Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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Tags Assemblymember Tom Ammiano

Tag: Assemblymember Tom Ammiano

Governor veto of prosecutor misconduct bill criticized

Assemblymember Tom Ammiano released this statement on Sept. 29 in response to Gov. Jerry Brown’s veto of Ammiano’s AB 885, a bill that would have created a modest sanction in the courts for prosecutors who try to win trials by withholding evidence. “I’m not just disappointed at the governor’s veto of this bill, I’m angry,” Ammiano said.

Ammiano’s bill on prosecutor misconduct goes to governor

On Aug. 29, the California Assembly approved AB 885 by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, passing a milestone measure to limit trial misconduct by prosecutors. The bill would allow judges to inform a jury when a district attorney has been found to have intentionally withheld significant evidence. The bill’s next step is to go to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk.

Ammiano: Accreditation body must give City College more time

Assemblymember Tom Ammiano today called on the Accreditation Commission for Community and Junior Colleges to give City College of San Francisco more time to address its alleged deficiencies so the 80,000-student institution is not forced to close this year. Ammiano’s statement comes on the heels of California Assembly passage of AB 2087, his bill on community college governance, on a 74-0 vote.

Justice Committee co-chairs call for funding priorities change to ease prison...

Assemblymembers Tom Ammiano and Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer Sr., co-chairs of the Assembly Select Committee on Justice Reinvestment, have issued recommendations to Speaker John A. Pérez, based on the committee’s seven hearings held in 2013-14. “We learned a lot from these hearings, with the big lesson being that these problems have solutions,” said Ammiano.

SB 892 and AB 1652: Pelican Bay prisoner representatives speak to...

We are writing to offer our position on the two bills pending before the Assembly and the Senate – SB 892 and AB 1652 – dealing with the solitary confinement and gang validation policies of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The narrower and more focused (and less costly) AB 1652 would far better serve the public safety, prison security and the humane treatment of prisoners.

The current state of recycling

A tragic impact of increased gentrification and the rapid development of neighborhoods like the Mission is the almost complete elimination of neighborhood-based recycling centers in the most populated neighborhoods in the city. In the past year, five recycling centers have been evicted and shut-down. Most recently Safeway has evicted Market Street’s San Francisco Community Recyclers Center at Church and Market.

Calling for ABOLITION of solitary confinement

Some activists inside the SHUs have said that the ultimate goal was to bring about a shift in public opinion, and that once public consciousness had gotten to the point where the general public in California knew that solitary confinement was torture and had to stop, the balance of power would finally tip. I believe that we are gathering momentum and approaching that time!

Why is the SF DA trying a 14-year-old as an adult?

On June 24, 2103, an SUV pulled up near a Muni shelter at West Point Road and Middle Point Road in Hunters Point. According to video images later collected by the police, someone got out of the vehicle and, standing near the rear of it, fired 23 shots with a 9 millimeter gun into the shelter, killing Jaquan Rice, 19, and injuring his 17-year-old girlfriend.

Select Committee to hold hearing on diversion and sentencing to reduce...

The Assembly Select Committee on Justice Reinvestment will hold a hearing on Wednesday, Nov. 13, to listen to experts speaking on existing programs in California and beyond. The committee is looking for practices that could be adopted or expanded to improve justice practices and reduce the California prison population to allow constitutional levels of health care.

California legislative hearings take on solitary confinement, address hunger strike demands;...

California’s use of indefinite solitary confinement and the devastating physical, mental and public health impacts of the notorious practice was at the center of today’s three hour hearing by a rare joint session of the California Senate and Assembly Public Safety Committees to address demands made by prisoners during this summer’s massive hunger strike, the largest in U.S. history.

Hunger striker considers where we go from here, wonders, ‘Will the...

The reality right now is that Sen. Loni Hancock and Assemblymember Tom Ammiano have basically said that there has to be change. Now the people have to get behind these two politicians and make sure that they are empowered to make that change possible: Relieve prisoners of their on-going suffering inside these solitary confinement units that serve no purpose whatsoever.

California prisoners suspend 60-day hunger strike – families, legislators respond

Representatives of the Short Corridor Collective at Pelican Bay State Prison’s Security Housing Unit have based their decision on a meeting with fellow prisoners at the prison, the growing international condemnation of California’s practice of solitary confinement, as well as the commitment of California Senate and Assembly Public Safety Committee Chairs Loni Hancock and Tom Ammiano to convene a series of hearings in response to the strikers’ demands that would “address the issues that have been raised to a point where they can no longer be ignored.”

Public Safety chairs Ammiano, Hancock announce hearings on hunger strike issues

Today Sen. Loni Hancock and Assemblymember Tom Ammiano announced that they will hold public hearings on the conditions in California prisons that have led to the inmate hunger strike, now in its 54th day. They anticipate that hearings may begin as early as this fall and continue into next year. The two legislators, chairs of the Senate and Assembly Committees on Public Safety, urged an immediate end to the hunger strike so that energy and attention can be focused on the issues that have been raised.

Hunger strike reminder: SHU isolation cell awaits California lawmakers as legislative...

As California legislators return to work this week, prisoner hunger strike family members, loved ones, advocates and supporters will gather at the Capitol to urge state decision makers to take swift and resolute action toward meeting the demands of the strikers. Waiting for the legislators on the Capitol’s south steps will be a life-sized mock Security Housing Unit (SHU) cell.

SHU isolation cell to be installed on State Capitol South Steps...

The Stop Mass Incarceration Network and Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, in support of the California prison hunger strikers and their five demands, invite the public to visit an installation of a life-sized mock Security Housing Unit (SHU) cell on the California State Capitol South Steps in Sacramento. The cell will be on display – and you can walk right in to see how it feels – from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 14.

‘We are grateful,’ say hunger strike reps, as 30,000 join strike...

We are grateful for your support of our peaceful protest against the state-sanctioned torture that happens not only here at Pelican Bay but in prisons everywhere. We have taken up this hunger strike and work stoppage, which has included 30,000 prisoners in California so far, not only to improve our own conditions but also as an act of solidarity with all prisoners and oppressed people around the world.

Assemblymember Ammiano introduces Homeless Bill of Rights

Assemblymember Tom Ammiano has introduced a groundbreaking bill to protect some of society’s most vulnerable members. The Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights and Fairness Act (AB 5) establishes a foundation on which California can begin to build protections of the basic human rights of people who are homeless.

Senate passes Prison Media Access Bill

Update: Gov. Brown signed AB 1270 Aug. 31, restoring the conditions that existed before 1996, when corrections officials cut down on reporters’ ability to report on prisons and prisoners. “With passage of AB 1270, legislators have voted for transparent and accountable reporting of the state’s 32 prisons and the more than 130,000 prisoners locked inside their walls.”

CDCR registers last minute opposition to expanding media access to state...

AB 1270, legislation that would increase transparency and media access to California’s notorious state prison system, is currently facing opposition in the Senate Appropriations Committee. CDCR is formally opposing the bill, citing cost as their main concern. There are two ways that you can help: Attend a Lobby Day on Aug. 9 or phone committee members from home before Aug. 13.

Senate Committee on Public Safety votes to lift the media access...

Today, residents throughout the state celebrate as AB1270, a bill to lift the media access ban in California prisons, passed the Senate Committee on Public Safety in a 4-2 vote. Since 1996, media have been prohibited from choosing their interview subjects inside prisons, and nine versions of this bill have been vetoed by three different governors.