Calendar
SCHEDULE
8:20 Coffee & Bagels
8:30 Gathering & Opening Circle
8:45 Press Conference
9:00 Sgt. Russell’s Courtdate
Recently, it was revealed that Alameda County Sergeant James Russell and Lieutenant Timothy Schellenberg were caught on video admitting to the illegal recording of youth defendants in confidential conversations with their own attorneys.
This is a Constitutional Rights violation and our concern is that it points to a much larger systemic problem.
Recording a defendant and their lawyer is a violation of the 4th, 5th and 6th amendments, as well as CA Penal Code 632, which is a felony offense punishable by up to 3 years in prison.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Alameda County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) have spied on a defendant as they spoke with their lawyer. It also happened back in 2012.
This is NOT an issue of “one bad apple.” We have a rotten tree that must be dealt with.
THE ENTIRE SHERIFF’S OFFICE SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE AS NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.
Felony charges have been filed against one sergeant, which is a good start but certainly not enough. This is just the tip of the iceberg for a department riddled with problems and constant allegations of the violation of people’s rights.
We call on Alameda County’s District Attorney Nancy O’Malley to conduct a thorough investigation of this matter and pursue the appropriate criminal charges against the Sheriff’s Deputies who have broken the law.
SIGN THE PETITION: bit.ly/NotAboveLaw
We demand that the District Attorney Nancy O’Malley do the following:
1. PROSECUTE Sergeant James Russell on the four counts of felony eavesdropping to the fullest extent of the law. No slap on the wrist.
2. INVESTIGATE the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office to determine the extent of this egregious violation of the United States Constitution, make public the results of the investigation, and file felony charges against Lt. Tim Schellenberg for his complicity, as well as all other officers involved in the recording of these constitutionally protected conversations.
Three antifascist activists are facing serious charges for defending our city against neo-Nazis two and a half years ago. We’re calling on our community to come out to their 2nd pretrial hearing and show support for these brave individuals. It’s up to us to make it clear that we stand with them!
We will be meeting at the courthouse and attending their court appearance. Come in casual, formal, or semi-formal attire and be prepared to go through a metal detector. Avoid arriving or leaving alone, and leave the area as soon as the court appearance is over. The court date will begin at 9 am and continue until 5 pm or until the hearing has concluded, whichever comes first. This is a critical way to show your solidarity and be a presence for activists being unfairly targeted by the state.
About the court case:
On June 26th, 2016, members of the neo-Nazi gang the Golden State Skinheads attempted to rally at the State Capitol here in Sacramento. Hundreds of counter-protesters mobilized and successfully shut down the Nazi rally. After the rally was canceled, the neo-Nazis attacked demonstrators with knives and clubs, stabbing and critically injuring several. Since then, one neo-Nazi has been arrested and three anti-racist activists are facing charges. After several cancellations and continuations, this is the final court date before our comrades are put on trial. So far, our community has come out to each court date to support them. This is their most important court appearance until the trial, so it’s urgent that we show up in numbers and make our support known!
Celebrating the publication of Human Rights and Wrongs and Plan Colombia
Authors Adrianne Aron and John Lindsay-Poland discuss their new books, Human Rights and Wrongs (Sunshot Press) and Plan Colombia: U.S. Ally Atrocities and Community Activism (Duke University Press), respectively. Both books recount stories of individuals and communities – especially in Latin America – resisting U.S. and state violence, often at great cost, and the power of human solidarity. Aron’s vignettes in the style of Eduardo Galeano draw from her experience as a psychologist and work with Central American refugees.
Lindsay-Poland narrates a Colombian peace community and a massacre, as well as the policy of training and equipping Colombian forces that serves as a template for U.S. intervention globally.
Books will be available for sale and signing.
www.sunshots.org/human-rights-and-wrongs
www.dukeupress.edu/plan-colombia (Preface and Introduction free online)
Sponsored by the BFUU SJC.
JOINT WALK‐IN CLINICS with Public Defender and EBCLC
*Please bring your statewide CA DOJ RAP sheet
if you have it or we can give information at clinic*
We may be able to help with:
Dismissal of Conviction – PC 1203.4
Felony Reduction / Prop 47 and 64 Relief
Early Termination of Probation
Certificate of Rehabilitation
Sealing Arrest Record – Factual Innocence
Juvenile Record Sealing
Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants and
Survivors of Human Trafficking
Employment denials due to criminal background
reports
Occupational Licensing Denials(DSS, Security
Guard)
Voting Rights, Jury Service Rights
Tomorrow @ 12 pm, the Landless People’s Alliance is holding a press conference @ Alameda County Admin Building 1221 Oak St. to speak out against the mistreatment of unhoused folks in the Bay Area. Please show up to support their demands for justice&dignity https://t.co/oOZsFJl7U0
— The Village, Oakland (@VillageOakland) December 20, 2018
A presentation, The True Cost of Healthcare, by David Belk, MD
Have you ever wanted to build a socialist utopia out of gingerbread houses? Want to learn more about what East Bay DSA is doing around housing? Wondering what exactly is “social housing?” Join the East Bay DSA Housing Committee for a fun evening of making gingerbread houses and socializing with comrades. This is open to the general public. Bring your friends! Hot chocolate included.
Mycologist Alan Rockefeller will give a lecture on the identification of psilocybin mushrooms. It will include an overview of all North American species, focusing on the species which occur in the San Francisco Bay area. The audience will learn important characteristics for accurate identification and how to spot poisonous lookalikes. Participants are invited to bring legal mushrooms for a hands-on discussion of how to identify mushrooms you encounter.
Alan Rockefeller is a mycologist living in Oakland. He spends half the year hunting mushrooms in Mexico where he documents a wide variety of fungal species. His experience in the field has focuses on mushroom identification, DNA analysis, microscopy and photography.
In the lab Alan sequences the DNA of mushrooms from all over the world, gaining new insights into existing species, discovering new ones and eliminating duplicates in the taxonomic record.
$10 Suggested Donation – RSVP Below
http://psychedelicsocietysf.org/event/alan-rockefeller-psychedelic-mushrooms-of-california-talk-and-presentation/
By donating to this event you will help Alan do his work in the field as an independent mycologist, the SF Psychedelic Society, and The Omni Commons, a trifecta of open source, community-centered people and organizations. Thank you for your support this Holiday Season.
2019 is shaping up for an upswing of direct action, movement building and new thought against ecological collapse, wealth inequality, and for social justice.
This film has worthwhile history and some inspiration for folks just plugging in. Interviews plus archival footage. (1990 Documentary Directed by Mark Kitchell -117 minutes)
The 10th Annual Oscar Grant Vigil will be held on Tuesday, January 1, 2019 from Noon till 4pm at the Fruitvale BART station. You are invited to join the Justice4Pedie and Justice4Terry Amons Jr. march, which will meet at 12:30 outside the Guadalajara restaurant (1001 Fruitvale Ave., Oakland) and march to join the vigil at 1pm.
Hope to see you there!
JOINT WALK‐IN CLINICS with Public Defender and EBCLC
*Please bring your statewide CA DOJ RAP sheet
if you have it or we can give information at clinic*
We may be able to help with:
Dismissal of Conviction – PC 1203.4
Felony Reduction / Prop 47 and 64 Relief
Early Termination of Probation
Certificate of Rehabilitation
Sealing Arrest Record – Factual Innocence
Juvenile Record Sealing
Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants and
Survivors of Human Trafficking
Employment denials due to criminal background
reports
Occupational Licensing Denials(DSS, Security
Guard)
Voting Rights, Jury Service Rights
The Peace and Freedom Party presents
The Crisis in Public Education and How to Solve It!
As teacher unions in Oakland (OEA) and Los Angeles (UTLA) are
preparing major strikes this winter, a coalition of educators, parents,
unions, community, and students are fighting for increased state funding
for public schools, currently among the lowest in the nation. To discuss
how we can build California public schools into the educational system
that people deserve, we will be joined by Keith Brown, President of the
Oakland Education Association (OEA); Michael Shane, Teacher (OEA.
member), and member of Classroom Struggle; Bob Mandel, active in
1996 strike, later elected to exec-board of the O.E.A.; and Jack Gerson,
OEA executive board and bargaining team member from 2007 to 2011.
This is part of our on-going Socialist Forum Series on the first Saturday of every month.
Doors open at 2 pm and the program will start promptly at 2:30 pm. The forum will end by
4:30 pm, but folks can stay and talk afterwards. The opinions expressed are those of the
speakers and do not reflect official views of the Peace and Freedom Party.
For information, contact Gene: 510-332-3865 email: cuyleruyle@mac.com
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The Peace and Freedom Party, born from the civil rights and
anti-war movements of the 1960s, is committed to socialism,
democracy, ecology, feminism, racial equality, and internationalism.
www.peaceandfreedom.org
A screening by Liberated Lens of a film from Germany, “Deckname Jenny” (“Codename Jenny” in German)
Subversive. Feminist. Anarchistic. Cross-generational.
Discussion with the filmmakers after the film.
2017, 108min, German with English subtitles
A shift to the right in Europe. The borders are closed. Sea rescue ships like the Sea-Watch are prevented from leaving. Drowned refugees in the Mediterranean. Jenny’s group decides to act. But when her father finds out about their militant ambitions, he has to face his own past as a member of a guerilla group. The pseudonym “Jenny” and its clear classification blurs all the more, the more dangerous it becomes for everyone involved.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/251190328
Lots is happening! Join us!
The CA Attorney General’s office is holding public meetings around the state in January to talk about how to implement CA’s new privacy law. On the agenda will be things like how much you will pay for your privacy, whether the law applies to loyalty programs like HHhonors or grocery and drug store discount programs, opt-out procedures, what needs to be disclosed about how your data is sold, and how to verify whether an information request is really from a customer or not. This is the only Bay Area forum with others to be held in San Diego (1/14) , Riverside (1/24) , LA (1/25), Sacramento (2/5) and Fresno (2/13).
We know industry and business will be out in force – and consumers and customers won’t be – so we’re trying to spread the word and even things out a bit.
Can’t stress enough that even though the legalese will be flying, the issues at stake are down to earth and practical and will affect all of us everyday. You don’t need to be an expert. You just need to be a person who worries about where all their personal data ends up and doesn’t feel like they can do enough about it. The voices of real people is always what is missing at these forums, but it doesn’t have to be.
We’ll post some background material in the discussion session on the Faceook Event Page.
For our next #ArsLive we are very excited to host Ashkan Soltani (@ashk4n) as our guest. He recently testified about Facebook before the UK parliament, among many other achievements. He is a Technologist, Reporter, Founder, Policy Wonk — former FTC CTO and Obama Whitehouse Senior Advisor .
The Cambridge Analytica scandal. Data breaches at hotels, banks, rideshare companies, and hospitals. Facial recognition. DNA databases. We’re living through the data privacy apocalypse and now it’s time to figure out what happens next. Here to discuss that with us at the next Ars Technica Live is Ashkan Soltani, an independent researcher and technologist who specializes in data privacy.
Recently, Soltani testified before the US and UK governments about Facebook’s privacy practices and how they make user data available to third parties. Soltani also authored the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, which regulates large companies that make more than 50 percent of their revenues from selling California residents’ personal information. The CCPA was signed into law earlier this year.
Soltani will be in conversation with Ars Technica editors Cyrus Farivar and Annalee Newitz.
Soltani previously served a brief stint as a Senior Advisor to the U.S. Chief Technology Officer in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and as the Chief Technologist for the Federal Trade Commission, advising the commission on its technology related policy as well as helping to create its new Office of Technology Research and Investigation. He also served at the FTC in 2010 as one of the first staff technologists in the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, helping to lead investigations into major technology companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, HTC, and PulsePoint. Soltani was also recognized as part of the 2014 Pulitzer winning team for his contributions to the Washington Post’s coverage of National Security issues.
Ars Technica Live takes place on the second Wednesday of every month at Eli’s Mile High Club in Oakland (3629 MLK Way—they have the best tater tots you’ve ever eaten).
Doors open at 7pm, and the live filming is from 7:30pm to 8:20-ish (be sure to get there early if you want a seat). Stick around afterward for informal discussion, beer, and snacks. Can’t make it out to Oakland? Never fear! Episodes will be posted to Ars Technica the week after the live events.
The event is free but space is limited, so RSVP using Eventbrite. You can also keep up with the latest Ars Live doings on Facebook.
JOINT WALK‐IN CLINICS with Public Defender and EBCLC
*Please bring your statewide CA DOJ RAP sheet
if you have it or we can give information at clinic*
We may be able to help with:
Dismissal of Conviction – PC 1203.4
Felony Reduction / Prop 47 and 64 Relief
Early Termination of Probation
Certificate of Rehabilitation
Sealing Arrest Record – Factual Innocence
Juvenile Record Sealing
Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants and
Survivors of Human Trafficking
Employment denials due to criminal background
reports
Occupational Licensing Denials(DSS, Security
Guard)
Voting Rights, Jury Service Rights
The Alameda County UASI Ad Hoc Committee (aka Urban Shield Task Force) is meeting on Thursday, January 10 at 1:00 pm until 5:00 pm or until we have finished voting on recommendations, which could be well after 5 pm.
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Meeting of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors’ Ad Hoc Committee on Urban Area Security Initiative, charged with reconstituting and rethinking Urban Shield.
The committee was established by the Board of Supervisors in March 2018 in response to sustained community concerns about Urban Shield, which is funded in part by UASI grants from the Department of Homeland Security, and coordinated by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.
The Board of Supervisors decided in March, 2018 that 2018 would be the last year the county would approve Urban Shield, as currently constituted, and asked the Ad Hoc Committee to make recommendations to the Board on the UASI-funded emergency preparedness training and exercise in 2019 and beyond.
Agendas and materials for each meeting are posted at http://www.acgov.org/board/calendarcom.htm