unit, or SHU, for years on end. That is what happened to my childhood best friend and husband, Robbie Riva.
Hearing on Solitary Confinement: seeking compassion in the capitol
September 1, 2011
Denise, Marilyn, Anna and I, with Harriett at the wheel, left West Oakland BART in the second carpool wave for Sacramento Tuesday, Aug. 23, at 9:30 a.m. to attend a pre-rally for the historic California Assembly Hearing on Solitary Confinement.
Real talk on three strikes
August 27, 2011
For many years, the “three strikes” law has rained havoc and waste over the state of California, plunging its state debt increasingly deeper each and every year, which the taxpayers are paying for without any real justification.
Battling the fear of ‘our’ kids
April 23, 2011
From it’s inception, the juvenile justice system has treated youth of color unfairly: When the first detention facility established a “colored section” in 1834, Black children were excluded from rehabilitation because it would be a “waste” of resources.
Say NO to John Russo: Oakland city attorney’s gang injunction is wrong
February 10, 2011
Oakland City Attorney John Russo’s proposed gang injunction is draconian and does not sufficiently address the root causes of crime, according to legal scholars. Attend the hearing Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2 p.m., in Dept. 20 of the Courthouse at 1225 Fallon St., Oakland
How can I watch while they strip us of our humanity and not rebel?
March 1, 2009
On Jan. 6, after 27 days of fasting and an incredible effort on the part of the pigs to interfere and frustrate my fast in protest of what has been happening to me and other men being denied medical care, I was all but forced to end it.
San Francisco at a crossroads: City budget crisis 2009
February 17, 2009
Despite the city’s considerable wealth, our local economy is suffering. Ten thousand more San Franciscans are unemployed than a year ago, 1,000 families have lost their homes to foreclosure and more people are waiting in lines for free food than anyone has seen in a generation.