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Nixon has won Watergate

Barack Obama's imperial presidency is just what his controversial predecessor wanted.

This month, I spoke at an event commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Watergate scandal with some of its survivors at the National Press Club. While much of the discussion looked back at the historic clash with President Nixon, I was struck by a different question: Who actually won? From unilateral military actions to warrantless surveillance that were key parts of the basis for Nixon's impending impeachment, the painful fact is that Barack Obama is the president that Nixon always wanted to be.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results ~ Albert Einstein

Did you know the state of California spends $11.7 b, 11% of the annual budget on incarceration? Which is chimerical at best, because legislators, and many people think that the more money you spend on locking people up, the more you’re deterring crime, but evidence suggests that that’s not close to being true. To be honest, there are exceptions to the rule, but in the vast majority of cases all you’re doing is setting people up for a life of crime  

The current California criminal justice system as it currently exists, is highly dysfunctional, and inefficient, as far as rehabilitation goes, and also from a budgetary standpoint.  

ACLU Sacramento Town Hall Meeting to Address Impact of Mass Incarceration on Education Funding 

Assemblyman Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento) to Lead Discussion of California Budget Crisis and the Need to Re-Order Budgetary Priorities on THURSDAY, April 25 at 6 p.m. at Sacramento Convention Center

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 2013

CONTACT:
Will Matthews, ACLU of Northern California, (415) 293-6409 or wmatthews@aclunc.org

SACRAMENTO – The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California is convening a town hall meeting at the Sacramento Convention Center Thursday, April 25 at 6 p.m. featuring Assemblyman Roger Dickinson (D-Sacramento), who will lead a discussion about the ways in which California’s outsized spending on incarceration has a direct impact on the state’s decreasing investment in higher education.

The above video is from a different event, but gives much of the same info as I have below

This weekend former National Lawyers Guild President Marjorie Cohn was here in Sacramento for a panel discussion about drones during the California Democratic convention at the California Democratic Party Progressive Caucus meeting on Saturday. I didn’t make it downtown for the panel discussion, but she graciously accepted an invitation to a Sunday morning potluck brunch discussion on drones. I made a point to get myself to this.

I’m not a professional writer or anything, and I write slower than I type ;-) and I missed some things while taking my notes, so hopefully I won’t misrepresent anything that was said, too badly.

Militarization of Local Law Enforcement Erodes Civil Liberties, Encourages Overly Aggressive Policing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 6, 2013

CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

NEW YORK – American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in 23 states today simultaneously filed more than 255 public records requests to determine the extent to which local police departments are using federally subsidized military technology and tactics that are traditionally used overseas.

"Equipping state and local law enforcement with military weapons and vehicles, military tactical training, and actual military assistance to conduct traditional law enforcement erodes civil liberties and encourages increasingly aggressive policing, particularly in poor neighborhoods and communities of color," said Kara Dansky, senior counsel for the ACLU's Center for Justice. "We've seen examples of this in several localities, but we don't know the dimensions of the problem."

By CHRISTINA HOAG - Associated Press

GLENDALE, Calif. -- A suburban Los Angeles County school district and police department have agreed to revise policies to settle a racial profiling lawsuit filed by a group of Latino students who said they were rounded up at school and treated as if they were potential gang members, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California announced Wednesday.

Under terms of the settlement negotiated by the ACLU, the Glendale Police Department agreed to train officers on dealing with students at schools and revised its policies on racial profiling. The Glendale Unified School District agreed to notify parents if students are interrogated on campus.

By MATT GOURAS - Associated Press

HELENA, Mont. -- Lawmakers in at least 11 states are looking at plans to restrict the use of drones over their skies amid concerns the unmanned aerial vehicles could be exploited to spy on Americans.

The American Civil Liberties Union says state legislators are proposing various restrictions on local authorities' use of the technology.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Sacramento County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California Board of Directors unanimously elected Betty Williams as Chair and Executive Director of the Sacramento Chapter at its meeting on January 14, 2013. Ms. Williams is the first African American to head the local ACLU Chapter and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the branch.

With a historical tenure of 8 years as immediate Past President of the Sacramento National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Ms. Williams has long been a defender of and advocate for the civil liberties of Sacramento County residents. She serves as advisor to the County Sheriff's Advisory Committee, the Career Education Training Board, the California High Speed Rail Community Board and a number of other groups. Additionally, she is responsible for development and implementation of the Parents' Know Your Rights in Education Academy, the Associated Ministers Empowering Neighborhoods Group and Free Legal Clinics for Sacramento residents.

Associated Press
Published Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013 - SacBee.com

LOS ANGELES -- The American Civil Liberties Union of California on Wednesday charged that about a quarter of California school districts are violating state and federal laws by failing to provide English language instruction to all students who need it and demanded state education officials take action.

The ACLU, along with the Asian Pacific Legal Center, sent a letter to Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and state school board members stating that it will file a lawsuit if English classes are not provided to some 20,000 students within 30 days.

Posted by Diana Lambert - SacBee.com

The California Department of Education could be sued if it doesn't take action to ensure all school districts are offering adequate instruction to English learners, according to civil rights groups.

State data shows that 20,318 English learners attending California schools don't receive any of the instructional services required. The data was submitted by school districts for the 2010-11 school year, the most recent year available.

The American Civil Liberties Union of California, The Asian Pacific American Legal Center and the law firm of Latham and Watkins held a joint press conference in Los Angles this morning to announce their intent to file a suit if state education officials don't act immediately to fix the problem.