Newsbites and Updates...
The committee in Humboldt County which was assigned to draft a proposal for a citizen police review function has completed its initial work and sent their recommendation to the full Human Rights Commission for consideration.
Meanwhile, sheriff's candidates Gary Holder (Humboldt County) and Tony Craver (Mendocino) have both expressed openness to such a proposal, so long as it focusses on actual local needs and complies with applicable state law -- an almost astonishing position in view of law enforcement's usual reflexive horror at even the mention of the topic!
Bear Lincoln: Ostensibly due to scheduling problems (some of which may relate to the June primary in which DA Susan Massini is running for reelection), the retrial of Lincoln on manslaughter charges has been postponed -- nominally 'til September 14th.
Oakland Bombing:The "status hearing" on the civil suit filed by Darryl Cherney and Judi Bari against the FBI and Oakland Police (mentioned in the Winter '98 newsletter) was postponed until early May, and then further delayed 'til late July. Check with the Mendocino Environmental Center at (707) 468-1660 for updates.
HR 118: Cong. John Conyers' Traffic Stops Statistics Act (mentioned in the Spring '97 and Winter '98 issues) has passed the House of Representatives and is now awaiting action by the Senate.
This bill would require state police to keep records so that objective analysis could establish whether or not these stops are being conducted consistent with the departments' stated policies, and with federal law.
ABC's "Nightline" did a two-part feature on the "Driving While Black" problem at the end of March, and DWB was the hot topic at a late-April civil liberties conference held in Nevada; so the issue of abusive profile stops and searches is becoming harder and harder to keep in the closet.
Round Valley Class Action Lawsuit:The suit is making its way through the courts. No news to report since our last newsletter.
Headwaters November 15, 1996 Class Action Lawsuit: No news to report here, either.
Book Review: Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess & How We Can Get Out by Mike Gray. (Random House, available in June)
The opening and closing sentences of a review of this brand new book (in the newsletter of the National Drug Strategy Network) are as follows: "Since the early 1960s every movement for social reform has wished for a powerful, persuasive, best-selling book like Rachel Carson's Silent Spring or Ralph Nader's Unsafe At Any Speed to catapult the reform to the top of the nation's consciousness. Mike Gray's Drug Crazy deserves to be that book for drug policy reform...If you have sometimes felt you needed another way to explain to family and friends why you were so concerned about drug policy...you should give them this book."
CLMP Needs Your Help...
We are still (always) looking for a few regular office volunteers to help answer the phones, especially during this busy time of year. If you can give us a few hours a week on a regular basis, we would love to have you join us.
If you can't commit to a regular weekly thing, but you'd like to help out periodically, we need volunteers for our upcoming events: our popcorn booth at Summer Arts (June 27-28); our Humboldt Bandwagon on Friday, August 21; and our third annual public forum and benefit, "Direct Action in Democracy," coming on Saturday, September 26. We need help setting up, tearing down, taking tickets, serving food, etc. If you'd like to help, call the office and speak to Cher. (Incidentally, welcome to Cher Spencer, CLMP's new Office Manager; Cher is in the office on Mondays and Wednesdays. Connie Rose is in the office Tuesdays and Thursdays, focusing on grantwriting and producing this newsletter.)
This is also a good time to appeal to our readers for donations. The grants we're operating on will run out at the end of June. Although we have several applications pending, we have no commitments yet from funders for beyond June 30. PLEASE help us out by becoming a member if you aren't one already, by paying your dues NOW if you are a member, or by making any level of donation that you can, NOW. All donations to CLMP are tax deductible
And Finally...
CLMP is being supported in part this year (1997 - 1998) by generous grants from the Drug Policy Foundation, the Vanguard Public Foundation, and the Greenville Foundation. Many thanks to our grantors and other supporters, for making our work possible.
See CAMP or MET? Have a run-in with the CHP?
Call CLMP at 707/923-4646
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