Bonta Announces Full DOJ Investigation into Monterrosa Killing by Vallejo PD
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1. Bonta Announces Full DOJ Investigation into Monterrosa Killing by Vallejo PD
Criticizing the Solano County DA for failing to act, Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday announced his office will conduct a full independent review of the officer-involved shooting death of Sean Monterrosa to determine whether criminal charges are warranted.
Bonta said, “There must be clarity around this officer-involved shooting that led to the death of Mr. Sean Monterrosa. What is needed is a fair and complete, thorough and transparent review.”
“It is unfortunate that to this point, the Solano County District Attorney has not acted,” he said. “The Solano County has recused herself when there was no basis to do so. There was no actual conflict under the law.”
2. Reisig Joins 40 Elected California DA’s in Challenge of early Release of 76,000 Incarcerated People
Sacramento DA Anne Marie Schubert announced on Thursday that she and 40 other Das in California have filed a petition with CDCR attempting to repeal of temporary emergency regulations awarding additional credits to more than 76,000 state prison inmates.
“This is wrong and dangerous for California. The Appointed Attorney General should oppose these rules that will result in thousands of dangerous inmates being released. The job of the Attorney General is to enforce the law to keep the public safe. To sit back and do nothing speaks volumes about his values towards public safety, crime victims and his ability to lead the office of the state’s top law enforcement officer,” Shubert said in a statement.
3. 70 Prosecutors Across the County File Amicus in Support of DA Gascón’s Prosecutorial Discretion
On Thursday, a bipartisan group of 69 current and former elected prosecutors and Attorneys General – including California District Attorneys Chesa Boudin and Diana Becton; two former Los Angeles District Attorneys; and current Attorneys General Hector Balderas (New Mexico), Keith Ellison (Minnesota) and Karl Racine (District of Columbia) – filed an amicus letter brief in the California Supreme Court in support of review in Nazir v. Los Angeles.
In the letter, they write, “This case merits review so the Court can clarify the authority of elected prosecutors to implement new and lawful criminal justice policies aimed at unwinding decades of mass incarceration that have adversely impacted people of color. The trial court’s decision, if left intact, will set a dangerous precedent and undermine well settled discretion uniquely vested in our nation’s elected prosecutors.
“And it will erode an elected prosecutor’s ability to craft and implement officewide policies that ensure that the fortuity of an individual prosecutor will not significantly impact the outcome of a case and the treatment of similarly situated individuals who come into the justice system.”
4. Philly Health Official Departs After Admitting Cremating, Disposing of MOVE Bombing Victims Without Informing Families
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney Thursday announced the departure of Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley, who disclosed this week that several years ago he had found remains of the victims of the 1985 MOVE bombing and had them cremated and disposed of without notifying the victim’s families.
“This action lacked empathy for the victims, their family, and the deep pain that the MOVE bombing has brought to our city for nearly four decades,” said Kenney.
“The city’s explanations raise numerous questions about what the Medical Examiner’s Office and Health Department have been doing in our names,” said Krasner. “That the remains of people killed by their own government were stored for decades and destroyed so quietly, with no disclosure to surviving relatives, raises numerous questions for city leaders, residents, and agencies including the District Attorney’s Office to consider.”
5. SF DA Boudin, Rachel Marshall Host Bryan Stevenson for Season 2 Premiere of ‘Chasing Justice’ Podcast
In this week’s season 2 premiere of “Chasing Justice,” co-hosts Rachel Marshall and San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin explore the state of the criminal justice system, one year after the murder of George Floyd.
“You can work in a prosecutor’s office, you can be a law professor, you can be a teacher, you can be kind, you can be loving, but if you’re Black or Brown you’re going to go places where you are going to be required to navigate this presumption of dangerousness and guilt,” Stevenson explained, and only now are people recognizing that this is unfair and unjust.
“Black folks have always known that, but now there’s a broader recognition,” he said.
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