Santa Clara County enacted its sanctuary policy in reaction to a federal immigration crackdown that resulted in unprecedented numbers of deportations. The kind that nearly separated Cecilia “Cecy” Chavez and her seven siblings from their father, who was handed off by local cops to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“My dad was stopped at a Home Depot asking for work,” Chavez, a San Jose native, recalls. “Police transferred him to ICE custody, where he was coerced and forced to sign for his voluntary departure—for his deportation.”
The 2011 arrest in a neighboring county was part of a sweeping enforcement effort that earned then-President Barack Obama the moniker of deporter-in-chief. The ordinance implemented in Santa Clara County that same year in reaction to that national trend became a model for other jurisdictions. It also set the stage for the sanctuary state policy that became law eight years later in response to President Donald Trump’s even more draconian deportation machine. Senate Bill 54—the California Values Act signed in 2017 by former Gov. Jerry Brown—was hailed as the most progressive policy in the nation. Still, immigrant advocates like Chavez pointed to Santa Clara County’s as the standard-bearer for being one of the strongest in California.
Under local rules—just like the state’s—jailers must refuse “civil detainer requests” to hold inmates beyond their court-ordered stay unless immigration officials submit a judicial warrant. Where the county goes above and beyond state law is by also prohibiting jail officials from telling federal officials about release dates of undocumented inmates—even those with serious or violent felony convictions, as defined by the penal code.
But like Kate Steinle’s killing did in San Francisco four years ago, the Feb. 28 stabbing death of 59-year-old Bambi Larson in her San Jose home and undocumented immigrant Carlos Eduardo Arevalo-Carranza’s arrest for the crime reignited debate over the landmark ordinance. Revelations that the 24-year-old El Salvador national was in the U.S. illegally and that Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties altogether eschewed nine civil detention requests from ICE renewed controversy over so-called sanctuary policies that critics blame for Larson’s murder.
Bambi Larson
Now, a county long held as a national beacon for sanctuary policy will vote next week on whether to roll it back in response to public outcry over Larson’s slaying. Twenty-nine-year-old Chavez, who lobbied for the local policy to protect families like hers all those years ago, is preparing for another battle. This time, however she’s on the defensive and part of a cohort of immigrant rights advocates called the FIRE Coalition.
Ex-prosecutor and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, his council colleague Johnny Khamis, Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith, District Attorney Jeff Rosen and every single police chief in the South Bay in criticizing the county’s policy of limiting cooperation with ICE. In a letter they co-authored last week, the coalition of law enforcement leaders implored the county Board of Supervisors to let local jails notify ICE about upcoming release dates for undocumented inmates accused or convicted of felonies or violent misdemeanors—something allowed by the state and barred by local law.
“Contrary to other immigrant-focused initiatives that our agencies have supported, the existing policy that allows predatory criminals to evade lawful deportation requests makes everyone less safe,” Santa Clara County Police Chiefs’ Association President Max Bosel wrote in a March 21 letter to the Board of Supervisors that included a proposed ordinance mirroring SB 54.
Last month, people who identified themselves as friends and supporters of Larson spoke at a Board of Supervisors meeting about the need for change to prevent similar tragedies. Supervisor Dave Cortese responded by submitted his own policy pitch urging local chiefs of police to figure out how to notify ICE about violent criminals who are also subject to civil deportation. That item comes up for board consideration next Tuesday.
Chavez contends that ICE gets plenty of help as it is and had enough policy tools at its disposal to detain Arevalo-Carranza if it tried. “ICE is already a very well-funded federal agency,” she says. “It does not need resources from local or county jurisdictions.”
Indeed, ICE and its federal affiliates have access to some of the most sophisticated surveillance tools at any level of government and routinely taps into vast databases used by local cops. Through a multi-million contract with a private company called Vigilant Solutions, federal immigration officials have access to 5 billion records culled from private businesses and 1.5 billion data points from scores of local police agencies. It also has access to CLETS, a statewide law enforcement database.
“If ICE wanted to detain this individual,” Chavez says, “it could have done that.”
Bold as ICE
While ICE arrests at California jails plummeted by more than 41 percent in the six months after SB 54 went into effect last year, a new report from the University of Oxford claims that it’s not for lack of available help from local authorities.
According to the analysis co-authored by San Francisco-based pro-immigrant nonprofit Asian Americans Advancing Justice—Asian Law Caucus, 40 percent of police agencies relied on policies that were not in full compliance with SB 54. Further, the study highlights conflicts between state and local policy and shows how a number of South Bay cities continued to rely on outdated duty manuals with provisions in violation of SB 54—whether or not they acted on those old policies.
The San Jose Police Department promptly revised its duty manual in response to SB 54, but law enforcement policies in Milpitas, Mountain View and Gilroy, among other local jurisdictions, appear to still violate the California Values Act. That’s according to Asian Law Caucus senior staff attorney Angela Chan, who co-authored the Oxford study and helped review some of the outsourced duty manuals obtained by San Jose Inside.
The Mountain View police manual includes SB 54 carve-outs for, among other things, “traffic control and peacekeeping” that Chan says isn’t allowed under state law. Gilroy police seem to adhere to a manual with even more out-of-date provisions, Chan says, including including one that directs officers to notify ICE if an undocumented detainee is suspected of some type of drug offense—a clear violation of SB 54.
In Milpitas, the manual has a couple potentially problematic passages, too, Chan says. While SB 54 prohibits officers from inquiring about a person’s immigration status, the Milpitas manual skirts around that by permitting cops to ask about citizenship.
“Also, it’s unclear why [Milpitas PD] is training officers on how to identify a criminal immigration violation considering that SB 54 prohibits enforcement of both civil and criminal immigration law with one very narrow exception for illegal re-entry following deportation and conviction for an aggravated felony,” Chan adds.
Milpitas police Capt. Henry Kwong acknowledges that parts of the manual may need updating but defends other provisions as technically compliant. In response to Chan’s last point, he says: “The training is not about ‘how to’ identify a criminal immigration violation, but rather it is about identifying the difference between a civil immigration violation and a criminal violation, as well as other aspects of the California Values Act.”
Public Policy, Privatized
Those and several other potentially outdated manuals in the county have something in common, Chan notes: they each subscribe to Lexipol, a private company that provides policies for more than 3,400 public safety and law enforcement agencies in 35 states. In California, 90 percent of law enforcement agencies subscribe to Lexipol, making it the single most dominant force in police policymaking in the state and, according to a 2018 analysis of the company published in the Texas Law Review, in the entire country.
Sold as a way to reduce liability by keeping policies attuned to the latest legislative updates, Lexipol’s policy updates can sometimes lag, Chan explains. For example, Brown signed SB 54 in October 2017 and the California Department of Justice didn’t issue guidelines for how to comply until March the next year. That left a five-month gap in which scores of local agencies turned to Lexipol.
The California-based company issued memos with updated “Immigration Violations” provisions touted as SB 54-compliant, with the caveat that parts of the law required clarification through case law. The immigration advisories disseminated by Lexipol claimed to balance the “rights of community members with the need to safeguard lives and property and enforce the law.”
According to the Oxford study, Lexipol signed off on policy prescriptions expressly banned by SB 54. “Lexipol kept putting out flawed policies,” Chan says—not only on the Values Act, but landmark immigration reforms that preceded it. “They have a weak spot on immigration issues, specifically.”
Palo Alto, which was one of the first California agencies to adopt Lexipol more than a decade ago, has adapted more quickly to legislation and case laws than the paid subscription service itself. That’s because the employs a full-time point-person to make sure the Palo Alto Police Department is as current as possible: Lt. James Reifschneider, who oversees personal and training for the agency and monitors policy changes on a daily basis. Yet Chan says the version of PAPD policy available online, though on its face more progressive than neighboring agencies, still includes outdated provisions.
“It is better than other PD policies that [San Jose Inside] shared with me because it has some clear prohibitions against their officers getting involved with immigration enforcement ... However, it doesn’t have a clear prohibition, as required by SB 54, on officers engaging in or facilitating immigration arrests.”
Reifschneider says that’s likely because the agency doesn’t update the document available to the public with as much regularity as the one referenced internally by officers.
“I can tell you that on the topic of immigration status and our interaction with immigration officials, that’s been something that the city of Palo Alto has been pretty up front and pretty progressive about,” Reifschneider says. “I suspect that our policy was not what was initially proposed to us by Lexipol, but there’s a degree of customization to this, and we’ve made a point of never using Lexipol as a boilerplate.”
Lexipol can be a time-saver, he agrees, but used heedfully it’s also time-consuming.
“I spend a substantial amount of time on Lexipol,” Reifschneider says. “I consider modifying policy and talk to subject matter experts and devote at least a few hours a week to that. My sense is that we make more modifications than your average Lexipol customer. But that doesn’t speak to the weakness of Lexipol. We just want to use it to its best effect, we want to take advantage of the good things while at the same time being mindful of the needs of our agency and the community we serve.”
The cities of Santa Clara and Sunnyvale would be wise to follow Palo Alto’s lead. Santa Clara is in the process of switching over to Lexipol, while Sunnyvale became a subscriber around the middle of last year.
It should be noted, however, that the Oxford University study’s claims about the San Jose Police Department were categorically disputed by agency officials.
For example, researchers claim SJPD policy failed to include prohibitions on using ICE agents to act as interpreters or sharing facilities with immigration officials. It also says SJPD shared with ICE personal information about undocumented immigrants—all in violation of the California Values Act. More importantly, Chan says, the department policy still includes a vague exception that allows it to share “legitimate law enforcement information” with any government agency. To Chan, it appears that provision “can be interpreted as including ICE, and such a vague exception is not in SB 54.”
SJPD Officer James Gonzales, the department’s community liaison, called those findings completely baseless, saying no one working on the Oxford report bothered to contact the department to fact-check that data.
“Once SB 54 passed, we stopped sharing the data, but our policy to not do anything related to immigration predated the law,” he says.
“The important issue here is we shared some date with ICE prior to SB 54 and stopped when the law was passed but we did not engage in immigration activities or ask status prior to SB 54,” he clarified in a follow-up email.
Granted, SJPD’s investigative division—like its counterparts at every other police agency in the valley—will keep coordinating with ICE subsidiaries on cases involving human trafficking, gangs and money laundering, Gonzales explains. But he says “90 percent or more of those investigations don’t involve anybody who’s undocumented.”
FIRE and ICE
The FIRE Coalition—short for Forum for Immigrants Rights and Empowerment—comprises several groups. Among them: Silicon Valley De-Bug, Services, Immigrant Rights & Education Network (SIREN), Sacred Heart and People Acting in Community Together (PACT). In a series of emails, its members have called on sanctuary policy advocates to call each of the five county supervisors ahead of the April 9 vote.
“You have been on the front lines across the county protecting immigrant families when ICE is at their door,” Carol Stephenson, of Sacred Heart, wrote in an email blast Tuesday night. “Now, when national anti-immigrant rhetoric is at its peak, those same families need you to show up in Santa Clara County.”
PACT, an interfaith activist alliance, followed up that same evening with another call to action. “Our county's ‘sanctuary’ or civil detainer policy, which protects our immigrant community by ensuring our local law enforcement agencies are not working with ICE to deport our people, is under attack,” it read, “This is not a drill!”
The newsletter noted how the county has positioned itself at the forefront of the Trump resistance, and how sanctuary policies were a key part of that. It framed the opposition as in alliance with the president and his hardline stance on immigration.
“But right now, racist, right-wing forces like Breitbart and Fox News are piling on, manipulating a heartbreaking tragedy in order to demonize all immigrants and undo Santa Clara [County]’s pro-immigrant policies,” the PACT message continued.
Of course, Chavez says, not all who oppose the county’s sanctuary rules are rabid reactionaries. Many are simply devastated about what happened to Larson, who’s remembered as an animal lover, a baker and beloved 20-year member of the Thousand Oaks neighborhood, a product of local schools and 1983 graduate of San Jose State.
“Don’t get me wrong, we do sympathize and are very saddened by the loss of life,” Chavez says. “We just shouldn’t change our policy based on one case.” Especially considering how peer-reviewed academic studies have shown time and again that undocumented immigrants are statistically less likely to commit violent crimes than their documented counterparts, she notes.
County Counsel James Williams echoed a similar sentiment at a March 13 press conference about the local civil detainer policy. “ICE should’ve gotten a warrant here,” he told reporters that afternoon. “They could’ve gotten a warrant here. And the county’s practice has always been to honor warrants that are issued.”
The county has always honored judicial warrants obtained by ICE, Williams emphasizes in an email this week to San Jose Inside. Indeed, detaining a person—citizen or otherwise—without such a warrant opens up the county to legal liability.
“I would just note that judicial warrants are exactly the process our nation’s founders contemplated would be used to detain or hold people in custody,” Williams explains. “That’s what the Fourth Amendment is all about, and it is a process that is used every day by every police department in the United States, from the Texas Rangers to the FBI and San Jose Police Department.”
“By contrast,” he adds, “ICE detainer requests are not presented to or signed by a judge.”
This article has been updated.
Oh course Sanctuary City Policies are ridiculous. Only in a town that makes the rich richer through ordinances passed under th under the auspices of helping the poor would these policies even sound remotely plausible. The brainwashing of the typical Bay Area voter is astounding.
Just because Mexicans control the voting machines and AG’s office in California will not stop The Federal Government from Auditing California’s Federal Voting and holding all voting counts until Federally certified if Padilla refuses a Federal Audit in 2020. Illegal voting is now well in place with absentee voting and vote harvesting through out the state. That means no Electoral Votes or Popular vote counts. I know because I’ve been helping with the implementation.
Sincerely
Jack Slade
> I know because I’ve been helping with the implementation.
PLEASE! PLEASE! GIVE US A CLUE ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON!
It’s pretty clear that the permanent deep state has massaged the election system in California to the point where the permanent incumbency of the Soros/Getty/Pelosi dynasty is assured until the end of time.
Is there anything you can share with the masses to offer a sliver of hope to the wretched serfs regarding the possible overthrow of California’s elitist plutocracy?
With Hope for some Change . . .
RECALL DA JEFF ROSEN! Ms. Bassi I just saw your RECALL Jeff Rosen announcement via tweeter. Count with me and my group of female activists. We will support you collecting weekly signatures, donations, and attending community events. One of our representatives have contacted you today. Google her name so you can see her photos. She is our main connection to local big money and regular county citizens that will donate and vote to RECALL JEFF ROSEN. We have a first family court corruption story to share. Let me know when I can send my first Benjamin! Justice for Bambi, and all the men and women that have been cheated by SANTA CLARA COUNTY FAMILY MILKING COW SYSTEM AND CORRUPTED JUDICIARY! Shalom, SANTA CLARA COUNTY CORRUPTION RESSISTANCE!
The issue is much larger than immigration. What about use of force? Elder Abuse? etc.
The bigger issue is “reliance on a corporate legal entity to establish national standards for local policing. These concerns include a focus on liability risk management as the baseline standard for law enforcement behavior, a rulemaking process that proceeds in private with no public participation, and a profit-making model that reduces accountability and disrupts norms of sharing across agencies.” UCLA School of Law TexasLawReview.com/Lexipol
The widespread use of Lexipol should alarm everyone, citizens and elected officials.
> “reliance on a corporate legal entity to establish national standards for local policing. . . .
Pretty turgid and opaque.
Do you want to try again to explain so we can figure out what specifically your complaint is?
You have a private for profit company that allows for zero public input developing police policy manuals for 90% of California law enforcement agencies, and 35 other states as well. They also write correctional, probation, juvenile detention, and fire protection policies. Their policy manuals focus solely on reducing cash payout litigation liability and do not balance good public policy considerations. Not only was the practice blasted by research journal article written by UCLA School of Law that was published in 2018 in the TexasLawReview.com/Lexipol, but the State of California did the same in the analysis of SB-1191 (2018 Hueso) that passed the legislature on a 119 to 0 vote. Until residents demand input on basic policies that impact their life daily the policies will reduce liability opposed to provide good policing.
The sanctuary cities was a response to aggressive deportation tactics. The sanctuary cities should continue to protect non-criminal undocumented people. Sanctuary cities protecting aggressive criminals that engage in sexual assaults, domestic violence, and killing people is just unreasonable. It is the extreme right that gave birth to the need for the sanctuary cities, and the extreme left that uses sanctuary cities to protect big time criminals. EXTREMISM IS THE MOTHER OF ALL ABUSES. Justice for Bambi!
FEXXY:
You’re wacky.
Have you have seen a professional about your schizophrenia? There are so many demons inside of your head that regular people can no longer figure out which one they’re talking to.
Bubble, I do not need to, I am a good negotiator. I have nogociated with the voices inside my head. I control their times to talk to me! LOL…one of my voices is telling me you sting. The other one is telling me not to pay attention to you! I believe they both are right and very smart! I love the voices inside my head!
If you are an illegal alien then by definition you are a criminal.
There is a difference between a misdemeanor and Felony crime. Entering illegally to the country is a misdeameanor offense. On the other hand, I do agree with Ms. Bassi, there is much more in this case. I want people to start paying attention to the aiding support of our local officials for the affluent perpetrators of violent crimes against women and children. Your use of the term “illegal alient” is a clear reflection of your extremist Trump’s like racist ideas. As I said it before, the extreme right and left is the worst that has happened to this country since they have divided the people with their hate for those who are not or do not think like them. I invite non extremists, blues, reds, greens, and the rest to come together to create a new place where all are respected and protected by the law independently of gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, atheism, so on…oh yes, this is the law! MS. BASSI FOR COUNTY SUPERVISOR; KAMALA FOR PRESIDENT!
> the extreme right and left is the worst that has happened to this country since they have divided the people with their hate for those who are not or do not think like them.
Fexxy:
Didn’t one of the demons in your head recently proclaim your hatred for Trump?
You and your demons should look in the mirror sometime. Is there any reason you hate Trump OTHER than he doesn’t think like you?
I stand by my earlier verdict: you’re wacky.
Saying that Trump is a sexual pig is not hate is reality. Bill Clinton and Bush father are also part of that list. Trump is a racist and a sexual Pig.
Most domestic violence crimes misdemeanors. As are most assaults, threats, brandishing of weapons, illegal possessions of firearms, DUI’s and thefts.
Your distinction is meaningless however, because deportation is a *civil* process… not criminal. Only illegal entry is a crime, and that occurs at the border… where certain elected officials want more enforcement and better security.
The real reason ICE doesn’t pursue warrants is the same reason people no longer go to prison for debts or not paying child support… it’s not a crime- it’s *civil*.
Detainers should be honored because it’s a Court process and we honor the rule of law in America.
EVERYONE listen to Jate, this is why guys in this county get four days in jail for watching child pornography, weekend in jail for assaulting a girlfriend or partner, and three months in jail for sexually assaulting a woman. It is a misdeamenor for guys like Jate. A DUI can me a felony depending on the harm you cause to a person or property while DUI. Do we have to wait for children being raped and women being killed by their partners/husbands so it can actually be a felony. The good news Jate is that at least in this county, you are part of the minority of males with macho and dysfunctional thinking.
> Your use of the term “illegal alient” is a clear reflection of your extremist Trump’s like racist ideas.
Your Fexxnistic Wackyness:
I believe someone pointed out that the lawbooks used the term “illegal alien” long before President Trump triggered the demons inside of your head.
And, I guess it’s necessary to point out to some of those demons that smearing Trump as a “racist” is divisive.
You’ve got divisive demons.
Yes, the legal term child prostitute is widely used in the court reports indicating a child engaged in sexual activity with an adult for money. There is not such thing as a child prostitute! It is called a Commercially Sexually Exploited child! The law AND the legal terms have been crested by men who continually try to excuse males’ sexual abberrations. Trump has engaged in sexual relationships with women while married. Still, there are some who called his behavior being a play boy. He has allegedly paid to silence these women. He had engaged in adultery, yet his supporters play the Christian card when needed. Stormy Daniels has more honesty than Trump. She has never denied what she does for a living and the behavior she has engaged in. BELIEVE STORMY DANIELS!
THE truth is painful but never divisive. Truth eventually brings peace to the people and souls. This is a truth both extreme left and extreme right fear to accept: Trump is a racist and a sexual pig; Ilhan Omar is anti-Semite. Both people speak for themselves not for the majority of Republicants she and Democrats. They both speak hate, and they both have followers. Facing the truth is the rode less traveled but the only way that lead to justice for all.
This is a no brainer. Check to see if one is an illegal alien upon arrest. If so then deport.
Problem solved.
It is shameless that the Santa Clara County legal- political culture continues to use Ms. Larson’s death to deflect attention from the county polices and lawyers who consistently put public safety at risk.
Two years ago that I and another mom witnessed San Jose police officers respond to the Willow Glen home of former 49er Ray McDonald as process servers attempted to have McDonald served for financial issues related to a custody matter before Judge James Towery, the husband of former prosecutor Kayrn Sinunu -Towery. On that particular night, SJPD proceeded to handcuff and detain the process servers. Then they were told to leave town and never come back.
For the next 30 mins. the SJPD officers sat out front joking with McDonald, as if it was old home week. Never once did the police question or look at McDonald, who lived across the street from a Willow Glen school, and who was under indictment for sexual assault, and issues related to domestic violence. Family members believed Mc Donald had guns, and knew of admitted alcoholism, but the officers never went inside to make sure a home located across the street from a school that might have guns owned by a celebrity under indictment did not pose a threat to the Willow Glen community.
Recently, I ordered Ms. Larson’s divorce file. It was being held by court PIO Ben Rada in Family Court Services such that it was out of public view for two weeks. When I finally got that file, I understood why the courts had wanted it concealed.
Two weeks ago Willow Glen neighbors spoke at a Supervisor meeting. They were angry and frustrated. They wanted to make sense of the death of their friend and neighbor. The video of that meeting was delayed for over a week, giving an appearance the Supervisors wanted nothing to do with their failures being made public.
These are complex societal issues Silicon Valley will have to resolve. Trusting the Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen and his ” best friend” DDA Jay Boyarsky to pursue the truth when it comes to the death of Bambi Larson may be too much to hope for.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z746WeMISPA
Thank you San Jose Inside for the excellent coverage and starting this conversion. Now the community and press need to turn to our local courts, and our elected officials, to find the truth.
Ms. Bassi, you are a badass! Keep up the good work. A journalist’s first obligation is to the truth and to serve as an independent monitor of power. In CA, we are experiencing a growth of gov’t power which will hide the truth to preserve that power. The individual is losing life, liberty and the opportunity to pursue happiness at the hands of an ever-encroaching and powerful government. We all owe you a debt of gratitude!
And let’s not forget the author of this article, Jennifer Wadsworth – another fine journalist!!!!
Ms. Bassi, Am wondering if Ray MacDonald were convicted or pled no contest ( like former Morgan Hill council member Larry Carr) to a domestic violence charge. His Wikipedia article suggests several incidents, but omits any court decisions.
Even a misdemeanor DV conviction would prohibit him from buying firearms, and place him on the Armed Prohibited Persons list unless he relinquished registered firearms, provided proof of transfer, or filed a loss statement within the prescribed timeframe.
Neither the sheriff, nor SJPD pursue APP miscreants. They claim it’s the job of the state even though there is compensation available. The end result is that we have hundreds of people on the list in San Jose that are suspected of possessing guns, potentially pose a threat, and are ignored.
Am a staunch Second Amendment supporter and disgusted by law enforcement’s willfully failing to act.
Taxpayer, I am a pro-gun control person. In conversations i have had with people pro guns, I have found out they also are disgusted by these types of situations. I have talked to at least two of the county supervisors about public officials and law enforcement who engage in DV and nothing happens to them. I know of at least one case in which a local law enforcement engaged in DV and other criminal acts during a divorce process. The law enforcement was never reprimented in any way and local police department not even wrote DV reports. They wrote domestic dispute was the reason the wife calling them. While talking with a local top attorney, he commented what you said. A DV charge will means these law enforcement won’t be able to own arms and so won’t be able to work as law enforcement. The Gilroy murder suicide case is just one example on how public officials will rather protect law enforcement officers’ jobs than women and families.
Taxpayer, I am informed that in the criminal rape/sexual assault case that McDonald settled with the victim in a related civil case and shortly thereafter DA Jeff Rosen dropped the criminal charges. No investigation of witness tampering was ever taken up, despite the civil case being STAYED as the criminal matter was pending. The related criminal case tethered to DV issues of another victim apparently was dropped to an infraction of Disturbing the Peace, three years after charges were brought. That happened when mainstream media stopped watching the case.
In McDonald’s related custody case, the mother first sought consultation with Eric Geffon, who is now a judge. McDonald reportedly paid Geffon in 2014 for the victim’s legal consultation. When the victim asked for her file back, Geffon said he didn’t keep a file, only notes. This is a common tactic used by local lawyers to avoid malpractice and disqualification claims, so they can continue to represent clients who can pay them the most money. Geffon is now a judge, and was recently assigned in my criminal case where DA Rosen has spent 2 years prosecuting me for photographing police misconduct in the court file room at the family courthouse.
Rosen did offer me a plea, not as good as the one offered to Mc Donald, and mine included staying out of the courthouses I am investigating, so of course I didn’t take it. My case is going to a two week jury trial, at taxpayer expense.
In 2015 McDonald’s victim tried to get help from the YWCA and was forced to deal with our family courts. She was eventually assigned to attorney Nicole Ford to address the DV in family court. Neither Judge James Towery nor Judge Julie Emede ever issued a DVRO that would have taken McDonald’s guns and held him to mandatory alcohol testing. He wasn’t even put on supervised visitation. Nicole Ford then went on to a seat on the county’s Domestic Violence Council that has provided her a nice stream of income and court orders that appear to be more judicial kickbacks than actual rulings aimed to protect from real abuse spouses and intimate partners often face in Silicon Valley. These cases clog our courts and make lawyers like Nicole Ford and Elise Mitchell (Ray McDonald’s family court lawyer) very rich.
SB1421is the new police records law that allows the public and press to look at police misconduct that includes domestic violence in their personal history. This is an important law because while there are many terrific police officers capable of defusing domestic violence when responding to calls, the public has a right to know if police officers responding to these calls have DV charges or claims that might not make them capable of properly handling DV calls arising from the community they are sworn to protect.
Sadly, there is no similar law and exposure for lawyers working on DV cases. A recent requirement that lawyers now be finger-printed revealed alarming numbers of lawyers cross referencing to the state’s criminal database system, 2000 of whom were not known to be crooks by the State Bar. Over 64,000 lawyers have yet to be fingerprinted.
https://abovethelaw.com/2019/03/re-fingerprinting-of-california-lawyers-turns-up-thousands-of-criminal-records/
Ms. Bassi, please tell us when is your trial’ date. I am shocked ROSEN is spending two years on your case. His office decided not to file charges in a case where a law enforcement engaged in IRS fraud after marriage. He also engaged in child pornography and domestic violence. The individual engaged in forgery of ex wife’s signature to change past tax reports income taxes. The south county DA simply decided not to investigate. The individual received two checks from the IRS. He cashed one. After that wife learned of situation and reported to the Morgan Hill Police. Ex wife provided evidence to the south county DA. IRS confirmed ex husband signatures are legitimate. He requested changes. Ex wife just met with another governmental office about this federal crime JEFF ROSEN DECIDED TO IGNORE. This person used to work directly for Julie Emede. This corruption is way to big to ignore. Privileged men are given a pass to engage in criminal behavior. Women are severely oppressed and abused by the Santa Clara Judiciary system. RECALL JEFF ROSEN! I would like to meet you in person. How can I reach to you? I have stories about all these public officials you can write in a book. The community will be shocked by the details and horrified by the other faces of their local officials.
> Women are severely oppressed and abused by the Santa Clara Judiciary system.
I don’t know what goes on in the Santa Clara Judiciary system.
But I’m convinced that the marriage. divorce, and family support laws in California are VERY STRONGLY BIASED in favor of women.
Michele Dauber and her legion of feminist social justice warriors have wreaked their havoc on Mankind in California.
Write your story online so people can start supporting you with fund.
Ms. Bassi, I am excited about the potential recall of DA JEFF Rose. Me and my friends are ready to help! THANK YOU JESUS!
Bambi Larson’s friends and neighbors speak up at Board of Supervisors meeting 03.19.2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I0vaqxCP1g
Sad that the taxpayers in San Jose (Santa Clara County) are not protected from these types of criminals that are pretty much allowed to hide in plain sight in our community. They ride the “coattails” of the Homeless / Mentally Ill and we just sit back and watch our community turn into “Somalia” or an episode of the “Walking Dead”….
I could go on and on about who is to blame but it makes me realize that the finger points back to ourselves. We have elected a bunch of Muppet’s in Santa Clara County that have allowed this place to turn into a third world country.
Let’s talk about the Elephant in the room folks…. Its not about a homeless problem it’s about a METH problem…. DRUGS!!!!!!
We have no Drug Rehab or Mental Institution that are legitimate facilities in Santa Clara County…. Not our current system of Catch and Release….or band aids….
Meth is making these people go completely Nuts. The raw chemicals that are coming out of Mexico now for manufacturing this horrible drug are not the same ingredients used in the past.
There are so many different ways this senseless killing could have been avoided….
Some examples…. Some are obvious some are not….
1.) Mental Health Hold….Any one that has been one Meth like this savage killer could be put on a Mental Health Hold…. Lock him up in Jail or in a padded room…. Whatever it takes….
2.) Send him to rehab…… Take away that Meth Pipe and just maybe this guy would have not be out robbing homes to support his habit. And we need to send them to rehab out of state not across from Saint James “Crack Park” downtown…. Most of the Meth Zombie do not get off the dope…. We have to come at this hard and chain these people to beds to get them off METH…. Or they will die… and or other members of the public will die at the hands of these Meth Zombies….
3.) The Obvious one…. ICE hold…. Deport him….
4.) I have about 20 more but I think you guys are getting the point…..
San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia and his upper brass have been no shows and most county meetings involving Behavioral Health and Jail Diversion. This is also the case for most of the City Council and the Mayor of San Jose….
Don’t drink the Sam Liccardo and Eddie Garcia Kool-Aid they are pouring out.
These people have sat back and allowed this place to fall apart….
Interesting that the FIRE Coalition is hosted at pa2.co – a Columbian registered URL. Makes me wonder if Pablo Escobar’s associates are advocating for sanctuary policies.
Good article Jennifer.
We live in a violent world. Politicians and Police chiefs will never solve it. If you have no courage or common sense, please, do not read further.
Get an alarm system and/or a dog. These are not weapons. These are devices to alert you so you are not taken by surprise. Buy a firearm and learn how to use it well. It’s not difficult. Make sure you have insurance that covers self-defense situations. It is available. The following is not legal advice. Think of it only as entertainment.
If an intruder, undocumented or not, breaks into your home, and offers you deadly violence; Draw quickly, shoot carefully. Repeat as necessary until intruder is no longer a threat. Disarm the intruder, if safe to do so. Call ambulance and police. Sound as shook up, put not panicked, as you can on the phone without sounding phony, Remember, it’s all recorded from here on out and you need to start setting up your defense. Say “Help, Help, someone broke into my house, I thought he was going to kill me, I had no choice, hurry, get an ambulance, I don’t want him to die. I thought he was going to kill me!”. Now, get some rags, paper towels, whatever, and throw them around so it looks like you were making some feeble attempts at first aid. The ambulance, the appearance of first aid attempts, the recorded “I don’t want him to die” statements to the 911 operator, all help establish your lack of intent to kill, which makes it harder (though not impossible) for the D.A. to charge and/or convict you of criminal homicide and helps support your having acted in self-defense.
Make sure your weapon is not visible when the cops get there because they won’t know who the good or bad guys are when they get there. Tell the cops only, “He was going to kill me, I had to defend myself, that’s all I know”. Say nothing else, except maybe pointing out the location of the suspect’s weapon. If you are female, body force alone, from a large male, is often enough to kill you so try to act as weak and small as possible. If you can’t cry, act stunned but only if you can do so convincingly.
Politicians can let as many violent criminals into our “sanctuary” city as they want. We don’t have to let them into our homes. Just because violence isn’t an answer to everything doesn’t mean it isn’t an answer to anything.
On second thought, forget all this. It would never work. Just let suspects in. They are probably just here illegally looking for a better life. Just feel their pain, let them kill you but leave instructions for your survivors to advocate for stricter gun control, even if you were stabbed or strangled to death. For godsakes, don’t defend yourself, that would be culturally insensitive.
> Just because violence isn’t an answer to everything doesn’t mean it isn’t an answer to anything.
Useful insights.
There are other LAWFUL and JUSTIFIABLE activities that might be warranted in the circumstances described, but which would likely result in oppressive and unfair treatment at the hands of the dominant political culture and their activist agents.
Bad people should not be surprised when bad things happen to them.
Wow, you live in fear; that might be an awful state of mind to be. You see, there are some of us who do not fear death or the social struggles of our daily lives because all these are the result of human conditions. I have lived my life with no fears only hope. I have had the best weapon and protection that has existed, faith in my lord Jesus. I have seen this thinking in compulsive gun collectors. Death and the end of days is a scary reality to them. We all will die sooner or later. This earth is going to end per science or theology theories. Live your today to the fullest; it may be your last!
FEXXNIST,
Ah yes, the religious response, always a hit. Didn’t “J.C”. himself say, in the book of Luke 22:36, ”… he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one”. (The sword being analogous to the modern day firearm). It seems J.C. was in favor of well-directed violence. (John 18:36, “… if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight”.
I enjoy the pacifist folly as you seem to espouse, but remember a pacifist can only abjure violence because rough men, preferably with guns, are willing to endure violence on the pacifist’s behalf.
As long as some “non-deportable” is never sure who exactly might be armed or not when he decides to break into a house, you, the pacifist, are relatively safe. However, this is not about gun ownership. This is about the last line of defense against sanctuary cities. I only wish that poor woman would have had a firearm and we would have one less “sacred un-deportable” (just yearning to be free) taking up space in our penal system. If the State won’t deport these people after they commit violent crime, there’s only one other way to get rid of them.
Moses taught the Slaves to fight using the arms of those times. King David was the killer of killers. He killed those God ordered him to kill, those that were oppressing people. You are just a man with too much fear, so unless you have a gun, you would not feel safe. RELAX, we all are going to die you sooner than others. What you fear, that you will attract to you! I know you are law enforcement, the freaky ones…
RECALL DA JEFF ROSEN 2019!
> I have had the best weapon and protection that has existed, faith in my lord Jesus.
Speaking of the lord Jesus, here is some modern era thinking from a Jesus supporter with some certifiable gravitas:
https://www.dailywire.com/news/45562/vatican-cardinal-robert-sarah-catholics-do-not-paul-bois
“Vatican Cardinal Robert Sarah: Catholics DO NOT Have To Support Mass Migration”
I predict that Fexxy and the other inhabitants of her hive have not heard the last of Cardinal Sarah.
Ms Larsen’s death is not the first of this type in California, be it murder or violent crime, The “Sanctuary City” policy has claimed too many innocents —citizens and legal residents alike. There is innocent blood on the hands of those who support this inane, shameful policy. It must be erased from our codes.