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"content": "\u003cp>San Francisco voters are no strangers to tough-on-crime messaging in elections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District Attorney Brooke Jenkins glided into office by telling voters she’d throw the book at the alleged criminals she claims her predecessor, Chesa Boudin, coddled. Mayor London Breed has repeatedly refuted assertions that crime has ballooned because of her leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soft-on-crime allegations may reverberate louder and carry more electoral sway in the race for two San Francisco Superior Court judge seats because the sitting judges aren’t allowed to utter a word to defend themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frustrated by the narrative that crime is out of control, some San Francisco residents have been searching for someone to blame. Judges Michael Begert and Patrick Thompson have been put in the crosshairs by Stop Crime Action. The bellicose group, aided by a similarly named sister organization, Stop Crime SF, has endorsed Albert “Chip” Zecher, who is running against Begert, and Jean Myungjin Roland, who is running to unseat Thompson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Begert and Thompson have been accused of allowing “\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/StopCrimeSFnews/status/1722724339454550129\">dangerous offenders\u003c/a>” to roam the streets. The caustic rhetoric concerns Teresa Johnson, president of the San Francisco Bar Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Given that understandable frustration, it is more important than ever from the standpoint of the rule of law that we respect the independence of the judiciary,” she said on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101895243/why-do-we-elect-state-court-judges\">recent episode of KQED’s Forum\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Effectively, judges are umpires. They’re calling balls and strikes, and they’re enforcing the rules. And their job is to be impartial.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Judge Patrick Thompson\"]‘[I]t leaves judges as sitting ducks because we are unable to speak on matters and face an onslaught of attacks against our record and against particular decisions which, placed in context, we may have been able to address …’[/pullquote]The impartiality makes Begert and Thompson easy marks for Stop Crime Action, which has adopted the playbook to oust progressives established by the recalls of San Francisco Board of Education members and Boudin, and the effort to topple San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judges have been unable to substantively respond because of “judicial canons,” the state ethics laws that muzzle judges from speaking about how they’d rule on the bench for fear of injecting prejudice. The decades-old canons, which echo federal ethics codes concerning the judiciary, are unique to California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In some ways, it leaves judges as sitting ducks because we are unable to speak on matters and face an onslaught of attacks against our record and against particular decisions which, placed in context, we may have been able to address them or squelch concerns,” Thompson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The current hyper-partisan era has led to the politicization of the judiciary, multiple sources told KQED. San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin said the pressure against the judiciary is led by right-wing forces, citing \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2023/11/15/stop-crime-sf-judge-grade/\">past donations to Stop Crime Action\u003c/a> from a political group that received major funding from billionaire \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/William-Oberndorf-in-Boudin-recall-17059555.php\">William Oberndorf\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California needs to be very careful and vigilant about not allowing that right-wing takeover of the judiciary to happen here,” Peskin said, but in the meantime, “the judges are, by definition, fighting with both their hands tied behind their back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peskin noted that Begert has spent the majority of his time in diversion courts, which, by design, are not courts that sentence people to prison because, he said, “that is not their function under the law.” Begert has since been assigned to Newsom’s CARE Court, part of the state’s effort to address the homelessness crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Trasviña, a Stop Crime SF volunteer who is the immediate past dean of the University of San Francisco School of Law, said judges staying mum on their process is, in part, what drove the organization’s involvement in the race. Stop Crime SF has placed “watchers” in San Francisco courtrooms to evaluate judges’ performance in criminal matters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So the court has a very big public relations problem on its hands. People don’t trust the courts,” Trasviña said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That view has been bolstered publicly by Breed, Jenkins and Gov. Gavin Newsom. On an episode of Forum’s “Doing Democracy” series earlier this month, retired judge LaDoris Cordell scolded Breed and Jenkins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Shame on the mayor and shame on the district attorney for pointing the finger at judges and saying judges are the problem,” Cordell said. “People who know better are really taking a stance opposing the independence of the judiciary. And it is so, so harmful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judicial contests are usually low-information races where voters struggle to know the records of the candidates, Michael Kang, a professor at the Northwestern School of Law, said on the Forum episode where he was a guest alongside Johnson and Cordell. There are roughly a dozen other San Francisco Superior Court judges up for reelection, but they won’t appear on ballots because they are unchallenged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not every state has similar ethics rules to California’s. Some states have \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/Judicial_election_methods_by_state\">partisan judicial races\u003c/a>, while others don’t elect their judges at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kang’s research at Northwestern, recently published in a book titled \u003cem>Free to Judge: The Power of Campaign Money in Judicial Elections\u003c/em> showed that when judicial races become a matter of politically charged messaging, judges hand down harsher punishments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin\"]‘California needs to be very careful and vigilant about not allowing that right-wing takeover of the judiciary to happen here … the judges are, by definition, fighting with both their hands tied behind their back’[/pullquote]“The money matters,” Kang said. “And the more competitive the election — the more partisan, the more politicized — the more the money comes into the elections and affects judges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judges sentencing more punitively have \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/californias-prison-population/\">largely hurt Black and brown communities\u003c/a>, said Tinisch Hollins, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice, a criminal justice reform group. During the era of the three-strikes law, the state’s prison population grew so large it caused “irreversible damage to the community,” according to Hollins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Putting more people in prison just \u003ca href=\"https://nicic.gov/weblink/prison-paradox-more-incarceration-will-not-make-us-safer-2017\">leads to higher rates of crime\u003c/a>, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have evidence — decades and decades of evidence and research — not just from crime data, but in looking at recidivism rates and whether or not these tough-on-crime approaches actually lead to more safety,” she said. “It didn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a post on its website, Stop Crime Action accused Thompson of releasing an alleged drug dealer pending trial last year “despite the fact police arrested the defendant with enough fentanyl to kill as many as 85,400 people.” In an opinion piece for a neighborhood newspaper, the group’s leader, Frank Noto, called the drug dealer’s release a “catastrophic failure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview, Thompson said he could speak in a limited fashion on matters of public record. He explained he imposed stricter requirements on the alleged drug dealer than were handed to him in a court recommendation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judicial canons forced the candidates to tiptoe around questions about their records at a recent debate hosted by Stop Crime Action. Roland and Zecher told KQED they are cognizant of trying to represent their worldview to voters while staying within the bounds of judicial ethics rules. Zecher, a civil attorney, was appointed by Newsom to serve on the board of UC Law San Francisco. Roland, who has been a prosecutor for 22 years, is an assistant district attorney in Jenkins’ office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe that we’re all discovering that the judges play a role in what’s going on in our streets,” Zecher said. “They are the public guardians. And we do want to make sure that our judges are looking at the accountability factor for bad actors on our streets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roland said San Francisco is less safe now than when she was attending Lowell High School.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is just not the same city. And my elderly mother, she won’t even walk down the street because she’s scared,” she said. “I want to have my voice heard, and I want to make a difference so that people can feel safe on the street.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Retired San Francisco Superior Court Judge Lillian Kwok Sing, who supports the incumbents, said she’s concerned the Stop Crime Action campaign may push the boundaries of democracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This Stop Crime (group) is a test on the courts in general,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A presiding judge must assign superior court judges to particular courts. Given Stop Crime Action’s support of the current challengers, retired San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn, who supports Begert, said any presiding judge may not ever assign Zecher and Roland to a courtroom that handles criminal conduct if they win.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let me ask you to put your feet in the shoes of somebody who was accused of being a drug dealer, and you walk into Judge Zecher’s courtroom,” Kahn said. “Do you believe you are going to be treated impartially? I submit you won’t. At least not necessarily because of what he has said, but because of what he has allowed himself to represent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San Francisco voters are no strangers to tough-on-crime messaging in elections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District Attorney Brooke Jenkins glided into office by telling voters she’d throw the book at the alleged criminals she claims her predecessor, Chesa Boudin, coddled. Mayor London Breed has repeatedly refuted assertions that crime has ballooned because of her leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soft-on-crime allegations may reverberate louder and carry more electoral sway in the race for two San Francisco Superior Court judge seats because the sitting judges aren’t allowed to utter a word to defend themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Frustrated by the narrative that crime is out of control, some San Francisco residents have been searching for someone to blame. Judges Michael Begert and Patrick Thompson have been put in the crosshairs by Stop Crime Action. The bellicose group, aided by a similarly named sister organization, Stop Crime SF, has endorsed Albert “Chip” Zecher, who is running against Begert, and Jean Myungjin Roland, who is running to unseat Thompson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Begert and Thompson have been accused of allowing “\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/StopCrimeSFnews/status/1722724339454550129\">dangerous offenders\u003c/a>” to roam the streets. The caustic rhetoric concerns Teresa Johnson, president of the San Francisco Bar Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Given that understandable frustration, it is more important than ever from the standpoint of the rule of law that we respect the independence of the judiciary,” she said on a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101895243/why-do-we-elect-state-court-judges\">recent episode of KQED’s Forum\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Effectively, judges are umpires. They’re calling balls and strikes, and they’re enforcing the rules. And their job is to be impartial.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The impartiality makes Begert and Thompson easy marks for Stop Crime Action, which has adopted the playbook to oust progressives established by the recalls of San Francisco Board of Education members and Boudin, and the effort to topple San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judges have been unable to substantively respond because of “judicial canons,” the state ethics laws that muzzle judges from speaking about how they’d rule on the bench for fear of injecting prejudice. The decades-old canons, which echo federal ethics codes concerning the judiciary, are unique to California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In some ways, it leaves judges as sitting ducks because we are unable to speak on matters and face an onslaught of attacks against our record and against particular decisions which, placed in context, we may have been able to address them or squelch concerns,” Thompson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The current hyper-partisan era has led to the politicization of the judiciary, multiple sources told KQED. San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin said the pressure against the judiciary is led by right-wing forces, citing \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2023/11/15/stop-crime-sf-judge-grade/\">past donations to Stop Crime Action\u003c/a> from a political group that received major funding from billionaire \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/William-Oberndorf-in-Boudin-recall-17059555.php\">William Oberndorf\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California needs to be very careful and vigilant about not allowing that right-wing takeover of the judiciary to happen here,” Peskin said, but in the meantime, “the judges are, by definition, fighting with both their hands tied behind their back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Peskin noted that Begert has spent the majority of his time in diversion courts, which, by design, are not courts that sentence people to prison because, he said, “that is not their function under the law.” Begert has since been assigned to Newsom’s CARE Court, part of the state’s effort to address the homelessness crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Trasviña, a Stop Crime SF volunteer who is the immediate past dean of the University of San Francisco School of Law, said judges staying mum on their process is, in part, what drove the organization’s involvement in the race. Stop Crime SF has placed “watchers” in San Francisco courtrooms to evaluate judges’ performance in criminal matters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So the court has a very big public relations problem on its hands. People don’t trust the courts,” Trasviña said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That view has been bolstered publicly by Breed, Jenkins and Gov. Gavin Newsom. On an episode of Forum’s “Doing Democracy” series earlier this month, retired judge LaDoris Cordell scolded Breed and Jenkins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Shame on the mayor and shame on the district attorney for pointing the finger at judges and saying judges are the problem,” Cordell said. “People who know better are really taking a stance opposing the independence of the judiciary. And it is so, so harmful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judicial contests are usually low-information races where voters struggle to know the records of the candidates, Michael Kang, a professor at the Northwestern School of Law, said on the Forum episode where he was a guest alongside Johnson and Cordell. There are roughly a dozen other San Francisco Superior Court judges up for reelection, but they won’t appear on ballots because they are unchallenged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not every state has similar ethics rules to California’s. Some states have \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/Judicial_election_methods_by_state\">partisan judicial races\u003c/a>, while others don’t elect their judges at all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kang’s research at Northwestern, recently published in a book titled \u003cem>Free to Judge: The Power of Campaign Money in Judicial Elections\u003c/em> showed that when judicial races become a matter of politically charged messaging, judges hand down harsher punishments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“The money matters,” Kang said. “And the more competitive the election — the more partisan, the more politicized — the more the money comes into the elections and affects judges.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Judges sentencing more punitively have \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/californias-prison-population/\">largely hurt Black and brown communities\u003c/a>, said Tinisch Hollins, executive director of Californians for Safety and Justice, a criminal justice reform group. During the era of the three-strikes law, the state’s prison population grew so large it caused “irreversible damage to the community,” according to Hollins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Putting more people in prison just \u003ca href=\"https://nicic.gov/weblink/prison-paradox-more-incarceration-will-not-make-us-safer-2017\">leads to higher rates of crime\u003c/a>, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have evidence — decades and decades of evidence and research — not just from crime data, but in looking at recidivism rates and whether or not these tough-on-crime approaches actually lead to more safety,” she said. “It didn’t.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a post on its website, Stop Crime Action accused Thompson of releasing an alleged drug dealer pending trial last year “despite the fact police arrested the defendant with enough fentanyl to kill as many as 85,400 people.” In an opinion piece for a neighborhood newspaper, the group’s leader, Frank Noto, called the drug dealer’s release a “catastrophic failure.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an interview, Thompson said he could speak in a limited fashion on matters of public record. He explained he imposed stricter requirements on the alleged drug dealer than were handed to him in a court recommendation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judicial canons forced the candidates to tiptoe around questions about their records at a recent debate hosted by Stop Crime Action. Roland and Zecher told KQED they are cognizant of trying to represent their worldview to voters while staying within the bounds of judicial ethics rules. Zecher, a civil attorney, was appointed by Newsom to serve on the board of UC Law San Francisco. Roland, who has been a prosecutor for 22 years, is an assistant district attorney in Jenkins’ office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe that we’re all discovering that the judges play a role in what’s going on in our streets,” Zecher said. “They are the public guardians. And we do want to make sure that our judges are looking at the accountability factor for bad actors on our streets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roland said San Francisco is less safe now than when she was attending Lowell High School.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is just not the same city. And my elderly mother, she won’t even walk down the street because she’s scared,” she said. “I want to have my voice heard, and I want to make a difference so that people can feel safe on the street.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Retired San Francisco Superior Court Judge Lillian Kwok Sing, who supports the incumbents, said she’s concerned the Stop Crime Action campaign may push the boundaries of democracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This Stop Crime (group) is a test on the courts in general,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A presiding judge must assign superior court judges to particular courts. Given Stop Crime Action’s support of the current challengers, retired San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn, who supports Begert, said any presiding judge may not ever assign Zecher and Roland to a courtroom that handles criminal conduct if they win.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let me ask you to put your feet in the shoes of somebody who was accused of being a drug dealer, and you walk into Judge Zecher’s courtroom,” Kahn said. “Do you believe you are going to be treated impartially? I submit you won’t. At least not necessarily because of what he has said, but because of what he has allowed himself to represent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>An attorney representing the family of Mario Gonzalez, who died in April 2021 after Alameda police officers restrained him on the ground, called the $11 million settlement the city has agreed to pay his young son “a historic amount.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our research shows that there’s been no other case in California in the last 10 years where there’s been a death in a civil rights situation that awarded more money to a child,” said Michael Haddad, a civil rights attorney with the Oakland firm Haddad & Sherwin LLP. “Nobody pays [$11 million] if they’re not liable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Haddad spoke to KQED on Friday, a day after the city of Alameda announced it would pay that amount to Gonzalez’s now 7-year-old son, as well as $350,000 to Gonzalez’s mother, Edith Arenales, to settle two federal civil rights lawsuits filed separately against the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“$11 million is a lot of money for a 7-year-old,” Haddad said. “And we felt that that was sufficient to send the message we wanted to send — that law enforcement around the state and around the country has to do better.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Payments for both settlements will come from the California Joint Powers Risk Management Authority, a public entity that insures a handful of California cities against major financial liability, Alameda officials said in a statement on Thursday.[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Michael Haddad, Oakland civil rights attorney\"]‘$11 million is a lot of money for a 7-year-old. And we felt that that was sufficient to send the message we wanted to send, that law enforcement around the state and around the country has to do better.’[/pullquote]The payments “shall fully and forever discharge and release all claims and causes of action … and shall not be construed as an admission by any party of liability,” the statement said. “The City of Alameda remains committed to full transparency and accountability in the tragic death of Mario Gonzalez and extends our heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gonzalez, a 26-year-old man from Oakland, was confronted by three police officers in a small Alameda park on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11871345/city-of-alameda-releases-police-body-cam-footage-of-mario-gonzalez-death\">morning of April 19, 2021\u003c/a>, after several neighbors called 911 reporting a man behaving erratically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As captured in the nearly \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBJnToNolHw\">hour-long police body camera video\u003c/a>, the interaction began calmly, but quickly escalated after the officers made repeated, unsuccessful attempts to obtain Gonzalez’s full name and ID. They then grabbed him, without ever accusing him of a crime or placing him under arrest. When Gonzalez resisted, the officers took him to the ground, pinning him on his stomach, with at least one of them pressing an elbow and knee into his back and shoulder as he struggled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The officers continued to hold Gonzalez in a prone position, his hands restrained behind his back, for roughly five minutes, at which point he went limp and appeared to stop breathing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After officers performed CPR and administered at least two doses of Narcan, used to counteract opiate overdoses, Gonzalez was rushed by paramedics to Alameda Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.[aside label='more on Mario Gonzalez' tag='mario-gonzalez']An autopsy \u003ca href=\"https://www.alamedaca.gov/files/assets/public/alameda-pio/gonzalez-mario-coroners-investigation.pdf\">performed by the Alameda County coroner (PDF)\u003c/a>, and released nearly eight months after the incident, classified Gonzalez’s death as a homicide, but identified the “toxic effects of methamphetamine” as the leading cause of his fatal cardiac arrest. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Second-autopsy-finds-Mario-Gonzalez-died-of-17131892.php\">subsequent independent autopsy\u003c/a>, requested by Haddad’s firm, also classified Gonzalez’s death as a homicide, but concluded he died from “restraint asphyxiation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This didn’t need to happen. And this is the result,” Haddad said of Gonzalez’s death, an incident that sparked fierce local protests and drew comparisons to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis the previous year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was a really egregious case of police misconduct, a violation of the officers’ own training and well-known law enforcement standards to avoid asphyxiating people after they’re handcuffed,” he added. “I wish this would be the last asphyxial death we ever hear of.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly a year after Gonzalez’s death, former Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11910601/no-criminal-charges-against-alameda-officers-in-death-of-mario-gonzalez\">declined to prosecute the three officers\u003c/a>, concluding they had acted reasonably in detaining and arresting him and were not “criminally liable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after taking office earlier this year, Pamela Price, O’Malley’s more progressive successor, listed the case as one of the many officer-involved incidents \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/article/alameda-county-d-a-reopening-investigations-for-17754790.php\">she intended to reopen and investigate\u003c/a>, although her office has yet to announce any new criminal charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that this does put the onus on [Price] now to say what she’s going to do,” Haddad said, “given the extremely large settlement which reflects on the egregiousness of what the officers did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Tara Siler contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The payments “shall fully and forever discharge and release all claims and causes of action … and shall not be construed as an admission by any party of liability,” the statement said. “The City of Alameda remains committed to full transparency and accountability in the tragic death of Mario Gonzalez and extends our heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gonzalez, a 26-year-old man from Oakland, was confronted by three police officers in a small Alameda park on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11871345/city-of-alameda-releases-police-body-cam-footage-of-mario-gonzalez-death\">morning of April 19, 2021\u003c/a>, after several neighbors called 911 reporting a man behaving erratically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As captured in the nearly \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBJnToNolHw\">hour-long police body camera video\u003c/a>, the interaction began calmly, but quickly escalated after the officers made repeated, unsuccessful attempts to obtain Gonzalez’s full name and ID. They then grabbed him, without ever accusing him of a crime or placing him under arrest. When Gonzalez resisted, the officers took him to the ground, pinning him on his stomach, with at least one of them pressing an elbow and knee into his back and shoulder as he struggled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The officers continued to hold Gonzalez in a prone position, his hands restrained behind his back, for roughly five minutes, at which point he went limp and appeared to stop breathing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After officers performed CPR and administered at least two doses of Narcan, used to counteract opiate overdoses, Gonzalez was rushed by paramedics to Alameda Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>An autopsy \u003ca href=\"https://www.alamedaca.gov/files/assets/public/alameda-pio/gonzalez-mario-coroners-investigation.pdf\">performed by the Alameda County coroner (PDF)\u003c/a>, and released nearly eight months after the incident, classified Gonzalez’s death as a homicide, but identified the “toxic effects of methamphetamine” as the leading cause of his fatal cardiac arrest. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Second-autopsy-finds-Mario-Gonzalez-died-of-17131892.php\">subsequent independent autopsy\u003c/a>, requested by Haddad’s firm, also classified Gonzalez’s death as a homicide, but concluded he died from “restraint asphyxiation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This didn’t need to happen. And this is the result,” Haddad said of Gonzalez’s death, an incident that sparked fierce local protests and drew comparisons to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis the previous year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was a really egregious case of police misconduct, a violation of the officers’ own training and well-known law enforcement standards to avoid asphyxiating people after they’re handcuffed,” he added. “I wish this would be the last asphyxial death we ever hear of.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly a year after Gonzalez’s death, former Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11910601/no-criminal-charges-against-alameda-officers-in-death-of-mario-gonzalez\">declined to prosecute the three officers\u003c/a>, concluding they had acted reasonably in detaining and arresting him and were not “criminally liable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after taking office earlier this year, Pamela Price, O’Malley’s more progressive successor, listed the case as one of the many officer-involved incidents \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/article/alameda-county-d-a-reopening-investigations-for-17754790.php\">she intended to reopen and investigate\u003c/a>, although her office has yet to announce any new criminal charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that this does put the onus on [Price] now to say what she’s going to do,” Haddad said, “given the extremely large settlement which reflects on the egregiousness of what the officers did.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Tara Siler contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3:30 p.m. Tuesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors \u003ca href=\"https://sanmateocounty.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=12512250&GUID=EA181DDC-F74E-410B-837C-2B66990FE7DA\">unanimously approved a resolution\u003c/a> on Tuesday establishing an independent civilian advisory commission to oversee the Sheriff’s Office, with added language to hire one or more inspector generals to help steer it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But under the resolution, the seven-member commission will include a sheriff’s appointee and not have any subpoena power, a major point of contention among some residents who argue the body won’t have the authority or independence it needs to spur any real reform.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Belmont resident Beth von Emster was one of nearly 20 people who urged supervisors during public comment to delay the vote and rework the proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The provision in the resolution giving the sheriff the power to nominate one of the seven commissioners is astonishing,” she said. “That nomination power robs the commission of its independence from the very department it’s purporting to observe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board’s vote comes after months of debate over which oversight model would work best for the county. A group of criminal justice advocates pushed for the commission — which will include five community members through an application process — and has argued that it should have subpoena power to hold sheriff’s deputies accountable. Critics of that proposal, however, said such power should be reserved for county-elected officials, as is currently the case. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jim Lawrence, executive director, Fixin’ San Mateo County\"]‘We believe that using subpoena power will be the last resort. We really want this organization to build a relationship with the sheriff’s office to ensure there is open dialogue.’[/pullquote]“Its purpose is to advise the Board of Supervisors, so if there was a specific issue they were concerned about, they would just come forward and advise us. We would [then] consider it, debate it and take it from there,” said District 4 Supervisor Warren Slocum, one of the resolution’s sponsors, who favored a commission without subpoena power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jim Lawrence, executive director of Fixin’ San Mateo County, a nonprofit advocacy group working to create stronger police oversight in the county, said he does not believe the advisory board will use subpoena irresponsibly because there will be other approaches on the table beforehand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We believe that using subpoena power will be the last resort. We really want this organization to build a relationship with the sheriff’s office to ensure there is open dialogue,” Lawrence said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several other counties have established similar oversight boards — including Alameda, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Napa and Sonoma. Some have subpoena powers in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawrence pointed out that in the last couple of years, the county has paid millions of dollars in settlements to civilians who’ve sued over negative interactions with the sheriff’s department. He added that there could be a better way to improve relations between the public and local law enforcement. [aside label='More Stories on San Mateo County' tag='san-mateo-county-sheriffs-office']According to a county spokesperson, the largest settlement of this kind — $4.5 million — was in response to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11725727/multiple-deaths-after-taser-shocks-spur-call-for-change-in-san-mateo-county\">2018 case.\u003c/a> Deputy Joshua Wang tased and killed 36-year-old Chinedu Okobi for allegedly resisting arrest. Okobi died of a cardiac arrest. No deputies were charged for his death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the county also \u003ca href=\"https://www.almanacnews.com/news/2022/12/05/san-mateo-county-pays-woodside-equestrian-750k-settlement-in-wrongful-arrest-lawsuit\">paid\u003c/a> $750,000 to Odette Riegman after deputies arrested her in 2019 following a car accident. Deputies believed that Riegman was under the influence but failed to recognize she instead had a medical emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawrence and other activists also want this board to help prevent the deaths of people in custody. In October, there were two deaths within two days at the Maguire Correctional Facility, which the county sheriff’s department administers. In one case, a 34-year-old man who was part of the behavioral health unit, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.smcsheriff.com/sites/default/files/articles/Expanded%20BHU.pdf\">launched\u003c/a> this year, is \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/10/22/inmate-found-dead-in-his-cell-at-redwood-city-jail/\">reportedly\u003c/a> a suspected suicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those types of incidents in our jails where we’re supposed to be taking care of people, something has to be done,” Lawrence said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added that he is concerned about staffing shortages, given other reported deaths by suicide at the facility in recent years, as reported by the California Department of Justice. (At least two San Mateo County grand jury reports in 2005 and 2012 cited overcrowding at the facility.) [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\" San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus\"]‘It takes changing from within, and I just don’t want it to be a divisive, dysfunctional process, which will then hold up the way I can lead the organization.’[/pullquote]From 2005 to 2022, the San Mateo Sheriff’s Department reported 19 deaths of civilians in custody to the California Department of Justice (most of them are labeled “natural causes”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A deputy’s mental health is among the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11939844/why-some-police-departments-say-officer-wellness-is-key-to-protecting-communities\">top priorities\u003c/a> for San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus, who has served in the role since 2022 when she was elected the county’s first female sheriff. She said she’s against the oversight board proposal, arguing for other ways to improve community relations. She added that the department is working on hiring more deputies, improving training and creating its own advisory boards composed of civilians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It takes changing from within, and I just don’t want it to be a divisive, dysfunctional process, which will then hold up the way I can lead the organization,” Corpus said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Nik Altenberg contributed reporting to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3:30 p.m. Tuesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors \u003ca href=\"https://sanmateocounty.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=12512250&GUID=EA181DDC-F74E-410B-837C-2B66990FE7DA\">unanimously approved a resolution\u003c/a> on Tuesday establishing an independent civilian advisory commission to oversee the Sheriff’s Office, with added language to hire one or more inspector generals to help steer it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But under the resolution, the seven-member commission will include a sheriff’s appointee and not have any subpoena power, a major point of contention among some residents who argue the body won’t have the authority or independence it needs to spur any real reform.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Belmont resident Beth von Emster was one of nearly 20 people who urged supervisors during public comment to delay the vote and rework the proposal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The provision in the resolution giving the sheriff the power to nominate one of the seven commissioners is astonishing,” she said. “That nomination power robs the commission of its independence from the very department it’s purporting to observe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board’s vote comes after months of debate over which oversight model would work best for the county. A group of criminal justice advocates pushed for the commission — which will include five community members through an application process — and has argued that it should have subpoena power to hold sheriff’s deputies accountable. Critics of that proposal, however, said such power should be reserved for county-elected officials, as is currently the case. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>According to a county spokesperson, the largest settlement of this kind — $4.5 million — was in response to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11725727/multiple-deaths-after-taser-shocks-spur-call-for-change-in-san-mateo-county\">2018 case.\u003c/a> Deputy Joshua Wang tased and killed 36-year-old Chinedu Okobi for allegedly resisting arrest. Okobi died of a cardiac arrest. No deputies were charged for his death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the county also \u003ca href=\"https://www.almanacnews.com/news/2022/12/05/san-mateo-county-pays-woodside-equestrian-750k-settlement-in-wrongful-arrest-lawsuit\">paid\u003c/a> $750,000 to Odette Riegman after deputies arrested her in 2019 following a car accident. Deputies believed that Riegman was under the influence but failed to recognize she instead had a medical emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawrence and other activists also want this board to help prevent the deaths of people in custody. In October, there were two deaths within two days at the Maguire Correctional Facility, which the county sheriff’s department administers. In one case, a 34-year-old man who was part of the behavioral health unit, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.smcsheriff.com/sites/default/files/articles/Expanded%20BHU.pdf\">launched\u003c/a> this year, is \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/10/22/inmate-found-dead-in-his-cell-at-redwood-city-jail/\">reportedly\u003c/a> a suspected suicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Those types of incidents in our jails where we’re supposed to be taking care of people, something has to be done,” Lawrence said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He added that he is concerned about staffing shortages, given other reported deaths by suicide at the facility in recent years, as reported by the California Department of Justice. (At least two San Mateo County grand jury reports in 2005 and 2012 cited overcrowding at the facility.) \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>From 2005 to 2022, the San Mateo Sheriff’s Department reported 19 deaths of civilians in custody to the California Department of Justice (most of them are labeled “natural causes”).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A deputy’s mental health is among the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11939844/why-some-police-departments-say-officer-wellness-is-key-to-protecting-communities\">top priorities\u003c/a> for San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus, who has served in the role since 2022 when she was elected the county’s first female sheriff. She said she’s against the oversight board proposal, arguing for other ways to improve community relations. She added that the department is working on hiring more deputies, improving training and creating its own advisory boards composed of civilians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It takes changing from within, and I just don’t want it to be a divisive, dysfunctional process, which will then hold up the way I can lead the organization,” Corpus said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Nik Altenberg contributed reporting to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The parent company of Instagram and Facebook has sued the Federal Trade Commission in an attempt to stop the agency from reopening a 2020 privacy settlement with the company that would prohibit it from profiting from data it collects on users under 18.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a lawsuit filed late Wednesday in federal court in Washington, D.C., Meta Platforms Inc. said it is challenging “the structurally unconstitutional authority exercised by the FTC” in reopening the privacy agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.)\"]‘In the face of a potentially massive fine, Meta’s adoption of extreme, right-wing legal theories to challenge our country’s premier consumer protection agency reeks of desperation.’[/pullquote]“Meta respectfully requests that this Court declare that certain fundamental aspects of the Commission’s structure violate the U.S. Constitution, and that these violations render unlawful the FTC Proceeding against Meta,” the company says in its complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dispute stems from a \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/general-news-7fa2c8a26b34436d89a1c7aff9914f70\">2020 consent agreement\u003c/a> Meta made with the FTC that also had the social media giant pay a record $5 billion fine over privacy violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May of this year, the FTC said Meta \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/facebook-kids-messenger-ftc-privacy-children-6158aa59dee25c473e49f7df16f502ec\">failed to fully comply with the 2020 settlement\u003c/a> and proposed sweeping changes to the agreement, including barring Meta from making money from data it collects on minors. This would include data collected through its virtual-reality products.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FTC had no comment on the lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11965392 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/GettyImages-1440405373-1020x734.jpg']Meta’s complaint came after the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Wednesday \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-regulatory-agencies-sec-enforcement-c3a3cae2f4bc5f53dd6a23e99d3a1fac\">seemed open to a challenge\u003c/a> to how the Securities and Exchange Commission fights fraud in a case that could have far-reaching effects on other regulatory agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A majority of the nine-member court suggested that people accused of fraud by the SEC should have the right to have their cases decided by a jury in federal court, instead of by the SEC’s in-house administrative law judges, echoing elements of Meta’s lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, a frequent critic of Meta and other Big Tech companies, called Meta’s lawsuit a “weak attempt to avoid accountability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the face of a potentially massive fine, Meta’s adoption of extreme, right-wing legal theories to challenge our country’s premier consumer protection agency reeks of desperation,” Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The parent company of Instagram and Facebook has sued the Federal Trade Commission in an attempt to stop the agency from reopening a 2020 privacy settlement with the company that would prohibit it from profiting from data it collects on users under 18.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a lawsuit filed late Wednesday in federal court in Washington, D.C., Meta Platforms Inc. said it is challenging “the structurally unconstitutional authority exercised by the FTC” in reopening the privacy agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Meta respectfully requests that this Court declare that certain fundamental aspects of the Commission’s structure violate the U.S. Constitution, and that these violations render unlawful the FTC Proceeding against Meta,” the company says in its complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The dispute stems from a \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/general-news-7fa2c8a26b34436d89a1c7aff9914f70\">2020 consent agreement\u003c/a> Meta made with the FTC that also had the social media giant pay a record $5 billion fine over privacy violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May of this year, the FTC said Meta \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/facebook-kids-messenger-ftc-privacy-children-6158aa59dee25c473e49f7df16f502ec\">failed to fully comply with the 2020 settlement\u003c/a> and proposed sweeping changes to the agreement, including barring Meta from making money from data it collects on minors. This would include data collected through its virtual-reality products.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The FTC had no comment on the lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Meta’s complaint came after the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Wednesday \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-regulatory-agencies-sec-enforcement-c3a3cae2f4bc5f53dd6a23e99d3a1fac\">seemed open to a challenge\u003c/a> to how the Securities and Exchange Commission fights fraud in a case that could have far-reaching effects on other regulatory agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A majority of the nine-member court suggested that people accused of fraud by the SEC should have the right to have their cases decided by a jury in federal court, instead of by the SEC’s in-house administrative law judges, echoing elements of Meta’s lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, a frequent critic of Meta and other Big Tech companies, called Meta’s lawsuit a “weak attempt to avoid accountability.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the face of a potentially massive fine, Meta’s adoption of extreme, right-wing legal theories to challenge our country’s premier consumer protection agency reeks of desperation,” Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "David DePape Faces Second Trial for Attempting to Kidnap Nancy Pelosi — Here’s Why",
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"content": "\u003cp>A San Francisco judge has set a trial date for David DePape to face attempted murder and other state-level charges for attempting to kidnap Nancy Pelosi last year and striking her husband repeatedly in the head with a hammer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If that’s beginning to sound like deja vu, there’s good reason: DePape was already found guilty on federal charges of attempting to kidnap Nancy Pelosi and assaulting her husband after a weeklong trial earlier this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But facing a second trial may mean it’s far more likely DePape will take a plea deal in his state case, experts told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jessica Levinson, professor, Loyola Law School in Los Angeles\"]‘They may just find that there is a way to settle this without spending the time and resources necessary for a trial.’[/pullquote]When asked Wednesday if he would take a plea deal, DePape’s public defender, Adam Lipson, told reporters outside the courtroom, “Anything is possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two trials are related but distinct: The federal case \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11967427/depapes-motivation-for-trying-to-kidnap-nancy-pelosi-is-key-defense-says-in-closing-argument\">hinged on the motivations for the attack and attempted kidnapping\u003c/a>, with both charges requiring a suspect intended to impede or interfere with a federal official’s duties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This second trial, now set for Jan. 12, will see DePape face state charges, which by all accounts are far more straightforward. He’s accused of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, residential burglary, false imprisonment and threatening the life or serious bodily harm to a public official.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11966865,news_11967247,news_11967180\" label=\"Related Stories\"]That may mean DePape faces even more time in prison for related crimes. And DePape’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11967595/david-depape-found-guilty-in-paul-pelosi-hammer-attack\">guilty verdict in his federal trial\u003c/a> may lead to a plea deal in state court, one legal expert said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They may just find that there is a way to settle this without spending the time and resources necessary for a trial,” said Loyola law professor Jessica Levinson, adding that the case is likely an easier win for the prosecution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rory Little, a professor of law at UC Law SF, agreed. He said a second conviction may mean DePape serves a stint in state prison after federal prison or serves both sentences simultaneously, depending on what attorneys agree to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All those are up in the air,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DePape has yet to be sentenced in federal court, where he faces a maximum of 50 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A sentencing date may emerge in a federal post-trial hearing set for Dec. 13. As for his state charges, those carry a potential sentence of 13 years to life imprisonment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the elements of the state charges against DePape have already been proven by abundant video and other evidence – including DePape’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11967247/david-depape-on-witness-stand-details-grand-plan-to-violently-interrogate-nancy-pelosi\">own repeated admissions\u003c/a> – presented at the federal trial that ended with a guilty verdict on Nov. 16.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was “right in front of cops, too,” DePape said to a paramedic on a recording from the night of the attack, which prosecutors played for a federal jury just two weeks ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Cops watched me do it. You guys need evidence? There’s no denying what I did. The cops watched me do it,” he said on the recording.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Levinson said the mountain of video evidence introduced in federal court – which includes that interview – would almost certainly come into play again on the state level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DePape \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11966378/federal-trial-set-to-start-for-man-who-attacked-nancy-pelosis-husband-with-a-hammer\">broke into the Pelosi home a year ago\u003c/a>, headed to the third floor where Paul Pelosi lay sleeping and woke him, asking for Nancy Pelosi, who was in Washington D.C. Paul Pelosi managed to call 911. Police officers arrived in the early hours of the morning on Oct. 28, 2022, and when they ordered DePape to drop the hammer he was holding, DePape refused and then bludgeoned Paul Pelosi three times in the skull.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DePape told police details of his plans after his immediate arrest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He said that he wanted to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage and get her to tell him the truth and that if she wasn’t going to tell him the truth, he would break her kneecaps,” San Francisco Police Department Lt. Carla Hurley testified previously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Testifying in his own defense in the federal trial, DePape said he planned to wear an inflatable unicorn costume while livestreaming his interrogation of Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congress uniquely crafted the federal charges to guard against the assault of federal officials and require that the suspect had the “intent to impede, intimidate or interfere” with a federal official’s duties or “on account of” those duties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In federal court, DePape’s defense attorneys unsuccessfully leaned into those requirements, arguing that he was not motivated by Nancy Pelosi’s actual duties but rather by incredible right-wing conspiracies that are detached from reality. On the witness stand, DePape described his descent into a conspiratorial rabbit hole by listening to hours and hours of right-wing YouTube videos while he played video games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That defense strategy echoes ones used\u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/15/paul-pelosi-jan-6-riot-00127267\"> largely unsuccessfully\u003c/a> by attorneys defending Jan. 6, 2021 insurrectionists earlier this year, including arguments that focused on defendants’ conspiratorial leanings and portrayed them as unaware of the “official duties” of their targets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By contrast, only one of DePape’s state charges hinges on Nancy Pelosi’s status as a U.S. representative — threatening the life or serious bodily harm to a public official.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rest are charges that could’ve been brought against him for attacking anyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a breaking story and may be updated.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That may mean DePape faces even more time in prison for related crimes. And DePape’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11967595/david-depape-found-guilty-in-paul-pelosi-hammer-attack\">guilty verdict in his federal trial\u003c/a> may lead to a plea deal in state court, one legal expert said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They may just find that there is a way to settle this without spending the time and resources necessary for a trial,” said Loyola law professor Jessica Levinson, adding that the case is likely an easier win for the prosecution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rory Little, a professor of law at UC Law SF, agreed. He said a second conviction may mean DePape serves a stint in state prison after federal prison or serves both sentences simultaneously, depending on what attorneys agree to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All those are up in the air,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DePape has yet to be sentenced in federal court, where he faces a maximum of 50 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. A sentencing date may emerge in a federal post-trial hearing set for Dec. 13. As for his state charges, those carry a potential sentence of 13 years to life imprisonment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the elements of the state charges against DePape have already been proven by abundant video and other evidence – including DePape’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11967247/david-depape-on-witness-stand-details-grand-plan-to-violently-interrogate-nancy-pelosi\">own repeated admissions\u003c/a> – presented at the federal trial that ended with a guilty verdict on Nov. 16.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was “right in front of cops, too,” DePape said to a paramedic on a recording from the night of the attack, which prosecutors played for a federal jury just two weeks ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Cops watched me do it. You guys need evidence? There’s no denying what I did. The cops watched me do it,” he said on the recording.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Levinson said the mountain of video evidence introduced in federal court – which includes that interview – would almost certainly come into play again on the state level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DePape \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11966378/federal-trial-set-to-start-for-man-who-attacked-nancy-pelosis-husband-with-a-hammer\">broke into the Pelosi home a year ago\u003c/a>, headed to the third floor where Paul Pelosi lay sleeping and woke him, asking for Nancy Pelosi, who was in Washington D.C. Paul Pelosi managed to call 911. Police officers arrived in the early hours of the morning on Oct. 28, 2022, and when they ordered DePape to drop the hammer he was holding, DePape refused and then bludgeoned Paul Pelosi three times in the skull.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DePape told police details of his plans after his immediate arrest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He said that he wanted to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage and get her to tell him the truth and that if she wasn’t going to tell him the truth, he would break her kneecaps,” San Francisco Police Department Lt. Carla Hurley testified previously.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Testifying in his own defense in the federal trial, DePape said he planned to wear an inflatable unicorn costume while livestreaming his interrogation of Pelosi.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Congress uniquely crafted the federal charges to guard against the assault of federal officials and require that the suspect had the “intent to impede, intimidate or interfere” with a federal official’s duties or “on account of” those duties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In federal court, DePape’s defense attorneys unsuccessfully leaned into those requirements, arguing that he was not motivated by Nancy Pelosi’s actual duties but rather by incredible right-wing conspiracies that are detached from reality. On the witness stand, DePape described his descent into a conspiratorial rabbit hole by listening to hours and hours of right-wing YouTube videos while he played video games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That defense strategy echoes ones used\u003ca href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/15/paul-pelosi-jan-6-riot-00127267\"> largely unsuccessfully\u003c/a> by attorneys defending Jan. 6, 2021 insurrectionists earlier this year, including arguments that focused on defendants’ conspiratorial leanings and portrayed them as unaware of the “official duties” of their targets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By contrast, only one of DePape’s state charges hinges on Nancy Pelosi’s status as a U.S. representative — threatening the life or serious bodily harm to a public official.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rest are charges that could’ve been brought against him for attacking anyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a breaking story and may be updated.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A jury has awarded more than $1 million to two clerks in the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department after the office failed to properly investigate claims that white employees subjected them to a hostile work environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plaintiffs Danielle Dillard and Kim Lee \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Two-sheriff-s-clerks-sue-San-Francisco-15458448.php\">sued their employers at the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office in 2020\u003c/a> for violating the Fair Employment and Housing Act. The four-week trial ended this month. On Nov. 15, the jury sided with the plaintiffs on claims that they were targeted by white employees and forced to endure racial harassment. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Angela Alioto, lead trial counsel for the case\"]It’s such a great victory that this jury saw right through the city’s pretexts and saw the insidious racism that is at different offices throughout the city, but specifically in this case at the sheriff’s office.’[/pullquote]“It’s such a great victory that this jury saw right through the city’s pretexts and saw the insidious racism that is at different offices throughout the city, but specifically in this case at the sheriff’s office,” said Angela Alioto, lead trial counsel for the case. “The hatred that is racism has no place in San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dillard and Lee, who are both Black, process warrants for crime suspects at the sheriff’s office. The two spoke out about their experience and the verdict in their favor at a press conference on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My family was accused of being gang members,” Dillard told reporters at a Monday press conference. “It was overwhelming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their lawsuit, the women claimed they were repeatedly subject to explicitly racist language and other workplace discrimination and that they faced retaliation, including threats she could lose her job after complaining about officers who were perpetuating harmful behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That included an incident where a supervisor named Sgt. Phyllis Washington referred to Dillard as a “monkey.” Attorneys representing the plaintiffs also said a noose was once presented in the workplace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dillard, who was also a union shop steward, reported her and other union members’ experience with racial discrimination at work. The department responded by issuing Dillard a cease-and-desist order to no longer communicate with employees in her unit, legal documents show. [aside postID=news_11964200 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/RS67115_20230719-cityhallrally-10-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg']Lee was accused of trying to steal information and said she experienced retaliation for seeking time off. A supervisor also called her a monkey, and a boss threatened to suspend her for raising concerns about the work environment. She was issued a cease-and-desist order as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They called me a thief, a liar and a criminal. It really hurt,” Lee said. “I had endured so much before, and I just continued to sweep it underneath the rug.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lee said she was also asked to change her physical appearance, including her hairstyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was excruciating for me because I had to shave my head,” Lee said at a press conference on Monday. “They didn’t want me to color my hair, which I had been coloring for over 20 years. It was very emotional for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The jury unanimously agreed to provide the plaintiffs $1,139,400, with $523,400 going to Dillard and $616,000 for Lee. Both women remain working in the department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a joint statement with the city attorney, the Sheriff’s Department said it is committed to addressing harassing behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As one of the most diverse sheriff’s departments in the nation that values equity and inclusion, any form of harassment or discriminatory behavior is antithetical to our values,” the statement reads. “We are surprised and disappointed by the outcome of this case and will be working with the City Attorney’s Office to evaluate any next steps.” [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Kim Lee, clerk, San Francisco Sheriff’s Department\"]‘I had endured so much before, and I just continued to sweep it underneath the rug.’[/pullquote]Alioto, the former San Francisco supervisor and civil rights attorney who represented the plaintiffs, said she intends to take up similar cases in other city departments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a wake-up call. The floodgates are open,” she said at the press conference on Monday. “Black people are treated so badly in each and every city department. Underpaid, less shift changes, less overtime, less sick time, for the same job just because you’re Black.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the verdict, Lee said, “I’m happy I can move on. I can build myself back up, and I know I don’t ever have to be silenced on any job nowhere else.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED reporters \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/eromero\">Ezra David Romero\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/jlara\">Juan Carlos Lara\u003c/a> contributed to this story. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "San Francisco warrant clerks who sued the sheriff’s office in 2020 for racial harassment will receive a combined settlement of more than $1 million.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It’s such a great victory that this jury saw right through the city’s pretexts and saw the insidious racism that is at different offices throughout the city, but specifically in this case at the sheriff’s office,” said Angela Alioto, lead trial counsel for the case. “The hatred that is racism has no place in San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dillard and Lee, who are both Black, process warrants for crime suspects at the sheriff’s office. The two spoke out about their experience and the verdict in their favor at a press conference on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My family was accused of being gang members,” Dillard told reporters at a Monday press conference. “It was overwhelming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In their lawsuit, the women claimed they were repeatedly subject to explicitly racist language and other workplace discrimination and that they faced retaliation, including threats she could lose her job after complaining about officers who were perpetuating harmful behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That included an incident where a supervisor named Sgt. Phyllis Washington referred to Dillard as a “monkey.” Attorneys representing the plaintiffs also said a noose was once presented in the workplace.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dillard, who was also a union shop steward, reported her and other union members’ experience with racial discrimination at work. The department responded by issuing Dillard a cease-and-desist order to no longer communicate with employees in her unit, legal documents show. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Lee was accused of trying to steal information and said she experienced retaliation for seeking time off. A supervisor also called her a monkey, and a boss threatened to suspend her for raising concerns about the work environment. She was issued a cease-and-desist order as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They called me a thief, a liar and a criminal. It really hurt,” Lee said. “I had endured so much before, and I just continued to sweep it underneath the rug.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lee said she was also asked to change her physical appearance, including her hairstyle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was excruciating for me because I had to shave my head,” Lee said at a press conference on Monday. “They didn’t want me to color my hair, which I had been coloring for over 20 years. It was very emotional for me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The jury unanimously agreed to provide the plaintiffs $1,139,400, with $523,400 going to Dillard and $616,000 for Lee. Both women remain working in the department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a joint statement with the city attorney, the Sheriff’s Department said it is committed to addressing harassing behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As one of the most diverse sheriff’s departments in the nation that values equity and inclusion, any form of harassment or discriminatory behavior is antithetical to our values,” the statement reads. “We are surprised and disappointed by the outcome of this case and will be working with the City Attorney’s Office to evaluate any next steps.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Amid Recall Rule Confusion, Alameda DA Pamela Price's 'Protect the Win' Campaign Braces for Tough Fight",
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"content": "\u003cp>Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price launched “Protect the Win,” her campaign against \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11964884/alameda-county-recall-laws-may-change-and-pamela-price-could-benefit\">an anticipated recall\u003c/a>, on Thursday in downtown Oakland, as the progressive DA and her supporters prepare to face well-funded and determined recall proponents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was a crowd of about 70 people, and it felt like a holiday party in the low-lit event space. Attendees with colorful name tags milled around the venue, striking up conversations and eating slices of pizza. The warm mood belied the fact that many in attendance believe a major progressive win in the county is facing a grave threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We find ourselves at a critical juncture in our community’s history, facing a decision that can shape the future of our criminal justice system and the impact on our communities,” said supporter Saabir Lockett, who spent 21 years in prison and is now deputy director of civic engagement and faith-rooted organizing at the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11966518 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/GettyImages-1322370857-1020x680.jpg']The recall of Price has yet to qualify for the ballot. Last week, recall proponents Save Alameda for Everyone: Recall DA Price — or SAFE — reported that they are well on the way to collecting the required number of signatures for the recall to be certified by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While a recall election seems increasingly likely, the date voters would cast their ballots remains a point of contention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SAFE, which has criticized Price’s progressive policies like not charging minors as adults, wants the recall election to be held in June, which would be in accordance with county recall rules. But the registrar of voters sought to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11964884/alameda-county-recall-laws-may-change-and-pamela-price-could-benefit\">amend the county’s recall laws\u003c/a> in favor of state rules, saying the current rules are outdated and infeasible. The county has good reason to be looking closely at its processes \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/03/15/recount-oakland-mayors-race-wont-happen-registrar-2022-election/\">after errors in last year’s election brought voter confidence in the office to a new low\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The difference between the state and county rules on recalls is key because each set of rules has distinct timelines. Special and primary elections tend to have lower voter turnout than general elections, especially during a presidential election year. State rules favor holding the recall in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967803\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11967803\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-06-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A woman holds a purple and white sign.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-06-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-06-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-06-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-06-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-06.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marcela Muñoz poses for a portrait at the launch of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price’s campaign, ‘Protect the Win,’ in Oakland on Nov. 16, 2023, to fight back against her recall. Muñoz, a community organizer with Parent Voices Oakland, said she knocked on doors in Alameda County to support Price’s campaign for the DA last year and says she’s ready to do it again to defeat the recall effort. \u003ccite>(Annelise Finney/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>State rules would give the registrar more time to count and verify signatures. It would also raise the number of signatures required by about 20,000. On Tuesday, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, in a contentious 3–2 vote, put the decision in the hands of voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The supervisors agreed the rules need to be updated, but differed on whether the changes should happen with a recall pending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Pamela Price, district attorney, Alameda County\"]‘I am doing nothing more, nothing less than implementing the will of the voters of Alameda County. I will continue to do my job.’[/pullquote]“To me, it seems like it’s interfering with elections,” said Board President Nate Miley, who voted against sending the item to voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The issue goes back to the board for a second reading on Nov. 28. If approved, voters will decide on March 5 whether the county will adopt the state’s rules which experts say would favor Price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if voters favor the change, it’s unclear whether the new rules would apply to a Price recall. The deadline for SAFE to submit their signatures is the same day as the vote on recall rules. SAFE has said it plans to submit signatures before the deadline. It would likely take a few days for the Secretary of State to certify the results of the March 5 election, meaning the rules might change after a signature count is underway. The confusion has led to threats of lawsuits from both sides of the recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know that this won’t be resolved outside of a court of law,” David Haubert, the board’s vice president.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Protect the Win launch, Price seemed a bit tired — and unfazed by a potential recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am doing nothing more, nothing less than implementing the will of the voters of Alameda County,” she said. “I will continue to do my job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon after her win last November, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11935709/change-is-hard-alameda-da-elect-pamela-price-talks-about-the-road-ahead\">Price told KQED she thought a recall was inevitable.\u003c/a> “I don’t know that there is a way to chart a progressive course without incurring a recall,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a conversation with KQED last week, she struck an optimistic tone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have confidence in the people of Alameda County,” she said. “This is not San Francisco. We are a diverse, dynamic community that listens. We’re educated. People pay attention.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Price appears to be banking on voters that have turned out for progressive issues in the past. That might happen but, at least for the moment, Price’s campaign trails the recall in a number of metrics. According to campaign finance filing as of Nov. 15, Price is being financially outpaced by recall supporters. For every $15 raised by Protect the Win, SAFE has brought in around $700.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967801\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11967801\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-03-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two people sit at a table looking out to the distance.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-03-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-03-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-03-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-03-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-03.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Civil rights attorney Walter Riley and another campaign volunteer listen as Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price addresses attendees at the launch of her ‘Protect the Win’ campaign in Oakland on Nov. 16, 2023, to fight back against her recall. \u003ccite>(Annelise Finney/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At Protect the Win’s launch, people handed out “decline to sign” window signage, and coached attendees on how to talk with their friends and neighbors about their support for Price. Speakers emphasized that what the campaign lacks in funds it will make up in people power. The numbers aren’t promising there, either. Protect the Win estimates it has 65 registered volunteers. On Friday, Grisham told KQED that SAFE has 3,100.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the stage, Stanley Cox, an Oakland rapper and entrepreneur known as Mistah F.A.B., made a call to action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of us are just sitting back watching. You got a lot of watchers,” he said. “What we need now are the doers. We need the workers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The recall of Price has yet to qualify for the ballot. Last week, recall proponents Save Alameda for Everyone: Recall DA Price — or SAFE — reported that they are well on the way to collecting the required number of signatures for the recall to be certified by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While a recall election seems increasingly likely, the date voters would cast their ballots remains a point of contention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SAFE, which has criticized Price’s progressive policies like not charging minors as adults, wants the recall election to be held in June, which would be in accordance with county recall rules. But the registrar of voters sought to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11964884/alameda-county-recall-laws-may-change-and-pamela-price-could-benefit\">amend the county’s recall laws\u003c/a> in favor of state rules, saying the current rules are outdated and infeasible. The county has good reason to be looking closely at its processes \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2023/03/15/recount-oakland-mayors-race-wont-happen-registrar-2022-election/\">after errors in last year’s election brought voter confidence in the office to a new low\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The difference between the state and county rules on recalls is key because each set of rules has distinct timelines. Special and primary elections tend to have lower voter turnout than general elections, especially during a presidential election year. State rules favor holding the recall in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967803\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11967803\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-06-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A woman holds a purple and white sign.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-06-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-06-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-06-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-06-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-06.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marcela Muñoz poses for a portrait at the launch of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price’s campaign, ‘Protect the Win,’ in Oakland on Nov. 16, 2023, to fight back against her recall. Muñoz, a community organizer with Parent Voices Oakland, said she knocked on doors in Alameda County to support Price’s campaign for the DA last year and says she’s ready to do it again to defeat the recall effort. \u003ccite>(Annelise Finney/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>State rules would give the registrar more time to count and verify signatures. It would also raise the number of signatures required by about 20,000. On Tuesday, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, in a contentious 3–2 vote, put the decision in the hands of voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The supervisors agreed the rules need to be updated, but differed on whether the changes should happen with a recall pending.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I am doing nothing more, nothing less than implementing the will of the voters of Alameda County. I will continue to do my job.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“To me, it seems like it’s interfering with elections,” said Board President Nate Miley, who voted against sending the item to voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The issue goes back to the board for a second reading on Nov. 28. If approved, voters will decide on March 5 whether the county will adopt the state’s rules which experts say would favor Price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if voters favor the change, it’s unclear whether the new rules would apply to a Price recall. The deadline for SAFE to submit their signatures is the same day as the vote on recall rules. SAFE has said it plans to submit signatures before the deadline. It would likely take a few days for the Secretary of State to certify the results of the March 5 election, meaning the rules might change after a signature count is underway. The confusion has led to threats of lawsuits from both sides of the recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know that this won’t be resolved outside of a court of law,” David Haubert, the board’s vice president.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Protect the Win launch, Price seemed a bit tired — and unfazed by a potential recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am doing nothing more, nothing less than implementing the will of the voters of Alameda County,” she said. “I will continue to do my job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon after her win last November, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11935709/change-is-hard-alameda-da-elect-pamela-price-talks-about-the-road-ahead\">Price told KQED she thought a recall was inevitable.\u003c/a> “I don’t know that there is a way to chart a progressive course without incurring a recall,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a conversation with KQED last week, she struck an optimistic tone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have confidence in the people of Alameda County,” she said. “This is not San Francisco. We are a diverse, dynamic community that listens. We’re educated. People pay attention.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Price appears to be banking on voters that have turned out for progressive issues in the past. That might happen but, at least for the moment, Price’s campaign trails the recall in a number of metrics. According to campaign finance filing as of Nov. 15, Price is being financially outpaced by recall supporters. For every $15 raised by Protect the Win, SAFE has brought in around $700.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967801\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11967801\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-03-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Two people sit at a table looking out to the distance.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-03-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-03-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-03-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-03-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231116-PamelaPrice-03.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Civil rights attorney Walter Riley and another campaign volunteer listen as Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price addresses attendees at the launch of her ‘Protect the Win’ campaign in Oakland on Nov. 16, 2023, to fight back against her recall. \u003ccite>(Annelise Finney/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At Protect the Win’s launch, people handed out “decline to sign” window signage, and coached attendees on how to talk with their friends and neighbors about their support for Price. Speakers emphasized that what the campaign lacks in funds it will make up in people power. The numbers aren’t promising there, either. Protect the Win estimates it has 65 registered volunteers. On Friday, Grisham told KQED that SAFE has 3,100.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the stage, Stanley Cox, an Oakland rapper and entrepreneur known as Mistah F.A.B., made a call to action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of us are just sitting back watching. You got a lot of watchers,” he said. “What we need now are the doers. We need the workers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "bay-area-priests-accused-of-child-molestation-remain-in-active-ministry",
"title": "Bay Area Priests Accused of Child Molestation Remain in Active Ministry",
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"headTitle": "Bay Area Priests Accused of Child Molestation Remain in Active Ministry | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual abuse and may be disturbing to some readers.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A San Mateo priest accused of molestation in a lawsuit is one of two accused clergy who remain in active ministry with the Archdiocese of San Francisco as the church faces renewed questions over how it responds to sexual abuse allegations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The lawsuit, filed in Alameda County in November 2022, alleges Father Linh Tien Nguyen sexually abused a former altar boy and student of St. Pius Catholic Church and School in Redwood City between approximately 2005 and 2008\u003c/span>. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Dan McNevin, Oakland leader, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests\"]‘If there’s any good news in this, it’s that this survivor had the courage at a very young age to come forward and has probably expedited the healing of a lot more kids.’[/pullquote]The plaintiff in the case, identified as “M.S.,” alleges he was between 10 and 13 years old. He is now in his late 20s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This young person has got a lot of courage,” said Dan McNevin, Oakland leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. “If there’s any good news in this, it’s that this survivor had the courage at a very young age to come forward and has probably expedited the healing of a lot more kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Official Catholic Church records show Nguyen worked as a pastor at St. Pius from 2005 through 2009. He is currently an associate pastor at St. Bartholomew Parish in San Mateo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nguyen and other staff members of St. Bartholomew did not respond to KQED’s requests for comment on the allegation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A second priest, Father David Ghiorso, faces multiple allegations of sexual abuse of young boys at St. Vincent’s School for Boys in San Rafael and a Sonoma County summer camp in the 1980s and ’90s, according to court records and a source familiar with one of the cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The details of the accusations are laid out in documents from two lawsuits filed in Alameda County — one in 2020 and another in 2022. Today, Ghiorso is the pastor of St. Charles Parish in San Carlos and St. Matthias Church in Redwood City. [aside postID=news_11957801 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/230727-Oakland-Diocese-Sexual-Abuse-MHN-05-KQED-1020x680.jpg']The allegations in the lawsuits have not been proven. The plaintiffs either declined or did not respond to interview requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can tell you that the Archdiocese followed its procedures in the instances you raised and that Fr. Ghiorso and Fr. Nguyen are priests in good standing and have faculties to minister in the Archdiocese,” Peter Marlow, the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s executive director of communications and media relations, told KQED in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Archdiocese also denies the allegations in legal filings.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">News of the allegation against Nguyen comes as the Archdiocese is pressed for details in bankruptcy proceedings about how it handles sexual abuse allegations, and which priests it has deemed credibly accused.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Nov. 8, the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which represents survivors, requested the court’s authorization to subpoena the Archdiocese for documents on the church’s finances and allegations of abuse dating back multiple decades. The Archdiocese objected, calling the request “excessively overbroad, vague and harassing.” A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967384\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1679px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11967384\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FrLinhTienNguyen.jpg\" alt=\"A man poses for a portrait looking at the camera with his hand on his chin.\" width=\"1679\" height=\"1119\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FrLinhTienNguyen.jpg 1679w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FrLinhTienNguyen-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FrLinhTienNguyen-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FrLinhTienNguyen-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FrLinhTienNguyen-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1679px) 100vw, 1679px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A newsletter for St. Veronica’s Parish includes a welcome note and a photo of Father Linh Tien Nguyen. \u003ccite>(St. Veronica’s Parish Newsletter)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Archdiocese \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11958733/sf-archdiocese-files-for-bankruptcy\">sought Chapter 11 protection in federal bankruptcy court\u003c/a> in August as it faced more than 530 lawsuits filed by individuals alleging sexual abuse by clergy or others associated with the Archdiocese under a 2019 state law, Assembly Bill 218, or the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB218\">California Child Victims Act\u003c/a>. The law waived all time limits for abuse claims from 2020 through the end of last year, and it permanently extended age limits to sue for childhood molestation — from age 26 to 40 years old or within five years after the discovery of the abuse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The bankruptcy proceedings effectively froze all the state court cases filed against the San Francisco Archdiocese, its institutions and clergy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent back-to-back legal calls in the bankruptcy case, representatives of the Archdiocese answered questions under oath from the Office of the U.S. Trustee and the committee about the church’s financial situation and knowledge of abuse allegations. Officials said the church had found no accusations against clergy to be credible in the past decade, but has become aware of multiple allegations in that time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a Sept. 28 meeting of creditors, the Archdiocese’s Vicar General, Father Patrick Summerhays, disclosed that two active priests and two retired priests had been accused of abuse. Each has been exonerated by the church’s internal process, according to the Archdiocese. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, Archdiocese of San Francisco\"]‘I have not yet received a credible allegation against a priest, although I have received allegations.’[/pullquote]“I have not yet received a credible allegation against a priest, although I have received allegations,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said two weeks later in a continuation of the hearing, referring to his 11 years as Archbishop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked how many cases the Archdiocese has received in that time, Cordileone said there have been seven or eight accusations the church has had to investigate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Archdiocese’s process for responding to an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor involves reporting the allegation to civil authorities and removing the accused priest from active ministry while an investigation is conducted by a qualified investigator. A report on the findings of that investigation are handed over to the Archdiocese’s Independent Review Board, a panel of lay people who issues a recommendation to the Archbishop as to whether the allegation is ‘sustained’ or ‘not sustained,’ according to the Archdiocese’s website and church representatives.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve heard different theories as to what credibly accused means,” Cordileone said. “I try not to use that term and rather use [the] term ‘sustained’ or ‘not sustained.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What standard the Independent Review Board, or IRB, uses to determine if an allegation is sustained is unclear, James Stang, an attorney for the Unsecured Creditors’ Committee, later told KQED in a phone interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966005\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966005\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231020-Archdiocese-Priests-022-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt='A building on a city street with the words \"Archdiocese of San Francisco\" written over the entrance.' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231020-Archdiocese-Priests-022-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231020-Archdiocese-Priests-022-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231020-Archdiocese-Priests-022-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231020-Archdiocese-Priests-022-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231020-Archdiocese-Priests-022-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231020-Archdiocese-Priests-022-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Archdiocese of San Francisco is seen on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I can’t find anything that defines it in what the public can see on the website,” Stang said. “In other words, if I go to the website, and they discuss the review board process, I don’t see a definition of what constitutes a sustained claim.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He continued: “I think the public should know what it means to have a sustained accusation. There has to be a definition somewhere. It can’t just be a gut check. There must be some standard that these review board people are using.” [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"James Stang, attorney, Unsecured Creditors’ Committee\"]‘I think the public should know what it means to have a sustained accusation. There has to be a definition somewhere. It can’t just be a gut check. There must be some standard that these review board people are using.’[/pullquote]While there isn’t a single, uniform definition of what constitutes a “credible accusation” against a priest that is shared across all Catholic dioceses, many have publicly shared their interpretations alongside published lists of credibly accused priests in their jurisdiction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Archdiocese of San Francisco is the only diocese in California that, to date, has not published such a list. Instead, the Archdiocese maintains a \u003ca href=\"https://sfarchdiocese.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/PRIESTS-AND-DEACONS-WITH-FACULTIES-IN-THE-ARCHDIOCESE-OF-SAN-FRANCISCO-10-09-2023.pdf\">public list of priests and deacons in good standing\u003c/a> who are approved for ministry in the Archdiocese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In its Nov. 8 filing, the creditors’ committee asked for records related to abuse claims dating back to as early as 1941. Among them: personnel files of accused priests, communication between the Archdiocese and law enforcement agencies over the years, and documents explaining the church’s interpretation of “credibly accused.” It also requests documents from the paper trail of the church’s evaluation of sexual abuse allegations, including IRB meeting minutes, interview notes and recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked what standard of proof the IRB uses to determine if an allegation is “sustained” or not, Marlow said, “The process is for the Independent Review Board to review a claim and the investigator’s report and any other relevant information that can support a recommendation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When pressed for more details, he declined to clarify that aspect of the process further. In a subsequent email, Marlow elaborated on what happens when the IRB determines that an allegation is sustained. If the IRB finds that there is sufficient evidence to warrant a canonical trial and the trial results in a conviction, then the accused priest would be permanently removed from ministry. If the IRB finds that an accusation is not sustained, then the priest is reinstated to active ministry and damage to his reputation is remediated.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967289\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11967289\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Summerhays-341-meeting-02.jpg\" alt=\"Lines of text between two people.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1093\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Summerhays-341-meeting-02.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Summerhays-341-meeting-02-800x455.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Summerhays-341-meeting-02-1020x581.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Summerhays-341-meeting-02-160x91.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Summerhays-341-meeting-02-1536x874.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In a Sept. 28 meeting of creditors, the Archdiocese of San Francisco Vicar General, Father Patrick Summerhays, disclosed that two active priests and two retired priests have been accused of abuse.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The IRB was established in 2002, the same year that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops established the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, a set of procedures for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by clergy often referred to as the Dallas Charter. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jim Jenkins, retired East Bay psychologist and former chairman of the Independent Review Board\"]‘Review boards were strangled in the crib before they could do something.’[/pullquote]“Review boards were strangled in the crib before they could do something,” said Jim Jenkins, a retired East Bay psychologist who was the IRB’s first chairman at its inception.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jenkins resigned in 2004 over concerns about the board’s integrity and ability to investigate independently. During his time on the panel, it was the Archbishop who decided what to do with an allegation, not the IRB, Jenkins told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When they say the review board reviewed this and did not find anything sustained, that may be true,” Jenkins said. “But the fact that father so and so is recommended to be suspended — that is completely up to the Archbishop. They would never allow anyone else to make that decision. Certainly not lay people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jenkins acknowledged that nearly 20 years have passed since he served on the board, which may have different processes today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorneys for the Archdiocese stated that Cordileone has always followed the IRB’s guidance. Three IRB members contacted by KQED did not respond to interview requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966003\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966003\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231019-Archdiocese-Priests-015-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A cross atop a building.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231019-Archdiocese-Priests-015-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231019-Archdiocese-Priests-015-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231019-Archdiocese-Priests-015-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231019-Archdiocese-Priests-015-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231019-Archdiocese-Priests-015-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231019-Archdiocese-Priests-015-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saint Charles Parish is seen in San Carlos, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nguyen was placed on administrative leave in October 2022 and returned to ministry two months later, according to the Archdiocese. Ghiorso went on leave for around two months in late 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marlow declined to say what information the Archdiocese found in its investigations that resulted in Nguyen and Ghiorso both returning to ministry. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Spencer Lucas, attorney representing the complainant identified as M.S.\"]‘We do know that the Catholic Church, on a very broad scale, has done an inadequate investigation into many, many of these claims.’[/pullquote]“While IRB investigations and recommendations are not shared with the media, I can tell you that the Archdiocese followed its procedures in the instances you raised and that Fr. Ghiorso and Fr. Nguyen are priests in good standing and have faculties to minister in the Archdiocese,” Marlow told KQED in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spencer Lucas, the attorney representing the complainant identified as M.S. in the lawsuit accusing Nguyen, expressed skepticism about the church’s processes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do know that the Catholic Church, on a very broad scale, has done an inadequate investigation into many, many of these claims,” he said. “We should all be concerned that the church has not taken adequate steps to properly investigate claims and to institute appropriate training to raise awareness about this ongoing problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘We have our own list’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Survivors and advocates have been calling on the Archdiocese of San Francisco to release a list of priests who have been credibly accused under its watch for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Oct. 12 meeting of creditors, Cordileone disclosed that while the list hasn’t been released to the public, it does exist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966002\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966002\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231017-Archdiocese-Priests-008-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt='A sign on a wall beside a building reading \"St. Pius Church\".' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231017-Archdiocese-Priests-008-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231017-Archdiocese-Priests-008-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231017-Archdiocese-Priests-008-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231017-Archdiocese-Priests-008-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231017-Archdiocese-Priests-008-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231017-Archdiocese-Priests-008-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Mass schedule is posted outside St. Pius Catholic Church and School in Redwood City, Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Does the Archdiocese have a list of clergy where the [Independent] Review Board has made a determination that the accusation is sustained?” Stang asked the Archbishop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know which ones those are, yeah,” Cordinelone replied. “We have our own list.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked why the Archdiocese has not published the list, Cordileone said that no one has given him a reason for doing so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most important thing is that our young people are being protected and that those who abuse are kept out of ministry for doing that,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Stein, an attorney with Jeff Anderson & Associates, which represents over 400 alleged survivors with claims in Northern California, the majority of whom are in the Bay Area, was listening. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jennifer Stein, attorney, Jeff Anderson & Associates\"]‘This is an ongoing and recurring theme that is self-serving to the Archdiocese. It puts children and the public in great peril by keeping that information secret.’[/pullquote]“This is an ongoing and recurring theme that is self-serving to the Archdiocese,” Stein said. “It puts children and the public in great peril by keeping that information secret.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In September 2022, SNAP \u003ca href=\"https://assets.nationbuilder.com/snap/pages/11958/attachments/original/1663596454/UPDATED_San_Francisco_Archdiocese_Accused_List.pdf?1663596454\">published its own list\u003c/a> of 312 priests who have been publicly accused of abuse and were associated at one point or another with the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Nguyen’s name is not included on the list as the M.S. lawsuit was filed two months after publication. Ghiorso’s name, however, is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In October 2021, parishioners of both churches where Ghiorso currently works \u003ca href=\"https://www.bishop-accountability.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/news-2021-10-20-archdiocese-of-san-francisco-Dear-Parishioners.pdf\">were notified\u003c/a> via a letter that he had been named in filed claims and would be temporarily restricted from exercising public ministry while an investigation was conducted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The announcement came nearly a year after a lawsuit was filed in Alameda Superior Court by two men alleging they had been sexually abused while they were living at St. Vincent’s School for Boys, a residential program for disadvantaged boys in San Rafael.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In court records from the lawsuit, plaintiff Gary Johnson alleges that he and other boys from St. Vincent’s were molested by priests at a summer camp in Sonoma County for several years in the early 1980s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit alleges several priests began showing up at St. Vincent’s weekly to take the boys off-campus to Camp Armstrong, where they were given alcohol and molested or forced to engage in sex acts with one another, according to court records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967288\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1567px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11967288 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Ghiorso-Examiner-2-01.jpg\" alt=\"A newspaper clipping with a photo of a priest smiling while talking to a person facing him.\" width=\"1567\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Ghiorso-Examiner-2-01.jpg 1567w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Ghiorso-Examiner-2-01-800x980.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Ghiorso-Examiner-2-01-1020x1250.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Ghiorso-Examiner-2-01-160x196.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Ghiorso-Examiner-2-01-1254x1536.jpg 1254w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1567px) 100vw, 1567px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Father David Ghiorso, who faces multiple allegations of sexual abuse of young boys at St. Vincent’s School for Boys in San Rafael and a Sonoma County summer camp in the 1980s and 1990s, was profiled in the San Francisco Examiner on Oct. 23, 1994. \u003ccite>(San Francisco Examiner clipping from October 23, 1994.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When not participating, perpetrator defendants would also watch the boys abuse one another and would masturbate as they watched,” the complaint reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After reporting the abuse to an athletic coach at the school, who notified the school’s front office, Johnson was removed from St. Vincent’s and placed in a foster home, according to the complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A second plaintiff in the same lawsuit alleges a priest abused him for a year, shortly after he arrived at St. Vincent’s in 1989 at the age of 9 and became an altar boy. Marcus Raymond Hill alleges that on one occasion, when he and other boys were invited to the rectory for doughnuts after mass, he was asked to stay longer, given wine and forced to masturbate the priest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On three other occasions, the complaint states the priest allegedly plied Hill with wine and anally penetrated and raped him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ghiorso, who is not named in the lawsuit, is identified as the alleged perpetrator in the case on a matrix filed in Alameda Superior Court. The matrix is a chart that displays data from hundreds of Northern California clergy sex abuse cases filed under AB 218, including case numbers, attorney names, alleged perpetrator names, dates of alleged abuse and other information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A person familiar with the case confirmed to KQED that Ghiorso is an alleged perpetrator in the lawsuit. NBC Bay Area \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/four-bay-area-priests-still-on-the-job-despite-new-sex-abuse-allegations/2927084/\">previously reported\u003c/a> the allegations. [aside postID=news_11958733 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/GettyImages-1310855004-1020x680.jpg']Ghiorso was ordained in 1981 and worked as a pastor at Our Lady of Loretto Church in Novato through 1985, according to the Official Catholic Directory. From 1986-1990, he was the associate director of St. Vincent’s. Ghiorso went on to fill leadership roles with the Catholic Youth Organization and CYO Archbishop McGucken Youth Retreat and Conference Center, the location of Camp Armstrong, records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ghiorso returned to the ministry in December 2021 following his temporary leave, according to Marlow. Four months later, court records show, he was accused in a new lawsuit of ongoing abuse of another altar boy at St. Vincent’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From around 1988 through 1991, an unnamed plaintiff alleges, he was “continuously anally raped and sexually assaulted” by Ghiorso when he was 10-13 years old. The plaintiff alleges Ghiorso began sexually abusing him in an area of the church that altar boys used to change. The abuse escalated to mutual oral sex and penetration in the church and at Ghiorso’s office, according to court records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several times, the plaintiff attempted to run away from St. Vincent’s and was heavily medicated by staff at the facility in an attempt to control his behavioral outbursts, the complaint reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plaintiff first reported the alleged abuse to a private investigator hired by the Archdiocese, who contacted him in late 2021, according to the complaint. The investigator had “been previously told by one of the plaintiff’s classmates that the plaintiff may have been one of Father Ghiorso’s many victims,” the document reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was not until the plaintiff was contacted by the investigator that his memories of what Father Ghiorso did to him as a child resurfaced,” according to the document.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ghiorso and his attorney did not respond to KQED’s multiple requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked if Ghiorso was removed from ministry a second time pending an investigation into the new claim, Marlow declined to specify and instead restated that the Archdiocese’s procedures were followed in each case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are good reasons why Fr. Ghiorso is a priest in good standing with faculties to serve in the Archdiocese of San Francisco,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual abuse and may be disturbing to some readers.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A San Mateo priest accused of molestation in a lawsuit is one of two accused clergy who remain in active ministry with the Archdiocese of San Francisco as the church faces renewed questions over how it responds to sexual abuse allegations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The lawsuit, filed in Alameda County in November 2022, alleges Father Linh Tien Nguyen sexually abused a former altar boy and student of St. Pius Catholic Church and School in Redwood City between approximately 2005 and 2008\u003c/span>. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘If there’s any good news in this, it’s that this survivor had the courage at a very young age to come forward and has probably expedited the healing of a lot more kids.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The plaintiff in the case, identified as “M.S.,” alleges he was between 10 and 13 years old. He is now in his late 20s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This young person has got a lot of courage,” said Dan McNevin, Oakland leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. “If there’s any good news in this, it’s that this survivor had the courage at a very young age to come forward and has probably expedited the healing of a lot more kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Official Catholic Church records show Nguyen worked as a pastor at St. Pius from 2005 through 2009. He is currently an associate pastor at St. Bartholomew Parish in San Mateo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nguyen and other staff members of St. Bartholomew did not respond to KQED’s requests for comment on the allegation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A second priest, Father David Ghiorso, faces multiple allegations of sexual abuse of young boys at St. Vincent’s School for Boys in San Rafael and a Sonoma County summer camp in the 1980s and ’90s, according to court records and a source familiar with one of the cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The details of the accusations are laid out in documents from two lawsuits filed in Alameda County — one in 2020 and another in 2022. Today, Ghiorso is the pastor of St. Charles Parish in San Carlos and St. Matthias Church in Redwood City. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The allegations in the lawsuits have not been proven. The plaintiffs either declined or did not respond to interview requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can tell you that the Archdiocese followed its procedures in the instances you raised and that Fr. Ghiorso and Fr. Nguyen are priests in good standing and have faculties to minister in the Archdiocese,” Peter Marlow, the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s executive director of communications and media relations, told KQED in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Archdiocese also denies the allegations in legal filings.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">News of the allegation against Nguyen comes as the Archdiocese is pressed for details in bankruptcy proceedings about how it handles sexual abuse allegations, and which priests it has deemed credibly accused.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Nov. 8, the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which represents survivors, requested the court’s authorization to subpoena the Archdiocese for documents on the church’s finances and allegations of abuse dating back multiple decades. The Archdiocese objected, calling the request “excessively overbroad, vague and harassing.” A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967384\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1679px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11967384\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FrLinhTienNguyen.jpg\" alt=\"A man poses for a portrait looking at the camera with his hand on his chin.\" width=\"1679\" height=\"1119\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FrLinhTienNguyen.jpg 1679w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FrLinhTienNguyen-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FrLinhTienNguyen-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FrLinhTienNguyen-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/FrLinhTienNguyen-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1679px) 100vw, 1679px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A newsletter for St. Veronica’s Parish includes a welcome note and a photo of Father Linh Tien Nguyen. \u003ccite>(St. Veronica’s Parish Newsletter)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Archdiocese \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11958733/sf-archdiocese-files-for-bankruptcy\">sought Chapter 11 protection in federal bankruptcy court\u003c/a> in August as it faced more than 530 lawsuits filed by individuals alleging sexual abuse by clergy or others associated with the Archdiocese under a 2019 state law, Assembly Bill 218, or the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB218\">California Child Victims Act\u003c/a>. The law waived all time limits for abuse claims from 2020 through the end of last year, and it permanently extended age limits to sue for childhood molestation — from age 26 to 40 years old or within five years after the discovery of the abuse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The bankruptcy proceedings effectively froze all the state court cases filed against the San Francisco Archdiocese, its institutions and clergy.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent back-to-back legal calls in the bankruptcy case, representatives of the Archdiocese answered questions under oath from the Office of the U.S. Trustee and the committee about the church’s financial situation and knowledge of abuse allegations. Officials said the church had found no accusations against clergy to be credible in the past decade, but has become aware of multiple allegations in that time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a Sept. 28 meeting of creditors, the Archdiocese’s Vicar General, Father Patrick Summerhays, disclosed that two active priests and two retired priests had been accused of abuse. Each has been exonerated by the church’s internal process, according to the Archdiocese. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I have not yet received a credible allegation against a priest, although I have received allegations.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I have not yet received a credible allegation against a priest, although I have received allegations,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said two weeks later in a continuation of the hearing, referring to his 11 years as Archbishop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked how many cases the Archdiocese has received in that time, Cordileone said there have been seven or eight accusations the church has had to investigate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Archdiocese’s process for responding to an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor involves reporting the allegation to civil authorities and removing the accused priest from active ministry while an investigation is conducted by a qualified investigator. A report on the findings of that investigation are handed over to the Archdiocese’s Independent Review Board, a panel of lay people who issues a recommendation to the Archbishop as to whether the allegation is ‘sustained’ or ‘not sustained,’ according to the Archdiocese’s website and church representatives.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve heard different theories as to what credibly accused means,” Cordileone said. “I try not to use that term and rather use [the] term ‘sustained’ or ‘not sustained.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What standard the Independent Review Board, or IRB, uses to determine if an allegation is sustained is unclear, James Stang, an attorney for the Unsecured Creditors’ Committee, later told KQED in a phone interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966005\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966005\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231020-Archdiocese-Priests-022-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt='A building on a city street with the words \"Archdiocese of San Francisco\" written over the entrance.' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231020-Archdiocese-Priests-022-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231020-Archdiocese-Priests-022-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231020-Archdiocese-Priests-022-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231020-Archdiocese-Priests-022-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231020-Archdiocese-Priests-022-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231020-Archdiocese-Priests-022-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Archdiocese of San Francisco is seen on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I can’t find anything that defines it in what the public can see on the website,” Stang said. “In other words, if I go to the website, and they discuss the review board process, I don’t see a definition of what constitutes a sustained claim.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He continued: “I think the public should know what it means to have a sustained accusation. There has to be a definition somewhere. It can’t just be a gut check. There must be some standard that these review board people are using.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I think the public should know what it means to have a sustained accusation. There has to be a definition somewhere. It can’t just be a gut check. There must be some standard that these review board people are using.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>While there isn’t a single, uniform definition of what constitutes a “credible accusation” against a priest that is shared across all Catholic dioceses, many have publicly shared their interpretations alongside published lists of credibly accused priests in their jurisdiction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Archdiocese of San Francisco is the only diocese in California that, to date, has not published such a list. Instead, the Archdiocese maintains a \u003ca href=\"https://sfarchdiocese.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/PRIESTS-AND-DEACONS-WITH-FACULTIES-IN-THE-ARCHDIOCESE-OF-SAN-FRANCISCO-10-09-2023.pdf\">public list of priests and deacons in good standing\u003c/a> who are approved for ministry in the Archdiocese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In its Nov. 8 filing, the creditors’ committee asked for records related to abuse claims dating back to as early as 1941. Among them: personnel files of accused priests, communication between the Archdiocese and law enforcement agencies over the years, and documents explaining the church’s interpretation of “credibly accused.” It also requests documents from the paper trail of the church’s evaluation of sexual abuse allegations, including IRB meeting minutes, interview notes and recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked what standard of proof the IRB uses to determine if an allegation is “sustained” or not, Marlow said, “The process is for the Independent Review Board to review a claim and the investigator’s report and any other relevant information that can support a recommendation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">When pressed for more details, he declined to clarify that aspect of the process further. In a subsequent email, Marlow elaborated on what happens when the IRB determines that an allegation is sustained. If the IRB finds that there is sufficient evidence to warrant a canonical trial and the trial results in a conviction, then the accused priest would be permanently removed from ministry. If the IRB finds that an accusation is not sustained, then the priest is reinstated to active ministry and damage to his reputation is remediated.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967289\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11967289\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Summerhays-341-meeting-02.jpg\" alt=\"Lines of text between two people.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1093\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Summerhays-341-meeting-02.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Summerhays-341-meeting-02-800x455.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Summerhays-341-meeting-02-1020x581.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Summerhays-341-meeting-02-160x91.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Summerhays-341-meeting-02-1536x874.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In a Sept. 28 meeting of creditors, the Archdiocese of San Francisco Vicar General, Father Patrick Summerhays, disclosed that two active priests and two retired priests have been accused of abuse.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The IRB was established in 2002, the same year that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops established the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, a set of procedures for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by clergy often referred to as the Dallas Charter. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Review boards were strangled in the crib before they could do something.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Review boards were strangled in the crib before they could do something,” said Jim Jenkins, a retired East Bay psychologist who was the IRB’s first chairman at its inception.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jenkins resigned in 2004 over concerns about the board’s integrity and ability to investigate independently. During his time on the panel, it was the Archbishop who decided what to do with an allegation, not the IRB, Jenkins told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When they say the review board reviewed this and did not find anything sustained, that may be true,” Jenkins said. “But the fact that father so and so is recommended to be suspended — that is completely up to the Archbishop. They would never allow anyone else to make that decision. Certainly not lay people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jenkins acknowledged that nearly 20 years have passed since he served on the board, which may have different processes today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorneys for the Archdiocese stated that Cordileone has always followed the IRB’s guidance. Three IRB members contacted by KQED did not respond to interview requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966003\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966003\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231019-Archdiocese-Priests-015-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A cross atop a building.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231019-Archdiocese-Priests-015-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231019-Archdiocese-Priests-015-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231019-Archdiocese-Priests-015-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231019-Archdiocese-Priests-015-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231019-Archdiocese-Priests-015-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231019-Archdiocese-Priests-015-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Saint Charles Parish is seen in San Carlos, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nguyen was placed on administrative leave in October 2022 and returned to ministry two months later, according to the Archdiocese. Ghiorso went on leave for around two months in late 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marlow declined to say what information the Archdiocese found in its investigations that resulted in Nguyen and Ghiorso both returning to ministry. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We do know that the Catholic Church, on a very broad scale, has done an inadequate investigation into many, many of these claims.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“While IRB investigations and recommendations are not shared with the media, I can tell you that the Archdiocese followed its procedures in the instances you raised and that Fr. Ghiorso and Fr. Nguyen are priests in good standing and have faculties to minister in the Archdiocese,” Marlow told KQED in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spencer Lucas, the attorney representing the complainant identified as M.S. in the lawsuit accusing Nguyen, expressed skepticism about the church’s processes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do know that the Catholic Church, on a very broad scale, has done an inadequate investigation into many, many of these claims,” he said. “We should all be concerned that the church has not taken adequate steps to properly investigate claims and to institute appropriate training to raise awareness about this ongoing problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘We have our own list’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Survivors and advocates have been calling on the Archdiocese of San Francisco to release a list of priests who have been credibly accused under its watch for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Oct. 12 meeting of creditors, Cordileone disclosed that while the list hasn’t been released to the public, it does exist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966002\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966002\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231017-Archdiocese-Priests-008-JY-KQED.jpg\" alt='A sign on a wall beside a building reading \"St. Pius Church\".' width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231017-Archdiocese-Priests-008-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231017-Archdiocese-Priests-008-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231017-Archdiocese-Priests-008-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231017-Archdiocese-Priests-008-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231017-Archdiocese-Priests-008-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/20231017-Archdiocese-Priests-008-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Mass schedule is posted outside St. Pius Catholic Church and School in Redwood City, Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Does the Archdiocese have a list of clergy where the [Independent] Review Board has made a determination that the accusation is sustained?” Stang asked the Archbishop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know which ones those are, yeah,” Cordinelone replied. “We have our own list.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked why the Archdiocese has not published the list, Cordileone said that no one has given him a reason for doing so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most important thing is that our young people are being protected and that those who abuse are kept out of ministry for doing that,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Stein, an attorney with Jeff Anderson & Associates, which represents over 400 alleged survivors with claims in Northern California, the majority of whom are in the Bay Area, was listening. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘This is an ongoing and recurring theme that is self-serving to the Archdiocese. It puts children and the public in great peril by keeping that information secret.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“This is an ongoing and recurring theme that is self-serving to the Archdiocese,” Stein said. “It puts children and the public in great peril by keeping that information secret.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In September 2022, SNAP \u003ca href=\"https://assets.nationbuilder.com/snap/pages/11958/attachments/original/1663596454/UPDATED_San_Francisco_Archdiocese_Accused_List.pdf?1663596454\">published its own list\u003c/a> of 312 priests who have been publicly accused of abuse and were associated at one point or another with the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Nguyen’s name is not included on the list as the M.S. lawsuit was filed two months after publication. Ghiorso’s name, however, is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In October 2021, parishioners of both churches where Ghiorso currently works \u003ca href=\"https://www.bishop-accountability.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/news-2021-10-20-archdiocese-of-san-francisco-Dear-Parishioners.pdf\">were notified\u003c/a> via a letter that he had been named in filed claims and would be temporarily restricted from exercising public ministry while an investigation was conducted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The announcement came nearly a year after a lawsuit was filed in Alameda Superior Court by two men alleging they had been sexually abused while they were living at St. Vincent’s School for Boys, a residential program for disadvantaged boys in San Rafael.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In court records from the lawsuit, plaintiff Gary Johnson alleges that he and other boys from St. Vincent’s were molested by priests at a summer camp in Sonoma County for several years in the early 1980s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit alleges several priests began showing up at St. Vincent’s weekly to take the boys off-campus to Camp Armstrong, where they were given alcohol and molested or forced to engage in sex acts with one another, according to court records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11967288\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1567px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11967288 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Ghiorso-Examiner-2-01.jpg\" alt=\"A newspaper clipping with a photo of a priest smiling while talking to a person facing him.\" width=\"1567\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Ghiorso-Examiner-2-01.jpg 1567w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Ghiorso-Examiner-2-01-800x980.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Ghiorso-Examiner-2-01-1020x1250.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Ghiorso-Examiner-2-01-160x196.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/231114-Ghiorso-Examiner-2-01-1254x1536.jpg 1254w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1567px) 100vw, 1567px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Father David Ghiorso, who faces multiple allegations of sexual abuse of young boys at St. Vincent’s School for Boys in San Rafael and a Sonoma County summer camp in the 1980s and 1990s, was profiled in the San Francisco Examiner on Oct. 23, 1994. \u003ccite>(San Francisco Examiner clipping from October 23, 1994.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“When not participating, perpetrator defendants would also watch the boys abuse one another and would masturbate as they watched,” the complaint reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After reporting the abuse to an athletic coach at the school, who notified the school’s front office, Johnson was removed from St. Vincent’s and placed in a foster home, according to the complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A second plaintiff in the same lawsuit alleges a priest abused him for a year, shortly after he arrived at St. Vincent’s in 1989 at the age of 9 and became an altar boy. Marcus Raymond Hill alleges that on one occasion, when he and other boys were invited to the rectory for doughnuts after mass, he was asked to stay longer, given wine and forced to masturbate the priest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On three other occasions, the complaint states the priest allegedly plied Hill with wine and anally penetrated and raped him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ghiorso, who is not named in the lawsuit, is identified as the alleged perpetrator in the case on a matrix filed in Alameda Superior Court. The matrix is a chart that displays data from hundreds of Northern California clergy sex abuse cases filed under AB 218, including case numbers, attorney names, alleged perpetrator names, dates of alleged abuse and other information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A person familiar with the case confirmed to KQED that Ghiorso is an alleged perpetrator in the lawsuit. NBC Bay Area \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/four-bay-area-priests-still-on-the-job-despite-new-sex-abuse-allegations/2927084/\">previously reported\u003c/a> the allegations. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Ghiorso was ordained in 1981 and worked as a pastor at Our Lady of Loretto Church in Novato through 1985, according to the Official Catholic Directory. From 1986-1990, he was the associate director of St. Vincent’s. Ghiorso went on to fill leadership roles with the Catholic Youth Organization and CYO Archbishop McGucken Youth Retreat and Conference Center, the location of Camp Armstrong, records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ghiorso returned to the ministry in December 2021 following his temporary leave, according to Marlow. Four months later, court records show, he was accused in a new lawsuit of ongoing abuse of another altar boy at St. Vincent’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>From around 1988 through 1991, an unnamed plaintiff alleges, he was “continuously anally raped and sexually assaulted” by Ghiorso when he was 10-13 years old. The plaintiff alleges Ghiorso began sexually abusing him in an area of the church that altar boys used to change. The abuse escalated to mutual oral sex and penetration in the church and at Ghiorso’s office, according to court records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several times, the plaintiff attempted to run away from St. Vincent’s and was heavily medicated by staff at the facility in an attempt to control his behavioral outbursts, the complaint reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plaintiff first reported the alleged abuse to a private investigator hired by the Archdiocese, who contacted him in late 2021, according to the complaint. The investigator had “been previously told by one of the plaintiff’s classmates that the plaintiff may have been one of Father Ghiorso’s many victims,” the document reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was not until the plaintiff was contacted by the investigator that his memories of what Father Ghiorso did to him as a child resurfaced,” according to the document.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ghiorso and his attorney did not respond to KQED’s multiple requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked if Ghiorso was removed from ministry a second time pending an investigation into the new claim, Marlow declined to specify and instead restated that the Archdiocese’s procedures were followed in each case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are good reasons why Fr. Ghiorso is a priest in good standing with faculties to serve in the Archdiocese of San Francisco,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 1 p.m. Saturday\u003c/strong>: An 81-year-old Palestinian-American woman from the San Francisco Peninsula, who had been stuck in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last month, was able to cross safely into Egypt on Friday through the Rafah border crossing, the attorney representing her family \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/gshamiehesq/posts/pfbid0rrFzPjMnqgZxdhk1onV2bokBHnGM4bxe7ba5CLjzgTrgh3b1JYPmmAttw2YPUcFhl\">said in a social media post\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original story, 4 a.m. Friday\u003c/strong>:\u003cbr>\nA San Francisco law firm this week sued the Biden administration for failing to quickly evacuate several Palestinian-Americans who are among the hundreds of U.S. citizens still trapped in the war-torn Gaza Strip.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuits, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, name U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as defendants, claiming the government has not upheld its constitutional duty to bring American citizens home from a war zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are asking, we are demanding, that the United States implement an emergency evacuation order and evacuate all U.S. citizens from Gaza immediately and safely,” said Ghassan Shamieh, an attorney with the firm Shamieh, Shamieh, and Ternieden, which is representing the families of two Palestinian-American women.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are here to make sure that our government knows that we will hold them accountable for the safety of every single one of its citizens until they are evacuated safely,” he told reporters early Thursday afternoon, in front of the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Ghassan Shamieh, immigration attorney, Law Offices of Shamieh, Shamieh & Ternieden\"]‘We are asking, we are demanding, that the United States implement an emergency evacuation order and evacuate all U.S. citizens from Gaza immediately and safely.’[/pullquote]Shamieh said that the women, one of whom is an 81-year-old grandmother from the San Francisco Peninsula, had unsuccessfully tried multiple times in the last two days to enter Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/01/israel-hamas-war-gaza-injured-egypt-rafah-crossing\">which was just reopened on Wednesday\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This legal action, Shamieh said, is among at least seven similar suits spearheaded by the Michigan-based Arab American Civil Rights League on behalf of U.S. clients stranded in Gaza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have no doubt that the United States, the most powerful country in the world, could obtain clearance for all of its citizens,” Shamieh said. He noted that he would withdraw the legal challenges if his clients are immediately evacuated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That, at least partially, came to pass just hours later, when Shamieh announced late Thursday afternoon that the younger of the two women had successfully crossed into Egypt, even as the 81-year-old was still stuck in Gaza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We consider this a clear legal victory for our client, and we attribute this victory to the mounting legal and public pressure the US government is currently facing,” Shamieh said in a subsequent press release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The evacuated woman’s grandson, who joined Shamieh at his early afternoon press event, said he had received a Facetime call from his grandmother in Gaza the previous week, after being unable to reach her for days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“‘This may be the last time that I’ll see you,’” Asher Rous, the grandson, said his grandmother told him. He recounted her saying that the bombings were getting worse and that she didn’t know what was going to happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“‘I just wanted to say my goodbyes,’” his grandmother told him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11964576,forum_2010101894698,arts_13937170\"]The news of her safe passage comes as hundreds of civilians with foreign passports are poised to leave Gaza for the first time since Israel began its relentless missile attacks some three weeks ago in its resolve to destroy Hamas. The bombardment, in retaliation for Hamas’s brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed more than 1,400 people, has obliterated huge swaths of Gaza. As of Thursday,\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-11-2-2023-6a398d4aeba979aef24960efc31eb772\"> more than 9,000 Palestinians\u003c/a> had so far been killed in the three-week bombing campaign, the Gaza Health Ministry said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The State Department has been in contact with about \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/11/02/1210094192/more-foreign-citizens-including-about-400-americans-are-set-to-depart-gaza\">400 American citizens trying to flee Gaza\u003c/a>, according to the State Department, and President Biden said “74 American folks” had been able to leave Gaza on Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller declined to comment on the pending litigation, but stressed that the Biden administration “has no higher priority than getting those American citizens out of Gaza, getting them out as soon as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been a difficult process. … when you have Hamas controlling one side of the border and just not being willing to let anyone go,” Miller added. “That said, we continue to work on it, we have made progress, and I hope that we can get them out in the coming days.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The suit claims that the U.S. State Department is violating the civil rights of the American citizens in Gaza who are desperately attempting to cross into Egypt.",
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"title": "San Francisco Firm Sues Biden Administration in Push to Evacuate Americans Trapped in Gaza | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 1 p.m. Saturday\u003c/strong>: An 81-year-old Palestinian-American woman from the San Francisco Peninsula, who had been stuck in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last month, was able to cross safely into Egypt on Friday through the Rafah border crossing, the attorney representing her family \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/gshamiehesq/posts/pfbid0rrFzPjMnqgZxdhk1onV2bokBHnGM4bxe7ba5CLjzgTrgh3b1JYPmmAttw2YPUcFhl\">said in a social media post\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original story, 4 a.m. Friday\u003c/strong>:\u003cbr>\nA San Francisco law firm this week sued the Biden administration for failing to quickly evacuate several Palestinian-Americans who are among the hundreds of U.S. citizens still trapped in the war-torn Gaza Strip.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuits, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, name U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin as defendants, claiming the government has not upheld its constitutional duty to bring American citizens home from a war zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are asking, we are demanding, that the United States implement an emergency evacuation order and evacuate all U.S. citizens from Gaza immediately and safely,” said Ghassan Shamieh, an attorney with the firm Shamieh, Shamieh, and Ternieden, which is representing the families of two Palestinian-American women.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are here to make sure that our government knows that we will hold them accountable for the safety of every single one of its citizens until they are evacuated safely,” he told reporters early Thursday afternoon, in front of the Phillip Burton Federal Building in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘We are asking, we are demanding, that the United States implement an emergency evacuation order and evacuate all U.S. citizens from Gaza immediately and safely.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Shamieh said that the women, one of whom is an 81-year-old grandmother from the San Francisco Peninsula, had unsuccessfully tried multiple times in the last two days to enter Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, \u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/01/israel-hamas-war-gaza-injured-egypt-rafah-crossing\">which was just reopened on Wednesday\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This legal action, Shamieh said, is among at least seven similar suits spearheaded by the Michigan-based Arab American Civil Rights League on behalf of U.S. clients stranded in Gaza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have no doubt that the United States, the most powerful country in the world, could obtain clearance for all of its citizens,” Shamieh said. He noted that he would withdraw the legal challenges if his clients are immediately evacuated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That, at least partially, came to pass just hours later, when Shamieh announced late Thursday afternoon that the younger of the two women had successfully crossed into Egypt, even as the 81-year-old was still stuck in Gaza.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We consider this a clear legal victory for our client, and we attribute this victory to the mounting legal and public pressure the US government is currently facing,” Shamieh said in a subsequent press release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The evacuated woman’s grandson, who joined Shamieh at his early afternoon press event, said he had received a Facetime call from his grandmother in Gaza the previous week, after being unable to reach her for days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“‘This may be the last time that I’ll see you,’” Asher Rous, the grandson, said his grandmother told him. He recounted her saying that the bombings were getting worse and that she didn’t know what was going to happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“‘I just wanted to say my goodbyes,’” his grandmother told him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The news of her safe passage comes as hundreds of civilians with foreign passports are poised to leave Gaza for the first time since Israel began its relentless missile attacks some three weeks ago in its resolve to destroy Hamas. The bombardment, in retaliation for Hamas’s brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed more than 1,400 people, has obliterated huge swaths of Gaza. As of Thursday,\u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-11-2-2023-6a398d4aeba979aef24960efc31eb772\"> more than 9,000 Palestinians\u003c/a> had so far been killed in the three-week bombing campaign, the Gaza Health Ministry said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The State Department has been in contact with about \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/11/02/1210094192/more-foreign-citizens-including-about-400-americans-are-set-to-depart-gaza\">400 American citizens trying to flee Gaza\u003c/a>, according to the State Department, and President Biden said “74 American folks” had been able to leave Gaza on Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller declined to comment on the pending litigation, but stressed that the Biden administration “has no higher priority than getting those American citizens out of Gaza, getting them out as soon as possible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s been a difficult process. … when you have Hamas controlling one side of the border and just not being willing to let anyone go,” Miller added. “That said, we continue to work on it, we have made progress, and I hope that we can get them out in the coming days.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Survivors from California’s Period of Forced Sterilization Denied Reparations",
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"content": "\u003cp>In March 2006, Sharon Fennix, then incarcerated at Valley State Prison in California’s Central Valley, was transported to Madera Community Hospital for surgery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A prison doctor had recommended that she have non-cancerous growths removed from her uterus and, according to Fennix, she was told that the procedure wouldn’t have lasting impacts and recovery would be quick. She was given a dose of anesthesia, and the last thing she remembers was counting backward while two correctional officers wheeled her gurney down a hallway.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sharon Fennix, a survivor who applied for reparations\"]‘My hope and my dream was always to have a child and be free. To give my son a sister or brother.’[/pullquote]When she woke up from the operation, she said her entire hospital gown was soaked with sweat. She remembers turning to the correctional officer in the room and saying, “I feel like something’s wrong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Approximately two weeks later, the follow-up visit with the prison doctor who ordered the surgery, Dr. James Heinrich, also left her deeply unsettled. The conversation is carved into her mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was sweating, bleeding and pain,” Fennix recently told KQED. “It plunged me into menopause.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She asked Heinrich how long her side effects would last. Fennix said she was told what she was experiencing was normal and the growths on her uterus might return. Puzzled and upset, she wondered why surgery was necessary if the growths could come back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Fennix, she demanded to know what happened to her body during surgery. But the more she probed, the more Heinrich tried to rush her out of his office. Finally, he explained that a surgeon had put a boiling solution in her uterus. Toward the end of the appointment, Fennix said he looked at her file and remarked on the fact that she was serving a life sentence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She would never get out, she recalled Heinrich saying, so she didn’t need children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was very cunning the way he said that to me,” Fennix said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would take nearly a decade for Fennix to fully understand what had happened to her. Before she was released from prison, another doctor explained that she had undergone an endometrial ablation, a procedure that damages the uterine lining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My hope and my dream was always to have a child and be free,” Fennix said. “To give my son a sister or brother.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But pregnancy would be unlikely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, if a pregnancy occurs after the procedure, “the risks of miscarriage and other problems are greatly increased.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964883\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11964883\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person hold a photo of a family in an ornate frame.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharon Fennix holds a photo of her son, Dontay Pickettay, center, his wife and their four children. Pickettay hoped for siblings, she said. “My hope and my dream was always to have a child and be free. To give my son a sister or brother,” Fennix said. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Florence Middleton)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I would make sure that [a person is] 110% sure that they do not want children before we discuss an ablation,” said Kavita Shah Arora, division director of General Obstetrics, Gynecology and Midwifery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and former chair of the ACOG’s national ethics committee. “I think it really boils down to, what informed consent was given? Were patients aware of the impact on future fertility?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fennix said she never provided informed consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the state passed historic legislation in 2021 that provided financial reparations to people who were forcibly or involuntarily sterilized, an advocate from the California Coalition for Women Prisoners thought Fennix had a clear-cut case and persuaded her to apply. Fennix submitted her first application on Jan. 3, 2022, two days after applications opened. Seven months later, she received a denial letter from the state’s Victim Compensation Board, which administers the program.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Kavita Shah Arora, division director, General Obstetrics, Gynecology and Midwifery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill\"]‘I think it really boils down to, what informed consent was given? Were patients aware of the impact on future fertility?’[/pullquote]Fennix, who was 43 when she had the surgery, said she felt insulted by the rejection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You dehumanized me,” she said. “You took my body. How dare you later on tell me that I don’t deserve to be one of the ones that gets reparations for it?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the application period for the reparations program \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11965672/forced-sterilization-survivors-of-california-prisons-face-reparations-deadline\">winds to a close in December\u003c/a>, Fennix and those who received endometrial ablations are at the heart of a dispute over who should be recognized as a survivor of a shameful chapter in California’s history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A year-long investigation by UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program and KQED found that the compensation board has denied a majority of applicants and repeatedly rejected ablations as a procedure worthy of recognition. The investigation included 30 public records requests, the review of more than 3,000 pages of documents — and interviews with survivors, advocates, medical experts and lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the applicants who volunteered their demographic information, the majority self-identified as Black or African American. Approximately 47% self-identified as male, 40% female and 4% transgender. While reporting this story, KQED spoke with six ablation survivors who were denied reparations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels so clear — based on the spirit of the law, based on the idea of who is perpetuating the harm — that if someone says, ‘I’m not able to have children’ and it’s documented that they had a procedure that limits your ability to have children, that feels like it should be sufficient,” said Jennifer James, an associate professor of sociology at UCSF and member of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, or CCWP, who has assisted survivors with their applications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, since 2014, California’s prison health care services have categorized ablations and dozens of other treatments as potentially sterilizing, according to a memo circulated among prison health care leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board declined to respond to specific questions but said in a statement that it has worked “to meet the requirements established in the law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fennix appealed her case. That, too, was rejected. She went through the application and appeals process a second time. She was denied at every stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In rejecting Fennix’s first appeal, the board said that ablations don’t qualify as sterilizations under the law and cited the Mayo Clinic website, writing that pregnancy “can and does occur after an endometrial ablation.” The board left out what followed on the website: “The pregnancy is higher risk to you and the baby.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next week, Fennix and another formerly incarcerated woman who received an ablation will file a petition in state courts aimed at testing the state’s implementation of the reparations law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her case, Fennix said, reflects a hole in the state’s efforts to compensate survivors of state-sponsored sterilization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not able to reproduce,” she said. “And so, how am I not sterilized?”\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: line-through\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘It’s another betrayal’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When legislators passed the reparations law, California became the first and only state in the country to publicly recognize its role in prison sterilizations. Through monetary compensation and memorialization efforts, the state aimed to “raise public awareness about the discriminatory harms” survivors of forced sterilization had faced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state allocated $7.5 million to the two-year program, with $4.5 million earmarked for compensation, $1 million for memorialization and $2 million for program administration and outreach. Each individual whose application is approved receives $15,000. A second and final payment of $20,000, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB143\">signed\u003c/a> into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, will be processed by October 2024. Up to $1 million of any remaining compensation funds could be extended for survivors if legislation is passed in the next few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Oct. 25, 108 out of 510 applications had been approved.[aside postID=news_11965672 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/IMG_0468-1020x659.jpg']Those who championed the legislation estimated that there were roughly 600 living survivors of forced or involuntary sterilization. The actual number of survivors, however, may never be known due to various limitations, such as medical records retention policies. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2013-120.pdf\">2014 state audit\u003c/a> found that at least 794 people in state prisons underwent various procedures that “could have resulted in sterilization” between 2005 and 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who had been forcibly or involuntarily sterilized while incarcerated in state prisons after 1979 or at state-run hospitals, homes and institutions during the eugenics era between 1909 and 1979 could qualify for reparations. But advocates, like CCWP, say that the board is looking for a level of proof that’s unreasonably difficult to meet. For example, they say medical records are more heavily weighted than a personal statement from the survivor, even though the board is required by law to accept multiple forms of documentation to prove that sterilization was more likely than not forcible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It isn’t gray to us because the stories are so convincing about how people were just pressured into signing the consent and didn’t understand what they were signing,” said Diana Block, a legal advocate at CCWP. “But those are all things that are so difficult and challenging to prove.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A significant hurdle has been the lack of consistency and clarity around the compensation board’s definition of sterilization. According to its own guidelines, which KQED obtained through a public records request, the board describes the condition as “the removal of one’s ability to have biological children through medical procedures.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the only method medical experts use for sterilization — or what is now called permanent contraception due to the coercive history of sterilization — is a vasectomy or tubal procedure, which cuts, burns, occludes or removes the fallopian tubes.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Carolyn Sufrin, associate professor and OBGYN, Johns Hopkins University\"]‘I believe that people who had this procedure should receive reparations because this is a procedure that, after it, all medical recommendations say, ‘Do not get pregnant after this.’[/pullquote]Medical experts such as Carolyn Sufrin, an associate professor and OBGYN at Johns Hopkins University, also agree that various treatments can profoundly affect fertility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Endometrial ablations, for example, are typically offered when a person is experiencing abnormal uterine bleeding, such as heavy or irregular periods that are not caused by cancer. While experts say an ablation is not clinically defined as sterilization, they contend the procedure should not be done for people who have any desire for future childbearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chances of a pregnancy at all or healthy pregnancy are vastly reduced,” Sufrin said. “I believe that people who had this procedure should receive reparations because this is a procedure that, after it, all medical recommendations say, ‘Do not get pregnant after this.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sufrin referenced a patient brochure for NovaSure, one of the most common mechanisms used to perform an endometrial ablation, which states, “A pregnancy after an ablation is very dangerous for both the mother and the fetus since the uterine lining would not be able to properly support fetal development.” Contraception is recommended after ablation because of the dangers associated with a possible pregnancy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the denial of Fennix’s second appeal, the compensation board rejected her application because the legislation did not define “sterilization,” so it relied on the “ordinary plain meaning, which is the permanent inability to produce offspring.” The board cited Black’s Law Dictionary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board also cited a 2014 criminal law that banned procedures that “render an individual permanently incapable of reproducing” except for in a life-or-death situation or when medically necessary. Based on the language of that law, the board said it believed ablations don’t meet the criteria for reparations because legislators “intended sterilization to mean a permanent form of birth control.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, who authored the 2014 law in response to the state audit on coercive sterilizations, said she suspected the board was narrowly interpreting the reparations law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If a procedure is so overwhelmingly likely to lead to sterilization, in my opinion, that should entitle someone to reparations,” she said. “But if it means that you have to go back in and identify all of the procedures that could lead to sterilization, then so be it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emails obtained through a public records request show the compensation board staff has also questioned how it determines who should receive compensation: “We went round and round about ablations, and we are not doctors. We always felt there should be more medical evidence to support our decision.”[aside postID=news_11964027 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/IMG_0434-1020x659.jpg']Cynthia Chandler, the policy chief for Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and a lawyer who helped draft the reparations law, first heard about ablations in the early 2000s when her legal organization was contacted by a cluster of people who described a “grotesque” procedure that was sometimes performed without anesthesia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Chandler, people reported “the most painful, terrifying experience of their life … and even if some of them were medically necessary, people had no information about what was happening to them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Chandler, ablations were an example of the many procedures used to limit incarcerated people’s fertility by a group of unethical physicians. When a coalition of reparation advocates asked her to help draft the bill, she said that she and her colleagues consciously decided not to define sterilization nor list specific qualifying medical procedures because they knew they would not be able to capture them all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Chandler and her colleagues listed a number of criteria to qualify for compensation. Among the requirements, applicants needed to show that they had been sterilized while incarcerated and that the procedure wasn’t a medical response to a life-or-death situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chandler said that if she had known that the board would define sterilization in a way that wasn’t based on “medical realities,” she would have written the legislation differently.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the state’s one and only opportunity to make amends, and this is how they’re behaving with it,” said Chandler, who also drafted the 2014 law that the compensation board referenced in Fennix’s appeal denial. “I’m horrified at how language that I actually wrote could be so weaponized to remove it so far from its actual meaning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the compensation board has declined to view ablations as a form of sterilization for the purposes of reparations, state officials have been aware of its sterilizing potential for at least a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On March 19, 2014, three months before the state concluded its audit on forced sterilization in California prisons, Dr. Ricki Barnett, then the deputy medical executive at the California Correctional Health Care Services, sent a memo to top prison health care officials.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Cynthia Chandler, a lawyer who helped draft the reparations law\"]‘This is the state’s one and only opportunity to make amends, and this is how they’re behaving with it. I’m horrified at how language that I actually wrote could be so weaponized to remove it so far from its actual meaning.’[/pullquote]In 2006, the California Department of Corrections division of health care services was put under federal oversight for the state’s 33 institutions after a class-action lawsuit, Plata v. Schwarzenegger. The case brought to light the dire environment of prison medical care in California, which the court ruled was a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Twelve of the state’s institutions remain under federal oversight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The subject line of Barnett’s 2014 memo read, “Prospective Review for Procedures that have Sterilization Risks.” What followed was an urgent message: Effective immediately, all of the procedures that [the health care services] deemed to have “the potential for sterilization or diminished capacity for future conception” must go through a heightened level of review. Ablations were included in this list, along with nearly 50 other procedures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCHCS and CDCR declined to respond to questions about the memo but said in a statement that when they became aware that “non-medically necessary procedures resulting in sterilization were being performed on patients, the procedures were stopped.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the memo was issued, the doctor who ordered Fennix’s ablation, Heinrich, signed off on tubal ligations, hysterectomies, the removal of ovaries and endometrial ablations between 2006 and 2012, \u003ca href=\"https://revealnews.org/article/calif-prison-doctor-linked-to-sterilizations-no-stranger-to-controversy-2/\">according to The Center for Investigative Reporting\u003c/a>, which first reported the illegal sterilizations. According to state prison medical records obtained by KQED, he ordered at least 80 ablations during that time, as the one performed on Fennix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heinrich told The Center for Investigative Reporting that the state wasn’t paying doctors a significant amount of money for the sterilizations “compared to what you save in welfare paying for these unwanted children — as they procreated more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heinrich did not respond to repeated attempts for comment. When a reporter recently knocked on the door of his Castro Valley home, a woman who answered slammed it in the reporter’s face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clairreatha Brown, who is incarcerated at Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, said Heinrich pressured her into an ablation in 2008 when she was 30. He never mentioned that the procedure would impact her fertility, she said, though his secretary told her she would not have children because of the procedure. But Brown said she was made to feel that there were no other options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown’s application for reparations was also denied, catching her off guard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s another betrayal,” Brown said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘I’m going to need a second opinion’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite Heinrich’s expectations, Fennix was released from prison in 2017. Four years later, she completed her parole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am just so ecstatic with this world and not being in that box,” she said.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sharon Fennix, a survivor who applied for reparations\"]‘These are the times I can cry for the little girl who spent 38 years in prison.’[/pullquote]Fennix, now 60, is the director at a community wellness center and a coordinator at a health care organization for formerly incarcerated people in Northern California. She begins her day at 3 a.m. The morning is the most gratifying time of day because she said she can sit on her porch and watch the sunrise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are the times I can cry for the little girl who spent 38 years in prison,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Fennix was incarcerated, she met Chandler, the attorney who helped write the reparations law, when she had come to the prison to meet with her clients. After Fennix’s first reparations application and appeal were both denied, Chandler introduced her to WookSun Hong, an attorney at the Bay Area Legal Incubator, an organization that supports attorneys who serve underrepresented communities. Hong helped her file a second application.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964881\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1334px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11964881\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a pink blouse looks out of a window.\" width=\"1334\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED.jpg 1334w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED-800x1199.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED-1020x1529.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED-1025x1536.jpg 1025w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1334px) 100vw, 1334px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharon Fennix, now 60, is the director of a community wellness center and a coordinator at a health care organization for formerly incarcerated people in Northern California. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Florence Middleton)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This time, the application included a declaration from Amy Huibonhoa, a board-certified OBGYN who noted the serious risks associated with pregnancy after ablation. Huibonhoa stated that it is “imperative” for informed consent to cover those risks, along with its negative impact on fertility. Fennix was still denied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hong suggested they petition the state court, arguing that the government isn’t adhering to the law. It is slated to be filed next week. According to Hong, the petition is important because he believes the compensation board’s grounds for denials are arbitrary and not based on the law or science.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The whole purpose of the Victim Compensation Board is to compensate the victims,” Hong said. “But it’s almost like they’re acting like insurance adjusters. They are trying to find the excuse to deny the claim.”[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"WookSun Hong, attorney, Bay Area Legal Incubator\"]‘The whole purpose of the Victim Compensation Board is to compensate the victims. But it’s almost like they’re acting like insurance adjusters. They are trying to find the excuse to deny the claim.’[/pullquote]Continuing to push is Fennix’s way of demanding that the board begin to fully comprehend the extent of the damage that was done to people like her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m hoping [the compensation board] realizes that they sterilized a lot of us and that they should give people options, not just do what they want to do with our bodies,” she said. “It’s not about the money more than it is about the fact that these people don’t want to take accountability, and they don’t want to say that they actually ruined my body based on a procedure that didn’t have to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fennix said her body continues to feel off-kilter, and the symptoms she experienced after having an ablation have largely remained the same. Now, anytime she needs to have a procedure done, she takes extra time and caution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m going to ask a thousand questions,” she said. “I’m going to need a second opinion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Cayla Mihalovich is a reporter with the Investigative Reporting Program at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>More information on how to apply for compensation for involuntary sterilization can be found at the California Victim Compensation Board \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://victims.ca.gov/for-victims/fiscp/#How_to_apply\">\u003cem>website\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Applications are available in English and Spanish. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Anyone needing assistance with the application can call the compensation board’s toll-free helpline at 1-800-777-9229 from 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday-Friday.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In March 2006, Sharon Fennix, then incarcerated at Valley State Prison in California’s Central Valley, was transported to Madera Community Hospital for surgery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A prison doctor had recommended that she have non-cancerous growths removed from her uterus and, according to Fennix, she was told that the procedure wouldn’t have lasting impacts and recovery would be quick. She was given a dose of anesthesia, and the last thing she remembers was counting backward while two correctional officers wheeled her gurney down a hallway.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘My hope and my dream was always to have a child and be free. To give my son a sister or brother.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>When she woke up from the operation, she said her entire hospital gown was soaked with sweat. She remembers turning to the correctional officer in the room and saying, “I feel like something’s wrong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Approximately two weeks later, the follow-up visit with the prison doctor who ordered the surgery, Dr. James Heinrich, also left her deeply unsettled. The conversation is carved into her mind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was sweating, bleeding and pain,” Fennix recently told KQED. “It plunged me into menopause.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She asked Heinrich how long her side effects would last. Fennix said she was told what she was experiencing was normal and the growths on her uterus might return. Puzzled and upset, she wondered why surgery was necessary if the growths could come back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Fennix, she demanded to know what happened to her body during surgery. But the more she probed, the more Heinrich tried to rush her out of his office. Finally, he explained that a surgeon had put a boiling solution in her uterus. Toward the end of the appointment, Fennix said he looked at her file and remarked on the fact that she was serving a life sentence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She would never get out, she recalled Heinrich saying, so she didn’t need children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was very cunning the way he said that to me,” Fennix said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would take nearly a decade for Fennix to fully understand what had happened to her. Before she was released from prison, another doctor explained that she had undergone an endometrial ablation, a procedure that damages the uterine lining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My hope and my dream was always to have a child and be free,” Fennix said. “To give my son a sister or brother.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But pregnancy would be unlikely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, if a pregnancy occurs after the procedure, “the risks of miscarriage and other problems are greatly increased.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964883\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11964883\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person hold a photo of a family in an ornate frame.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/009_Sharon_230929_125-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharon Fennix holds a photo of her son, Dontay Pickettay, center, his wife and their four children. Pickettay hoped for siblings, she said. “My hope and my dream was always to have a child and be free. To give my son a sister or brother,” Fennix said. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Florence Middleton)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I would make sure that [a person is] 110% sure that they do not want children before we discuss an ablation,” said Kavita Shah Arora, division director of General Obstetrics, Gynecology and Midwifery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and former chair of the ACOG’s national ethics committee. “I think it really boils down to, what informed consent was given? Were patients aware of the impact on future fertility?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fennix said she never provided informed consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the state passed historic legislation in 2021 that provided financial reparations to people who were forcibly or involuntarily sterilized, an advocate from the California Coalition for Women Prisoners thought Fennix had a clear-cut case and persuaded her to apply. Fennix submitted her first application on Jan. 3, 2022, two days after applications opened. Seven months later, she received a denial letter from the state’s Victim Compensation Board, which administers the program.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Fennix, who was 43 when she had the surgery, said she felt insulted by the rejection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You dehumanized me,” she said. “You took my body. How dare you later on tell me that I don’t deserve to be one of the ones that gets reparations for it?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the application period for the reparations program \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11965672/forced-sterilization-survivors-of-california-prisons-face-reparations-deadline\">winds to a close in December\u003c/a>, Fennix and those who received endometrial ablations are at the heart of a dispute over who should be recognized as a survivor of a shameful chapter in California’s history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A year-long investigation by UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program and KQED found that the compensation board has denied a majority of applicants and repeatedly rejected ablations as a procedure worthy of recognition. The investigation included 30 public records requests, the review of more than 3,000 pages of documents — and interviews with survivors, advocates, medical experts and lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the applicants who volunteered their demographic information, the majority self-identified as Black or African American. Approximately 47% self-identified as male, 40% female and 4% transgender. While reporting this story, KQED spoke with six ablation survivors who were denied reparations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It feels so clear — based on the spirit of the law, based on the idea of who is perpetuating the harm — that if someone says, ‘I’m not able to have children’ and it’s documented that they had a procedure that limits your ability to have children, that feels like it should be sufficient,” said Jennifer James, an associate professor of sociology at UCSF and member of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners, or CCWP, who has assisted survivors with their applications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, since 2014, California’s prison health care services have categorized ablations and dozens of other treatments as potentially sterilizing, according to a memo circulated among prison health care leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board declined to respond to specific questions but said in a statement that it has worked “to meet the requirements established in the law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fennix appealed her case. That, too, was rejected. She went through the application and appeals process a second time. She was denied at every stage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In rejecting Fennix’s first appeal, the board said that ablations don’t qualify as sterilizations under the law and cited the Mayo Clinic website, writing that pregnancy “can and does occur after an endometrial ablation.” The board left out what followed on the website: “The pregnancy is higher risk to you and the baby.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next week, Fennix and another formerly incarcerated woman who received an ablation will file a petition in state courts aimed at testing the state’s implementation of the reparations law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her case, Fennix said, reflects a hole in the state’s efforts to compensate survivors of state-sponsored sterilization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m not able to reproduce,” she said. “And so, how am I not sterilized?”\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: line-through\"> \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘It’s another betrayal’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When legislators passed the reparations law, California became the first and only state in the country to publicly recognize its role in prison sterilizations. Through monetary compensation and memorialization efforts, the state aimed to “raise public awareness about the discriminatory harms” survivors of forced sterilization had faced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state allocated $7.5 million to the two-year program, with $4.5 million earmarked for compensation, $1 million for memorialization and $2 million for program administration and outreach. Each individual whose application is approved receives $15,000. A second and final payment of $20,000, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB143\">signed\u003c/a> into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, will be processed by October 2024. Up to $1 million of any remaining compensation funds could be extended for survivors if legislation is passed in the next few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of Oct. 25, 108 out of 510 applications had been approved.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Those who championed the legislation estimated that there were roughly 600 living survivors of forced or involuntary sterilization. The actual number of survivors, however, may never be known due to various limitations, such as medical records retention policies. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2013-120.pdf\">2014 state audit\u003c/a> found that at least 794 people in state prisons underwent various procedures that “could have resulted in sterilization” between 2005 and 2013.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who had been forcibly or involuntarily sterilized while incarcerated in state prisons after 1979 or at state-run hospitals, homes and institutions during the eugenics era between 1909 and 1979 could qualify for reparations. But advocates, like CCWP, say that the board is looking for a level of proof that’s unreasonably difficult to meet. For example, they say medical records are more heavily weighted than a personal statement from the survivor, even though the board is required by law to accept multiple forms of documentation to prove that sterilization was more likely than not forcible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It isn’t gray to us because the stories are so convincing about how people were just pressured into signing the consent and didn’t understand what they were signing,” said Diana Block, a legal advocate at CCWP. “But those are all things that are so difficult and challenging to prove.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A significant hurdle has been the lack of consistency and clarity around the compensation board’s definition of sterilization. According to its own guidelines, which KQED obtained through a public records request, the board describes the condition as “the removal of one’s ability to have biological children through medical procedures.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the only method medical experts use for sterilization — or what is now called permanent contraception due to the coercive history of sterilization — is a vasectomy or tubal procedure, which cuts, burns, occludes or removes the fallopian tubes.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I believe that people who had this procedure should receive reparations because this is a procedure that, after it, all medical recommendations say, ‘Do not get pregnant after this.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Medical experts such as Carolyn Sufrin, an associate professor and OBGYN at Johns Hopkins University, also agree that various treatments can profoundly affect fertility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Endometrial ablations, for example, are typically offered when a person is experiencing abnormal uterine bleeding, such as heavy or irregular periods that are not caused by cancer. While experts say an ablation is not clinically defined as sterilization, they contend the procedure should not be done for people who have any desire for future childbearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chances of a pregnancy at all or healthy pregnancy are vastly reduced,” Sufrin said. “I believe that people who had this procedure should receive reparations because this is a procedure that, after it, all medical recommendations say, ‘Do not get pregnant after this.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sufrin referenced a patient brochure for NovaSure, one of the most common mechanisms used to perform an endometrial ablation, which states, “A pregnancy after an ablation is very dangerous for both the mother and the fetus since the uterine lining would not be able to properly support fetal development.” Contraception is recommended after ablation because of the dangers associated with a possible pregnancy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the denial of Fennix’s second appeal, the compensation board rejected her application because the legislation did not define “sterilization,” so it relied on the “ordinary plain meaning, which is the permanent inability to produce offspring.” The board cited Black’s Law Dictionary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The board also cited a 2014 criminal law that banned procedures that “render an individual permanently incapable of reproducing” except for in a life-or-death situation or when medically necessary. Based on the language of that law, the board said it believed ablations don’t meet the criteria for reparations because legislators “intended sterilization to mean a permanent form of birth control.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, who authored the 2014 law in response to the state audit on coercive sterilizations, said she suspected the board was narrowly interpreting the reparations law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If a procedure is so overwhelmingly likely to lead to sterilization, in my opinion, that should entitle someone to reparations,” she said. “But if it means that you have to go back in and identify all of the procedures that could lead to sterilization, then so be it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emails obtained through a public records request show the compensation board staff has also questioned how it determines who should receive compensation: “We went round and round about ablations, and we are not doctors. We always felt there should be more medical evidence to support our decision.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Cynthia Chandler, the policy chief for Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and a lawyer who helped draft the reparations law, first heard about ablations in the early 2000s when her legal organization was contacted by a cluster of people who described a “grotesque” procedure that was sometimes performed without anesthesia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Chandler, people reported “the most painful, terrifying experience of their life … and even if some of them were medically necessary, people had no information about what was happening to them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To Chandler, ablations were an example of the many procedures used to limit incarcerated people’s fertility by a group of unethical physicians. When a coalition of reparation advocates asked her to help draft the bill, she said that she and her colleagues consciously decided not to define sterilization nor list specific qualifying medical procedures because they knew they would not be able to capture them all.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Chandler and her colleagues listed a number of criteria to qualify for compensation. Among the requirements, applicants needed to show that they had been sterilized while incarcerated and that the procedure wasn’t a medical response to a life-or-death situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chandler said that if she had known that the board would define sterilization in a way that wasn’t based on “medical realities,” she would have written the legislation differently.\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the state’s one and only opportunity to make amends, and this is how they’re behaving with it,” said Chandler, who also drafted the 2014 law that the compensation board referenced in Fennix’s appeal denial. “I’m horrified at how language that I actually wrote could be so weaponized to remove it so far from its actual meaning.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though the compensation board has declined to view ablations as a form of sterilization for the purposes of reparations, state officials have been aware of its sterilizing potential for at least a decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On March 19, 2014, three months before the state concluded its audit on forced sterilization in California prisons, Dr. Ricki Barnett, then the deputy medical executive at the California Correctional Health Care Services, sent a memo to top prison health care officials.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘This is the state’s one and only opportunity to make amends, and this is how they’re behaving with it. I’m horrified at how language that I actually wrote could be so weaponized to remove it so far from its actual meaning.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In 2006, the California Department of Corrections division of health care services was put under federal oversight for the state’s 33 institutions after a class-action lawsuit, Plata v. Schwarzenegger. The case brought to light the dire environment of prison medical care in California, which the court ruled was a violation of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Twelve of the state’s institutions remain under federal oversight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The subject line of Barnett’s 2014 memo read, “Prospective Review for Procedures that have Sterilization Risks.” What followed was an urgent message: Effective immediately, all of the procedures that [the health care services] deemed to have “the potential for sterilization or diminished capacity for future conception” must go through a heightened level of review. Ablations were included in this list, along with nearly 50 other procedures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCHCS and CDCR declined to respond to questions about the memo but said in a statement that when they became aware that “non-medically necessary procedures resulting in sterilization were being performed on patients, the procedures were stopped.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the memo was issued, the doctor who ordered Fennix’s ablation, Heinrich, signed off on tubal ligations, hysterectomies, the removal of ovaries and endometrial ablations between 2006 and 2012, \u003ca href=\"https://revealnews.org/article/calif-prison-doctor-linked-to-sterilizations-no-stranger-to-controversy-2/\">according to The Center for Investigative Reporting\u003c/a>, which first reported the illegal sterilizations. According to state prison medical records obtained by KQED, he ordered at least 80 ablations during that time, as the one performed on Fennix.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heinrich told The Center for Investigative Reporting that the state wasn’t paying doctors a significant amount of money for the sterilizations “compared to what you save in welfare paying for these unwanted children — as they procreated more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heinrich did not respond to repeated attempts for comment. When a reporter recently knocked on the door of his Castro Valley home, a woman who answered slammed it in the reporter’s face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Clairreatha Brown, who is incarcerated at Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, said Heinrich pressured her into an ablation in 2008 when she was 30. He never mentioned that the procedure would impact her fertility, she said, though his secretary told her she would not have children because of the procedure. But Brown said she was made to feel that there were no other options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brown’s application for reparations was also denied, catching her off guard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s another betrayal,” Brown said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘I’m going to need a second opinion’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite Heinrich’s expectations, Fennix was released from prison in 2017. Four years later, she completed her parole.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I am just so ecstatic with this world and not being in that box,” she said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘These are the times I can cry for the little girl who spent 38 years in prison.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Fennix, now 60, is the director at a community wellness center and a coordinator at a health care organization for formerly incarcerated people in Northern California. She begins her day at 3 a.m. The morning is the most gratifying time of day because she said she can sit on her porch and watch the sunrise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are the times I can cry for the little girl who spent 38 years in prison,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Fennix was incarcerated, she met Chandler, the attorney who helped write the reparations law, when she had come to the prison to meet with her clients. After Fennix’s first reparations application and appeal were both denied, Chandler introduced her to WookSun Hong, an attorney at the Bay Area Legal Incubator, an organization that supports attorneys who serve underrepresented communities. Hong helped her file a second application.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964881\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1334px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11964881\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a pink blouse looks out of a window.\" width=\"1334\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED.jpg 1334w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED-800x1199.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED-1020x1529.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/003_Sharon_230929_056-KQED-1025x1536.jpg 1025w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1334px) 100vw, 1334px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sharon Fennix, now 60, is the director of a community wellness center and a coordinator at a health care organization for formerly incarcerated people in Northern California. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Florence Middleton)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This time, the application included a declaration from Amy Huibonhoa, a board-certified OBGYN who noted the serious risks associated with pregnancy after ablation. Huibonhoa stated that it is “imperative” for informed consent to cover those risks, along with its negative impact on fertility. Fennix was still denied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hong suggested they petition the state court, arguing that the government isn’t adhering to the law. It is slated to be filed next week. According to Hong, the petition is important because he believes the compensation board’s grounds for denials are arbitrary and not based on the law or science.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The whole purpose of the Victim Compensation Board is to compensate the victims,” Hong said. “But it’s almost like they’re acting like insurance adjusters. They are trying to find the excuse to deny the claim.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘The whole purpose of the Victim Compensation Board is to compensate the victims. But it’s almost like they’re acting like insurance adjusters. They are trying to find the excuse to deny the claim.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Continuing to push is Fennix’s way of demanding that the board begin to fully comprehend the extent of the damage that was done to people like her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m hoping [the compensation board] realizes that they sterilized a lot of us and that they should give people options, not just do what they want to do with our bodies,” she said. “It’s not about the money more than it is about the fact that these people don’t want to take accountability, and they don’t want to say that they actually ruined my body based on a procedure that didn’t have to happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fennix said her body continues to feel off-kilter, and the symptoms she experienced after having an ablation have largely remained the same. Now, anytime she needs to have a procedure done, she takes extra time and caution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m going to ask a thousand questions,” she said. “I’m going to need a second opinion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Cayla Mihalovich is a reporter with the Investigative Reporting Program at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>More information on how to apply for compensation for involuntary sterilization can be found at the California Victim Compensation Board \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://victims.ca.gov/for-victims/fiscp/#How_to_apply\">\u003cem>website\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. Applications are available in English and Spanish. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Anyone needing assistance with the application can call the compensation board’s toll-free helpline at 1-800-777-9229 from 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday-Friday.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "What Is a Hate Crime? Know Your Rights and How to Take Action",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 11 a.m. Wednesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published on July 9, 2020, and has now been republished with a new introduction by KQED’s Nisa Khan.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump to a specific question:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#define\">What defines a hate crime?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#experience\">What to do if you experience one\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#document\">How to effectively document a hate crime\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#report\">Your reporting options if you don’t want to call police\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#cope\">Coping emotionally with the impact of hate crimes\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>A month ago, Hamas launched an attack into Israel from Gaza that \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-11-6-2023-51286d15dddd77ae0dd7ea76ee52bc71#:~:text=Some%201%2C400%20Israelis%20have%20died,Hamas%20that%20started%20the%20war.\">killed at least 1,400 people\u003c/a>, taking approximately 240 hostages according to the Israeli government. In the weeks since, Israel’s unrelenting attacks on Gaza have killed \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-11-6-2023-51286d15dddd77ae0dd7ea76ee52bc71\">more than 10,000 people\u003c/a>, over 4,100 of whom were children, according to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-gaza-health-ministry-health-death-toll-59470820308b31f1faf73c703400b033\">the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza\u003c/a>. (The United Nations has stated that \u003ca href=\"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/27/un-says-gaza-health-ministry-death-tolls-in-previous-wars\">these numbers provided by the Health Ministry\u003c/a> have been credible in the past.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thousands more Palestinians have been wounded during Israeli air raids, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/israel-hamas-war-gaza-strip-conflict/card/u-n-says-1-4-million-gazans-internally-displaced-ChaeqiwXv2YoYakju2zl\">around 1.4 million internally displaced\u003c/a>. The crisis has prompted huge crowds and protests \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11966423/thousands-of-protestors-rally-in-san-francisco-calling-for-immediate-cease-fire-in-gaza\">in the Bay Area in support of a ceasefire in Gaza\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/1205445976/middle-east-crisis\">Read more about this history from NPR in their ‘Middle East Crisis — Explained’ series\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964928\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11964928\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-014-JY-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A large crowd stands in silence in a large park, and looks away from the camera. Many are holding candles. All have serious expressions.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-014-JY-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-014-JY-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-014-JY-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-014-JY-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-014-JY-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The moon rises over a crowd of hundreds of members and allies of the Bay Area Palestinian community during a candlelight vigil to honor lives lost in Gaza in the past week at Dolores Park in San Francisco on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The violence abroad has its impact within the United States. Palestinian, Arab American, Muslim and Jewish communities have told media outlets that they currently fear potential violence and harassment. In an open letter in support of freedom of speech on college campuses, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote that \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/why-we-must-reject-efforts-to-restrict-constitutionally-protected-speech-on-college-campuses\">the organization was “seeing a rise in antisemitic and anti-Arab and Muslim discrimination, with documented threats against Jewish, Palestinian, Muslim, and Middle Eastern and South Asian origin students and faculty alike.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, a 69-year-old Jewish man died after falling amidst dueling demonstrations in Southern California between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters. \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/06/us/california-jewish-man-paul-kessler-israel-protests.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8kw.r0ec.4mURdNmZ_MMW&smid=url-share\">Authorities told the New York Times they were investigating the incident as a homicide and possible hate crime.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Nov. 4,\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/06/stanford-muslim-student-hit-run-hate-crime\"> an Arab Muslim student — Abdulwahab Omira — at Stanford University was hospitalized in a hit-and-run incident\u003c/a> that is being \u003ca href=\"https://police.stanford.edu/alert/alertsu.html?alertid=1402#top\">investigated as a hate crime\u003c/a>. The university said the driver was reported to have made eye contact with Omira, accelerated and hit him and yelled “f*** you and your people” in the lowered window of the SUV. \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/stanford-university-hit-run-victim-shares-message-hospital-rcna123738\">Omira told NBC News\u003c/a> that the “ordeal has solidified my resolve to advocate for love, understanding, and inclusivity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Oct. 14, a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy named Wadea Al-Fayoume was\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/10/16/1206256504/mourners-gather-for-6-year-old-palestinian-american-boy-who-was-fatally-stabbed\"> fatally stabbed in his home in a suburb of Chicago by his landlord\u003c/a>. His mother was also injured in the assault. Officers determined the family was targeted by their landlord “due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis” \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/WillCountySheriff/posts/pfbid0KUUoQZaZb6KPoVG3EUy3sdoENpoyb7rk9FDV7GFJ9iZ3FUPDapMj3gMnhvrCMiRGl\">and charged the landlord with a hate crime\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of fear. There’s a lot of anxiety and uncertainty in everything that’s happening,” Abed Ayoub, national executive director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, told \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestine-muslim-jewish-hate-crimes-3528a67cdf4e6799355be0da9a3c0634\">the Associated Press in mid-October\u003c/a>. He adds that his organization has received more than 100 reports of verbal harassment, threats, intimidation and physical attacks. “It’s very reminiscent of the early days of post-9/11, where people didn’t want to go outside, they didn’t want to send their kids to school.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hate crimes in California are defined by an act that is illegal under the law and is motivated by bias toward a specific group. This can be through \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/learn-about-hate-crimes\">physical violence or threats and also property destruction\u003c/a> — as when San Francisco Mayor London Breed confirmed last month that \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/san-francisco-police-investigate-anti-israeli-graffiti-on-market-street-storefront-as-a-hate-crime/\">graffiti that threatened violence against Israel\u003c/a> was being investigated as a hate crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recognition of this moment, KQED is now republishing our guide from 2020 on hate crimes — then published following a spike in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13892437/oaklanders-combat-chinatown-attacks-with-volunteering-mutual-aid\">violent attacks targeting Asian American elders in California\u003c/a> — which includes what to do if you witness or are the victim of a hate crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can skip to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11827832/what-is-a-hate-crime-and-what-you-can-do-if-you-experience-one#cope\">mental health resources and hotlines for those impact by hate by click on this link\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964927\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11964927\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-024-JY-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A hand hovers over a lit candle that is inside a paper cup.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-024-JY-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-024-JY-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-024-JY-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-024-JY-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-024-JY-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A vigil attendee shields their candle from the wind as hundreds of members of the Palestinian community in the Bay Area gather for a candlelight vigil to honor lives lost in Gaza in the past week at Dolores Park in San Francisco on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Original story, from Audrey Garces, below:\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I researched hate crimes in the Bay Area to bring you this guide. But even as I did so, my reporting took a very personal turn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a socially distanced road trip to the Yosemite Foothills with my partner Arash and a couple friends in the summer of 2020, we all stopped briefly at a grocery store, where Arash asked an employee if he could use the restroom — but was told they were closed to customers. He ran across the street to use another bathroom instead. While I went to wait in the car, Arash then returned to the grocery store to meet back up with our friends. He soon came out shaking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It turned out that the store’s restrooms hadn’t been closed — and that our white friend and other white customers had been allowed to use them. Not only that, but when the employee who had denied Arash access saw he’d returned to the store, the man begun boasting loudly to a coworker about sleeping with loaded firearms, and how he was ready to discharge them on “crazy people.” As he said this, he gestured towards my partner — the only person of color in the store, aside from myself earlier — who was wearing a mask that said ‘Black Lives Matter.’ He continued making his threats as Arash swiftly left the store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a journalist who’d spent that week compiling resources for people facing situations just like this, even \u003cem>I\u003c/em> was left asking questions. Was that a hate crime? What do we do? Who can we call? How do we process these feelings — of shock, of anger, of helplessness and suddenly feeling very unsafe?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"define\">\u003c/a>What is the Definition of a Hate Crime?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Firstly, authorities will treat a hate crime differently than a hate \u003cem>incident\u003c/em>. The legal distinction between a hate crime and a hate incident determines if police can conduct an investigation and charge the perpetrator — for a hate incident, they can’t — but it can be tricky to distinguish the two. And it’s common for people to doubt the validity of their own experiences — as my partner and I did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#tellus\">Tell us: What else do you need information about right now?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The bottom line is: Most anti-hate organizations collect reports of hate crimes \u003cem>and\u003c/em> incidents. And if you want to file a report to police, but aren’t sure if it rises to the level of a crime, don’t let that hold you back. You have the right to still report a hate incident, and these reports are valuable to law enforcement regardless. Even if it’s not ultimately deemed a hate crime, police will still connect you with relevant resources, according to Sheryl Davis, the executive director of the \u003ca href=\"https://sf-hrc.org\">San Francisco Human Rights Commission\u003c/a> (HRC).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what \u003cem>is\u003c/em> a hate crime? We often think of them in terms of physical violence or property destruction, based on what makes news headlines. But the definition is actually more encompassing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A hate crime is committed when an act that is \u003cem>illegal under the law\u003c/em> is motivated by bias toward a specific group, such as on the basis of:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Race or color\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>National origin\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Religion\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Sexual orientation\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Gender or gender identity\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Disability\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>If the action or speech in question threatens a person or property, that’s a telltale sign it’s a hate crime. In California, hate crimes are prosecuted by city and district attorneys under the state’s penal code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11828179\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1900px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11828179\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Johan-Bos-Pexels.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1900\" height=\"1196\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Johan-Bos-Pexels.jpg 1900w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Johan-Bos-Pexels-800x504.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Johan-Bos-Pexels-1020x642.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Johan-Bos-Pexels-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Johan-Bos-Pexels-1536x967.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">How should you deal with a hate crime in the moment? Documenting is important, but your safety is key. \u003ccite>(Johan Bos/Pexels)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hate \u003cem>incidents\u003c/em>, on the other hand, are when an action is motivated by bias but doesn’t rise to the level of a crime. These can include:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Name-calling\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Insults\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Distributing hate material in public places, or on someone’s own property.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>These instances are often legally protected by the Constitutional right to freedom of speech. However, hate incidents can \u003cem>still\u003c/em> be the subject of civil lawsuits, under the state’s civil code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco HRC, and many other organizations doing anti-hate work, say it’s important to capture hate crimes \u003cem>and\u003c/em> incidents. That’s because they believe FBI and state law enforcement reports are under-representing the bigger picture of racism, violence and threats happening — both because of underreporting to law enforcement, and the absence of incidents that don’t rise to the level of a crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"experience\">\u003c/a>What Should I Do During a Hate Crime?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>My partner Arash is from a Southern California town where the population is 70 percent white. He’s told me stories from his childhood: from the time his family was shot at and berated to “go back to their own country,” to being profiled and harassed by police before hitting puberty — all under the backdrop of Confederate flags proudly waving throughout his hometown. He’s no stranger to racism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But still — in that moment in the grocery store — he said he felt completely helpless. “I’ve been forced to prepare for experiences like this my entire life. But in the moment, none of that mattered because of the overwhelm of shock and emotion,” Arash told me. “I didn’t feel safe to speak up because I thought I’d be seen not as the victim, but as the aggressor — in an environment I was already unwelcome in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every hate crime or incident is different, and it can be challenging to know how to respond in the moment. The most important two things to remember are: trust your instincts, and prioritize safety above all else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are some best practices for witnesses and victims of hate crimes in the moment, based on guidance from the \u003ca href=\"https://caasf.org/2020/05/what-to-do-when-you-see-or-experience-covid-19-hate/\">Stop AAPI Hate team\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.adl.org/media/13637/download\">Anti-Defamation League\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/hatecrimes\">Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office:\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>If you’re the one experiencing hate:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>If it’s safe to do so, leave the area or move to a location with other people who might be able to support you\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Check in with yourself and try to remain calm. Focus on your breathing, limit eye-contact and be conscious of your body language\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>It’s best to not speak or engage with the perpetrator. But if it’s safe to do so, use a calm and firm tone to verbally establish physical boundaries and condemn the attacker’s speech or actions\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If there are witnesses present, ask them for support or intervention\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Seek medical attention, if necessary\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Following the incident, get emotional support from your loved ones and/or a mental health specialist\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Consider reporting the incident (see more on that below).\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>If you’re \u003cem>witnessing\u003c/em> hate:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Introduce yourself to the person being targeted and ask how you can support them\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If the victim consents and it’s safe to do so, continue to monitor the situation and document it\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Ignore the perpetrator and use verbal and nonverbal communication to deescalate the situation, if possible\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Invite the victim to leave with you, if possible\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Offer them support, ask how they’re feeling and what they want to do next.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"mailto:?subject=I%20thought%20you%20might%20find%20this%20article%20from%20KQED%20interesting%20&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kqed.org%2Fnews%2F11827832%2Fwhat-is-a-hate-crime-and-what-you-can-do-if-you-experience-one\">\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Reminder: click here to email this guide to someone \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"document\">\u003c/a>How Should I Document a Hate Crime?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Because of the volume of hate crimes we see in videos across social media, captured by people at the scene, getting out your phone might seem like a crucial step. But while documenting and reporting hate incidents \u003cem>are\u003c/em> important, “personal safety should always be paramount,” said Seth Brysk, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11828184\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1900px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11828184\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Wendy-Wei-Pexels.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1900\" height=\"1196\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Wendy-Wei-Pexels.jpg 1900w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Wendy-Wei-Pexels-800x504.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Wendy-Wei-Pexels-1020x642.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Wendy-Wei-Pexels-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Wendy-Wei-Pexels-1536x967.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">How should you deal with a hate crime in the moment? Documenting is important, but your safety is key. \u003ccite>(Wendy Wei/Pexels)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some ideas for documenting hate safely are:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Write down notes about what happened and the exact words that were said\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Write a description of the perpetrator(s) and vehicle, if relevant, and collect information from any witnesses\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Save all evidence, and take photos and video, \u003cem>only\u003c/em> if you feel safe doing so\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Collect the names and contact information of any other victims and witnesses\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If you want to, and feel safe doing so, contact the local police or sheriff and/or report to community organizations.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"report\">\u003c/a>How to Report Hate if You Don’t Want to Involve Police\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>If you don’t wish to involve the police by report a hate crime or incident to them, there are community organizations and some city localities collecting reports in order to educate others, inform policy and show service providers where support is needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sheryl Davis, the executive director of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission\"]‘What do we do for those moments and those times when something happens, but it’s not connected with a violent act or vandalism? How do we capture that information?’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco HRC, which staffs the San Francisco Coalition Against Hate Violence — a group made up of 20 agencies working to end hate incidents and hate crimes — has a holistic system in place where people can report hate crimes and incidents. The commission \u003cem>won’t\u003c/em> contact the police, unless the victim consents to it. However, not all local reporting systems have the same commitment, so you should always ask before going through the reporting process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The HRC’s Sheryl Davis said her office is working on expanding its mental health support and how to address and deal with the trauma itself. “What do we do for those moments and those times when something happens, but it’s not connected with a violent act or vandalism? How do we capture that information?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a whole system shift that we have to think about, as this is becoming more centered and people are talking about it a little bit more,” Davis said. “How do we mainstream this and be more intentional about what we’re seeing?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, her office received multiple reports of verbal abuse toward people riding San Francisco’s Muni for speaking languages other than English. Although she said it’s unlikely they’d be able to track down the specific people who made comments, these reports can nonetheless lead to conversations with the MTA, and inform any potential campaign around this issue to prevent it from happening in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is where you come to file a complaint if you feel like you’ve been discriminated against or experienced bias, and then it helps us really inform policy,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are local and federal groups that collect hate crime and incident reports that you could contact:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>San Francisco residents can file a report to the city’s Human Rights Commission by emailing Program Director Tuquan Harrison at Tuquan.Harrison@sfgov.org\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Council of American-Islamic Relations of the San Francisco Bay Area is documenting Islamophobia, hate incidents and crimes and providing assistance to victims: \u003ca href=\"https://ca.cair.com/sfba/what-we-do/legal-services/report-an-incident/\">Report to them here,\u003c/a> or call their civil rights department at 408-986-9874\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Communities Against Hate is a coalition — led by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and The Leadership Conference Education Fund — to document hate and connect victims to resources, mental health services and in some cases, legal counsel. \u003ca href=\"https://communitiesagainsthate.org/report\">Report to them here\u003c/a> or call 1-844-9-NO-HATE\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Southern Poverty Law Center monitors hate groups and extremists around the country: \u003ca href=\"https://www.splcenter.org/reporthate\">Report to them here\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Anti-Defamation League investigates incidents of bias, hatred or bigotry: \u003ca href=\"https://www.adl.org/reportincident\">Report to them here\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council and Chinese for Affirmative Action have a reporting center for incidents of hate against Asian American and Pacific Islanders, which can include microaggressions, bullying, harassment, hate speech or violence: \u003ca href=\"http://www.asianpacificpolicyandplanningcouncil.org/stop-aapi-hate/\">Report to them here\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.usccr.gov/filing/complaint.php\">U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ complaint referral service\u003c/a> can connect you with the appropriate office for filing a discrimination complaint: Call them at 1-800-552-6843\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>If the incident occurred inside a business, you can also reach out to the managers or headquarters of the company to make a direct complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How to Report a Hate Crime to the Police\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Some state agencies and community groups encourage contacting local law enforcement as an important step to take after a hate crime occurs. You can contact your local police or sheriff’s office via their non-emergency line, or dial 911 if it’s an emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Dr. Natalye Pearson, a Berkeley-based licensed clinical psychologist\"]‘Part of racism is that we dismiss our own experience as not real. It’s like, ‘Oh, no, that’s not happening. Oh, no, I’m not affected by that. No, that’s not why I’m anxious.’ And that’s completely why we are.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HreuW7vgjSM&feature=youtu.be\">video\u003c/a> in June calling on Californians to unite against hate, Attorney General Xavier Becerra said, “Crime motivated by hate leaves a deep, lasting scar that can corrode and ripple through society.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And this current public health crisis, unfortunately has made many of those ripple affects stronger and clearer than ever,” added Assemblymember Shirley Weber, the chair of California’s legislative Black caucus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/hatecrimes\">Here is more information\u003c/a> from the attorney general’s office about spotting and reporting hate crimes to law enforcement. You can also make a federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/get-help-now\">report to the FBI here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center is a public safety government program that works alongside law enforcement to provide a regional picture of trends and patterns. You can report a hate crime to the center \u003ca href=\"https://ncric.ca.gov/default.aspx?menuitemid=779\">here\u003c/a>, as a supplement to reporting to law enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"cope\">\u003c/a>Mental Health Tips and Resources for People Impacted by Hate\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Experiencing hate and racism can ignite trauma on multiple levels — including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11616586/just-like-my-mother-how-we-inherit-our-parents-traits-and-tragedies\">intergenerational trauma\u003c/a> passed down genetically — as well as acutely impacting our feeling of safety in the immediate moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11828180\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1900px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11828180\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Inzmam-Khan-Pexels.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1900\" height=\"1196\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Inzmam-Khan-Pexels.jpg 1900w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Inzmam-Khan-Pexels-800x504.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Inzmam-Khan-Pexels-1020x642.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Inzmam-Khan-Pexels-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Inzmam-Khan-Pexels-1536x967.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Being the victim of, or a witness to, a hate crime can be a traumatizing experience. \u003ccite>(Inzmam Khan/Pexels)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s really important that we recognize that racism is trauma,” said Dr. Natalye Pearson, a Berkeley-based licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in trauma and racial identity. “Part of racism is that we dismiss our own experience as not real. It’s like, ‘Oh, no, that’s not happening. Oh, no, I’m not affected by that. No, that’s not why I’m anxious.’ And that’s completely why we are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"arts_13881725,mindshift_56063,arts_13881399\" label=\"Mental Health Resources\" hero=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/06/A-transgender-woman-sitting-on-a-therapists-couch-and-listening-1020x693.jpg\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hate crimes and incidents impact not just the direct targets, but the trauma also reverberates into their communities — and to people who may see the incident in the news or on social media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Seeing those images repeatedly, over and over and over again, it really is traumatic,” Pearson said. “When we see things like George Floyd and that police officer on his neck — for a lot of us — it brings up a public lynching, and then reinforces how fragile life is. And we are seeing the ways in which we are not safe in the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every individual processes trauma differently, but Pearson offered some advice for people seeking ways to cope with experiencing hate:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Identify safe sources of support and community.\u003c/strong> This could include reaching out to friends, family, local organizations and support groups, networks within your work, churches or other means of community support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Look for a therapist, if you want to.\u003c/strong> Finding a compatible therapist can take time — and that’s ok. There’s also stigma around therapy in some communities, but Pearson said it can be incredibly helpful to have that hour to focus on yourself. “That is also another symptom of racism that we don’t really recognize, that we actually deserve that. We can have an hour of just talking about what’s happening for us,” she said. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13881725/where-to-find-affordable-culturally-competent-therapy-in-bay-area-and-beyond\">Here’s where to find\u003c/a> affordable, culturally competent therapy in Bay Area and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Explore healthy coping skills.\u003c/strong> This might be in the form of journaling, art, taking a walk, talking to an elder in your community — the possibilities are endless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Seek additional means of support.\u003c/strong> Here is where you can reach out for additional support and mental health resources:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/hateviolence/\">California’s Civil Rights Department\u003c/a> has its own new hotline that connects survivors with no-cost therapy and legal services. The number is 833-8 NO HATE.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.lambdalegal.org/helpdesk\">Lambda Legal’s Help desk\u003c/a> provides resources relating to discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression and HIV status.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The\u003ca href=\"https://victimsupportservices.org/help-for-victims/crime-types/hate-bias-crimes/\"> Victim Support Services\u003c/a> has a 24-hour crisis line with trained advocates to provide free resources at 855-484-2846.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Southern Poverty Law Center has \u003ca href=\"https://www.splcenter.org/20170814/ten-ways-fight-hate-community-response-guide\">a guide for fighting hate\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The San Francisco HRC is expanding its \u003ca href=\"https://sf-hrc.org/respect-love-toolkit\">Love and Respect toolkit\u003c/a>, which was created in the wake of President Donald Trump’s election, in order to provide resources to communities in need. They also host a weekly \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/pg/San-Francisco-Human-Rights-Commission-167539056647973/posts/\">Facebook Live\u003c/a> event called Thoughtful Thursdays, a series of self-care conversations to offer mental health and mindfulness techniques.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://www.therapistsofcolor.org\">Therapists of Color, \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.psychologytoday.com/us\">Psychology Today\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"http://www.abpsi.org\">Association of Black Psychologists \u003c/a>can provide additional support in finding a culturally competent therapist.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"tellus\">\u003c/a>Tell us: What else do you need information about?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At KQED News, we know that it can sometimes be hard to track down the answers to navigate life in the Bay Area in 2023. We’ve published \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/coronavirus-resources-and-explainers\">clear, helpful explainers and guides about issues like COVID\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11936674/how-to-prepare-for-this-weeks-atmospheric-river-storm-sandbags-emergency-kits-and-more\">how to cope with intense winter weather\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11821950/how-to-safely-attend-a-protest-in-the-bay-area\">how to exercise your right to protest safely\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So tell us: What do you need to know more about? Tell us, and you could see your question answered online or on social media. What you submit will make our reporting stronger, and help us decide what to cover here on our site, and on KQED Public Radio, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[hearken id=\"10483\" src=\"https://modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/embed/10483.js\"]\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "How is a hate crime defined? What should you do if you experience one? And who can you report it to if you don't want to involve police?",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 11 a.m. Wednesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published on July 9, 2020, and has now been republished with a new introduction by KQED’s Nisa Khan.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump to a specific question:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#define\">What defines a hate crime?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#experience\">What to do if you experience one\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#document\">How to effectively document a hate crime\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"#report\">Your reporting options if you don’t want to call police\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#cope\">Coping emotionally with the impact of hate crimes\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>A month ago, Hamas launched an attack into Israel from Gaza that \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-11-6-2023-51286d15dddd77ae0dd7ea76ee52bc71#:~:text=Some%201%2C400%20Israelis%20have%20died,Hamas%20that%20started%20the%20war.\">killed at least 1,400 people\u003c/a>, taking approximately 240 hostages according to the Israeli government. In the weeks since, Israel’s unrelenting attacks on Gaza have killed \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-11-6-2023-51286d15dddd77ae0dd7ea76ee52bc71\">more than 10,000 people\u003c/a>, over 4,100 of whom were children, according to \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-gaza-health-ministry-health-death-toll-59470820308b31f1faf73c703400b033\">the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza\u003c/a>. (The United Nations has stated that \u003ca href=\"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/27/un-says-gaza-health-ministry-death-tolls-in-previous-wars\">these numbers provided by the Health Ministry\u003c/a> have been credible in the past.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thousands more Palestinians have been wounded during Israeli air raids, with \u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/israel-hamas-war-gaza-strip-conflict/card/u-n-says-1-4-million-gazans-internally-displaced-ChaeqiwXv2YoYakju2zl\">around 1.4 million internally displaced\u003c/a>. The crisis has prompted huge crowds and protests \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11966423/thousands-of-protestors-rally-in-san-francisco-calling-for-immediate-cease-fire-in-gaza\">in the Bay Area in support of a ceasefire in Gaza\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/series/1205445976/middle-east-crisis\">Read more about this history from NPR in their ‘Middle East Crisis — Explained’ series\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964928\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11964928\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-014-JY-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A large crowd stands in silence in a large park, and looks away from the camera. Many are holding candles. All have serious expressions.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-014-JY-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-014-JY-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-014-JY-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-014-JY-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-014-JY-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The moon rises over a crowd of hundreds of members and allies of the Bay Area Palestinian community during a candlelight vigil to honor lives lost in Gaza in the past week at Dolores Park in San Francisco on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The violence abroad has its impact within the United States. Palestinian, Arab American, Muslim and Jewish communities have told media outlets that they currently fear potential violence and harassment. In an open letter in support of freedom of speech on college campuses, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote that \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/why-we-must-reject-efforts-to-restrict-constitutionally-protected-speech-on-college-campuses\">the organization was “seeing a rise in antisemitic and anti-Arab and Muslim discrimination, with documented threats against Jewish, Palestinian, Muslim, and Middle Eastern and South Asian origin students and faculty alike.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, a 69-year-old Jewish man died after falling amidst dueling demonstrations in Southern California between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters. \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/06/us/california-jewish-man-paul-kessler-israel-protests.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8kw.r0ec.4mURdNmZ_MMW&smid=url-share\">Authorities told the New York Times they were investigating the incident as a homicide and possible hate crime.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Nov. 4,\u003ca href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/06/stanford-muslim-student-hit-run-hate-crime\"> an Arab Muslim student — Abdulwahab Omira — at Stanford University was hospitalized in a hit-and-run incident\u003c/a> that is being \u003ca href=\"https://police.stanford.edu/alert/alertsu.html?alertid=1402#top\">investigated as a hate crime\u003c/a>. The university said the driver was reported to have made eye contact with Omira, accelerated and hit him and yelled “f*** you and your people” in the lowered window of the SUV. \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/stanford-university-hit-run-victim-shares-message-hospital-rcna123738\">Omira told NBC News\u003c/a> that the “ordeal has solidified my resolve to advocate for love, understanding, and inclusivity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Oct. 14, a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy named Wadea Al-Fayoume was\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/10/16/1206256504/mourners-gather-for-6-year-old-palestinian-american-boy-who-was-fatally-stabbed\"> fatally stabbed in his home in a suburb of Chicago by his landlord\u003c/a>. His mother was also injured in the assault. Officers determined the family was targeted by their landlord “due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis” \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/WillCountySheriff/posts/pfbid0KUUoQZaZb6KPoVG3EUy3sdoENpoyb7rk9FDV7GFJ9iZ3FUPDapMj3gMnhvrCMiRGl\">and charged the landlord with a hate crime\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of fear. There’s a lot of anxiety and uncertainty in everything that’s happening,” Abed Ayoub, national executive director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, told \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestine-muslim-jewish-hate-crimes-3528a67cdf4e6799355be0da9a3c0634\">the Associated Press in mid-October\u003c/a>. He adds that his organization has received more than 100 reports of verbal harassment, threats, intimidation and physical attacks. “It’s very reminiscent of the early days of post-9/11, where people didn’t want to go outside, they didn’t want to send their kids to school.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hate crimes in California are defined by an act that is illegal under the law and is motivated by bias toward a specific group. This can be through \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/learn-about-hate-crimes\">physical violence or threats and also property destruction\u003c/a> — as when San Francisco Mayor London Breed confirmed last month that \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/san-francisco-police-investigate-anti-israeli-graffiti-on-market-street-storefront-as-a-hate-crime/\">graffiti that threatened violence against Israel\u003c/a> was being investigated as a hate crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recognition of this moment, KQED is now republishing our guide from 2020 on hate crimes — then published following a spike in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13892437/oaklanders-combat-chinatown-attacks-with-volunteering-mutual-aid\">violent attacks targeting Asian American elders in California\u003c/a> — which includes what to do if you witness or are the victim of a hate crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can skip to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11827832/what-is-a-hate-crime-and-what-you-can-do-if-you-experience-one#cope\">mental health resources and hotlines for those impact by hate by click on this link\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964927\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11964927\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-024-JY-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A hand hovers over a lit candle that is inside a paper cup.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-024-JY-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-024-JY-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-024-JY-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-024-JY-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/20231017-Gaza-Vigil-024-JY-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A vigil attendee shields their candle from the wind as hundreds of members of the Palestinian community in the Bay Area gather for a candlelight vigil to honor lives lost in Gaza in the past week at Dolores Park in San Francisco on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Original story, from Audrey Garces, below:\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I researched hate crimes in the Bay Area to bring you this guide. But even as I did so, my reporting took a very personal turn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a socially distanced road trip to the Yosemite Foothills with my partner Arash and a couple friends in the summer of 2020, we all stopped briefly at a grocery store, where Arash asked an employee if he could use the restroom — but was told they were closed to customers. He ran across the street to use another bathroom instead. While I went to wait in the car, Arash then returned to the grocery store to meet back up with our friends. He soon came out shaking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It turned out that the store’s restrooms hadn’t been closed — and that our white friend and other white customers had been allowed to use them. Not only that, but when the employee who had denied Arash access saw he’d returned to the store, the man begun boasting loudly to a coworker about sleeping with loaded firearms, and how he was ready to discharge them on “crazy people.” As he said this, he gestured towards my partner — the only person of color in the store, aside from myself earlier — who was wearing a mask that said ‘Black Lives Matter.’ He continued making his threats as Arash swiftly left the store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a journalist who’d spent that week compiling resources for people facing situations just like this, even \u003cem>I\u003c/em> was left asking questions. Was that a hate crime? What do we do? Who can we call? How do we process these feelings — of shock, of anger, of helplessness and suddenly feeling very unsafe?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"define\">\u003c/a>What is the Definition of a Hate Crime?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Firstly, authorities will treat a hate crime differently than a hate \u003cem>incident\u003c/em>. The legal distinction between a hate crime and a hate incident determines if police can conduct an investigation and charge the perpetrator — for a hate incident, they can’t — but it can be tricky to distinguish the two. And it’s common for people to doubt the validity of their own experiences — as my partner and I did.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#tellus\">Tell us: What else do you need information about right now?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The bottom line is: Most anti-hate organizations collect reports of hate crimes \u003cem>and\u003c/em> incidents. And if you want to file a report to police, but aren’t sure if it rises to the level of a crime, don’t let that hold you back. You have the right to still report a hate incident, and these reports are valuable to law enforcement regardless. Even if it’s not ultimately deemed a hate crime, police will still connect you with relevant resources, according to Sheryl Davis, the executive director of the \u003ca href=\"https://sf-hrc.org\">San Francisco Human Rights Commission\u003c/a> (HRC).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what \u003cem>is\u003c/em> a hate crime? We often think of them in terms of physical violence or property destruction, based on what makes news headlines. But the definition is actually more encompassing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A hate crime is committed when an act that is \u003cem>illegal under the law\u003c/em> is motivated by bias toward a specific group, such as on the basis of:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Race or color\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>National origin\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Religion\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Sexual orientation\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Gender or gender identity\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Disability\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>If the action or speech in question threatens a person or property, that’s a telltale sign it’s a hate crime. In California, hate crimes are prosecuted by city and district attorneys under the state’s penal code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11828179\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1900px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11828179\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Johan-Bos-Pexels.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1900\" height=\"1196\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Johan-Bos-Pexels.jpg 1900w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Johan-Bos-Pexels-800x504.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Johan-Bos-Pexels-1020x642.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Johan-Bos-Pexels-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Johan-Bos-Pexels-1536x967.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">How should you deal with a hate crime in the moment? Documenting is important, but your safety is key. \u003ccite>(Johan Bos/Pexels)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hate \u003cem>incidents\u003c/em>, on the other hand, are when an action is motivated by bias but doesn’t rise to the level of a crime. These can include:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Name-calling\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Insults\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Distributing hate material in public places, or on someone’s own property.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>These instances are often legally protected by the Constitutional right to freedom of speech. However, hate incidents can \u003cem>still\u003c/em> be the subject of civil lawsuits, under the state’s civil code.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco HRC, and many other organizations doing anti-hate work, say it’s important to capture hate crimes \u003cem>and\u003c/em> incidents. That’s because they believe FBI and state law enforcement reports are under-representing the bigger picture of racism, violence and threats happening — both because of underreporting to law enforcement, and the absence of incidents that don’t rise to the level of a crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"experience\">\u003c/a>What Should I Do During a Hate Crime?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>My partner Arash is from a Southern California town where the population is 70 percent white. He’s told me stories from his childhood: from the time his family was shot at and berated to “go back to their own country,” to being profiled and harassed by police before hitting puberty — all under the backdrop of Confederate flags proudly waving throughout his hometown. He’s no stranger to racism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But still — in that moment in the grocery store — he said he felt completely helpless. “I’ve been forced to prepare for experiences like this my entire life. But in the moment, none of that mattered because of the overwhelm of shock and emotion,” Arash told me. “I didn’t feel safe to speak up because I thought I’d be seen not as the victim, but as the aggressor — in an environment I was already unwelcome in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every hate crime or incident is different, and it can be challenging to know how to respond in the moment. The most important two things to remember are: trust your instincts, and prioritize safety above all else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are some best practices for witnesses and victims of hate crimes in the moment, based on guidance from the \u003ca href=\"https://caasf.org/2020/05/what-to-do-when-you-see-or-experience-covid-19-hate/\">Stop AAPI Hate team\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.adl.org/media/13637/download\">Anti-Defamation League\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/hatecrimes\">Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office:\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>If you’re the one experiencing hate:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>If it’s safe to do so, leave the area or move to a location with other people who might be able to support you\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Check in with yourself and try to remain calm. Focus on your breathing, limit eye-contact and be conscious of your body language\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>It’s best to not speak or engage with the perpetrator. But if it’s safe to do so, use a calm and firm tone to verbally establish physical boundaries and condemn the attacker’s speech or actions\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If there are witnesses present, ask them for support or intervention\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Seek medical attention, if necessary\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Following the incident, get emotional support from your loved ones and/or a mental health specialist\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Consider reporting the incident (see more on that below).\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>If you’re \u003cem>witnessing\u003c/em> hate:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Introduce yourself to the person being targeted and ask how you can support them\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If the victim consents and it’s safe to do so, continue to monitor the situation and document it\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Ignore the perpetrator and use verbal and nonverbal communication to deescalate the situation, if possible\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Invite the victim to leave with you, if possible\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Offer them support, ask how they’re feeling and what they want to do next.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"mailto:?subject=I%20thought%20you%20might%20find%20this%20article%20from%20KQED%20interesting%20&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kqed.org%2Fnews%2F11827832%2Fwhat-is-a-hate-crime-and-what-you-can-do-if-you-experience-one\">\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Reminder: click here to email this guide to someone \u003c/strong>\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"document\">\u003c/a>How Should I Document a Hate Crime?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Because of the volume of hate crimes we see in videos across social media, captured by people at the scene, getting out your phone might seem like a crucial step. But while documenting and reporting hate incidents \u003cem>are\u003c/em> important, “personal safety should always be paramount,” said Seth Brysk, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11828184\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1900px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11828184\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Wendy-Wei-Pexels.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1900\" height=\"1196\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Wendy-Wei-Pexels.jpg 1900w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Wendy-Wei-Pexels-800x504.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Wendy-Wei-Pexels-1020x642.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Wendy-Wei-Pexels-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Wendy-Wei-Pexels-1536x967.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">How should you deal with a hate crime in the moment? Documenting is important, but your safety is key. \u003ccite>(Wendy Wei/Pexels)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some ideas for documenting hate safely are:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Write down notes about what happened and the exact words that were said\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Write a description of the perpetrator(s) and vehicle, if relevant, and collect information from any witnesses\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Save all evidence, and take photos and video, \u003cem>only\u003c/em> if you feel safe doing so\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Collect the names and contact information of any other victims and witnesses\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If you want to, and feel safe doing so, contact the local police or sheriff and/or report to community organizations.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"report\">\u003c/a>How to Report Hate if You Don’t Want to Involve Police\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>If you don’t wish to involve the police by report a hate crime or incident to them, there are community organizations and some city localities collecting reports in order to educate others, inform policy and show service providers where support is needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The San Francisco HRC, which staffs the San Francisco Coalition Against Hate Violence — a group made up of 20 agencies working to end hate incidents and hate crimes — has a holistic system in place where people can report hate crimes and incidents. The commission \u003cem>won’t\u003c/em> contact the police, unless the victim consents to it. However, not all local reporting systems have the same commitment, so you should always ask before going through the reporting process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The HRC’s Sheryl Davis said her office is working on expanding its mental health support and how to address and deal with the trauma itself. “What do we do for those moments and those times when something happens, but it’s not connected with a violent act or vandalism? How do we capture that information?” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a whole system shift that we have to think about, as this is becoming more centered and people are talking about it a little bit more,” Davis said. “How do we mainstream this and be more intentional about what we’re seeing?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, her office received multiple reports of verbal abuse toward people riding San Francisco’s Muni for speaking languages other than English. Although she said it’s unlikely they’d be able to track down the specific people who made comments, these reports can nonetheless lead to conversations with the MTA, and inform any potential campaign around this issue to prevent it from happening in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is where you come to file a complaint if you feel like you’ve been discriminated against or experienced bias, and then it helps us really inform policy,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are local and federal groups that collect hate crime and incident reports that you could contact:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>San Francisco residents can file a report to the city’s Human Rights Commission by emailing Program Director Tuquan Harrison at Tuquan.Harrison@sfgov.org\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Council of American-Islamic Relations of the San Francisco Bay Area is documenting Islamophobia, hate incidents and crimes and providing assistance to victims: \u003ca href=\"https://ca.cair.com/sfba/what-we-do/legal-services/report-an-incident/\">Report to them here,\u003c/a> or call their civil rights department at 408-986-9874\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Communities Against Hate is a coalition — led by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and The Leadership Conference Education Fund — to document hate and connect victims to resources, mental health services and in some cases, legal counsel. \u003ca href=\"https://communitiesagainsthate.org/report\">Report to them here\u003c/a> or call 1-844-9-NO-HATE\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Southern Poverty Law Center monitors hate groups and extremists around the country: \u003ca href=\"https://www.splcenter.org/reporthate\">Report to them here\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Anti-Defamation League investigates incidents of bias, hatred or bigotry: \u003ca href=\"https://www.adl.org/reportincident\">Report to them here\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council and Chinese for Affirmative Action have a reporting center for incidents of hate against Asian American and Pacific Islanders, which can include microaggressions, bullying, harassment, hate speech or violence: \u003ca href=\"http://www.asianpacificpolicyandplanningcouncil.org/stop-aapi-hate/\">Report to them here\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.usccr.gov/filing/complaint.php\">U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ complaint referral service\u003c/a> can connect you with the appropriate office for filing a discrimination complaint: Call them at 1-800-552-6843\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>If the incident occurred inside a business, you can also reach out to the managers or headquarters of the company to make a direct complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How to Report a Hate Crime to the Police\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Some state agencies and community groups encourage contacting local law enforcement as an important step to take after a hate crime occurs. You can contact your local police or sheriff’s office via their non-emergency line, or dial 911 if it’s an emergency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘Part of racism is that we dismiss our own experience as not real. It’s like, ‘Oh, no, that’s not happening. Oh, no, I’m not affected by that. No, that’s not why I’m anxious.’ And that’s completely why we are.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HreuW7vgjSM&feature=youtu.be\">video\u003c/a> in June calling on Californians to unite against hate, Attorney General Xavier Becerra said, “Crime motivated by hate leaves a deep, lasting scar that can corrode and ripple through society.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And this current public health crisis, unfortunately has made many of those ripple affects stronger and clearer than ever,” added Assemblymember Shirley Weber, the chair of California’s legislative Black caucus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/hatecrimes\">Here is more information\u003c/a> from the attorney general’s office about spotting and reporting hate crimes to law enforcement. You can also make a federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/get-help-now\">report to the FBI here\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center is a public safety government program that works alongside law enforcement to provide a regional picture of trends and patterns. You can report a hate crime to the center \u003ca href=\"https://ncric.ca.gov/default.aspx?menuitemid=779\">here\u003c/a>, as a supplement to reporting to law enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca id=\"cope\">\u003c/a>Mental Health Tips and Resources for People Impacted by Hate\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Experiencing hate and racism can ignite trauma on multiple levels — including \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11616586/just-like-my-mother-how-we-inherit-our-parents-traits-and-tragedies\">intergenerational trauma\u003c/a> passed down genetically — as well as acutely impacting our feeling of safety in the immediate moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11828180\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1900px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11828180\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Inzmam-Khan-Pexels.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1900\" height=\"1196\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Inzmam-Khan-Pexels.jpg 1900w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Inzmam-Khan-Pexels-800x504.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Inzmam-Khan-Pexels-1020x642.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Inzmam-Khan-Pexels-160x101.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/07/Inzmam-Khan-Pexels-1536x967.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1900px) 100vw, 1900px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Being the victim of, or a witness to, a hate crime can be a traumatizing experience. \u003ccite>(Inzmam Khan/Pexels)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s really important that we recognize that racism is trauma,” said Dr. Natalye Pearson, a Berkeley-based licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in trauma and racial identity. “Part of racism is that we dismiss our own experience as not real. It’s like, ‘Oh, no, that’s not happening. Oh, no, I’m not affected by that. No, that’s not why I’m anxious.’ And that’s completely why we are.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hate crimes and incidents impact not just the direct targets, but the trauma also reverberates into their communities — and to people who may see the incident in the news or on social media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Seeing those images repeatedly, over and over and over again, it really is traumatic,” Pearson said. “When we see things like George Floyd and that police officer on his neck — for a lot of us — it brings up a public lynching, and then reinforces how fragile life is. And we are seeing the ways in which we are not safe in the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every individual processes trauma differently, but Pearson offered some advice for people seeking ways to cope with experiencing hate:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Identify safe sources of support and community.\u003c/strong> This could include reaching out to friends, family, local organizations and support groups, networks within your work, churches or other means of community support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Look for a therapist, if you want to.\u003c/strong> Finding a compatible therapist can take time — and that’s ok. There’s also stigma around therapy in some communities, but Pearson said it can be incredibly helpful to have that hour to focus on yourself. “That is also another symptom of racism that we don’t really recognize, that we actually deserve that. We can have an hour of just talking about what’s happening for us,” she said. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13881725/where-to-find-affordable-culturally-competent-therapy-in-bay-area-and-beyond\">Here’s where to find\u003c/a> affordable, culturally competent therapy in Bay Area and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Explore healthy coping skills.\u003c/strong> This might be in the form of journaling, art, taking a walk, talking to an elder in your community — the possibilities are endless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Seek additional means of support.\u003c/strong> Here is where you can reach out for additional support and mental health resources:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/hateviolence/\">California’s Civil Rights Department\u003c/a> has its own new hotline that connects survivors with no-cost therapy and legal services. The number is 833-8 NO HATE.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.lambdalegal.org/helpdesk\">Lambda Legal’s Help desk\u003c/a> provides resources relating to discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression and HIV status.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The\u003ca href=\"https://victimsupportservices.org/help-for-victims/crime-types/hate-bias-crimes/\"> Victim Support Services\u003c/a> has a 24-hour crisis line with trained advocates to provide free resources at 855-484-2846.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The Southern Poverty Law Center has \u003ca href=\"https://www.splcenter.org/20170814/ten-ways-fight-hate-community-response-guide\">a guide for fighting hate\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The San Francisco HRC is expanding its \u003ca href=\"https://sf-hrc.org/respect-love-toolkit\">Love and Respect toolkit\u003c/a>, which was created in the wake of President Donald Trump’s election, in order to provide resources to communities in need. They also host a weekly \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/pg/San-Francisco-Human-Rights-Commission-167539056647973/posts/\">Facebook Live\u003c/a> event called Thoughtful Thursdays, a series of self-care conversations to offer mental health and mindfulness techniques.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"http://www.therapistsofcolor.org\">Therapists of Color, \u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"https://www.psychologytoday.com/us\">Psychology Today\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"http://www.abpsi.org\">Association of Black Psychologists \u003c/a>can provide additional support in finding a culturally competent therapist.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"tellus\">\u003c/a>Tell us: What else do you need information about?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At KQED News, we know that it can sometimes be hard to track down the answers to navigate life in the Bay Area in 2023. We’ve published \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/coronavirus-resources-and-explainers\">clear, helpful explainers and guides about issues like COVID\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11936674/how-to-prepare-for-this-weeks-atmospheric-river-storm-sandbags-emergency-kits-and-more\">how to cope with intense winter weather\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11821950/how-to-safely-attend-a-protest-in-the-bay-area\">how to exercise your right to protest safely\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So tell us: What do you need to know more about? Tell us, and you could see your question answered online or on social media. What you submit will make our reporting stronger, and help us decide what to cover here on our site, and on KQED Public Radio, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Warning: There are descriptions of physical and sexual violence in this piece. Also, where legal names and chosen names differ, we’re using chosen names.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]S[/dropcap]yiaah Skylit had been stuck in solitary confinement at a maximum-security men’s prison for months when, in the fall of 2020, she got the news that gave her hope: Gov. Gavin Newsom had signed the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB132\">Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), the law requires California prison staff to use the chosen pronouns of incarcerated people who are intersex or identify as nonbinary or transgender, as Skylit does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It allows those incarcerated people to \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/prea/sb-132-faqs/\">select a gender preference for the guards who search them\u003c/a>. Most significantly, it mandates that prison officials, under most circumstances, honor requests to be housed at the type of facility — male or female — that aligns with the incarcerated person’s gender identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For six years, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation bounced Skylit from one men’s prison to another. At each, safety proved elusive. By 2020, she was isolated in a cell for her own protection after brutal attacks by people she was incarcerated with and, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991903-syiaahkvsp2ndamendedcomplaint2022-03-03\">a lawsuit alleges (PDF)\u003c/a>, by guards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The prospect of serving out her remaining sentence in a women’s facility seemed nothing short of a miracle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For me, what it felt like was a sanctuary,” she said in one of several dozen interviews with KQED over the course of a year. “A place to be who you were meant to be without any retaliation, without any violence, without any judgment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Decades have passed since simply \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11917624/how-a-young-gay-man-survived-one-of-the-darkest-eras-in-california-queer-history\">being LGBTQ+ was considered a crime and a mental illness\u003c/a>. But bias and marginalization still lead to high rates of criminalization, especially for \u003ca href=\"https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/NTDS_Report.pdf\">Black trans women (PDF)\u003c/a> like Skylit. Once incarcerated, harsh prison conditions take a serious toll on mental health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://cpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com/sites.uci.edu/dist/0/1149/files/2013/06/BulletinVol2Issue2.pdf\">Studies (PDF)\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS%20Full%20Report%20-%20FINAL%201.6.17.pdf\">surveys (PDF)\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/pdca15.pdf\">federal data (PDF)\u003c/a> show that trans women held in men’s prisons are sexually and physically assaulted at rates as much as 13 times higher than cisgender men. When they report assaults or fears for their safety, they’re often met with \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991938-tni-coalition-letter-to-governor-newsom-71723pdf-2\">staff retaliation (PDF)\u003c/a>. It’s not uncommon for trans women to harm themselves — just to get to the safety of a prison mental health bed. Skylit had lived that, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Syiaah Skylit, transgender woman in California prison\"]‘For me, what it felt like was a sanctuary. A place to be who you were meant to be without any retaliation, without any violence, without any judgment.’[/pullquote]The Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act promised an end to those nightmares.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No more having to hide in fear,” Skylit said. “No more having to be quiet about who I really am. I was excited. I couldn’t wait.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This story is a result of a year-long investigation into the effectiveness of the legislation that aimed to reduce the trauma of transgender women in California’s prisons. KQED’s reporters interviewed a dozen incarcerated people and reviewed data along with several hundred pages of prison grievances, disciplinary records and legal filings. The reporting revealed that trans women like Skylit and many others transferred to a women’s prison under the new law have not found the sanctuary they were seeking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Skylit, the nightmares have only gotten worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Living with secrets\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Skylit grew up in Compton. When she was 5, she and her siblings entered the foster care system after their mother suffered a mental health break. When Skylit was 14, her mother died by apparent suicide, and the following year, she said, “I tried to kill myself by running in front of a moving train.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was physically uninjured but sent to a psychiatric hospital. It wouldn’t be the last time she’d tried to take her own life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964099\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11964099\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-800x949.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"949\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-800x949.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-1020x1210.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-160x190.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-1295x1536.jpg 1295w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED.jpg 1686w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In August 2020, as Syiaah Skylit sat in solitary confinement at Kern Valley State Prison for her own protection, transgender advocates launched a Change.org campaign urging clemency for her. She helped with the design of the artwork. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Syiaah Skylit, Micah Bazant and Freddie Francis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Skylit is a slight 5 feet, 5 inches tall with a big, dimpled smile. As a teen and living as a boy, she was bullied for being a flashy dresser, for the way she carried herself. She experimented with a gay relationship, but it left her feeling “confused.” The adults in her life were religious and viewed LGBTQ+ people as sinners. Her brothers were gang members. She did what they asked of her, she said, because “I didn’t want to look weak.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I couldn’t come out and be myself around people like my family and my friends that I grew up with,” Skylit said. “I grew up in a hard-ass neighborhood. That ain’t about to fly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, she harbored a secret she never shared with her brothers, one even she didn’t fully comprehend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would dress up. I would put makeup on. All I understood as a person was, ‘Hey, I like this,’” she said. “So if I like this, why is it so bad? Am I a bad person?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A stint in juvenile detention didn’t stop Skylit from setting her sights on a bright future. She finished high school on time, enrolled in community college, worked multiple jobs and, for a while, paid her rent. But anxiety, depression and drug use interrupted her stability. She’d already been homeless once when, facing eviction in 2012, she and a friend robbed a convenience store in San Bernardino County. It yielded little, so they robbed a Los Angeles County jewelry store — and got caught.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 22, Skylit was facing criminal trials in both counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Syiaah Skylit, transgender woman in California prison\"]‘I couldn’t come out and be myself around people like my family and my friends that I grew up with. I grew up in a hard-ass neighborhood. That ain’t about to fly.’[/pullquote]Her first stop was a San Bernardino County jail, where she came out as gay to get to the relative safety of what was then called the “alternative lifestyles tank.” According to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23999484-syiaah2015sanbernardinocolawsuit\">class-action lawsuit (DOC)\u003c/a>, the conditions were distressing: discrimination by staff and denial of basic services. Skylit, under her legal name, was among the named plaintiffs. A settlement led to \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24002812-sanbernardinoinjunctiverelief\">significant reforms (DOC)\u003c/a>. It was in that jail, she said, where she first learned to advocate for her rights, even in the face of retaliation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also where she first encountered openly transgender women and was blown away by their courage and joyful confidence. In their midst, Skylit said, she at last felt free of judgment, open to self-acceptance. Her next stop — a stint in the segregated LGBTQ+ tank at the Los Angeles County jail — only reinforced those feelings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s when I got a taste of all the ‘T’ and I was just living it,” she said of the ‘T’ for Transgender in the alphabet soup of LGBTQ+. “It was like discovering myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was sentenced to 16 years in prison. It may seem paradoxical, but incarceration gave Skylit breathing room to explore her gender identity. In court, she apologized to her robbery victims. Then, she made a promise to herself to use “every second, every minute” of her time inside “to really find out who I am. I mean, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I felt I had.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit entered California’s prison system for men in December 2015. Soon, she chose her new name. “Syiaah” is an acronym — sexy, young, intelligent, ambitious, authentic and heroic. She picked “Sky” as “an inspiration to reach higher limits.” And “lit” is a nod to her hip-hop Compton roots “to be vibrant, live.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Put it together, it’s ‘I keep the sky lit’,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In keeping with the up-to-date \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24002874-ama-medical-spectrum-of-gender-d-295312\">medical (DOC)\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/diversity/education/transgender-and-gender-nonconforming-patients\">psychiatric\u003c/a> understanding of gender identity, the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act doesn’t require incarcerated people to be on hormone replacement therapy or to be interested in gender-affirming surgeries to be transferred to housing that aligns with their sense of safety. During Skylit’s early years in prison, that wasn’t the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11957664 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/110822-KernValleyPrison-LV_CM_04-1020x680.jpg']The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation \u003cem>did\u003c/em> consider such transfer requests. The federal Prison Rape Elimination Act had since 2012 \u003ca href=\"https://www.prearesourcecenter.org/frequently-asked-questions/does-policy-houses-transgender-or-intersex-inmates-based-exclusively\">forbidden\u003c/a> the department from housing prisoners based solely on external genital anatomy. But the CDCR did it on a case-by-case basis, and the tiny number granted all happened to be for trans women who’d had gender-affirming genital surgery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not everybody wants that. Gender identity and gender transition are deeply personal. Skylit’s records show she declared her transgender identity on a special CDCR form about a year after arrival — and soon after started \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018578-skylit-2019-housing-complaint\">asking to be transferred to a women’s prison (DOC)\u003c/a>. That went nowhere. So Skylit worked to stay true to her transition, even as she was funneled through a series of men’s prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I tapped into it, despite the long time I was facing, I was happy,” she said. “But that happiness turned into survival real fast.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Met by violence\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Almost immediately, Skylit’s gender identity and small stature made her a target. On several occasions, she said, correctional officers placed her in cells with large men who specifically requested her and then pressured her for sex. When she filed grievances in an attempt to switch cells or responded to physical assaults by fighting, she said, staff responded with Rule Violation Reports, known as RVRs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more I would push back,” she said, “the more they would attack me with RVRs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Skylit pressed on. She requested hormone replacement therapy, and by the time those treatments started, in 2018, she’d been moved to Mule Creek State Prison near the small Sierra foothills town of Ione. It’s one of a dozen or so facilities in the state designated as “transgender hubs.” That means, medical and mental services for trans prisoners are concentrated there, as are prison commissary items unavailable elsewhere, such as sports bras and makeup for trans women, and boxer shorts for trans men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit could finally stop MacGyvering her fashion looks. She could style her hair, wear makeup and earrings. On the prison yard, she said she found a sense of belonging with her trans sisters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were out there,” she said. “Having fun, protecting each other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even at men’s prisons designated as transgender hubs, trans women were mixed with cisgender men in common areas and their assigned cells. The truer Skylit felt to herself, she said, the greater the danger she experienced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah, it’s OK to come out and you got a nice little outfit on, but guess what you just did?” she said. “You just called attention to yourself and now you have certain people who are making sexual advances towards you, and some of them don’t stop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of her trans sisters exchanged sex for safety. But even that was no guarantee of safety. Skylit wept while recounting how a close friend staggered out of her cell “with a huge gash in her skull, busted lip, trying to get out of the room that she placed herself in because she wanted to be \u003cem>herself\u003c/em>. And she couldn’t complain to the officers, because they’re not gonna do anything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Syiaah Skylit, transgender woman in California prison\"]‘Either I’m gonna be who I wanna be or I’m gonna end up dead. Girl, I can’t be dead and be myself at the same time.’[/pullquote]So Skylit found herself facing a soul-crushing choice between her safety and her identity. Skylit drew a line against assault. That meant more fights and more disciplinary write-ups. The hormone treatments caused muscle weakness, so she made another compromise. She began stopping and starting the medications depending on the danger she was facing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Either I’m gonna be who I wanna be or I’m gonna end up dead,” she said. “Girl, I can’t be dead and be myself at the same time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a survival strategy it made sense, but abruptly going on and off hormones brings on acute mood swings. It also heightens \u003ca href=\"https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/diversity/education/transgender-and-gender-nonconforming-patients/gender-dysphoria-diagnosis\">gender dysphoria\u003c/a>, a mental health diagnosis associated with distress a person can feel at being a gender other than the one assigned at birth. Skylit had experienced that for most of her life, as she hid her true gender identity, and it caused depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Skylit juggled these stressors, prison officials transferred her again — this time to Kern Valley State Prison, a maximum-security facility in the Central Valley town of Delano that houses some of the state’s most violent offenders. Among them, transgender advocates \u003ca href=\"https://prisonhealth.news/2021/10/29/lgbtq-prison-testimonies-dakota-rose-in-california/\">note\u003c/a>, are gang members known to target LGBTQ+ people in prisons. That’s where she \u003ca href=\"https://sfbayview.com/2021/05/trans-woman-seeks-release-from-cdcr-custody-after-attacks/\">hit a new low\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Skylit and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991903-syiaahkvsp2ndamendedcomplaint2022-03-03\">lawsuit filed on her behalf (DOC),\u003c/a> she was assaulted twice by incarcerated men and witnessed gruesome attacks on two other trans women. Terrified, she says she asked to speak to a sergeant about her safety concerns. Instead, she alleges, two officers followed her into her cell. One pulled down her pants, ran a baton along her bottom and threatened to rape her with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I’m just sitting there like this can’t be real,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11954055 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230626-CALIFORNIA-PRISONERS-AP-RP-KQED-1020x735.jpg']That night, she drank from a bottle of laundry detergent in a desperate attempt to get sent to a mental health crisis unit. An officer stripped her of her clothes and left her lying naked in her cell next to the empty bottle. The next day, an officer pepper sprayed her at close range. Others beat her with batons. CDCR does not comment on active litigation. In legal filings, the named officers have denied wrongdoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, Skylit said, a sergeant agreed to isolate her for her protection. That’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.vera.org/news/violence-torture-and-isolation-what-its-like-to-be-trans-in-prison\">a common fate for trans women\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s sad to be thankful for complete solitary confinement, isolation,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She would stay there for seven months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit had sought help from various attorneys. One responded. Jen Orthwein is a forensic psychologist who once treated transgender clients behind prison walls. They later co-founded a queer-owned law firm to challenge the harsh conditions they’d witnessed. Orthwein worked with other transgender advocates to launch a \u003ca href=\"https://www.change.org/p/gavin-newsom-call-for-the-immediate-release-of-syiaah-skylit-from-cdcr-custody-blacktranslivesmatter?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=cc830240-3ea3-11e9-a4df-e5579d49cec9\">petition\u003c/a> for clemency on Skylit’s behalf.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, with colored pencils and paper, Skylit got to work crafting a series of illustrated \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018571-its-a-colorful-world-by-syiaah-skylit\">children’s books (DOC)\u003c/a> featuring gender-non-conforming characters. Among them is a rainbow-colored kid named Unique, who is fully embraced by loving parents but bullied on the playground for delighting in toys conventionally meant for both boys and girls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project helped Skylit reimagine her traumatic past. She also hoped her books might make their way into the world and change the mindset of young readers “to where they’re not growing into hatred, but actually out of it.” She finished two, got started on a third. And that’s where she was when Orthewin gave her the good news. The Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act was state law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964104\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11964104\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Scans of two pages of drawing and text from a hand written book.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Excerpts from ‘It’s a Colorful World.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Syiaah Skylit)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was like a prayer had been answered,” Skylit said. “Like, ‘This is it!’ This is going to be the beginning of Syiaah Skylit at her best, at completely being herself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>New perils\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Wiener’s bill was years in the making, and he’s quick to note that top CDCR officials were on board. They welcomed advocates to join a working group to brainstorm solutions to unsafe conditions and sought input directly from incarcerated transgender people. The Office of Inspector General detailed in \u003ca href=\"https://www.oig.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Special-Review-Incarcerated-Transgender-Nonbinary-Intersex-Individuals.pdf\">a 2020 report (PDF)\u003c/a> the painful responses to those surveys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laws in \u003ca href=\"https://www.acluct.org/en/know-your-rights/know-your-rights-trans-people-who-are-incarcerated-connecticut\">Connecticut\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991974-952-management-of-gender-diverse-and-intersex-inmates-final-version\">Rhode Island (DOC)\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://lgbtqbar.org/bar-news/tiproject/ma/\">Massachusetts\u003c/a> call for similar reforms, while \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu-nj.org/en/press-releases/settlement-nj-civil-rights-suit-promises-necessary-reform-affirming-transgender\">New Jersey\u003c/a> has made comparable policy changes in response to litigation. But advocates who helped craft California’s law say it is the most expansive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener said in an interview that he knew at the start that the magnitude of changes mandated by the law required patience and that it would take time to implement. More recently, though, he’s grown deeply concerned about the way his legislation has played out on the ground. Because, he said, even with senior CDCR management on board, “the culture in the individual prisons is just so challenging that it doesn’t translate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964100\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11964100\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-800x539.jpg\" alt='A group of people, most wearing the same uniform of blue shirts and pants, stand together holding signs and joined by a person wearing a suit helping to hold a banner reading \"trans lives matter.\"' width=\"800\" height=\"539\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-800x539.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-1020x687.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-1536x1035.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-1920x1294.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) attends CDCR’s first Transgender Remembrance Day in 2019, organized jointly by trans and cisgender incarcerated people. Wiener had already authored the bill that would become the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act, with buy-in from top CDCR officials. \u003ccite>(California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Officials chose the Central California Women’s Facility, or CCWF, in Chowchilla as the prison where all the trans women would go first. It’s a facility with a \u003ca href=\"https://prisonlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/16.08.18-Prison-Law-Office-report-on-CCWF.pdf\">troubled history (PDF)\u003c/a> when it comes to staff accountability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of a dozen CCWF prisoners interviewed by KQED, all said they heard correctional staff express hostility to the new law even before the transfers began, warning the cisgender population that fakers and sexual predators were heading their way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tasha Brown, a cisgender woman, said she heard guards say, “The doors were going to be open for people to come in to violate us, to rape us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tomas Green, a transgender man, said he heard guards “telling women here that the trans women were men and that they were gonna get raped.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11936438 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/1920px-CentralCaliforniaWomensFacility-1020x816.jpeg']Alexanne Danis, a cisgender woman, said she heard a lieutenant openly state that the transfers “don’t belong here, that they have to leave.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officers and fellow cisgender incarcerated people, Danis said, also spoke about driving the new transfers out, “saying that they were gonna stage stuff and that they were gonna make it sound worse than it was if anything did happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michelle Calvin was one of the first transgender women to arrive at CCWF. She helped work on Wiener’s legislation and has since transferred to the lower-security California Institution for Women. She heard the characterizations by staff that trans women were “gonna come over here and rape y’all and beat y’all up and take y’all stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The power to reverse the law, she heard officers tell incarcerated people, rested in their hands: “Take your house back. Take your prison back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates who helped craft the law were well aware of this toxic environment. They say they pressed officials to allow them to hold a town hall at the women’s prison to defuse these narratives before the transfers began. It never happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the trans women who began arriving in the first half of 2021 had no idea what they were stepping into.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Orthwein, Skylit’s attorney, was part of the working group that informed the new law and said key CDCR decisions around implementation proved harmful. The new arrivals were held in segregation for their first month. There, they were issued new prison identification numbers beginning with a distinctive two-letter combination. Instead of “some semblance of privacy about their transgender status,” which advocates had pressed for, this immediately outed them, feeding hostility and rejection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCWF houses people in dorms, as many as eight to a room. Without exception, the trans women interviewed by KQED said they have been refused entry to dorms by prisoners who viewed them as “men.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Skylit’s first day in the general population, in mid-July 2021, guards started writing her up for minor violations. Within a month, she was in solitary confinement, accused of having a consensual relationship with her cisgender female bunkmate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sex is against prison rules systemwide, but every CCWF prisoner interviewed for this piece said it’s extremely common, especially in women’s prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Tomas Green, transgender man in California prison\"]‘At the end of the day, we’re humans. I’m not saying every relationship in here is just peachy perfect, no. You have a lot of relationships in here that are toxic — fight, argue. But that’s life in the free world.’[/pullquote]“Yes, you’re not supposed to have sex but it happens. It’s natural and there’s nothing that’s gonna stop it from happening,” said Giovanni Gonzales, a transgender man who runs a group to educate peers about gender identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Relationships form quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the end of the day, we’re humans,” Green said. “I’m not saying every relationship in here is just peachy perfect, no. You have a lot of relationships in here that are toxic — fight, argue. But that’s life in the free world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, while sex and intimacy may be universal, punishment is not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gonzales and Green said staff often turn a blind eye to cisgender women who couple up, especially if they express their gender in stereotypically feminine ways. If a transgender man is caught being amorous, they said, a rule violation is more likely. As for the trans women who were just arriving at CCWF, a harsher set of unwritten rules seemed to apply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One cisgender couple in Skylit’s dorm had been having regular sex without consequence, she said. As Skylit was handcuffed and written up for her relationship, she asked an officer why she was going to isolation and the bunkmate wasn’t. He replied, “Because you’re a man and she’s a woman.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a hearing to discuss her situation, records show that Acting Warden Michael Pallares told her he would push to send her back to men’s prison. She claimed he was hostile, “calling me a predator, saying that I’m preying on women.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In men’s prison, Skylit had lived in constant fear of sexual assault. Now \u003cem>she \u003c/em>was cast as a sexual predator. Her disciplinary paperwork relied on “confidential sources” to suggest she was faking her status because she “displays very masculine behavior when with the inmate population.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In isolation, according to grievances and a government claim filed by Orthwein, Skylit’s gender identity was undermined. She had trouble accessing her hormones and was denied a razor for 40 days straight. She grew a full beard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People screaming at me, yelling at me, calling me a man, and I need to go back to the men’s prison,” she said. “‘Look at the hair on yo’ face.’ [I was] pleading, pleading, pleading, ‘Please give me a razor, please give me a razor,’ and denied every time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A psychologist misgendered Skylit in a report, yet \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018435-psychologist-note-razors-clothing\">noted (DOC)\u003c/a> that an extended stay in isolation would likely increase her mental health symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the months that followed, Skylit was sent multiple times to a mental health unit for being suicidal. She was bumped up to a more intensive level of mental health care. Yet she remained in solitary confinement for eight months. Then, without explanation, Pallares released her to the general population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her freedom wouldn’t last.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘What did you all do to our homegirl?’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Skylit’s time in isolation had taken a toll. On the yard, she said she made enemies when she responded to threats and harassment with aggressive posturing and language. She said she tried not to engage, hanging out and playing cards every day with a couple of other trans women and one cisgender woman who was sweet on her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would hold hands,” she said. “We would hug, we would kiss.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prison officials aren’t supposed to penalize trans women more harshly for breaking rules that cisgender prisoners also break, like the one forbidding any behavior that could lead to sex. But the atmosphere around these relationships, interviews and records reveal, was tense and complex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While some cisgender women feared or lashed out at the new arrivals, others were eager to partner with them. Of a half-dozen transgender women at CCWF who were interviewed by KQED, the five who have not had gender-affirming genital surgery, said they’ve been subject to sexual advances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11955680 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/GettyImages-180517172-1020x680.jpg']Meanwhile, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24016207-mossgroup-sb132-cdcr-assessment-report\">a report (DOC)\u003c/a> on the implementation of the new law commissioned by CDCR found that a “sexualized environment, including being sexually pressured or pursued,” was among the reasons given by transgender women who voluntarily returned to men’s prison. Other reasons included “hostile reception from staff or incarcerated individuals,” “false allegations to be removed from room” and “issues with getting hygiene items, such as razors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In men’s prison, Skylit said, consensual sex generally went unpunished. That made it hard for her to imagine just how much the bond with her new “bestie” would cost her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On May 19, 2022, Skylit and her friends were on the yard drinking prison-made wine, disciplinary records show. Skylit and her girlfriend were kissing. A few minutes after Skylit went to use the porta-potty, she said, the girlfriend followed her in and started throwing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit said she was holding her hair back when Calvin, one of the trans friends she played cards with, let her know a guard was approaching. Skylit stepped out and asked a couple of other people to check on the girlfriend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They “opened the door and they say, ‘What did you all do to our homegirl? We don’t know what you two doing, we don’t know what’s going on over here,’” Skylit recounted. “And I said, ‘We just been drinking and she was in the thing throwing up.’ But now, it’s a commotion. It’s a crowd coming up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Skylit and two other witnesses, the girlfriend came out, and the guard scolded them. “She was like, ‘I’m OK bestie, I love you so much,’ and I hugged her and I walked away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rumors about a rape started circulating. Skylit said she heard it “from like one or two people. It wasn’t \u003cem>big\u003c/em> until the next day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Syiaah Skylit, transgender woman in California prison\"]‘They were surrounding me and pushing me and spitting on me and swinging at me.’[/pullquote]By then, a fictional narrative had taken shape: In those few moments inside the porta-potty, Skylit had committed rape, while Calvin stood guard. To be clear, prison officials never accused her of rape or sexual assault. The girlfriend told them — and KQED — that it never happened. Still, the rumors proved to be Skylit’s undoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That next day, according to Skylit and five witnesses, as she was returning from a mental health appointment, she was roughed up on the yard by 12 to 15 incarcerated people who called her “nothing but a rapist.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They were surrounding me and pushing me and spitting on me and swinging at me,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED obtained video of the incident through a public records request. There’s no audio, but the grainy image shows Skylit, who had a pass to be on the yard, doing an about-face as a group of incarcerated people in civilian clothes approached her. One appears to throw liquid at her. A few shove and punch her. She gets agitated. At one point, it’s clear that she’s yelling. But she mostly keeps her arms crossed. She never hits back. Still, she is the only one punished.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/nS5qpi-NXfE\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>As Syiaah Skylit, wearing a long-sleeved white shirt under her prison blues, walked through the yard at Central California Women’s Facility in May 2022, she was accosted by incarcerated people who accused her of being a rapist. Courtesy of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’d been out of solitary confinement for just four weeks. She went right back in — and she hasn’t come out in more than a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A sergeant who, the video shows, does not walk out to the yard until Skylit is handcuffed, wrote her \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018553-referring-to-sexual-intercourse-through-rape\">rule violation report (DOC)\u003c/a>. He states that he heard her yell, “I’m gonna f- you bitches,” and a few variations on that theme. Then, using her legal name, he adds an editorial aside: “It should be known that when [Skylit] mentioned f-, [Skylit] was referring to sexual intercourse through rape.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCWF initially accused Skylit of “threatening the life of a prisoner,” and referred her to the local district attorney for felony prosecution. It didn’t stick. Ultimately, her writeup was reduced to “behavior which could lead to violence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Syiaah Skylit, transgender woman in California prison\"]‘It’s sad to be thankful for complete solitary confinement, isolation.’[/pullquote]In her defense, Skylit pointed to the video as evidence that she wasn’t the aggressor and that others had committed violence against \u003cem>her.\u003c/em> Records show that the senior hearing officer called the video “irrelevant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDCR does not comment on specific incarcerated people. Asked to respond to the behavior of the sergeant, it said state regulations forbid discrimination by staff and grant incarcerated people the right to be treated “respectfully, impartially, and fairly by all employees.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit was far from alone in experiencing false allegations. Of the trans women at CCWF interviewed by KQED, each said they had been similarly targeted by others who were incarcerated and even by staff. Most were sent to solitary confinement pending investigations. Some were already there when they said they were framed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fancy Lipsey, records show, spent seven months in isolation after she was physically assaulted by other incarcerated people. As soon as she got out, a cisgender woman “went over to the officers and told them that I touched her vagina and her breasts in the dayroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They reviewed the video on the spot “and saw that I was nowhere near this woman.” Still, they told Lipsey they were taking her back to solitary confinement. That’s when she cut her wrists, ending up on suicide watch instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Calvin said she was punished after a roommate “went up to the program office and said I supposedly choked” another cisgender woman in their dorm in the middle of the night. The allegation came days after the alleged assault, which no one witnessed or reported at the time. Calvin said it took months to clear her name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tremayne Carroll, a trans woman who uses a wheelchair, said that after she rebuffed sexual advances from a cisgender woman, that woman yelled to guards that Carroll had sexually assaulted her. When that went nowhere, the woman changed her story and said the two had had consensual sex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Freddy Fox, an intersex prisoner who identifies as a trans woman and goes by “Foxy,” said she landed in solitary confinement after being assaulted. Alone in her cell in the weeks that followed, she was verbally harassed and accused of sexual impropriety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They would allege that I had exposed myself, then I’d have to go to the cameras to show that I did not expose myself,” Foxy said. The officers would then reduce the write-up to a lesser violation, she said, “but it’s still a sexual misconduct! That was the go-to thing in 2021 when we first arrived.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Porta-potty rapist’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Skylit’s case stands out in one crucial way: The false rape allegation went viral. Her chosen and legal names ended up all \u003ca href=\"https://reduxx.info/exclusive-female-inmate-reports-rape-occurred-in-california-womens-prison/\">over the internet.\u003c/a> One outlet called her the perpetrator of a “\u003ca href=\"https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/alleged-port-potty-rape-throws-harsh-glare-california-coed-prison-law-after\">port-a-potty rape\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because, as soon as the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act went into effect, an anti-trans organization called the Women’s Liberation Front started working to roll it back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November 2021, it filed \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22276203-chandlervcdcrcomplaint\">a lawsuit (DOC)\u003c/a> in federal court alleging the law violates the constitutional rights of cisgender women by forcing them to be housed with trans women who still have male genitalia. Simply having them there, the pending suit alleges, “substantially” increases the risk “of sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, and physical violence, and to psychological fear of such harms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Women’s Liberation Front was looking for a villain. The rumors about Skylit fit its narrative perfectly. Even though there were no eyewitnesses, no prison investigation and a girlfriend who \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22276218-43-3-asia-davis-declaration\">said the rape never happened (DOC)\u003c/a>, attorneys for the organization gathered hearsay declarations. The attorney handed them over to anti-trans websites and \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22276220-decl-of-plaintiff-supporter-mimi-lee-alleging-rape-of-ad-in-opposition-to-dismissal-033113109979\">attached them to a motion in the legal docket (DOC)\u003c/a>, making the declarations public record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the tier in solitary confinement, the taunts of “porta-potty rapist” have been endless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='More on LGBTQI+ Rights' tag='transgender-rights']“I tell people, stop calling me that,” Skylit said. “Then, I’m a problem because I say things like, ‘Well, if I’m a rapist, then you a rapist,’ and then it’s like, ‘Oh, now he’s a threat, he’s arguing, he’s aggressive.’ I’m in a cage. By myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit said cisgender incarcerated people have threatened to stab her, even chop off her penis. They’ve done it in front of officers without consequence. Yet just about every time she has erupted with verbal threats, she is written up. Prison officials have used the outbursts, and the enemies she’s made, as justification to keep her in solitary confinement, labeling her a “threat to the management and security of the institution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some prisoners in solitary confinement — what CDCR calls restricted housing — are allowed cellmates for company. Skylit has had to cell alone. Some are allowed onto an open yard. But Skylit was designated a potential threat to others, so she has had to exercise in a cage that’s about 12-by-8 feet, often surrounded by other incarcerated people who insult her. When she attends her mental health groups, she is among those who must sit in a cage the size of a telephone booth called a “therapeutic module.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Multiple \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6987940/\">studies \u003c/a>confirm how damaging long-term solitary confinement is to mental health. So it’s no surprise that Skylit has struggled. Records show she has harmed herself on several occasions, once punching the wall until her hand bled. After that incident, for a few weeks in August 2022, she was medicated against her will with high doses of antipsychotic drugs. Too drugged to mount a defense, she was found guilty of multiple rule violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A judge determined the prison violated her civil rights by force-medicating her. For Skylit, it was an important victory. But the whole experience eroded her faith in the prison mental health system. As the months ticked by, she went off all her medications — not just the hormones, but also the ones that treat depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Shattered trust\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s important to note that many cisgender incarcerated people at CCWF with histories of sexual victimization were truly scared of the newly arriving transgender women. Some still are. The fear-mongering from staff and outside anti-trans groups has not helped. But those fears appear to be unfounded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED requested discipline data from CCWF. In the two years after the new law took effect, staff did not issue a single rule violation for physical or sexual violence to the trans women who came over from men’s prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, write-ups for violence were common in the rest of the prison population, including for fighting, assault and battery on prisoners and staff, and even inciting a riot. The data also show that the new arrivals under the law were six times more likely than other CCWF prisoners to be punished for behavior that could lead to consensual sex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As it happens, there was a violent predator at CCWF. Allegedly, there was more than one and they weren’t transgender women. They were cisgender men, employees of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May 2023, as Skylit struggled to hold onto herself in her solitary cell, she heard the news that Gregory Rodriguez, a longtime guard at CCWF, was facing a 96-count criminal complaint for allegedly sexually assaulting more than a dozen incarcerated women over the course of years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’d been allowed to retire in August 2022 while under investigation. In addition to those charges, six women filed lawsuits under Jane Roe or Jane Doe pseudonyms against Rodriguez in federal court, contending he lured them to a suite of offices where there are no cameras and forcibly raped them. One of these alleged assaults took place on May 20, 2022, the same day that the crowd surrounded Skylit and called \u003cem>her\u003c/em> a rapist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDCR \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article280162624.html\">settled those suits\u003c/a> earlier this month for $3.7 million. More lawsuits have been filed alleging sexual assaults by CCWF employees. Four of the named victims are transgender women, Skylit among them. Her \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018568-skylitsexabusecomplaintaug14_2023\">lawsuit (DOC)\u003c/a> contends that Rodriguez and Pallares, the warden who called her a predator, each demanded sexual favors from her in the spring of 2022 “for the purpose of humiliating, degrading and demeaning” her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For him to have me come into that room, it’s just so dirty,” Skylit said. “I feel dirty.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pallares was demoted in January after the Rodriguez scandal broke. Currently, an associate warden at Pleasant Valley State Prison, he declined comment. Prison officials wouldn’t say whether Pallares was under investigation. But in a statement, officials said CDCR investigates all sexual assault allegations, and “resolutely condemns any staff member who violates their oath and shatters the trust of the public.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Syiaah Skylit, transgender woman in California prison\"]‘I don’t even understand who I am anymore. I’m full of anger. Hatred, ooh, hatred is huge for me right now. I’m lost, I’m completely lost.’[/pullquote]The totality of Skylit’s experience has left \u003cem>her \u003c/em>shattered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They come to my door every day asking me if I want to take my hormones. No, I don’t want to take no hormones,” she told KQED in March after 10 months of isolation. “I don’t even understand who I am anymore. I’m full of anger. Hatred, ooh, hatred is huge for me right now. I’m lost, I’m completely lost.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spending more than two years in solitary confinement means she hasn’t had access to the kind of programming that would earn her good-time credits and earlier release, like school, work and vocational training. She has never laid a finger on another prisoner or an officer, but her disciplinary write-ups have nevertheless added more than a year to her original 16-year sentence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prison officials are again recommending that Skylit be returned to a men’s prison. It requires a hearing that’s already been postponed for 17 months. She’s flip-flopped on whether to go back voluntarily. Being stuck in a box is destroying her, she said, and getting back into the general population may help her get out sooner. But with being falsely labeled a rapist, she’s terrified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They will kill me,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If she does end up back in men’s prison, she shared in an emotional phone call, she plans to keep her gender identity secret. To prepare for the possibility, she started working out so she could fight for her life. She sold her earrings. And she cut off all her hair. She’d been growing it out for more than eight years, ever since those trans women in county jail lit a fire inside her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Making herself “bald-headed” as she said, was a painful act of surrender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit also threw away the trans-friendly children’s books she’d worked so hard to bring to life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I told myself, I’m not gonna get emotional or emo with this stuff no more,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A path forward\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California’s law was meant to protect transgender women, but the culture at CCWF and rising anti-trans fervor all over the country have exposed them to new traumas. Implementation has been slow. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.oig.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Special-Review-No.-22-01.pdf\">report (PDF)\u003c/a> issued in late August by the current inspector general noted a “significant backlog” in transfer requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of nearly 400 incarcerated people who’ve requested housing transfers under the law — the vast majority transgender women asking to move to women’s prison — more than 300 are still waiting for a committee to hear their case. Many live in daily fear of sexual and physical assault, said A.D. Lewis, an attorney who runs Trans Beyond Bars, a project for the Berkeley-based Prison Law Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A transgender man, Lewis regularly communicates with trans-incarcerated people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three dozen or so trans women who made it to CCWF — most during the first six months of implementation — are the vanguard. Many, like Skylit, have suffered. A small number have been transferred to the California Institution for Women, a lower security prison in San Bernardino County, where they say conditions are slightly better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jen Orthwein, forensic psychologist, co-founder of Medina Orthwein LLP\"]‘These systems are so built to destroy people, and if they survive and get out, they’re not better and they’re often much worse.’[/pullquote]In a statement, CDCR said it is working to implement some of the changes \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24016207-mossgroup-sb132-cdcr-assessment-report\">recommended by outside consultants (DOC)\u003c/a> earlier this year and is committed to providing “a safe, humane, respectful and rehabilitative environment for all incarcerated people, including the transgender, non-binary and intersex community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates acknowledge that the cycles of harm continue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Instead of respecting trans people’s self-determination and prioritizing their safety, as the law requires,” Lewis said, correctional staff and other incarcerated people have used it “to put a target on trans peoples’ back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after prison officials received KQED’s questions for this story in September, CCWF revoked all phone privileges for Skylit and others in solitary confinement. In an email to KQED after the initial publication of this story, a CDCR official said the revocation of phone privileges was a policy change ending what had been a temporary, more liberal phone privileges policy instituted in the early days of the COVID pandemic. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit’s attorney worries about the impact of the trauma on her future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These systems are so built to destroy people, and if they survive and get out, they’re not better and they’re often much worse,” Orthwein said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter sent in July 2023 to Newsom, nearly two-dozen advocacy and legal organizations pressing for better treatment for transgender, nonbinary and intersex prisoners \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991938-tni-coalition-letter-to-governor-newsom-71723pdf-2\">urged clemency (DOC)\u003c/a> for those who have experienced harm in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener, meanwhile, expressed deep frustration with the pace of implementation. In response to KQED’s findings, he said he was “horrified to hear how trans women are being treated in women’s prison, both by the prisons and by other inmates. The fact that they’re being treated harshly and slandered, called rapists when they’re not, it’s terrifying and we’re not going to just let this go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lee Romney is a longtime journalist who spent 23 years at the \u003c/em>Los Angeles Times\u003cem>. Jennifer Johnson is a former career public defender who helped launch San Francisco’s Behavioral Health Court. This reporting, supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the California Health Care Foundation, is part of a forthcoming podcast they’re co-creating. Called \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.novemberinmysoul.com/\">\u003cem>November In My Soul\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, it explores the way bias makes its way into our intertwined mental health and criminal legal systems.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story has been updated.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://www.novemberinmysoul.com/about/#62b093f21c801819ce513743\">Lee Romney and Jenny Johnson\u003c/a>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Warning: There are descriptions of physical and sexual violence in this piece. Also, where legal names and chosen names differ, we’re using chosen names.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">S\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>yiaah Skylit had been stuck in solitary confinement at a maximum-security men’s prison for months when, in the fall of 2020, she got the news that gave her hope: Gov. Gavin Newsom had signed the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB132\">Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), the law requires California prison staff to use the chosen pronouns of incarcerated people who are intersex or identify as nonbinary or transgender, as Skylit does.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It allows those incarcerated people to \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/prea/sb-132-faqs/\">select a gender preference for the guards who search them\u003c/a>. Most significantly, it mandates that prison officials, under most circumstances, honor requests to be housed at the type of facility — male or female — that aligns with the incarcerated person’s gender identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For six years, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation bounced Skylit from one men’s prison to another. At each, safety proved elusive. By 2020, she was isolated in a cell for her own protection after brutal attacks by people she was incarcerated with and, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991903-syiaahkvsp2ndamendedcomplaint2022-03-03\">a lawsuit alleges (PDF)\u003c/a>, by guards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The prospect of serving out her remaining sentence in a women’s facility seemed nothing short of a miracle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For me, what it felt like was a sanctuary,” she said in one of several dozen interviews with KQED over the course of a year. “A place to be who you were meant to be without any retaliation, without any violence, without any judgment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Decades have passed since simply \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11917624/how-a-young-gay-man-survived-one-of-the-darkest-eras-in-california-queer-history\">being LGBTQ+ was considered a crime and a mental illness\u003c/a>. But bias and marginalization still lead to high rates of criminalization, especially for \u003ca href=\"https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/NTDS_Report.pdf\">Black trans women (PDF)\u003c/a> like Skylit. Once incarcerated, harsh prison conditions take a serious toll on mental health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://cpb-us-e2.wpmucdn.com/sites.uci.edu/dist/0/1149/files/2013/06/BulletinVol2Issue2.pdf\">Studies (PDF)\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/usts/USTS%20Full%20Report%20-%20FINAL%201.6.17.pdf\">surveys (PDF)\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/pdca15.pdf\">federal data (PDF)\u003c/a> show that trans women held in men’s prisons are sexually and physically assaulted at rates as much as 13 times higher than cisgender men. When they report assaults or fears for their safety, they’re often met with \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991938-tni-coalition-letter-to-governor-newsom-71723pdf-2\">staff retaliation (PDF)\u003c/a>. It’s not uncommon for trans women to harm themselves — just to get to the safety of a prison mental health bed. Skylit had lived that, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘For me, what it felt like was a sanctuary. A place to be who you were meant to be without any retaliation, without any violence, without any judgment.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act promised an end to those nightmares.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No more having to hide in fear,” Skylit said. “No more having to be quiet about who I really am. I was excited. I couldn’t wait.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This story is a result of a year-long investigation into the effectiveness of the legislation that aimed to reduce the trauma of transgender women in California’s prisons. KQED’s reporters interviewed a dozen incarcerated people and reviewed data along with several hundred pages of prison grievances, disciplinary records and legal filings. The reporting revealed that trans women like Skylit and many others transferred to a women’s prison under the new law have not found the sanctuary they were seeking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Skylit, the nightmares have only gotten worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Living with secrets\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Skylit grew up in Compton. When she was 5, she and her siblings entered the foster care system after their mother suffered a mental health break. When Skylit was 14, her mother died by apparent suicide, and the following year, she said, “I tried to kill myself by running in front of a moving train.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was physically uninjured but sent to a psychiatric hospital. It wouldn’t be the last time she’d tried to take her own life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964099\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11964099\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-800x949.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"949\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-800x949.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-1020x1210.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-160x190.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED-1295x1536.jpg 1295w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Free-Syiaah-social-KQED.jpg 1686w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In August 2020, as Syiaah Skylit sat in solitary confinement at Kern Valley State Prison for her own protection, transgender advocates launched a Change.org campaign urging clemency for her. She helped with the design of the artwork. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Syiaah Skylit, Micah Bazant and Freddie Francis)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Skylit is a slight 5 feet, 5 inches tall with a big, dimpled smile. As a teen and living as a boy, she was bullied for being a flashy dresser, for the way she carried herself. She experimented with a gay relationship, but it left her feeling “confused.” The adults in her life were religious and viewed LGBTQ+ people as sinners. Her brothers were gang members. She did what they asked of her, she said, because “I didn’t want to look weak.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I couldn’t come out and be myself around people like my family and my friends that I grew up with,” Skylit said. “I grew up in a hard-ass neighborhood. That ain’t about to fly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, she harbored a secret she never shared with her brothers, one even she didn’t fully comprehend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would dress up. I would put makeup on. All I understood as a person was, ‘Hey, I like this,’” she said. “So if I like this, why is it so bad? Am I a bad person?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A stint in juvenile detention didn’t stop Skylit from setting her sights on a bright future. She finished high school on time, enrolled in community college, worked multiple jobs and, for a while, paid her rent. But anxiety, depression and drug use interrupted her stability. She’d already been homeless once when, facing eviction in 2012, she and a friend robbed a convenience store in San Bernardino County. It yielded little, so they robbed a Los Angeles County jewelry store — and got caught.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 22, Skylit was facing criminal trials in both counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Her first stop was a San Bernardino County jail, where she came out as gay to get to the relative safety of what was then called the “alternative lifestyles tank.” According to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23999484-syiaah2015sanbernardinocolawsuit\">class-action lawsuit (DOC)\u003c/a>, the conditions were distressing: discrimination by staff and denial of basic services. Skylit, under her legal name, was among the named plaintiffs. A settlement led to \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24002812-sanbernardinoinjunctiverelief\">significant reforms (DOC)\u003c/a>. It was in that jail, she said, where she first learned to advocate for her rights, even in the face of retaliation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also where she first encountered openly transgender women and was blown away by their courage and joyful confidence. In their midst, Skylit said, she at last felt free of judgment, open to self-acceptance. Her next stop — a stint in the segregated LGBTQ+ tank at the Los Angeles County jail — only reinforced those feelings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s when I got a taste of all the ‘T’ and I was just living it,” she said of the ‘T’ for Transgender in the alphabet soup of LGBTQ+. “It was like discovering myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was sentenced to 16 years in prison. It may seem paradoxical, but incarceration gave Skylit breathing room to explore her gender identity. In court, she apologized to her robbery victims. Then, she made a promise to herself to use “every second, every minute” of her time inside “to really find out who I am. I mean, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I felt I had.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit entered California’s prison system for men in December 2015. Soon, she chose her new name. “Syiaah” is an acronym — sexy, young, intelligent, ambitious, authentic and heroic. She picked “Sky” as “an inspiration to reach higher limits.” And “lit” is a nod to her hip-hop Compton roots “to be vibrant, live.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Put it together, it’s ‘I keep the sky lit’,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In keeping with the up-to-date \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24002874-ama-medical-spectrum-of-gender-d-295312\">medical (DOC)\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/diversity/education/transgender-and-gender-nonconforming-patients\">psychiatric\u003c/a> understanding of gender identity, the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act doesn’t require incarcerated people to be on hormone replacement therapy or to be interested in gender-affirming surgeries to be transferred to housing that aligns with their sense of safety. During Skylit’s early years in prison, that wasn’t the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation \u003cem>did\u003c/em> consider such transfer requests. The federal Prison Rape Elimination Act had since 2012 \u003ca href=\"https://www.prearesourcecenter.org/frequently-asked-questions/does-policy-houses-transgender-or-intersex-inmates-based-exclusively\">forbidden\u003c/a> the department from housing prisoners based solely on external genital anatomy. But the CDCR did it on a case-by-case basis, and the tiny number granted all happened to be for trans women who’d had gender-affirming genital surgery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not everybody wants that. Gender identity and gender transition are deeply personal. Skylit’s records show she declared her transgender identity on a special CDCR form about a year after arrival — and soon after started \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018578-skylit-2019-housing-complaint\">asking to be transferred to a women’s prison (DOC)\u003c/a>. That went nowhere. So Skylit worked to stay true to her transition, even as she was funneled through a series of men’s prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I tapped into it, despite the long time I was facing, I was happy,” she said. “But that happiness turned into survival real fast.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Met by violence\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Almost immediately, Skylit’s gender identity and small stature made her a target. On several occasions, she said, correctional officers placed her in cells with large men who specifically requested her and then pressured her for sex. When she filed grievances in an attempt to switch cells or responded to physical assaults by fighting, she said, staff responded with Rule Violation Reports, known as RVRs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more I would push back,” she said, “the more they would attack me with RVRs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Skylit pressed on. She requested hormone replacement therapy, and by the time those treatments started, in 2018, she’d been moved to Mule Creek State Prison near the small Sierra foothills town of Ione. It’s one of a dozen or so facilities in the state designated as “transgender hubs.” That means, medical and mental services for trans prisoners are concentrated there, as are prison commissary items unavailable elsewhere, such as sports bras and makeup for trans women, and boxer shorts for trans men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit could finally stop MacGyvering her fashion looks. She could style her hair, wear makeup and earrings. On the prison yard, she said she found a sense of belonging with her trans sisters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We were out there,” she said. “Having fun, protecting each other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even at men’s prisons designated as transgender hubs, trans women were mixed with cisgender men in common areas and their assigned cells. The truer Skylit felt to herself, she said, the greater the danger she experienced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah, it’s OK to come out and you got a nice little outfit on, but guess what you just did?” she said. “You just called attention to yourself and now you have certain people who are making sexual advances towards you, and some of them don’t stop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of her trans sisters exchanged sex for safety. But even that was no guarantee of safety. Skylit wept while recounting how a close friend staggered out of her cell “with a huge gash in her skull, busted lip, trying to get out of the room that she placed herself in because she wanted to be \u003cem>herself\u003c/em>. And she couldn’t complain to the officers, because they’re not gonna do anything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>So Skylit found herself facing a soul-crushing choice between her safety and her identity. Skylit drew a line against assault. That meant more fights and more disciplinary write-ups. The hormone treatments caused muscle weakness, so she made another compromise. She began stopping and starting the medications depending on the danger she was facing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Either I’m gonna be who I wanna be or I’m gonna end up dead,” she said. “Girl, I can’t be dead and be myself at the same time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a survival strategy it made sense, but abruptly going on and off hormones brings on acute mood swings. It also heightens \u003ca href=\"https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/diversity/education/transgender-and-gender-nonconforming-patients/gender-dysphoria-diagnosis\">gender dysphoria\u003c/a>, a mental health diagnosis associated with distress a person can feel at being a gender other than the one assigned at birth. Skylit had experienced that for most of her life, as she hid her true gender identity, and it caused depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Skylit juggled these stressors, prison officials transferred her again — this time to Kern Valley State Prison, a maximum-security facility in the Central Valley town of Delano that houses some of the state’s most violent offenders. Among them, transgender advocates \u003ca href=\"https://prisonhealth.news/2021/10/29/lgbtq-prison-testimonies-dakota-rose-in-california/\">note\u003c/a>, are gang members known to target LGBTQ+ people in prisons. That’s where she \u003ca href=\"https://sfbayview.com/2021/05/trans-woman-seeks-release-from-cdcr-custody-after-attacks/\">hit a new low\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Skylit and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991903-syiaahkvsp2ndamendedcomplaint2022-03-03\">lawsuit filed on her behalf (DOC),\u003c/a> she was assaulted twice by incarcerated men and witnessed gruesome attacks on two other trans women. Terrified, she says she asked to speak to a sergeant about her safety concerns. Instead, she alleges, two officers followed her into her cell. One pulled down her pants, ran a baton along her bottom and threatened to rape her with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I’m just sitting there like this can’t be real,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That night, she drank from a bottle of laundry detergent in a desperate attempt to get sent to a mental health crisis unit. An officer stripped her of her clothes and left her lying naked in her cell next to the empty bottle. The next day, an officer pepper sprayed her at close range. Others beat her with batons. CDCR does not comment on active litigation. In legal filings, the named officers have denied wrongdoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Finally, Skylit said, a sergeant agreed to isolate her for her protection. That’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.vera.org/news/violence-torture-and-isolation-what-its-like-to-be-trans-in-prison\">a common fate for trans women\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s sad to be thankful for complete solitary confinement, isolation,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She would stay there for seven months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit had sought help from various attorneys. One responded. Jen Orthwein is a forensic psychologist who once treated transgender clients behind prison walls. They later co-founded a queer-owned law firm to challenge the harsh conditions they’d witnessed. Orthwein worked with other transgender advocates to launch a \u003ca href=\"https://www.change.org/p/gavin-newsom-call-for-the-immediate-release-of-syiaah-skylit-from-cdcr-custody-blacktranslivesmatter?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=cc830240-3ea3-11e9-a4df-e5579d49cec9\">petition\u003c/a> for clemency on Skylit’s behalf.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, with colored pencils and paper, Skylit got to work crafting a series of illustrated \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018571-its-a-colorful-world-by-syiaah-skylit\">children’s books (DOC)\u003c/a> featuring gender-non-conforming characters. Among them is a rainbow-colored kid named Unique, who is fully embraced by loving parents but bullied on the playground for delighting in toys conventionally meant for both boys and girls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The project helped Skylit reimagine her traumatic past. She also hoped her books might make their way into the world and change the mindset of young readers “to where they’re not growing into hatred, but actually out of it.” She finished two, got started on a third. And that’s where she was when Orthewin gave her the good news. The Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act was state law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964104\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11964104\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Scans of two pages of drawing and text from a hand written book.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231011-ITS-A-COLORFUL-WORLD-2-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Excerpts from ‘It’s a Colorful World.’ \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Syiaah Skylit)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was like a prayer had been answered,” Skylit said. “Like, ‘This is it!’ This is going to be the beginning of Syiaah Skylit at her best, at completely being herself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>New perils\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Wiener’s bill was years in the making, and he’s quick to note that top CDCR officials were on board. They welcomed advocates to join a working group to brainstorm solutions to unsafe conditions and sought input directly from incarcerated transgender people. The Office of Inspector General detailed in \u003ca href=\"https://www.oig.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Special-Review-Incarcerated-Transgender-Nonbinary-Intersex-Individuals.pdf\">a 2020 report (PDF)\u003c/a> the painful responses to those surveys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Laws in \u003ca href=\"https://www.acluct.org/en/know-your-rights/know-your-rights-trans-people-who-are-incarcerated-connecticut\">Connecticut\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991974-952-management-of-gender-diverse-and-intersex-inmates-final-version\">Rhode Island (DOC)\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://lgbtqbar.org/bar-news/tiproject/ma/\">Massachusetts\u003c/a> call for similar reforms, while \u003ca href=\"https://www.aclu-nj.org/en/press-releases/settlement-nj-civil-rights-suit-promises-necessary-reform-affirming-transgender\">New Jersey\u003c/a> has made comparable policy changes in response to litigation. But advocates who helped craft California’s law say it is the most expansive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener said in an interview that he knew at the start that the magnitude of changes mandated by the law required patience and that it would take time to implement. More recently, though, he’s grown deeply concerned about the way his legislation has played out on the ground. Because, he said, even with senior CDCR management on board, “the culture in the individual prisons is just so challenging that it doesn’t translate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964100\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11964100\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-800x539.jpg\" alt='A group of people, most wearing the same uniform of blue shirts and pants, stand together holding signs and joined by a person wearing a suit helping to hold a banner reading \"trans lives matter.\"' width=\"800\" height=\"539\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-800x539.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-1020x687.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-1536x1035.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED-1920x1294.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/SenWienerAtSanQuentinTransRemembranceDay-2019-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) attends CDCR’s first Transgender Remembrance Day in 2019, organized jointly by trans and cisgender incarcerated people. Wiener had already authored the bill that would become the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act, with buy-in from top CDCR officials. \u003ccite>(California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Officials chose the Central California Women’s Facility, or CCWF, in Chowchilla as the prison where all the trans women would go first. It’s a facility with a \u003ca href=\"https://prisonlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/16.08.18-Prison-Law-Office-report-on-CCWF.pdf\">troubled history (PDF)\u003c/a> when it comes to staff accountability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of a dozen CCWF prisoners interviewed by KQED, all said they heard correctional staff express hostility to the new law even before the transfers began, warning the cisgender population that fakers and sexual predators were heading their way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tasha Brown, a cisgender woman, said she heard guards say, “The doors were going to be open for people to come in to violate us, to rape us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tomas Green, a transgender man, said he heard guards “telling women here that the trans women were men and that they were gonna get raped.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Alexanne Danis, a cisgender woman, said she heard a lieutenant openly state that the transfers “don’t belong here, that they have to leave.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officers and fellow cisgender incarcerated people, Danis said, also spoke about driving the new transfers out, “saying that they were gonna stage stuff and that they were gonna make it sound worse than it was if anything did happen.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michelle Calvin was one of the first transgender women to arrive at CCWF. She helped work on Wiener’s legislation and has since transferred to the lower-security California Institution for Women. She heard the characterizations by staff that trans women were “gonna come over here and rape y’all and beat y’all up and take y’all stuff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The power to reverse the law, she heard officers tell incarcerated people, rested in their hands: “Take your house back. Take your prison back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates who helped craft the law were well aware of this toxic environment. They say they pressed officials to allow them to hold a town hall at the women’s prison to defuse these narratives before the transfers began. It never happened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the trans women who began arriving in the first half of 2021 had no idea what they were stepping into.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Orthwein, Skylit’s attorney, was part of the working group that informed the new law and said key CDCR decisions around implementation proved harmful. The new arrivals were held in segregation for their first month. There, they were issued new prison identification numbers beginning with a distinctive two-letter combination. Instead of “some semblance of privacy about their transgender status,” which advocates had pressed for, this immediately outed them, feeding hostility and rejection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCWF houses people in dorms, as many as eight to a room. Without exception, the trans women interviewed by KQED said they have been refused entry to dorms by prisoners who viewed them as “men.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Skylit’s first day in the general population, in mid-July 2021, guards started writing her up for minor violations. Within a month, she was in solitary confinement, accused of having a consensual relationship with her cisgender female bunkmate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sex is against prison rules systemwide, but every CCWF prisoner interviewed for this piece said it’s extremely common, especially in women’s prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘At the end of the day, we’re humans. I’m not saying every relationship in here is just peachy perfect, no. You have a lot of relationships in here that are toxic — fight, argue. But that’s life in the free world.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Yes, you’re not supposed to have sex but it happens. It’s natural and there’s nothing that’s gonna stop it from happening,” said Giovanni Gonzales, a transgender man who runs a group to educate peers about gender identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Relationships form quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the end of the day, we’re humans,” Green said. “I’m not saying every relationship in here is just peachy perfect, no. You have a lot of relationships in here that are toxic — fight, argue. But that’s life in the free world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, while sex and intimacy may be universal, punishment is not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gonzales and Green said staff often turn a blind eye to cisgender women who couple up, especially if they express their gender in stereotypically feminine ways. If a transgender man is caught being amorous, they said, a rule violation is more likely. As for the trans women who were just arriving at CCWF, a harsher set of unwritten rules seemed to apply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One cisgender couple in Skylit’s dorm had been having regular sex without consequence, she said. As Skylit was handcuffed and written up for her relationship, she asked an officer why she was going to isolation and the bunkmate wasn’t. He replied, “Because you’re a man and she’s a woman.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a hearing to discuss her situation, records show that Acting Warden Michael Pallares told her he would push to send her back to men’s prison. She claimed he was hostile, “calling me a predator, saying that I’m preying on women.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In men’s prison, Skylit had lived in constant fear of sexual assault. Now \u003cem>she \u003c/em>was cast as a sexual predator. Her disciplinary paperwork relied on “confidential sources” to suggest she was faking her status because she “displays very masculine behavior when with the inmate population.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In isolation, according to grievances and a government claim filed by Orthwein, Skylit’s gender identity was undermined. She had trouble accessing her hormones and was denied a razor for 40 days straight. She grew a full beard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People screaming at me, yelling at me, calling me a man, and I need to go back to the men’s prison,” she said. “‘Look at the hair on yo’ face.’ [I was] pleading, pleading, pleading, ‘Please give me a razor, please give me a razor,’ and denied every time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A psychologist misgendered Skylit in a report, yet \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018435-psychologist-note-razors-clothing\">noted (DOC)\u003c/a> that an extended stay in isolation would likely increase her mental health symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the months that followed, Skylit was sent multiple times to a mental health unit for being suicidal. She was bumped up to a more intensive level of mental health care. Yet she remained in solitary confinement for eight months. Then, without explanation, Pallares released her to the general population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her freedom wouldn’t last.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘What did you all do to our homegirl?’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Skylit’s time in isolation had taken a toll. On the yard, she said she made enemies when she responded to threats and harassment with aggressive posturing and language. She said she tried not to engage, hanging out and playing cards every day with a couple of other trans women and one cisgender woman who was sweet on her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We would hold hands,” she said. “We would hug, we would kiss.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prison officials aren’t supposed to penalize trans women more harshly for breaking rules that cisgender prisoners also break, like the one forbidding any behavior that could lead to sex. But the atmosphere around these relationships, interviews and records reveal, was tense and complex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While some cisgender women feared or lashed out at the new arrivals, others were eager to partner with them. Of a half-dozen transgender women at CCWF who were interviewed by KQED, the five who have not had gender-affirming genital surgery, said they’ve been subject to sexual advances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Meanwhile, \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24016207-mossgroup-sb132-cdcr-assessment-report\">a report (DOC)\u003c/a> on the implementation of the new law commissioned by CDCR found that a “sexualized environment, including being sexually pressured or pursued,” was among the reasons given by transgender women who voluntarily returned to men’s prison. Other reasons included “hostile reception from staff or incarcerated individuals,” “false allegations to be removed from room” and “issues with getting hygiene items, such as razors.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In men’s prison, Skylit said, consensual sex generally went unpunished. That made it hard for her to imagine just how much the bond with her new “bestie” would cost her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On May 19, 2022, Skylit and her friends were on the yard drinking prison-made wine, disciplinary records show. Skylit and her girlfriend were kissing. A few minutes after Skylit went to use the porta-potty, she said, the girlfriend followed her in and started throwing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit said she was holding her hair back when Calvin, one of the trans friends she played cards with, let her know a guard was approaching. Skylit stepped out and asked a couple of other people to check on the girlfriend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They “opened the door and they say, ‘What did you all do to our homegirl? We don’t know what you two doing, we don’t know what’s going on over here,’” Skylit recounted. “And I said, ‘We just been drinking and she was in the thing throwing up.’ But now, it’s a commotion. It’s a crowd coming up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Skylit and two other witnesses, the girlfriend came out, and the guard scolded them. “She was like, ‘I’m OK bestie, I love you so much,’ and I hugged her and I walked away.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rumors about a rape started circulating. Skylit said she heard it “from like one or two people. It wasn’t \u003cem>big\u003c/em> until the next day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>By then, a fictional narrative had taken shape: In those few moments inside the porta-potty, Skylit had committed rape, while Calvin stood guard. To be clear, prison officials never accused her of rape or sexual assault. The girlfriend told them — and KQED — that it never happened. Still, the rumors proved to be Skylit’s undoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That next day, according to Skylit and five witnesses, as she was returning from a mental health appointment, she was roughed up on the yard by 12 to 15 incarcerated people who called her “nothing but a rapist.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They were surrounding me and pushing me and spitting on me and swinging at me,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED obtained video of the incident through a public records request. There’s no audio, but the grainy image shows Skylit, who had a pass to be on the yard, doing an about-face as a group of incarcerated people in civilian clothes approached her. One appears to throw liquid at her. A few shove and punch her. She gets agitated. At one point, it’s clear that she’s yelling. But she mostly keeps her arms crossed. She never hits back. Still, she is the only one punished.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/nS5qpi-NXfE'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/nS5qpi-NXfE'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>As Syiaah Skylit, wearing a long-sleeved white shirt under her prison blues, walked through the yard at Central California Women’s Facility in May 2022, she was accosted by incarcerated people who accused her of being a rapist. Courtesy of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’d been out of solitary confinement for just four weeks. She went right back in — and she hasn’t come out in more than a year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A sergeant who, the video shows, does not walk out to the yard until Skylit is handcuffed, wrote her \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018553-referring-to-sexual-intercourse-through-rape\">rule violation report (DOC)\u003c/a>. He states that he heard her yell, “I’m gonna f- you bitches,” and a few variations on that theme. Then, using her legal name, he adds an editorial aside: “It should be known that when [Skylit] mentioned f-, [Skylit] was referring to sexual intercourse through rape.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CCWF initially accused Skylit of “threatening the life of a prisoner,” and referred her to the local district attorney for felony prosecution. It didn’t stick. Ultimately, her writeup was reduced to “behavior which could lead to violence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In her defense, Skylit pointed to the video as evidence that she wasn’t the aggressor and that others had committed violence against \u003cem>her.\u003c/em> Records show that the senior hearing officer called the video “irrelevant.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDCR does not comment on specific incarcerated people. Asked to respond to the behavior of the sergeant, it said state regulations forbid discrimination by staff and grant incarcerated people the right to be treated “respectfully, impartially, and fairly by all employees.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit was far from alone in experiencing false allegations. Of the trans women at CCWF interviewed by KQED, each said they had been similarly targeted by others who were incarcerated and even by staff. Most were sent to solitary confinement pending investigations. Some were already there when they said they were framed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fancy Lipsey, records show, spent seven months in isolation after she was physically assaulted by other incarcerated people. As soon as she got out, a cisgender woman “went over to the officers and told them that I touched her vagina and her breasts in the dayroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They reviewed the video on the spot “and saw that I was nowhere near this woman.” Still, they told Lipsey they were taking her back to solitary confinement. That’s when she cut her wrists, ending up on suicide watch instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Calvin said she was punished after a roommate “went up to the program office and said I supposedly choked” another cisgender woman in their dorm in the middle of the night. The allegation came days after the alleged assault, which no one witnessed or reported at the time. Calvin said it took months to clear her name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tremayne Carroll, a trans woman who uses a wheelchair, said that after she rebuffed sexual advances from a cisgender woman, that woman yelled to guards that Carroll had sexually assaulted her. When that went nowhere, the woman changed her story and said the two had had consensual sex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Freddy Fox, an intersex prisoner who identifies as a trans woman and goes by “Foxy,” said she landed in solitary confinement after being assaulted. Alone in her cell in the weeks that followed, she was verbally harassed and accused of sexual impropriety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They would allege that I had exposed myself, then I’d have to go to the cameras to show that I did not expose myself,” Foxy said. The officers would then reduce the write-up to a lesser violation, she said, “but it’s still a sexual misconduct! That was the go-to thing in 2021 when we first arrived.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Porta-potty rapist’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Skylit’s case stands out in one crucial way: The false rape allegation went viral. Her chosen and legal names ended up all \u003ca href=\"https://reduxx.info/exclusive-female-inmate-reports-rape-occurred-in-california-womens-prison/\">over the internet.\u003c/a> One outlet called her the perpetrator of a “\u003ca href=\"https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/alleged-port-potty-rape-throws-harsh-glare-california-coed-prison-law-after\">port-a-potty rape\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because, as soon as the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act went into effect, an anti-trans organization called the Women’s Liberation Front started working to roll it back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November 2021, it filed \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22276203-chandlervcdcrcomplaint\">a lawsuit (DOC)\u003c/a> in federal court alleging the law violates the constitutional rights of cisgender women by forcing them to be housed with trans women who still have male genitalia. Simply having them there, the pending suit alleges, “substantially” increases the risk “of sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, and physical violence, and to psychological fear of such harms.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Women’s Liberation Front was looking for a villain. The rumors about Skylit fit its narrative perfectly. Even though there were no eyewitnesses, no prison investigation and a girlfriend who \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22276218-43-3-asia-davis-declaration\">said the rape never happened (DOC)\u003c/a>, attorneys for the organization gathered hearsay declarations. The attorney handed them over to anti-trans websites and \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22276220-decl-of-plaintiff-supporter-mimi-lee-alleging-rape-of-ad-in-opposition-to-dismissal-033113109979\">attached them to a motion in the legal docket (DOC)\u003c/a>, making the declarations public record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the tier in solitary confinement, the taunts of “porta-potty rapist” have been endless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I tell people, stop calling me that,” Skylit said. “Then, I’m a problem because I say things like, ‘Well, if I’m a rapist, then you a rapist,’ and then it’s like, ‘Oh, now he’s a threat, he’s arguing, he’s aggressive.’ I’m in a cage. By myself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit said cisgender incarcerated people have threatened to stab her, even chop off her penis. They’ve done it in front of officers without consequence. Yet just about every time she has erupted with verbal threats, she is written up. Prison officials have used the outbursts, and the enemies she’s made, as justification to keep her in solitary confinement, labeling her a “threat to the management and security of the institution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some prisoners in solitary confinement — what CDCR calls restricted housing — are allowed cellmates for company. Skylit has had to cell alone. Some are allowed onto an open yard. But Skylit was designated a potential threat to others, so she has had to exercise in a cage that’s about 12-by-8 feet, often surrounded by other incarcerated people who insult her. When she attends her mental health groups, she is among those who must sit in a cage the size of a telephone booth called a “therapeutic module.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Multiple \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6987940/\">studies \u003c/a>confirm how damaging long-term solitary confinement is to mental health. So it’s no surprise that Skylit has struggled. Records show she has harmed herself on several occasions, once punching the wall until her hand bled. After that incident, for a few weeks in August 2022, she was medicated against her will with high doses of antipsychotic drugs. Too drugged to mount a defense, she was found guilty of multiple rule violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A judge determined the prison violated her civil rights by force-medicating her. For Skylit, it was an important victory. But the whole experience eroded her faith in the prison mental health system. As the months ticked by, she went off all her medications — not just the hormones, but also the ones that treat depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Shattered trust\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s important to note that many cisgender incarcerated people at CCWF with histories of sexual victimization were truly scared of the newly arriving transgender women. Some still are. The fear-mongering from staff and outside anti-trans groups has not helped. But those fears appear to be unfounded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED requested discipline data from CCWF. In the two years after the new law took effect, staff did not issue a single rule violation for physical or sexual violence to the trans women who came over from men’s prisons.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, write-ups for violence were common in the rest of the prison population, including for fighting, assault and battery on prisoners and staff, and even inciting a riot. The data also show that the new arrivals under the law were six times more likely than other CCWF prisoners to be punished for behavior that could lead to consensual sex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As it happens, there was a violent predator at CCWF. Allegedly, there was more than one and they weren’t transgender women. They were cisgender men, employees of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May 2023, as Skylit struggled to hold onto herself in her solitary cell, she heard the news that Gregory Rodriguez, a longtime guard at CCWF, was facing a 96-count criminal complaint for allegedly sexually assaulting more than a dozen incarcerated women over the course of years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’d been allowed to retire in August 2022 while under investigation. In addition to those charges, six women filed lawsuits under Jane Roe or Jane Doe pseudonyms against Rodriguez in federal court, contending he lured them to a suite of offices where there are no cameras and forcibly raped them. One of these alleged assaults took place on May 20, 2022, the same day that the crowd surrounded Skylit and called \u003cem>her\u003c/em> a rapist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDCR \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article280162624.html\">settled those suits\u003c/a> earlier this month for $3.7 million. More lawsuits have been filed alleging sexual assaults by CCWF employees. Four of the named victims are transgender women, Skylit among them. Her \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24018568-skylitsexabusecomplaintaug14_2023\">lawsuit (DOC)\u003c/a> contends that Rodriguez and Pallares, the warden who called her a predator, each demanded sexual favors from her in the spring of 2022 “for the purpose of humiliating, degrading and demeaning” her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For him to have me come into that room, it’s just so dirty,” Skylit said. “I feel dirty.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pallares was demoted in January after the Rodriguez scandal broke. Currently, an associate warden at Pleasant Valley State Prison, he declined comment. Prison officials wouldn’t say whether Pallares was under investigation. 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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The totality of Skylit’s experience has left \u003cem>her \u003c/em>shattered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They come to my door every day asking me if I want to take my hormones. No, I don’t want to take no hormones,” she told KQED in March after 10 months of isolation. “I don’t even understand who I am anymore. I’m full of anger. Hatred, ooh, hatred is huge for me right now. I’m lost, I’m completely lost.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spending more than two years in solitary confinement means she hasn’t had access to the kind of programming that would earn her good-time credits and earlier release, like school, work and vocational training. She has never laid a finger on another prisoner or an officer, but her disciplinary write-ups have nevertheless added more than a year to her original 16-year sentence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prison officials are again recommending that Skylit be returned to a men’s prison. It requires a hearing that’s already been postponed for 17 months. She’s flip-flopped on whether to go back voluntarily. Being stuck in a box is destroying her, she said, and getting back into the general population may help her get out sooner. But with being falsely labeled a rapist, she’s terrified.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They will kill me,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If she does end up back in men’s prison, she shared in an emotional phone call, she plans to keep her gender identity secret. To prepare for the possibility, she started working out so she could fight for her life. She sold her earrings. And she cut off all her hair. She’d been growing it out for more than eight years, ever since those trans women in county jail lit a fire inside her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Making herself “bald-headed” as she said, was a painful act of surrender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit also threw away the trans-friendly children’s books she’d worked so hard to bring to life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I told myself, I’m not gonna get emotional or emo with this stuff no more,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A path forward\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California’s law was meant to protect transgender women, but the culture at CCWF and rising anti-trans fervor all over the country have exposed them to new traumas. Implementation has been slow. A \u003ca href=\"https://www.oig.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Special-Review-No.-22-01.pdf\">report (PDF)\u003c/a> issued in late August by the current inspector general noted a “significant backlog” in transfer requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of nearly 400 incarcerated people who’ve requested housing transfers under the law — the vast majority transgender women asking to move to women’s prison — more than 300 are still waiting for a committee to hear their case. Many live in daily fear of sexual and physical assault, said A.D. Lewis, an attorney who runs Trans Beyond Bars, a project for the Berkeley-based Prison Law Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A transgender man, Lewis regularly communicates with trans-incarcerated people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The three dozen or so trans women who made it to CCWF — most during the first six months of implementation — are the vanguard. Many, like Skylit, have suffered. A small number have been transferred to the California Institution for Women, a lower security prison in San Bernardino County, where they say conditions are slightly better.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In a statement, CDCR said it is working to implement some of the changes \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24016207-mossgroup-sb132-cdcr-assessment-report\">recommended by outside consultants (DOC)\u003c/a> earlier this year and is committed to providing “a safe, humane, respectful and rehabilitative environment for all incarcerated people, including the transgender, non-binary and intersex community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates acknowledge that the cycles of harm continue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Instead of respecting trans people’s self-determination and prioritizing their safety, as the law requires,” Lewis said, correctional staff and other incarcerated people have used it “to put a target on trans peoples’ back.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shortly after prison officials received KQED’s questions for this story in September, CCWF revoked all phone privileges for Skylit and others in solitary confinement. In an email to KQED after the initial publication of this story, a CDCR official said the revocation of phone privileges was a policy change ending what had been a temporary, more liberal phone privileges policy instituted in the early days of the COVID pandemic. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Skylit’s attorney worries about the impact of the trauma on her future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These systems are so built to destroy people, and if they survive and get out, they’re not better and they’re often much worse,” Orthwein said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter sent in July 2023 to Newsom, nearly two-dozen advocacy and legal organizations pressing for better treatment for transgender, nonbinary and intersex prisoners \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23991938-tni-coalition-letter-to-governor-newsom-71723pdf-2\">urged clemency (DOC)\u003c/a> for those who have experienced harm in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wiener, meanwhile, expressed deep frustration with the pace of implementation. In response to KQED’s findings, he said he was “horrified to hear how trans women are being treated in women’s prison, both by the prisons and by other inmates. The fact that they’re being treated harshly and slandered, called rapists when they’re not, it’s terrifying and we’re not going to just let this go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Lee Romney is a longtime journalist who spent 23 years at the \u003c/em>Los Angeles Times\u003cem>. Jennifer Johnson is a former career public defender who helped launch San Francisco’s Behavioral Health Court. This reporting, supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the California Health Care Foundation, is part of a forthcoming podcast they’re co-creating. Called \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.novemberinmysoul.com/\">\u003cem>November In My Soul\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, it explores the way bias makes its way into our intertwined mental health and criminal legal systems.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story has been updated.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"politicalbreakdown": {
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"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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"order": 16
},
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