Keepingitreal

Study shows pot more popular among teenagers

Smoking marijuana is becoming even more popular among U.S. teens and they have cut down on smoking cigarettes, binge drinking and using methamphetamine, according to a federal survey released Monday. More teens also are getting high on prescription pain pills and attention-deficit drugs, according to eighth, 10th and 12th graders surveyed by the University of Michigan for the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The increase of teens smoking pot is partly because the national debate over medical use of marijuana can make the drug's use seem safer to teenagers, researchers said. In addition to marijuana, fewer teens also view prescription drugs and Ecstasy as dangerous, which often means more could use those drugs in the future, said White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske. The "continued erosion in youth attitudes and behavior toward substance abuse should give pause to all parents and policy-makers," Kerlikowske said. "These latest data confirm that we must redouble our efforts to implement a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to preventing and treating drug use," Kerlikowske, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in remarks prepared for his Monday speech at the National Press Club in Washington. Marijuana use, while well off peak levels of the late 1990s, has edged up. According to the study of 47,097 students, among this year's 12th graders, 20.6 percent said they used it within the past month, compared with 19.4 percent in 2008 and 18.3 percent in 2006. Among 10th graders, pot use in the past month rose to 15.9 percent this year from 13.8 percent in 2008. "The upward trending of the past two or three years stands in stark contrast to the steady decline that preceded it for nearly a decade," said Lloyd Johnston, who has directed the annual survey since it started in 1975. The percentage of eighth-graders who saw a "great risk" in occasionally smoking marijuana fell from 50.5 percent in 2004 to 48.1 percent in 2008 and 44.8 percent this year. The perceived danger of using Ecstasy once or twice fell among eighth graders, from 42.5 percent in 2004 to 26 percent in 2009. 

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U.S. Agrees to $3 Billion Deal in Indian Suit

WASHINGTON — The federal government announced on Tuesday that it intends to pay $3.4 billion to settle claims that it has mismanaged the revenue in American Indian trust funds, potentially ending one of the longest and most complicated class-action lawsuits ever brought against the government.The tentative agreement, reached late Monday between Obama administration negotiators and lawyers for some 300,000 individual American Indians, would resolve a 13-year-old lawsuit over trust accounts established in the 19th century. “This is an historic, positive development for Indian country and a major step on the road to reconciliation following years of acrimonious litigation between trust beneficiaries and the United States,” said Ken Salazar, the Interior Department secretary. For the agreement to become final, Congress still needs to enact legislation and the federal courts must then sign off on it. Administration officials said they hoped those two steps would be completed in the next few months. The dispute arises from a system dating to 1887 under which the government set up trusts to manage tens of millions of acres of land owned by individual American Indians and by tribes. The acreage is scattered across the country with the heaviest concentration in Western states. The Interior Department manages leases on the land for activities like mining, livestock grazing, timber harvesting and drilling for oil and gas. It then distributes the revenue raised by those leases to the American Indians. The lawsuit accuses the federal government of mismanaging the trusts for generations. As a result, the value of the trusts has been unclear, and the American Indians contend they are owed far more than what they have been paid. Under the settlement agreement, the government would pay $1.4 billion to compensate the Indians for their claims of historical accounting irregularities and any accusation that federal officials mismanaged the administration of the trust assets over the years. Each member of the class would receive a check for $1,000, and the rest of the money would be distributed according to the land owned. In addition, lawyer fees, to be determined by a judge, would be paid out of those funds. In a statement, President Obama hailed the agreement as an “important step towards a sincere reconciliation” between American Indians and the federal government. He noted that as a presidential candidate, he had pledged to American Indians that he would work to resolve the lawsuit if he were elected. The proposed settlement also seeks to resolve an ever-growing headache created by the trust system: the original tribal members who were granted parcels of Indian land have many heirs, which has “fractionalized” the ownership interests. SOURCE: NYTIMES.COM

Jail time sought in attack on parking officer

(08-30) 19:33 PDT -- A San Francisco woman's alleged attack on a city parking control officer three years ago is being fought out in court, with prosecutors seeking an unusually stiff sentence of two years in prison for a defendant with no previous criminal record. Lina Magailalio, 33, faces assault and other charges in connection with the confrontation Nov. 21, 2006, that left city parking control officer Angelina Barsi with a dislocated shoulder. Prosecutors say assaults on parking officers have become a major problem in San Francisco and that, previous record or no, what Magailalio allegedly did merits prison time. In 2006, the year Magailalio was arrested, the city recorded 28 assaults on parking officers. That number dipped to eight last year, but there has been a bit of an upswing in 2009. Through August, the city has already logged seven attacks. Magailalio's legal troubles began when she took her 8-year-old son to see a doctor at St. Luke's Hospital. When the meter expired, she rushed out with the boy to feed it - but not before Barsi started to write her a ticket. "My thing is, she had seen me yelling out, but she ignored me," Magailalio said in an interview. Barsi, talking to a friend on a cell phone, told her that she could protest the ticket and drove away while Magailalio was still talking, according to Barsi's testimony in a preliminary hearing. Magailalio took off in her car after Barsi. She caught up to her three blocks away, and the two exchanged angry words. Magailalio said she had been angry at Barsi's dismissive attitude. Barsi testified that Magailalio, a head taller than the parking officer and weighing 280 pounds, had told her, "You're lucky I don't f- you up." "Yeah, I guess so," Barsi recalled replying.
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Second professor accuses police of bias

A second black Harvard professor accused the Cambridge police of racism yesterday in wrongfully arresting him outside his home nearly three years ago. S. Allen Counter, a prominent Harvard Medical School professor and head of the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, spoke about his arrest on assault and battery charges in an editorial published yesterday with The Bay State Banner. The disclosure follows last month’s high-profile arrest of renowned African-American scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. Counter’s attorney, Ozell Hudson Jr., told the Globe yesterday that Counter is considering his legal options over the manner he says he was treated after he complied with a request to step outside his house in December 2006 when police arrived to investigate a call by his former wife. She reported to police that Counter had tried to push their teenage daughter out of a moving car during an argument. (Continue Reading…)

Obama: Police who arrested professor 'acted stupidly'

(CNN) -- President Obama said that police in Cambridge, Massachusetts, "acted stupidly" in arresting a prominent black Harvard professor last week after a confrontation at the man's home.

"I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played," Obama said Wednesday night while taking questions after a White House news conference.

Cambridge authorities dropped disorderly conduct charges against Henry Louis Gates Jr. on Tuesday.

Obama defended Gates on Wednesday night, while admitting that he may be "a little biased," because Gates is a friend.

"But I think it's fair to say, No. 1, any of us would be pretty angry; No. 2, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and, No. 3 ... that there's a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately."

The incident, Obama said, shows "how race remains a factor in this society." Watch the president address the incident »

Gates told CNN on Wednesday that although charges had been dropped, he will keep the issue alive.

 "This is not about me; this is about the vulnerability of black men in America," Gates told CNN's Soledad O'Brien. Have race relations improved since Obama's election?

Gates said he'd be prepared to forgive the arresting officer "if he told the truth" about what the director of Harvard's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research said were "fabrications" in the police report.

The officer, Sgt. James Crowley, told CNN affiliate WCVB earlier Wednesday that he will not apologize.

"There are not many certainties in life, but it is for certain that Sgt. Crowley will not be apologizing," he said.

Gates said the mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts, called him to apologize about the incident, in which he was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

CNN could not confirm Wednesday night that an apology was made. Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons did not respond to requests by CNN for comment.

Crowley wrote in the Cambridge police report that Gates refused to step outside to speak with him, the police report said, and when Crowley told Gates that he was investigating a possible break-in, Gates opened the front door and exclaimed, "Why, because I'm a black man in America?" the report said.

The report said Gates initially refused to show the officer identification, but eventually produced a Harvard identification card, prompting Crowley to radio for Harvard University Police.

"While I was led to believe that Gates was lawfully in the residence, I was quite surprised and confused with the behavior he exhibited toward me," Crowley said, according to the report.

Gates was arrested for "loud and tumultuous behavior in a public space" and was released from police custody after spending four hours at the police station.

He said Wednesday that he and his lawyers were considering further actions, not excluding a lawsuit.

Gates said that although the ordeal had upset him, "I would do the same thing exactly again."

Earlier this week, a prosecutor dropped the charge against Gates and the city's police department recommended that the matter not be pursued.

Swim club president denies racism in pool controversy

HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- The president of The Valley Swim Club on Friday strongly denied charges of racism after his club canceled the swimming privileges of a nearby day care center whose children are predominantly African-American."It was never our intention to offend anyone," said John Duesler. "This thing has been blown out of proportion."Duesler said his club -- which he called "very diverse" -- invited camps in the Philadelphia area to use his facility because of the number of pools in the region closed due to budget cuts this summer. He said he underestimated the amount of children who would participate, and the club's capacity to take on the groups was not up to the task."It was a safety issue," he said.

The Creative Steps Day Care children -- who are in kindergarten through seventh grade -- went to The Valley Swim Club in Huntingdon Valley on June 29 after the center's director, Alethea Wright, had contracted to use the club once a week.During their first visit, some children said they heard club members asking why African-American children were there. One youngster told a Philadelphia television station a woman there said she feared the children "might do something" to her child.  Watch Wright react to comments allegedly aimed at the children »

Days later, the day care center's $1,950 check was returned without explanation, Wright said.

She was dismissive of Duesler's comments Friday."He knows what happened at the pool that day," Wright told CNN in a telephone interview. "I was embarrassed and humiliated."She called it an "unfortunate situation," adding, "I know what happened; the members know what happened and a higher power knows what happened."  Watch the club president say racism is not at play »

After news reports of the incident, the office of Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pennsylvania) said Specter sent a letter to the club president asking him to reinstate the contract with Creative Steps, saying, "I think that you would agree that there is no place for racism in America today."Duesler said he appreciates the senator's concern, but the club's board has yet to make a decision of how it will proceed."If we're going to revise our policies here, we need to make it so for all the camps," he said. "I just don't think we're prepared for that." SOURCE: CNN.COM

BART 'N-word' bombshell waiting to go off

 (06-28) 17:20 PDT -- Overlooked in the court hearing that ended in former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle being ordered tried for murder in the slaying of Oscar Grant was testimony about another officer's explosive outburst just 30 seconds before Grant was shot. One of the videos made by riders at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland early New Year's Day caught Officer Tony Pirone standing over the prone Grant and yelling, "Bitch-ass n-."  Pirone and his attorney say he was parroting an epithet that Grant first hurled at him - though Grant's voice is not audible on the tape.The sound-enhanced tape shows Pirone delivering a shoulder chop to Grant and bringing him to the ground. Pirone can be heard saying twice, "Bitch-ass n-, right?" Prosecutors showed the tape in court on the last day of Mehserle's preliminary hearing, but the headlines went to the judge's decree hours later that there was enough evidence to send Mehserle to trial for murder. Under questioning from Mehserle's attorney Michael Rains, Pirone insisted it was Grant who had first "called me a bitch-ass n-." Asked if he had repeated the slur to Grant, Pirone testified: "I don't remember, but it very well may have happened." "Is that something you would have initiated on your own, calling him names?" Rains asked. "No, I don't talk like that," Pirone said. Oakland attorney John Burris, who is representing Grant's family in a lawsuit against BART, called Pirone's words "shocking and disturbing."Pirone was out of control," Burris said, "assaulting Oscar Grant and taunting him with racial slurs, and none of the other officers seemed to put him in check."SOURCE:SFGATE.COM

Racial Tensions Boil Over at Berkeley High

Berkeley High School's lingering racial tensions exploded this month in a flurry of online and verbal slurs, on-campus protests, and disciplinary actions. The Class of 2009's highly charged final days ended Friday in a celebratory graduation ceremony that only partially masked the friction recently ignited among the student body.About two weeks ago, a white male senior posted a Facebook photo album entitled "Niggas," which included images of him and his Caucasian friends in hip-hop attire with guns. The album used the word multiple times and triggered angry responses among students, especially from the Black Student Union.Shortly thereafter, the same student posted a photo of African-American history teacher Wendell Brooks, which had been modified to outfit Brooks in stereotypical gangster paraphernalia and wardrobe. The photo was accompanied by a caption and several comments from both white and black students that also used the term "nigga."Part of the dispute involved the difference, if any, between the words "nigger" and "nigga" — the latter of which some view as a slang nickname and not a derogatory insult. Other students, angered by any form of the word, brought this to the attention of Brooks, who said he resolved the issue with the student.One of the seniors who appeared in the original photo album also was accused of allegedly calling a female African-American senior a "nigger bitch" on campus. According to Taylor Brown, a member of the Black Student Union who was nearby but did not witness the incident, the male senior was criticizing the black students' response to the Facebook album, and that sparked a confrontation between the girl and boy. Whether the term "nigger bitch" was used remains his word against hers. The Express is not publishing the students' names. CONTINUE READING...

E-Mail Surveillance Renews Concerns in Congress

WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency is facing renewed scrutiny over the extent of its domestic surveillance program, with critics in Congress saying its recent intercepts of the private telephone calls and e-mail messages of Americans are broader than previously acknowledged, current and former officials said.The agency’s monitoring of domestic e-mail messages, in particular, has posed longstanding legal and logistical difficulties, the officials said.Since April, when it was disclosed that the intercepts of some private communications of Americans went beyond legal limits in late 2008 and early 2009, several Congressional committees have been investigating. Those inquiries have led to concerns in Congress about the agency’s ability to collect and read domestic e-mail messages of Americans on a widespread basis, officials said. Supporting that conclusion is the account of a former N.S.A. analyst who, in a series of interviews, described being trained in 2005 for a program in which the agency routinely examined large volumes of Americans’ e-mail messages without court warrants. Two intelligence officials confirmed that the program was still in operation.Both the former analyst’s account and the rising concern among some members of Congress about the N.S.A.’s recent operation are raising fresh questions about the spy agency.Representative Rush Holt, Democrat of New Jersey and chairman of the House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, has been investigating the incidents and said he had become increasingly troubled by the agency’s handling of domestic communications.In an interview, Mr. Holt disputed assertions by Justice Department and national security officials that the overcollection was inadvertent.“Some actions are so flagrant that they can’t be accidental,” Mr. Holt said. Other Congressional officials raised similar concerns but would not agree to be quoted for the record. CONTINUE READING..

Cop: Had Grant cooperated, he would be alive

(05-27) 17:00 PDT OAKLAND -- A colleague of the former BART police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man early New Year's Day testified Wednesday that the victim would still be alive if he and his friends had cooperated with police. "If they would have followed orders, this wouldn't have happened," said Officer Marysol Domenici at a preliminary hearing in Oakland for former Officer Johannes Mehserle, who is charged with murder. Domenici and Mehserle were among seven BART officers who responded to Oakland's Fruitvale Station at about 2 a.m. in response to reports of a fight aboard a Dublin-Pleasanton train. Five young men, including 22-year-old Oscar Grant of Hayward, were detained. Domenici and other BART officers testifying for the defense have described Grant and the others as belligerent. Domenici said Wednesday that if the men had followed police instructions and cooperated, "they probably would have just been cited (arrested on suspicion of a misdemeanor) and released." Attorneys for Mehserle, 27, say he meant to fire his Taser stun gun rather than his pistol as he and another officer were trying to handcuff Grant for allegedly resisting arrest. Grant was killed by a single shot to the back. Domenici, who has been on the BART force for four years, was called by defense attorneys to talk about what she described as a chaotic situation on the train platform. She said she had no regrets about her actions that night. Domenici said she had not seen Mehserle shoot Grant because she had been facing the other direction. Immediately after the shot was fired, she said, some train riders were so angry that she started thinking about using her gun. "I said to myself, 'Oh, Jesus Christ, if I have to, I'm going to have to kill somebody,' " Domenici said. But she also said she had never pushed an emergency button on her police radio that would have allowed her to call for backup. CONTINUE READING..

Lewis Hamilton Spanish grand prix racism claims to be investigated by FIA

The stigma of racism returned to formula one after a fan with a blacked-up face in imitation of world champion Lewis Hamilton was filmed at the Spanish Grand Prix.Pictures show a man with a blacked-up face, arms and hands, wearing a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes t-shirt and holding a Formula One style steering wheel among Spanish supporters at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.They come after a similar incident during a test session at the same circuit caused an international storm in February last year. An FIA spokesperson said: "We are aware of it and we are looking into it."The incident 15 months ago – when a group of spectators with their faces painted black, wearing curly wigs and t-shirts adorned with the words "Hamilton's family" – caused outrage and prompted the FIA to launch an anti-racism initiative, EveryRace.

Governor says he's open to debate on legal pot

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that the time is right to debate legalizing marijuana for recreational use in California. The governor's comments were made as support grows nationwide for relaxing pot laws and only days after a poll found that for the first time a majority of California voters back legal marijuana. Also, a San Francisco legislator has proposed regulating and taxing marijuana to bring the state as much as $1.3 billion a year in extra revenue. Schwarzenegger was cautious when answering a reporter's question Tuesday about whether the state should regulate and tax the substance, saying it is not time to go that far. But, he said: "I think it's time for debate. I think all of those ideas of creating extra revenues - I'm always for an open debate on it." The governor said California should look to the experiences of other nations around the world in relaxing laws on marijuana. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, has introduced a bill to regulate marijuana like alcohol, with people over 21 years old allowed to grow, buy, sell and possess cannabis - all of which are barred by federal law. California voters in 1996 legalized marijuana for medical use with permission from a physician.Ammiano said he was pleased the governor is "open-minded" on the issue and added that he was sure the two could "hash it out."Under Ammiano's proposal, the state would impose a $50-an-ounce levy on sales of marijuana, which would boost state revenues by about $1.3 billion a year, according to an analysis by the State Board of Equalization. Betty Yee of San Francisco, who chairs the Board of Equalization, supports the measure."This has never just been about money," said Ammiano, who has long supported reforming marijuana laws. "It's also about the failure of the war on drugs and implementing a more enlightened policy. I've always anticipated that there could be a perfect storm of political will and public support, and obviously the federal policies are leaning more toward states' rights." SOURCE: SFGATE.COM

Black College Hit With Racism Rap

A historically black college in South Carolina has been sued after three white faculty members say they were passed over for jobs or let go for because of their race, federal officials announced Wednesday.  Alleging that Benedict College "engaged in unlawful practices," the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also said that the Columbia school had agreed to pay $55,000 to each of the three former instructors.  Under a settlement reached between Benedict and the EEOC, the school also agreed to remind staff about its employment policy prohibiting discrimination, provide administrators, faculty and staff with training and make periodic reports to the EEOC. In its complaint, the EEOC says art instructor Argiri Aggelopoulou in December 2004 applied for but did not receive a position as assistant art history professor, adding she was instead passed over in favor of a black instructor. In March 2005, Benedict did not renew teaching contracts for Aggelopoulou and two other instructors - assistant art professor Michael Hale and Katherine Mille, an associate English professor -because of their race, the complaint says.  In a response also filed Wednesday, an attorney for Benedict denied any allegations of discrimination and said the school acted in good faith and treated the employees fairly. CONTINUE READING...

'Shopping While Black': Would You Stop Racism?

When New Yorker Denise Simon goes shopping, she is always on guard. She carries a small bag, keeps her hands visible whenever possible, and makes an effort to be overly friendly to sales clerks. She doesn't have any reason to be wary except for one thing -- she happens to be black. And if she doesn't take these precautions, she fears she will once again fall victim to racial profiling. Racial profiling in stores is so prevalent that researchers have even given it a name -- Shopping While Black. When it happens, black shoppers are made to feel both unwelcome and under suspicion. If you had a front row seat to this kind of racism, would you take action? ABC News' "What Would You Do?" set up the largest hidden camera operation in the show's history in New York City's Soho neighborhood at the chic clothing boutique Unpomela. It was practically the only store the show could find willing to experiment with something so controversial. The show hired actors to play a racist store clerk and security guard, both armed with words that would make even the most apathetic shopper flinch. An actor was hired to pose as the black shopper, the target of the abuse. SOURCE:ABCNEWS

Court Refuses to Expand Minority Voting Rights

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court ruled Monday that electoral districts must have a majority of African-Americans or other minorities to be protected by a provision of the Voting Rights Act.The 5-4 decision, with the court's conservatives in the majority, could make it harder for southern Democrats to draw friendly boundaries after the 2010 Census.The court declined to expand protections of the landmark civil rights law to take in electoral districts where the minority population is less than 50 percent of the total, but strong enough to effectively determine the outcome of elections. In 2007, the North Carolina Supreme Court struck down a state legislative district in which blacks made up only about 39 percent of the voting age population. The court said the Voting Rights Act applies only to districts with a numerical majority of minority voters.Justice Anthony Kennedy, announcing the court's judgment, said that requiring minorities to represent more than half the population "draws clear lines for courts and legislatures alike. The same cannot be said of a less exacting standard."Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito signed onto Kennedy's opinion. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas agreed with the outcome of the case.The four liberal justices dissented. A district like the one in North Carolina should be protected by federal law "so long as a cohesive minority population is large enough to elect its chosen candidate when combined with a reliable number of crossover voters from an otherwise polarized majority," Justice David Souter wrote for himself and Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and John Paul Stevens.The decision complicates matters for southern Democrats who will redo political boundaries after the next census.Democrats have sought to create districts in which African-Americans, though not a majority, still were numerous enough to determine the outcome of elections with the help of small numbers of like-minded white voters. Those districts could be challenged under Monday's decision. SOURCE BLACKNEWS.COM

Prop. 8 hearing set to begin at 9 a.m.

The California Supreme Court will hear arguments today on whether Proposition 8, the anti-gay-marriage initiative, should be upheld and, if so, whether the marriages of an estimated 18,000 same-sex couples should remain valid. During a three-hour televised hearing this morning, the San Francisco-based high court will examine whether the November ballot measure was an impermissible constitutional revision or a more limited constitutional amendment. The court will need to decide the fate of existing same-sex marriages only if it is prepared to uphold Proposition 8, which many legal analysts believe is likely. The justices’ questions to lawyers often reveal how the court is leaning. Legal analysts will be carefully watching Chief Justice Ronald M. George, whose vote often determines whether the conservative or more liberal wing of the court prevails. The state high court ruled 4 to 3 on May 15 that same-sex couples should be entitled to marry. George wrote the ruling, which was signed by Justices Joyce L. Kennard, Kathryn Mickle Werdegar and Carlos R. Moreno. Justices Marvin R. Baxter, Ming W. Chin and Carol A. Corrigan voted against overturning the state’s previous ban on same-sex marriage, arguing that the matter should be left to voters. After Proposition 8 passed, only Moreno voted to put the measure on hold pending a decision on the legal challenges. Kennard, who usually votes in favor of gay rights, voted against accepting the revision challenge to the proposition but said she would hear arguments over the validity of existing same-sex marriages. CONTINUE READING..

The California Supreme Court will hear arguments today on whether Proposition 8, the anti-gay-marriage initiative, should be upheld and, if so, whether the marriages of an estimated 18,000 same-sex couples should remain valid. During a three-hour televised hearing this morning, the San Francisco-based high court will examine whether the November ballot measure was an impermissible constitutional revision or a more limited constitutional amendment. The court will need to decide the fate of existing same-sex marriages only if it is prepared to uphold Proposition 8, which many legal analysts believe is likely. The justices’ questions to lawyers often reveal how the court is leaning. Legal analysts will be carefully watching Chief Justice Ronald M. George, whose vote often determines whether the conservative or more liberal wing of the court prevails. The state high court ruled 4 to 3 on May 15 that same-sex couples should be entitled to marry. George wrote the ruling, which was signed by Justices Joyce L. Kennard, Kathryn Mickle Werdegar and Carlos R. Moreno. Justices Marvin R. Baxter, Ming W. Chin and Carol A. Corrigan voted against overturning the state’s previous ban on same-sex marriage, arguing that the matter should be left to voters. After Proposition 8 passed, only Moreno voted to put the measure on hold pending a decision on the legal challenges. Kennard, who usually votes in favor of gay rights, voted against accepting the revision challenge to the proposition but said she would hear arguments over the validity of existing same-sex marriages. CONTINUE READING..

Family files $50 million lawsuit in New Year's Day shooting

OAKLAND — The family of Oscar Grant, the 22-year-old man shot and killed by a BART police officer early New Year's Day, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit for $50 million against BART in federal court Monday.The shooting prompted massive public outcry and protest in Oakland, and Johannes Mehserle, the BART officer who resigned in January rather than submit to questioning in BART's investigation of the shooting, is charged with murder in the incident."This is the most egregious police shooting case that I've been involved in," said John Burris, the attorney representing Grant's family who has been involved numerous high-profile police-misconduct cases.Burris filed a $25 million tort claim against BART and Mehserle in January. He said he increased the dollar amount after learning more about what happened before and after the shooting, as well as learning more about the officers who were at the scene and about Grant and his family.Burris' account — which is at odds with descriptions offered by attorneys representing officers named in the lawsuit — says Grant and other young men were detained against a retaining wall at the Fruitvale BART station without evidence they had committed a crime after reports of a fight on a BART train.Grant questioned the reason for his detention but did not act in a "physically aggressive manner" toward officers at the scene, the lawsuit said. It also said that Officer Anthony Burris' lawsuit said Grant was denied emergency medical treatment. An attorney for Pirone said that's flatly untrue.The lawsuit names BART, Mehserle, Pirone, BART Police Chief Gary Gee and BART officer Marysol Domenici. BART spokesman Linton Johnson referred questions to Dale Allen, an attorney representing the transit agency. Allen could not be reached for comment Monday evening.Michael Rains, the defense attorney representing Mehserle in the criminal case, declined to comment. A judge has placed a gag order on the parties involved in that case.Attorneys for Pirone and Domenici said key portions of Burris' complaint involving their clients are inaccurate. "I'm confident that (Pirone) has done nothing civilly wrong or criminally culpable," said Bill Rapoport, the attorney representing Pirone. "And I know that I can prove that and I will. This is not about sensationalizing stuff which is what John Burris does. This is about truth and facts — and those are on my side."It was only after Grant tried to punch and kick Pirone, landing one kick in the groin, that Pirone tried to "sit him down" to arrest him, Rapoport said, adding that Pirone immediately called paramedics after the shooting while another officer grabbed a trauma kit to treat Grant. Alison Berry Wilkinson, an attorney representing Domenici, also said her client did nothing wrong. "She did exactly what she was supposed to under the circumstances," Wilkinson said. Burris' lawsuit said Domenici was threatening to use her Taser, before Pirone brought Grant to the ground. Mehserle, meantime, has pleaded not guilty to murder and is free after posting $3 million bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 23.Court papers Rains filed before the gag order was put in place suggested Mehserle intended to use his Taser on Grant when he drew his service pistol instead. But Burris said he sees no reason why even a Taser was necessary to control the situation. "I see no reason for him to pull the gun out, No. 1," Burris said. "And No. 2, I see no reason for him to pull the Taser out "... to be lying on the ground face down and shot — I've never seen anything like it happen before."Pirone "aggressively assaulted" Grant, forcing him to his knees, and then he pushed him to the ground. With Grant on the ground, Mehserle pulled his service pistol and fired a single shot into Grant's back, the lawsuit says. Grant died later at the hospital. SOURCE:OAKLANDTRIBUNE.COM

Inmate raped by cellmates can sue prison guards

(02-11) 19:10 PST San Francisco -- The state Supreme Court allowed a transgender former prison inmate on Wednesday to proceed with a lawsuit accusing prison guards of failing to protect her from being raped and beaten by her cellmates. In her suit, Alexis Giraldo said she was being held at Folsom State Prison for shoplifting and a parole violation in January 2006 when a cellmate began assaulting and raping her on a daily basis. She said prison staff ignored her complaints until March 2006, when she was transferred to segregated housing after a second cellmate attacked her with a box-cutter. She was paroled in July 2007. Prison officials denied failing to protect Giraldo, who was housed at the all-male prison because she had not undergone surgery. A San Francisco jury rejected her emotional-distress claim against six prison employees in August 2007 after the trial judge dismissed her claim of negligence, ruling that guards have no legal duty to protect inmates from harm. The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco overturned the judge's ruling last November, saying a jailer who takes a prisoner into custody must take reasonable steps to protect that prisoner from foreseeable injuries. California's high court denied review of the state's appeal Wednesday, allowing Giraldo to pursue her claim that negligence by prison employees was a cause of the assaults. SOURCE:SFGATE.COM

Petition asks DA to charge second BART officer

An Oakland civil rights group today delivered a petition with more than 20,000 signatures to Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff demanding to know why he hasn't filed charges against a second BART officer involved in an incident that led to the shooting death of Oscar Grant III. The petition submitted by ColorofChange.org alleges that BART officer Tony Pirone punched Grant, a 22-year-old Hayward man, shortly before officer Johannes Mehserle shot and killed Grant at the Fruitvale station in Oakland early on New Year's Day. The petition asks Orloff, "How can ignoring it possibly be in the interest of justice?" It tells Orloff, "It is important that you answer clearly and immediately" for the sake of Grant's family and the trust of Bay Area and state residents. Orloff has charged Mehserle, 27, who resigned the week after the shooting incident, with murder in connection with Grant's death. The shooting occurred after Mehserle and other BART police officers, including Pirone, responded to reports that two groups of young men were fighting on a train. At a news conference Jan. 14 at which he announced the charges against Mehserle, Orloff said he didn't plan to file charges against any other BART officers. Orloff said his investigation was continuing, however, and he hadn't ruled anything out. Orloff said today that he can't comment on the possibility of filing charges against Gabriel Rey-Goodlatte of ColorofChange.org said the petition was signed by people across the country who visited the organization's Web site. Rey-Goodlatte said there is "a high likelihood" that more petitions will be submitted if Orloff doesn't file charges against Pirone.Pirone's attorney, Bill Rappoport, wasn't available for comment today.Last week Rappoport said Grant "was totally uncooperative" and "provoked Pirone" by attempting to knee the officer in the groin twice, once successfully. Rappoport said a frame-by-frame examination of the incident shows that after Pirone was struck in the groin he swung his right forearm, not his fist, and hit Grant either in the shoulder, neck or head.Rappoport said Grant wasn't injured in those areas and said he believes Pirone's actions were "a use of reasonable force to prevent other attacks" by Grant.He said he doesn't think criminal charges will be filed against Pirone, who is on paid administrative leave while the incident is under investigation.Pirone because Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson has issued a gag order on all parties involved in Mehserle's case. SOURCE:OAKLANDTRIBUNE

S.F. residents claim racial targeting, police abuse

(02-09) 19:15 PST -- Dozens of San Francisco residents said today that they have been victims of alleged racial profiling and police abuse and that the perceived racism has led to widespread distrust of police in the Latino community.Several speakers at the City Hall hearing said they have been pulled over and given tickets because they had a rosary hanging from their vehicle's rearview mirror. Others said they had been harassed about their identification or immigration status while they worked, walked or drove home. One family said their car was impounded, after it was hit by a city vehicle, because the father had an Oregon driver's license. Now, they're selling the car to pay the impound fees.Police officials said they have strict policies against racial profiling, but acknowledged that more work needs to be done to avoid the appearance of harassment. Supervisor David Campos, who called the hearing, demanded internal reforms and said he would introduce legislation to deal with the problem if the Police Department does not.Advocates said Latino residents have been targeted by police since a controversy erupted last summer over the city's sanctuary city ordinance, which prohibits the use of city funds to help enforce federal immigration laws. The city came under fire after The Chronicle reported that authorities had flown some illegal immigrant youths to their home countries even after they were convicted of felonies; others were sent to unlocked group homes and escaped.Police acknowledged today there was an increase in the number of traffic stops last year as part of a larger crime-fighting strategy, and defended the police presence as important in deterring violent crimes. Yet speakers said they were being targeted simply for the way they look.Rigoberto Rodriguez, 41, said he has yet to get back his green card from police after being stopped on Jan. 15 at 16th and Mission streets for holding an open container of alcohol."I didn't get a citation. I was searched and handcuffed, and nothing was found - but my green card was taken by police," he said, adding that the card cost him $400. "I can pay a ticket. I know what I was doing was not proper, but what I don't feel good about is that I should have to go through the process of getting back my ID because of a capricious decision by a police officer." CONTINUE READING....