LYNN LA • APRIL 18, 2023
Crime is always a key issue at the state Capitol — and even more so this week. With many Californians worried about personal safety and crime, legislators are touting bills that either support victims of crime or enact harsher penalties on criminals.
Today is the second day of the 10th annual Survivors Speak Conference, which gathers crime victim advocates, public safety organizations and even a couple of celebrities to push for more funding and support for victim services.
They’ll be marching to the Capitol for a rally and are backing bills by Los Angeles Democratic state Sens. María Elena Durazo and Caroline Menjivar related to victims compensation (Senate Bills 655 and 838), as well as proposals from Democratic Assemblymembers Isaac Bryan from Culver City and Matt Haney from San Francisco. In February, Bryan introduced a bill that would allow crime victims to be notified of the availability of restorative justice programs. Haney’s bill would enable survivors of domestic violence or human trafficking who are charged with a violent crime to share their stories in court.
Meanwhile, Republicans plan to rally today to put pressure on the Assembly public safety committee on the fentanyl crisis. In March, the Democratic committee chairperson put a hold on all fentanyl-related bills, citing “duplicative efforts” and “temporary solutions.” Republican Senate leader Brian Jones of El Cajon and Assembly GOP leader James Gallagher will be joined by three district attorneys and family members of residents killed by fentanyl.
The hold on fentanyl bills (which halted bills authored by Democrats as well) isn’t the only recent time Republicans ran into roadblocks on their crime initiatives. In January, Republican Assemblymember Joe Patterson of Granite Bay introduced a bill that would have expanded the definition of a violent felony to include human trafficking, domestic violence and “rape of an unconscious or incapacitated person,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Democrats killed the bill in March. On Monday, though she was joined by Republicans, it was Democratic state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil of Modesto who promoted her bill that would expand the definition of a violent felony to include the rape of an unconscious or incapacitated person.
In other crime news, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Monday that 17 people were arrested in connection to multiple violent crimes across Northern California, including the two mass shootings that took place at Sikh temples last Aug. 27 and this March 23.
The arrests were a result of a months-long investigation by local, state and federal law enforcement of two rival “criminal syndicates.” According to The Sacramento Bee, “The district attorney said the motivation behind the violence is still a ‘little murky,’ but that they basically show up to places and try to shoot each other.”
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One key reason we don’t lock up criminals is unionized public employees are just too damn expensive. This goes back to the impeached Grey Davis who made working for California both lucative and vastly more expensive. See http://www.transparentcalifornia.com to see just how expensive it is.
Thanks Grey Davis.