Campaign Zero: A ‘Blueprint for Ending Police Violence’
On Friday, activists with the country’s growing racial justice movement unveiled a new campaign to end police violence...
On Friday, activists with the country’s growing racial justice movement unveiled a new campaign to end police violence, bridging protester demands with data and policy to create structural solutions to the crisis that has gripped national attention for more than a year.
Launched as an online manifesto with an interactive website, Campaign Zero proposes new federal, state, and local laws that would address police violence and reform the criminal justice system—including demilitarizing law enforcement, increasing community oversight, limiting use-of-force, and requiring independent investigation and prosecution of police violence cases.
“More than one thousand people are killed by police every year in America,” the group states on its website. “Nearly sixty percent of victims did not have a gun or were involved in activities that should not require police intervention such as harmless ‘quality of life’ behaviors or mental health crises.”
The action plan also incorporates recommendations by the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing as well as those of research organizations like the Center for Popular Democracy. The architects behind Campaign Zero characterized it as a project that will continue to develop over time as new solutions emerge and more supporters come on board.
The four creators of the new campaign and authors of the manifesto—Samuel Sinyangwe, Brittany Packnett, Johnetta Elzie, and DeRay McKesson—are co-founders of We The Protesters, which as the Guardian notes is “a prominent section of a wider protest movement that is frequently referred to, in general terms, as Black Lives Matter.”
“This is just the beginning,” they wrote in a statement accompanying the launch.
In the year that has passed since 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot to death by an officer in Ferguson, Missouri, police have killed at least 1,083 Americans—an average of nearly three people per day, according to figures compiled by VICE News. Even that figure, released August 9, quickly became outdated.
The policy recommendations also call for an end the controversial practice of “broken windows” policing—a tactic that involves cracking down on petty infractions as a means to prevent more serious crime. The chokehold death of Eric Garner, who was targeted by police for allegedly selling loose cigarettes, heightened criticism of the policy, which Columbia law professor Patricia J. Williams said “has intimidated, dispossessed and humiliated millions of innocent people” for two decades.
Campaign Zero launches just as new reports highlight the lack of training and culture of aggression that permeates law enforcement agencies throughout the country. Addressing that issue in another policy demand, Campaign Zero states, “An intensive training regime is needed to help police officers learn the behaviors and skills to interact appropriately with communities.”
The group points to the recent successful overhaul of policing tactics in Richmond, California, a city which reduced its crime rate by 33 percent through community policing.
“We must end police violence so we can live and feel safe in this country,” Campaign Zero states.
Campaign Zero also introduces strategies for charting presidential candidates’ policy positions on such issues. Racial justice activists have recently engaged with the campaigns of candidates including Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley, and Jeb Bush to demand action plans on addressing police brutality and criminal justice reform.
“Right now, the country is awake,” organizers stated. “We must continue to leverage this awakening for substantive change. We have an opportunity to change the way that issues in blackness are prioritized in political spaces and an opportunity to redefine how the political process interacts with our communities.”
“America is finally waking up to this very necessary and critical conversation about race, equity, and preserving the life and dignity of all citizens,” Packnett told the Guardian on Friday.
Added McKesson, “This is a blueprint for ending police violence.”
This Common Dreams article is reposted under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
Source: San Diego Free Press
N.J. ACLU, others sue federal agency in brewing eminent domain controversy
The Star-Ledger - December 5, 2013, by Eunice Lee - The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and the Brooklyn-...
The Star-Ledger - December 5, 2013, by Eunice Lee - The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and the Brooklyn-based Center for Popular Democracy filed suit today against the Federal Housing Finance Agency in a growing battle for towns seeking to use eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages.
Last month, Irvington's mayor announced plans to conduct a legal study of using eminent domain to help residents facing more than 1,700 homes foreclosures.
If town officials decide to proceed, Irvington would become the second town in the nation, after Richmond, Calif., to employ a tactic that's drawn fire from Wall Street, according to Executive Director Udi Ofer of the ACLU of New Jersey, which endorsed Irvington's announcement.
The 17-page suit, filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, demands that the FHFA disclose details about its relationship with banks and other financial institutions. The agency has threatened legal action against Richmond and other cities planning to use the eminent domain tactic and may deny credit to locals seeking mortgages, the suit says.
Corinne Russell, an FHFA spokeswoman, declined comment on the lawsuit saying the agency does not discuss pending legal matters.
The novel approach, dubbed as "friendly condemnations," allows municipalities to use the power of eminent domain to seize mortgages, rather than homes, where homeowners owe more than the current value of the house.
Using money from private investors, Ofer said towns would pay the mortgage holders' fair market value and then restructure mortgages into lower principal payments that are more favorable for homeowners. About 700 to 1,000 homes in Irvington could potentially benefit from eminent domain takeovers, according to Irvington Mayor Wayne Smith.
On Wednesday, Newark's city council voted unanimously for the city to conduct legal research and policy analysis as a step towards adopting the eminent domain strategy.
Filed under the Freedom of Information Act, which compels the government to provide copies of federal records, the lawsuit argues that the federal agency is trying to block municipalities from using eminent domain to prevent foreclosures. The FHFA regulates the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The lending agencies control most mortgages in the U.S.
The suit says the FHFA never responded to an Oct. 1 FOIA request seeking information between the federal agency and members of the financial industry, including the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, American Securitization Forum, American Bankers Association and the Association of Institutional Investors.
The lack of response to the FOIA request prompted the lawsuit, which was filed by the Center for Popular Democracy and ACLU, as well as chapters in New Jersey and California. Those chapters filed on behalf of: New Jersey Communities United, New York Communities for Change, Alliance for Californians for Community Empowerment, the Housing and Economic Rights Advocates, Urban Revival Inc., The Colorado Foreclosure Resistance Coalition and the Home Defenders League.
The FOIA request also targets "correspondence, phone messages, emails, calendar entries, and notes or memoranda" between leaders of the Federal Housing and Finance Agency and representatives of several banks including Wells Fargo, Deustche Bank, Bank of America, Chase Citigroup and Ally Bank.
On July 31, the city of Richmond offered to purchase 624 underwater mortgages. In August, the suit says several banks filed suit against Richmond and the FHFA released a statement citing "serious concerns on the use of eminent domain to restructure existing financial contracts."
Also, the financial industry and powerful lobbying groups have "vigorously opposed" the use of eminent domain, according to the suit.
The suit says that publicly revealing "the priorities and opinions of high-ranking FHFA officials, and the nature and substance of their exchanges with the financial industry" is an urgent concern.
Other cities considering the use of eminent domain to address foreclosures include San Francisco, El Monte, Calif., Seattle and Yonkers, N.Y.
Source
EXCLUSIVE: City Lawmaker Demands that Charter Schools Show How They Use Tax Money
New York Daily News - February 24, 2015, by Ben Chapman and Lisa Colangelo - A lawmaker is asking the city’s charter...
New York Daily News - February 24, 2015, by Ben Chapman and Lisa Colangelo - A lawmaker is asking the city’s charter schools to hand over paperwork showing how they use millions of dollars in tax money. And they have five days to do it.
City Councilman Daniel Dromm, who chairs the Education Committee, said he is troubled by the “lack of transparency and accountability” of charter schools.
“They receive over a billion dollars in taxpayer funds and we don’t know what’s going on,” Dromm, a Queens Democrat, told the Daily News on Monday.
Dromm sent a letter to all 197 charter schools in the city asking them for copies of their committee board minutes and fraud prevention policies. He also asked if they would voluntarily submit to the city Conflict of Interest Board to examine relationships between school board members and developers.
Dromm’s action comes after The News reported in November that an analysis by the Center for Popular Democracy found more than $28 million in questionable spending and probable financial mismanagement in 95% of the charter schools examined by state auditors since 2002.
James Merriman, CEO of the New York Charter School Center, dismissed Dromm as an “attack dog” for the United Federation of Teachers, which is opposed to charter schools.
Source
East Orange Officials Applaud Changes to Mortgage Sale Program Announced by HUD
East Orange Officials Applaud Changes to Mortgage Sale Program Announced by HUD
EAST ORANGE, NJ - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced significant improvements to...
EAST ORANGE, NJ - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced significant improvements to their delinquent mortgage sales program.
The changes include:
· Making principal reduction the first strategy in modification processes
Sign Up for E-News
· Increased non-profit participation — with a goal of tripling the number
· Far greater provisions for transparency in the sale process
· A commitment to work with local governments and non-profits on targeted sales
These reforms come on the heels of an aggressive community pressure campaign, led by local elected officials affiliated with Local Progress, a national network of progressive elected leaders, and community groups affiliated with the Center for Popular Democracy.
The East Orange City Council passed a resolution sponsored by First Ward Councilman Christopher James in April 2016 calling on HUD to make reforms along these lines. In September of 2015, Councilman James traveled to Washington, D.C. to join others in meeting with top officials at HUD about this issue.
“This is one giant step in the right direction toward helping residents get back on their feet and rebuilding our communities,” said James. “Mutual understanding of the process and greater transparency will allow us to assist our residents in avoiding foreclosure.” As a city, East Orange has taken aggressive steps to reduce the lingering impact of the foreclosure crisis in its neighborhoods.
“My administration, with the support of the City Council, has taken progressive action to address the foreclosure crisis and stabilize our neighborhoods. In November 2014, we established a Division of Vacant and Abandoned Properties solely dedicated to identifying, registering and collecting fees and fines from agencies, such as banks and other creditors, who violate our city code,” said Mayor Lester E. Taylor III. “With these new reforms, we continue to take advantage of every opportunity – including the enforcement of new state laws – that will help us to revitalize our city, boost property values and restore community pride.”
Last summer, Local Progress members led a successful effort to get a resolution passed at the June meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, calling on HUD to prioritize selling these troubled mortgages to mission-driven purchasers, not Wall Street speculators.
With public events, reports and lobbying, these leaders put HUD, and specifically its head Secretary Julián Castro, in the spotlight for running a program that has been benefitting Wall Street at the expense of communities. HUD’s “Distressed Asset Sales Program” (DASP) has been conducting bulk auctions of delinquent mortgages to the highest bidder, which has meant 98% of these troubled mortgages have been sold to Wall Street speculators. Local elected leaders and stakeholders now plan to make sure that HUD sells delinquent mortgage pools to mission-driven purchasers.
The persistence of local elected officials and community groups has paid off, and the major changes announced last week are proof of their hard work. This campaign proved particularly timely as prominent Wall Street speculator Blackstone has recently become the largest single family landlord in the country. With more homes in the hands of non-profits instead of Wall Street speculators, communities will gain further control over their neighborhoods and be less at the mercy of Wall Street. Leaders from the Center for Popular Democracy and Local Progress plan to continue to apply direct pressure on HUD on this issue, and continue the fight for housing justice and community control to strengthen and protect neighborhoods across the country.
By CONNIE JACKSON
Source
Franken scandal haunts Gillibrand’s 2020 chances
Today, nearly a year after Gillibrand led the charge in calling for Franken’s resignation, the anger is fresh on the...
Today, nearly a year after Gillibrand led the charge in calling for Franken’s resignation, the anger is fresh on the minds of major donors across the country...Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director for the Center for Popular Democracy, called Gillibrand’s response “important and courageous.” “It probably made her more enemies than friends,” said Archila, who famously confronted Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) in a congressional elevator this summer during the Kavanaugh hearings.
Read the full article here.
A Broken Promise: Agency-Based Voter Registration in New York City
Executive Summary Voter registration is the number one barrier to the vote. An estimated 51 million eligible citizens,...
Voter registration is the number one barrier to the vote. An estimated 51 million eligible citizens, more than 24 percent of the electorate, could not cast a ballot on Election Day in the 2012 presidential election solely because they had not been registered. Registration and voting rates are particularly low for families with annual incomes below $20,000, voters of color, naturalized citizens, and those with limited English proficiency. Civic engagement levels are even worse in New York State. Fewer New Yorkers registered to vote and cast a ballot in the November 2012 general election than the national average.
Download the report here.
One proven method of increasing voter participation, particularly among underrepresented citizens, is voter registration at public agencies (“agency-based registration”). Well-administered voter registration programs established at public assistance agencies pursuant to federal law have helped register 15 to 20 percent of agency applicants. In 2000, New York City sought to expand voter registration opportunities at municipal agencies by enacting Local Law 29 (“the Pro-Voter Law”), which required 18 city agencies and, under certain circumstances, their associated subcontractors, to offer voter registration forms to all persons submitting applications, renewals, or recertification for agency services, or notifying the agency of a change of address. The law included each of the City’s 59 community boards as well. The last and only evaluation of the Pro-Voter Law, undertaken by the New York City Council over a decade ago, found that agencies were failing to offer voter registration.
In 2014, the Center for Popular Democracy, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, Citizens Union of the City of New York, and the New York Public Interest Research Group formed the Pro-Voter Law Coalition and launched a new initiative to assess the agencies’ compliance with the law and opportunities to enhance the law’s impact. The Pro-Voter Law Coalition submitted Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests to each of the 18 city agencies; met with the Voter Assistance Advisory Committee at the New York City Campaign Finance Board; and, along with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund and Make the Road New York, launched field investigations at 14 city offices subject to the Pro-Voter Law to measure their compliance with the law.
The FOIL responses and field investigations revealed widespread agency failure to implement the Pro-Voter Law. Specifically, they found:
Inconsistent adherence. Documents provided by the 12 agencies that responded to FOIL requests indicated scattered and inconsistent attention to the Pro-Voter Law; Noncompliance in a majority of interactions. In 84 percent of client interactions, agency officials failed to comply with the Pro-Voter Law’s requirement to offer voter registration application forms; Failure to provide language access. Agency failures extended to bilingual voter registration mandates. Specifically, only 40 percent, or 2 out of 5 agency clients whose primary language was not English were given translated voter registration applications; and No training of agency staff. All 11 of the agency employees who responded to training inquiries admitted that no agency staff receive regular training on voter registration procedures.These findings are particularly significant given that over 30 percent, or 18 of 59 citizen clients interviewed at the agencies required to comply with the Pro-Voter Law’s mandates reported they were not registered to vote.
Agency failure to comply with the Pro-Voter Law marks a lost opportunity to increase New York City voter registration rates and, by extension, voter participation in the city. Expanding opportunities for New Yorkers to register to vote at municipal agencies will require a concerted commitment by the Mayor, City Council, and municipal agency heads. The Pro-Voter Law Coalition is joined by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the League of Women Voters of the City of New York, Common Cause New York, and Make the Road New York in issuing the following 12 recommendations to help ensure that every eligible city resident is registered to vote when interacting with city agencies subject to the Pro-Voter Law.
Click here to download the report.
Clinton Wants Bankers Off Regional Fed Boards
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton joined the fray Thursday in the debate over how the nation’s central...
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton joined the fray Thursday in the debate over how the nation’s central bank operates, saying banking industry insiders need to be removed from the Federal Reserve System.
Mrs. Clinton’s campaign said, if elected, she would appoint officials who will carry out “unwavering oversight” of the financial sector and “defend” both sides of the central bank’s inflation and employment mandates. The campaign also said “commonsense reforms—like getting bankers off the boards of regional Federal Reserve banks—are long overdue.”
Mrs. Clinton’s comments on central bank changes appeared to be her first on the topic in a campaign season where the Fed has intermittently been an issue, albeit mostly on the Republican side. Mrs. Clinton’s views emerged on a day in which dozens of Democratic congressional members, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, criticized the central bank for a leadership largely made up of white males with business and finance backgrounds.
While the Fed is led by its first-ever woman chief, all of its governors are white and three of the five are men. Of the 12 regional bank presidents, none are black and 10 are men. The last African-American to serve in a key leadership role left in 2006.
The letter to Ms. Yellen, referencing a recent study by the left-leaning Center for Popular Democracy’s Fed Up Coalition, also flagged a lack of diversity among the boards of directors that oversee the regional Fed banks. The letter said a Fed that doesn’t look like the nation it works for will struggle to make policy that benefits an increasingly diverse nation. Regional Fed board members are drawn from the private sector to watch over institutions that are quasi-private. By law, the boards are supposed to represent their broader communities with three classes of directors reserved for differing interests, including the financial sector, in a process set out by a complicated set of rules. These boards oversee regional Fed bank operations, provide local economic insights and help select new bank presidents.
But the presence of bankers on the boards, representing firms regulated by the Fed, has been a sore spot for Fed critics. Over the years, the New York Fed faced notable controversies on this front.
Recent legal changes have removed financial-market participants from the process of selecting new bank presidents. Also, the Fed’s regulatory operations are managed in Washington even as they operate out of regional banks, and are insulated from the influence of the regional boards. Most regional Fed boards are spoken of in glowing terms by their respective bank presidents.
Financial-market professionals are well represented among Fed leaders. Most top central bankers are either economists by training or former bankers. The leaders of the New York, Minneapolis, Dallas and Philadelphia Fed banks all have worked in some capacity for investment bank Goldman Sachs. Current Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer was vice chairman of Citigroup from 2002 to 2005.
Mrs. Clinton’s desire to remove financial-sector leaders from the regional Fed boards would mark a historic change for a central bank that was founded on the mission of promoting financial stability, and whose monetary policy actions work through private financial-market channels to affect the performance of the broader economy.
In response to the congressional letter, the Fed said in a statement that when it comes to the members of the regional boards, “by law, we consider the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services, labor, and consumers. We also are aiming to increase ethnic and gender diversity.“ It also said there has been a rise in both racial and gender diversity on the regional Fed boards, with 46% of all directors now meeting the label of “diverse.”
A recent overhaul proposal by former top Fed staffer Andrew Levin, now a professor at Dartmouth College, called for the regional Fed banks to be made fully public, ending their private ownership structure operating within the Fed board, which is explicitly part of the government. Mr. Levin also called for directors representing firms regulated by the central bank to be removed.
By MICHAEL S. DERBY
Source
Anti-Kavanaugh Groups Could Lose Non-Profit Status for Disrupting Hearings
Anti-Kavanaugh Groups Could Lose Non-Profit Status for Disrupting Hearings
Over 200 people were arrested during the four days of hearings, held Sept. 4 to 7, for disrupting the hearings. They...
Over 200 people were arrested during the four days of hearings, held Sept. 4 to 7, for disrupting the hearings. They were organized by Women’s March and Center for Popular Democracy Action (CPDA), both holding 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status as social welfare organizations, as well as Housing Works, which holds the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status reserved for charitable organizations.
Read the full article here.
Scarlett Johansson, Her "Avengers" Co-Stars And The John Gore Organization Raise $500,000 For Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief Efforts
Scarlett Johansson, Her "Avengers" Co-Stars And The John Gore Organization Raise $500,000 For Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief Efforts
"We are deeply grateful to Scarlett Johansson, Kenny Leon and everyone involved in the production of this play for...
"We are deeply grateful to Scarlett Johansson, Kenny Leon and everyone involved in the production of this play for stepping up and contributing their talent to help towards the equitable and just rebuilding of Puerto Rico," explained Xiomara Caro, Director of New Organizing Projects for the Center of Popular Democracy and coordinator of Maria Fund. "This event demonstrates the importance of collective solidarity and responsibility and how powerful it is when we come together to help our communities."
Read the full article here.
Total spending on Colorado campaigns initiatives nears $48 million so far
Total spending on Colorado campaigns initiatives nears $48 million so far
More than $3 million in contributions aided the slate of statewide initiatives in the final campaign finance reporting...
More than $3 million in contributions aided the slate of statewide initiatives in the final campaign finance reporting period before next Tuesday’s election, with more than $1 million in last-minute money bolstering the effort to increase Colorado’s minimum wage.
The two proposals to create a presidential primary and allow unaffiliated voters to participate in primaries also got a healthy infusion of cash, as did the measure that would make it harder to amend the state constitution.
The late flow of contributions pushed the total raised for Colorado’s ballot initiatives to nearly $48 million.
The effort concerning primary elections, spearheaded by Let Colorado Vote, the issue committee funding the campaigns for both Proposition 107 and 108, brought in more than $600,000.
Most of that came from Kent Thiry, who personally gave $300,000, and DaVita Health Care Partners, the company he heads, which pitched in $100,000. Thiry has given nearly $1.4 million of about $4 million that has gone toward those initiatives. Noble Energy joined the effort with a $200,000 contribution.
2016 COLORADO BALLOT MEASURES
Amendment 69: ColoradoCare
Amendment 70: Minimum Wage
Amendment 71: Constitutional changes
Amendment 72: Cigarette taxes
Proposition 106: Aid-in-dying
Proposition 107: Presidential primaries
Proposition 108: Unaffiliated voters
Amendment T: Slavery reference
Amendment U: Property taxes
Ballot Issue 4B: Arts funding
Organized opposition to the propositions has been sparse, with Citizens for Integrity reporting only a total of about $51,000 in non-monetary contributions for the campaign.
More than a half-million dollars rolled into the Raise the Bar campaign supporting Amendment 71, which would make it tougher to get citizen initiatives onto the statewide ballot and require more than a simple majority to pass them.
All but a small slice of that came from energy interests, who put in just shy of $500,000 in this reporting period through Protecting Colorado’s Environment, Economy and Energy Independence, which has given more than $2.8 million over the course of the campaign. After initially anticipating a fight against anti-fracking initiatives that ultimately didn’t make the ballot, Protecting Colorado shifted its resources to Amendment 71, which could make it even more difficult for anti-fracking forces to put measures before voters.
Opposition from the Colorado League of Responsible Voters has pumped nearly $840,000 into a campaign against the measure, including $500,000 from the National Education Association and a $100,000 contribution from the River Habitat Preservation Coalition.
A surge in cash donations supported Amendment 70, which would establish a new minimum wage in Colorado. It received much of the more than $1 million in contributions from unions and other organizations that have been supporting minimum wage increases on ballots around the country.
The Colorado campaign now totals nearly $5 million.
The Center for Popular Democracy Action Fund, based in New York, pitched in $400,000 to push its total for the campaign over $1 million; the National Education Association and Washington-based Service Employees International Union political action committee gave a series of six-figure contributions.
Opponents, who have raised about $1.7 million, brought in $154,920 on the strength of a handful of five-figure donations, including $50,000 from Greenwood Village-based Colorado Citizens Protecting Our Constitution.
Opposition to Amendment 72, the increased tax on tobacco products, has been funded by more than $16 million from Virginia-based tobacco giant Altria, but reported no additional cash contributions — though that campaign remains by far the most well-funded effort among all statewide ballot measures.
The Campaign for a Healthy Colorado, which has backed the tax that would fund a variety of health-related programs and seek to reduce smoking among young people, added nearly $150,000 — most from health-related entities. It also benefited from a $10,000 donation from Colorado Rockies owner Charlie Monfort.
Contributions to the medical aid-in-dying measure, Proposition 106, appeared to be winding down, though it remained a distant second in fundraising to the tobacco tax with about $8 million raised from both sides.
Supporters of the initiative added a little more than $73,000 to their $5.4 million total, with $50,000 of that coming from Aspen’s Adam Lewis, son of the late Progressive insurance chairman Peter Lewis. Opponents, whose $2.6 million in total contributions has been fueled largely by faith-based organizations led by the Catholic church, added about $255,000. The largest contribution came from Washington, D.C.-based The Catholic Association.
The battle over ColoradoCare, the proposed state-run health care option, also calmed on the campaign finance front, with both sides adding relatively modest five-figure contributions. Opponents of the system have raised more than $4 million while those advancing the initiative have raised less than a half-million dollars.
By The Denver Post
Source
3 days ago
3 days ago