Incarceration
Residents of West Oakland continue to have little trust in the Oakland Police Department.
The members of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC) provides legal advocacy and works to create policies that will positively affect those who are in prison or have recently been released from it.
Protesters marched from Glenn Dyer jail to the Alameda County Administration Building to advocate for an audit of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.
In his motion, Public Defender Brendon Woods emphasized the seriousness of the crime he alleges the sheriff’s office committed.
Dr. Prince White, a deputy director for the Oakland social justice organization Urban Peace Movement, died on August 24 from a rare autoimmune disease he had been battling since May.
Californians who are incarcerated in state prison or on state parole are prohibited from voting—which affects 162,000 people across the state. Taina Vargas-Edmond is seeking to change that with a grassroots initiative to put the issue before voters. Her partner in the campaign is her husband, Richard Vargas-Edmond, a prisoner organizing signature gathering from within prisons, even though he can’t sign the petitions himself. This May, they fell short of their signature goal, but pledge to try again in 2020….
Last year in June, East Bay-resident Dieudonné Brou graduated from UCLA in African American studies. During his commencement speech, he revealed himself as formerly incarcerated. Even though higher education offers a chance to break the cycle of recidivism, barriers like financial difficulties and social stigma are high for formerly incarcerated people.
On February 27, the Supreme Court overturned a 2013 ruling that allowed immigrants who have been detained for at least six months the right to periodic bond hearings. The decision is concerning for many immigrant advocates, including Oakland-based nonprofit Asian Prisoner Support Committee (APSC). The organization provides “culturally competent” support and services to Asian Pacific Islander prisoners and the formerly incarcerated population. They’re worried that without the right to a bond hearing, many will remain detained indefinitely, including those seeking…
Proposition 64, which voters passed in November 2016, not only legalized the adult use of cannabis, but also established protocols for reducing, dismissing and sealing old marijuana-related convictions. That means Californians convicted of cannabis crimes can wipe them away—if they file a petition.