Six months after San Francisco agreed to lend the developer of a run-down Western Addition public housing complex $2.7 million for emergency repairs, the work is behind schedule and many residents at Plaza East Apartments say their units remain damaged by mold, leaks and pest infestations — even after repairs were done.
Category: Law & Justice
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Homelessness, Law & Justice, Social Services
Report Calls SF’s Homeless Sweeps Practices Illegal
On Thursday, a damning report dropped, offering new data on San Francisco’s practice of sweeping encampments. Authored by the Coalition on Homelessness, the report alleges the Healthy Streets Operation Center regularly fails to offer an adequate number of shelter beds to people on the streets during its cleanup operations and is illegally discarding people’s belongings. The practices create serious legal risk for San Francisco.
Posted inCoronavirus, Health, Law & Justice
BREAKING NEWS: San Quentin Suffers New COVID-19 Outbreak
San Quentin State Prison is experiencing a new COVID-19 outbreak after four incarcerated men in a cell block tested positive, chief medical executive Alison Pachynski said on Saturday. Four of six men placed in quarantine this week were symptomatic and confirmed positive for COVID-19 even though they had been vaccinated, Pachynski said.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Bay Area, Coronavirus, Health, Law & Justice
Vaccine Mandates Likely to Pass Legal Muster, Law Professor Says
There have already been attempts to challenge vaccine mandates around the nation in court. Dorit Reiss, a law professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law who researches legal considerations around vaccines and vaccine mandates, talked with “Civic” about what employers and governments must weigh when it comes to requiring immunization.
Posted inCoronavirus, Economy & Business, Housing, Law & Justice
In SF, Send a Text, Learn How to Avoid Eviction
San Francisco residents can now learn how to avoid eviction by sending a text message to a special phone number.
That service is part of an outreach campaign launched Friday by the San Francisco Anti-Displacement Coalition, a group of tenant-rights organizations. The goal: to teach people their rights and help them apply for rent assistance during the two months left before a statewide moratorium on evictions for unpaid rents expires.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Bay Area, Community, Law & Justice, Social Justice
Peer-Run Center Empowers Young People Affected by Poverty, Violence, Incarceration
In the streets, in jails and other detention facilities and at its program sites around the Bay Area, the Young Women’s Freedom Center provides resources and support to girls, women and transgender and gender non-conforming people. It also provides training, internships, fellowships and jobs that pay to help people affected by poverty, exploitation and violence develop their voices.
Posted inCoronavirus, Economy & Business, Housing, Law & Justice
Evictions Jump as Sheriff Lifts Pause Imposed in December
The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office evicted 25 households in the two weeks of June after the state reopened for business, more than double the monthly average over the previous six months.
Sheriff Paul Miyamoto resumed evictions that had been on pause as city officials declared that San Francisco was gaining the upper hand in its fight against the coronavirus.
Posted inCoronavirus, Housing, Law & Justice
SF Rent-Aid Shortfalls Would Imperil Eviction Protections
Thousands of San Franciscans could face eviction this fall in the likely event that government rental assistance programs run out of money. Tenants who have applied for help with rent debt are entitled to eviction protections through the end of March 2022 while they wait for an answer from authorities. But if the money runs out before they get help, then they could face eviction as early as October.
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, California, Government & Politics, Law & Justice, Social Justice
Pastor: Reparations Are Medicine for ‘Evil’ of Inhumane Treatment
The Rev. Amos Brown, senior pastor at Third Baptist Church of San Francisco and president of the San Francisco branch of the NAACP, is on both committees. He discussed with “Civic” California’s legacy of racism and what form reparations could take in this state and city.
Posted inLaw & Justice, Opinion
Inmates Fear Chauvin Conviction Could Mark an End to Outrage Over Police Brutality
As eyes across the nation turn to Derek Chauvin’s scheduled sentencing June 25, many prisoners have little faith that his verdict will be upheld by higher courts.
Even if he is sentenced to prison, they fear his incarceration could both quell the recent uprising and have little impact on the nation’s larger systemic problem of police brutality.