Our 165th Year
75¢
T U E S DAY, J U N E 9, 2 0 2 0
Rallying for justice
NEWS-PRESS FILE photo
A lawsuit against administrators at Lompoc Federal Prison alleges that the prison’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak was mishandled.
Next step taken in Lompoc prison suit ACLU lawyers file for class certification of lawsuit related to COVID-19 By PAUL GONZALEZ NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
Supporters of Black Lives Matter gather Monday at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse.
Public defenders gather in SB to protest racial inequities
Goleta City Council condemns police brutality
By BRIAN MACKLEY NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT
Santa Barbara County public defenders gathered Monday at the County Courthouse to peacefully protest racial inequities within the justice system. The movement was organized by Santa Barbara public defenders Mindi Boulet, Mark Saatjian and Juan Higuera as a part of the statewide protest known as Black Lives Matter To Public Defenders. Many protestors wore shirts saying “Black Lives Matter To Public Defenders.” The gathering included a moment of silence in honor of George Floyd, an open mic for both community members and public defenders to voice their grievances about the justice system, and a march around the courthouse. Ms. Boulet told the News-Press the demonstration was a way to show the community that public defenders support Black Lives Matter and that they are the movement’s allies both inside and outside the courtroom. She said that as a public defender, she understands the reality of systemic racism inside the justice system and that it is time for the racism to end. “I think that we need to license the police. They need to have licenses just like we need to have licenses,” Ms. Boulet said. “Attorneys have licenses, D.A.’s have licenses, doctors have licenses, manicurists have licenses, barbers have licenses, real estate agents have licenses, they need licenses. There needs to be an agency that people can go to to file a complaint against a police officer.” Inspired after he heard George Floyd’s daughter talk about his death, William Malker, a Santa Barbara criminal defense attorney, said he and his Please see DEFENDERS on A2
6
66833 00050
3
By JOSH GREGA NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
“This movement, this moment is ours to seize. We cannot just let it go. We have to seize the opportunity to make sure people keep listening,” defense attorney William Malker told the crowd.
Supporters hold signs in support of equality.
The Goleta City Council unanimously voted Monday afternoon to adopt a resolution condemning police brutality and declaring racism a public health emergency. The resolution is in response to the murder of George Floyd, an African-American man, at the hands of former Minneapolis Police Department officer Derek Chauvin, an incident that has led to protests and outcry for reforming police departments across the U.S. Rather than its amended version, the council adopted the resolution in its original form, which doesn’t refer to the March 28, 2015, killing of Oxnard resident Meagan Hockaday in the “whereas” section, or the killings of Sean Reed at the hands of Indianapolis police on May 6, 2020, and Tony McDade at the hands of Tallahassee police on May 24. Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown sat in on the council’s virtual meeting and explained that the killing of Ms. Hockaday was adjudicated as a justifiable homicide and that the cases of Mr. Reed and Mr. McDade are still being adjudicated, so they ultimately weren’t included. Subjects discussed during the council’s three-hour meeting ran the gamut from the militarization of the police force to setting up citizen review boards to investigate police misconduct, and the possibility of restricting the chokeholds, a technique that has again come under intense national scrutiny since Mr. Floyd’s death. Sheriff Brown remarked during the meeting that using the chokehold is a very rare Please see GOLETA on A7
On Thursday, American Civil Liberties Union attorneys representing all Lompoc prison inmates asked a federal judge to certify their class action lawsuit against prison administrators. The lawsuit alleges Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex Prison Warden Louis Milusnic and Federal Bureau of Prisons director Michael Carvajal mishandled the prison’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak. ACLU attorneys sued on May 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. According to the ACLU’s motion to certify the class action, plaintiffs asked Judge Consuelo B. Marshall to include “All current and future people in postconviction custody at (Federal Correctional Institution) Lompoc and (United States Penitentiary) Lompoc,” in the class. The motion noted that Judge Marshall has the authority to change the plaintiff’s proposed class definition. The lawsuit named plaintiffs, Yonnedil Carror Torres, Vincent Reed, Felix Samuel Garcia, Andre Brown, and Shawn L. Fears allege Mr. Milusnic and Mr. Carvajal failed to implement adequate public health measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
The plaintiffs asked Judge Marshall for emergency relief including “to put in place a process-based remedy that requires respondents to evaluate prisoners for home confinement and compassionate release on an accelerated basis and to eliminate eligibility barriers that categorically exclude most prisoners from consideration, even those who are non-violent and have a viable release plan,” and “to institute social distancing, sanitation, and medical treatment policies that would bring prison conditions in compliance with the Eighth Amendment.” Plaintiffs reiterated they did not ask Judge Marshall to determine whether any individual prisoner qualifies for home confinement. They asked him to “set constitutional standards” for the defendants to make those decisions and to require the defendants to “to implement policies that improve Lompoc’s health and safety conditions.” The motion argued that the class should include current and future prisoners to avoid substantial and potentially fatal harm, “As demonstrated by the death of Daniel Vadnais, who died on the day that Petitioners filed their TRO Application and is the fourth prisoner to die at Lompoc.” Please see LAWSUIT on A2
NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTO
Rocco Constantino, athletic director at Santa Barbara City College, said there’s a group of community college athletic directors who don’t feel a conventional fall season is feasible.
Long delay proposed for major fall sports Plan would affect SBCC, Hancock By MARK PATTON NEWS-PRESS SENIOR WRITER
The start of football, soccer and basketball seasons for SBCC and Allan Hancock College would be delayed until February 2021 according to a plan reportedly favored by a significant number of California’s community college athletic directors.
A conference call held on Monday by the state’s ADs indicated strong support for the second, more drastic of three plans under consideration for restarting community college athletics. The three possible approaches were released Friday by the California Community College Athletic Association’s COVID-19 Please see SPORTS on A8
ins ide
LOTTERY
Comics................. A6 Local................. A 2-8 Obituaries............. A8
Saturday’s SUPER LOTTO: 5-21-22-34-39 Meganumber: 8
Monday’s DAILY 4: 7-3-5-1
Friday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 32-35-37-47-55 Meganumber: 22
Monday’s FANTASY 5: 2-13-15-17-29
Monday’s DAILY DERBY: 04-01-12 Time: 1:49.50
Saturday’s POWERBALL: 1-17-38-68-69 Meganumber: 18
Soduku................. A5 Weather................ A8
Monday’s DAILY 3: 3-5-8 / Midday 0-2-6