Today, more than 500 community leaders, community and faith-based service providers and formerly incarcerated men and women will gather for San Francisco’s third annual re-entry summit, “Reentry Works.” Re-entry is a term that describes the reintegration of former prisoners back into their community. This year’s summit focuses on the greatest challenge faced by many of the 9,500 former prisoners who live in San Francisco: finding a job.
San Francisco City Officials and Residents to Tackle Prisoner Reentry and Employment at Summit
San Francisco, CA – On Monday September 29, 2008, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, Public Defender Jeff Adachi, District Attorney Kamala Harris, and Sheriff Michael Hennessey will convene at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts for the largest reentry summit in Northern California. The Summit was organized to tackle the problem of parolee recidivism, a main contributing factor to San Francisco’s crime rate. Reentry Works: Creating Employment Opportunities for Formerly Incarcerated San Franciscans will bring together elected officials, policymakers, non-profits, academics, employers and formerly incarcerated individuals to share information, practices and strategies for helping former inmates find employment after release and avoid going back to prison or jail.
Approximately 9,500 adult probationers and parolees live in San Francisco: 50% of parolees are functionally illiterate; 27% parolees and probationers need mental health services; 74.6% require substance abuse treatment; 79.1% require some level of housing assistance; and 70% have a high need for education and employment services.
Many have difficulty finding employment or qualifying for social services due to their criminal records and the stigma attached to being an ex-offender. Others lack the education and skills necessary to compete in the workforce. Federal and state law forbids the hiring of ex-felons for certain occupations. As a result of these legal, social and economic obstacles to finding lawful employment and achieving successful reentry, 70% of parolees and 50% of probationers will end up back in prison or jail within a year.
With violent crime at a critical point in San Francisco, it is imperative that policymakers, experts, and community members develop concrete solutions to protect the community by ensuring that San Franciscans released from prisons and jails do not reoffend.
Reentry Works,a free public event, will take place Monday, September 29, 2008, at the Novellus Theater, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 700 Howard Street, 8:00am to 4:00pm. A welcome letter from Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama will be read. Panels will be moderated by Carolina Guzman and Antoinette Davis of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency Additional confirmed panelists include: Dorsey Nunn, All of Us or None; Jessie Warner, National Employment Law Project; Chief Patrick Boyd, San Francisco Adult Probation Department; and Kathy Jett, California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation. Keynote address, “Nothing Stops a Bullet Like a Job,” will be delivered by Joseph Raymond Lucero, Homeboy Industries. For more information, visit www.sfreentry.com or call 415-575-4390.
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Senator Barack Obama Issues Statement Supporting Prisoner Reentry Summit
San Francisco, CA – In a welcome statement for the Third Annual Prisoner Reentry Summit, Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) commended San Francisco city leaders for their “innovate work to reduce recidivism” and pledged to create opportunities for former prisoners if elected president.
In his letter, Senator Obama recognized that American urban communities are facing an “incarceration and post-incarceration crisis.” Senator Obama vowed to “create a prison-to-work incentive program, modeled on the successful Welfare-to-Work Partnership, to create ties between employers and third-party agencies that provide training and support services to ex-offenders and to improve ex-offender employment and job retention rates.” Senator Obama also pledged that he would “work to reform correctional systems that prevent former inmates from finding and maintaining employment.”
The Third Annual Summit is being organized by the Safe Communities Reentry Council (SCRC). The SCRC was established in 2005 to promote the safe and successful return of formerly incarcerated San Franciscans by developing a comprehensive support system that reduces violence and recidivism, and promotes public safety.
According to SCRC spokesperson and Public Defender Jeff Adachi, “We are very pleased that Senator Obama has issued a statement in support of re-envisioning federal reentry policies. With one out of every 100 Americans in jail or prison, we need to provide greater support to former prisoners who want to turn their lives around.”
Senator Obama’s statement will kick-off the Third Annual Reentry Summit: Reentry Works: Creating Employment Opportunities for Formerly Incarcerated San Franciscans, which will be held on Monday, September 29, 2008, at the Center for the Arts at Yerba Buena in San Francisco. Panelists will include formerly incarcerated individuals, criminal justice and workforce development experts and employers. Several initiatives for employers who hire ex-offenders, including the Enterprise Zone tax credit and federal bonding program, will be highlighted. Sponsors for the event include The California Endowment.
Senator Obama’s letter will be read by Vanessa Vega, a high school student. A copy of Senator Obama’s support letter, additional information, and registration for the 3rd Annual Reentry Summit can be found at http://sfreentry.com.
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Juvenile cases are closed for a reason
Letter to the Editor, Published September 2, 2008
San Francisco Chronicle
Editor – In the several articles published last week concerning undocumented youths in the juvenile justice system, Chronicle reporter Jaxon Van Derbeken referenced statements taken from a confidential written motion filed by one of my attorneys. In the articles, several statements taken from these filings were framed in quotations. This gave readers the false impression that Deputy Public Defender Lisa Katz, who is representing the minor, spoke with your reporter regarding her client’s case. She did not. This document was not provided by my office, nor did Deputy Public Defender Katz disclose this confidential filing to anyone. Instead, she refused any comment on this case, as did I. Under the California Welfare and Institutions Code, it is a misdemeanor to disclose confidential filings in a juvenile case.
As an officer of the court and attorney licensed to practice law in this state, I am bound by the requirement that juvenile proceedings and filings in juvenile cases remain confidential. It is for this reason that I did not comment on the minor’s case. Your reporter wrote that I had “no comment” on the case, when in truth, I told him that I could not comment on a confidential matter and that it was against the law to do so.
Unlike adult cases, juvenile proceedings and filings are confidential for a reason. The legislature has enacted these laws to protect children because juvenile proceedings are not considered criminal proceedings. These laws clearly prohibit the disclosure of the identity of juveniles or the circumstances of their cases to the press or anyone else. Whoever revealed this information to your reporter is acting in violation of state law, and could face criminal prosecution for revealing the information obtained by your reporter.
I have asked the Juvenile Court to investigate whoever is responsible for leaking information from a confidential juvenile proceeding and to take appropriate action against the person responsible. It is unfortunate that whoever is revealing this information to your reporter has chosen to break the law, and that the Chronicle continues to publish this ill-gotten information.
JEFF ADACHI
Public Defender
San Francisco
California Selected for MacArthur Foundation Juvenile Indigent Defense Action Network
San Francisco, CA – California has been selected as one of four sites nationally to participate in the Models for Change Juvenile Indigent Defense Action Network. The initiative, supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, is aimed at developing innovative solutions and strategies to better address the legal needs of youth who come into contact with the juvenile justice system. California’s eight-member team was selected out of a field of 18 applications, along with New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Florida. The sites will work with four existing Models for Change sites in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Louisiana.
Specific tasks for the project will be developed at an October 2-3, 2008 meeting in Washington, D.C. The California proposal urged the need to broaden access to training and support services for attorneys representing children in juvenile justice cases; develop juvenile practice standards for California; improve tracking and data systems to evaluate system performance; and address resource needs. The proposal also focused on the need to increase defender capacity for involvement at a youth’s earliest points of contact with the system, and for counsel to remain involved during the post-disposition period when programs and services are supposed to be provided.
The California project team represents an unprecedented collaboration between the Administrative Office of the Courts’ Center for Families, Children and the Courts; the Pacific Juvenile Defender Center; the Youth Law Center; the Loyola Law School Center for Juvenile Law and Policy; the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office; the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office; and long time leaders in the juvenile defense community.
Team member Audrey Fancy, Supervising Attorney at the Administrative Office of the Courts, Center for Families, Children and the Courts, noted that, “Our justice system and the greater community benefit when juvenile defenders have the skills, supports and resources to do the job right. This work will intersect with and assist in our efforts to address a number of issues identified in the comprehensive Delinquency Court Assessment 2008. We very much look forward to this collaboration.” Sue Burrell, Staff Attorney at the Youth Law Center and the team coordinator, agreed that, “This will enable us to do in a deliberate way what many of us have wanted to do for a long time. While the juvenile defender community has coalesced over the recent crisis in state facilities, there remain numerous areas where defenders remain in need of training, collaboration, and support. Juvenile defenders must be experts in many areas, including criminal law, juvenile law, adolescent development, education, and mental health, as well as be familiar with the wide range of placement or service options. This project will help us to train defenders to do a better job for young people the system.”
Team member Jonathan Laba, an attorney in the Contra Costa County Public Defender’s Office and Deputy Director of the Pacific Juvenile Defender Center, said of California’s selection: “For too long much of the defender community in California has lacked the training, the resources, and the support to provide optimal representation to clients at all stages in the delinquency system. The MacArthur Indigent Defense Action Network will provide a platform for improving collaboration and for developing and implementing critically needed reforms.” Team member Patti Lee, Managing Attorney in the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office and Co-Director of the Pacific Juvenile Defender Center, expressed gratitude to the Foundation. “The MacArthur Foundation gets a lot of credit for recognizing that helping young people in the system requires quality legal representation. If kids don’t have good lawyers, courts may not have needed insight into the facts of the case or what is needed to resolve the situation, and critical opportunities will be missed.”
The grant letter from the Foundation stated the California group’s selection was based on the team’s demonstrated commitment to improving juvenile indigent defense policy and practice; its ability to bring together critical decision makers and stakeholders; and its readiness to work with other Network members to implement change and provide leadership to other states.
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Public Defender’s Office Co-Sponsors MAGIC’s 5th Annual Backpack Giveaway
San Francisco, CA – On August 23, 2008, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office will co-sponsor the Fifth Annual MAGIC Back-to-School Celebration and Backpack Giveaway. This year, 4,000 backpacks will be distributed to children and youth ages 5-17 in Bayview-Hunter’s Point and the Western Addition/Fillmore.
In 2004 Public Defender Jeff Adachi initiated BMAGIC, Mobilization for Adolescent Growth in our Communities, to address the service gap between the Bayview-Hunter’s Point community and the juvenile justice system. One of BMAGIC’s first undertakings was to sponsor a back-to-school celebration complete with positive activities, recreation and entertainment to encourage young people to attend and excel in school. Since then, BMAGIC has grown into a collaboration of over 50 community organizations serving youth and families. In 2006, Mo’ MAGIC, which covers the Western Addition and the Fillmore, was formed. Mo’ MAGIC meets twice a month and also counts over 50 community organizations in its membership.
Major sponsors of the MAGIC Back-to-School Celebration and Backpack Giveaway include the San Francisco 49ers Foundation, CBS Outdoors, Wells Fargo Bank, Union Bank and the California Pacific Medical Center. Additional funding is provided by local businesses.
“By providing backpacks and school supplies to the children of the Bayview, the BMAGIC program helps fulfill the mission of the 49ers Foundation to keep kids safe, on track and in school,” said John York, owner, San Francisco 49ers. “We hope this donation helps these children prepare for another productive school year and sets them up for academic success.”
In addition to the Backpack Giveaway, sponsors, community-based organizations, and volunteers will provide daylong activities for youth, such as 49ers training, community tree building, word fishing, poster and essay competitions, arts and crafts, rock climbing and sports. Free lunch is provided.
“The Back to School celebration is a community building event that upholds our deepest values: education and access to resources that support healthy living,” said Yvette Robles, BMAGIC Director.
Sheryl Davis, Mo’ MAGIC Director, explained, “This is an empowering event for children and their families. These kids are beaming with enthusiasm and eagerness when they receive their new school supplies. It shows us how excited they are about learning. We believe in youth, children and in their abilities to succeed. When equipped with the proper tools and some fundamental support, all kids can excel in school.”
According to Public Defender Adachi, the MAGIC Back-to-School Celebration and Backpack Giveaway “is part of larger community effort to encourage young people to succeed in school. Many of the families we work with to make this event happen come from the constituency we serve as public defenders, so it’s a great opportunity to connect with the community.”
In addition to the Bayview-Hunter’s Point and Western Addition neighborhoods, backpacks and school supplies are also provided to kids in the Tenderloin, SOMA, Mission, and Sunset. BMAGIC and Mo’ MAGIC are still seeking sponsors and are in need donations.
For more information on the MAGIC Back-to-School Celebration and Backpack Giveaway, please contact:
· Yvette Robles, Director of BMAGIC: yvette.robles@sfgov.org. This event will be held at the Bayview Opera House/Milton Meyer Gym, 4705 Third Street (parking available on side streets).
· Sheryl Davis, Director of Mo’ MAGIC, sheryl.davis@sfgov.org. This event will be held at the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center, 1050 McAllister Street (parking on Webster Street).
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Behavioral Health Court on KQED: Crime and the Mentally Ill
KQED’s “Forum,” with Michael Krasny, takes up the issue of the mentally ill in the criminal justice system. “Forum” looks at new programs designed to help police and the courts avoid dangerous confrontations with the mentally ill. These programs are designed to steer the mentally ill toward treatment, instead of a life of incarceration. Visit their site here.
Judge Mary Morgan, of San Francisco’s Behavioral Health Court, is one of four featured guests.
To listen to this program online, please visit KQED’s website by clicking here.
Omeed Popal Found Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity
San Francisco, CA – Omeed Aziz Popal, 31, was found not guilty by reason of insanity by Judge Carol Yaggy today, at the Hall of Justice, 850 Bryant Street. Popal was facing attempted murder charges in connection with a series of alleged hit-and-run incidents involving sixteen people in San Francisco on August 29, 2006.
The Court relied on two separate evaluations by court appointed doctors to find that Mr. Popal was legally insane at the time of the incident. Medical records show, without dispute, that Mr. Popal has a history of severe mental illness and suffered from auditory command hallucinations before, during and after the incident. Within six months prior to his arrest, Popal suffered two psychiatric breakdowns resulting in hospitalization and involuntarily commitments. Mr. Popal has been receiving psychiatric treatment in jail since his arrest two years ago. His current diagnosis is schizophrenia, paranoid type.
According to Popal’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Sandy Feinland, “Fortunately, both court appointed psychiatrists found Mr. Popal to be insane at the time of this tragedy. He will be institutionalized at a mental hospital rather than a state prison. Mr. Popal will finally receive the mental health treatment that could have prevented this tragedy from occurring in the first place.”
The mission of the Public Defender’s office is to provide vigorous, effective, competent and ethical legal representation to persons who are accused of crime and cannot afford to hire an attorney. Established in 1921, the San Francisco Public Defender has a long, proud history of providing top-notch representation to its clients, and championing programs that help people turn their lives around.
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San Francisco’s Undocumented Children
Op-Ed by Jeff Adachi
The recent news stories criticizing the city’s juvenile probation department for sending undocumented children home instead of handing them over to the federal immigration authorities has ignited a firestorm of negative attacks.
However, the stories missed a key fact: the city’s practice of transporting youth home was enacted with the full knowledge and cooperation of the Immigration and Naturalization Service 12 years ago.
SF Community Cameras Exonerate Another Man
San Francisco, CA – The felony case against DeAndre Barney was dismissed on July 10, 2008 after he was proven factually innocent of armed robbery based on San Francisco community safety camera evidence. Video footage showed that the car Barney was driving was not the getaway car, as alleged by police. Barney was represented by Deputy Public Defender Randall Martin.
On May 22, 2008, two young men robbed a store on Haight Street between Webster and Fillmore. According to the police affidavit in support of the arrest warrant, a community safety camera showed the robbers getting out of a light-colored car before the robbery and fleeing in the same car at 15:02:07 hrs. The affidavit states that the license plate of the getaway car was photographed at the corner of Haight and Webster at 15:02:17 hrs.
Barney’s DMV photo was placed in a photo lineup and he was identified by the victim as looking like one of the robbers. The police obtained a warrant and arrested Barney on June 25, 2008.
Deputy Public Defender Martin obtained and reviewed the community safety camera footage. Contrary to the police affidavit, the tapes showed that the robbers actually left the scene in their light-colored car at 14:58:13 – four minutes before the license plate photo was taken. More importantly, the footage showed that Barney’s photographed license plate, which formed the basis for his arrest, was on a different light-colored car than that driven by the robbers.
According to Deputy Public Defender Martin, “My client was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was wrongly identified as a perpetrator, and the inspector submitted a false affidavit regarding the timing of events shown on the videos. If it weren’t for the community safety camera video, my client might very well have been convicted of armed robbery.”
The District Attorney’s Office dismissed the charges against Barney after verifying the community safety camera footage presented to them by Deputy Public Defender Martin.
According to Public Defender Jeff Adachi, “This case comes out of the storyline of the movie, “My Cousin Vinny,” where one car driven by an innocent man is mistaken for another similar car belonging to the robber. It’s a classic case of why circumstantial evidence can’t always be trusted.”
Adachi noted that this was the second case in the last 12 months where an innocent person was exonerated by evidence obtained by the city’s surveillance cameras.
The mission of the Public Defender’s office is to provide vigorous, effective, competent and ethical legal representation to persons who are accused of crime and cannot afford to hire an attorney. Established in 1921, the San Francisco Public Defender has a long, proud history of providing top-notch representation to its clients, and championing programs that help people turn their lives around.
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