Sunday/Monday Picks
November 2nd, 2009 by 
Celeste Fremon
BILL BRATTON AS CHIEF – LOOKING BACK
Frank Stolz has a very good three-part series that gives a multifaceted perspective on Bill Bratton’s tenure as Chief of the LAPD:
1. What Bratton faced when he arrived—big things, and little things.
2. Bratton’s civil rights legacy —what he did and did not accomplish.
3. Bratton’s style of leadership. This segment is savvy and really a lot of fun. Bratton even admits to using “the look” as a tool in meetings. You know, that look.
We’re gonna miss him.
THE UNNECESSARY DEATH OF A SON, A BROTHER, A COP & SOLDIER
“Dear God, do not let Peter’s sacrifice of his life go unnoticed,” said Bishop J. Jon Bruno as he led the mourners in prayer. “Care for all people who are returning from military action with such great love that they have all that they need to become whole again.”
It was the dominant message at Army Lieutenant Peter Sinclair’s funeral. The account by the LA Times’ Jai Rui Chong of Peter Sinclair’s promising life and his pain-and-PTSD-driven death is mandatory reading.
LOCKED UP WITH NO CRIME—AND NO LAWYER
On Monday, the NY City Bar Association’s Justice Center will demand attorneys be provided for the thousands of long-time New York residents who have committed no crime but are locked up under dreadful conditions unable to fight deportation proceedings.
Here is the opening of the NY Times story.
A startling petition arrived at the New York City Bar Association in October 2008, signed by 100 men, all locked up without criminal charges in the middle of Manhattan.
In vivid if flawed English, it described cramped, filthy quarters where dire medical needs were ignored and hungry prisoners were put to work for $1 a day.
The petitioners were among 250 detainees imprisoned in an immigration jail that few New Yorkers know exists….
MAN FIGHTS HIS FIRING FROM MONSTER DRUG COMPANY AND WINS VICTORY FOR HIS FAMILY
A great David and Goliath story from the Raleigh News-Observer.
CALIFORNIA’S 3 STRIKES LAW EXAMINED IN 3 PARTS
An excellent three part series on California’s three strikes law finished Saturday on NPR. Definitely worth your time. (And, no, NPR doesn’t suggest doing away with the law altogether. )
Posted in Social Justice Shorts | 
2 Comments »
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:51 am
Thanks for the links to the KPCC Stolz interview series, which I didn’t catch earlier. But Pts 1 & 2 are the same: is there a 3rd part that’s missing? (I didn’t check the website to track this down, but I assume there is a missing part.)
I for one appreciate how candid Chief Bratton is, now that he’s free to speak his mind, and how self-aware he is (e.g. the impact of “the look,” or the fact that he’s “earned the right to make endorsements” as he said and isn’t shy about saying so – but always in a positive way, didn’t attack the opponent as some other “endorsers” in law enforcement did, although he does call out some for “grandstanding” when he thinks their meddling “improvements” to his dept. have no merit). However I imagine the next Chief will have to be a bit more reserved, at least for a while. During which everyone will try to “read body language” and small inflections of tone, as they have all weekend between the candidates and the mayor. And maybe get it wrong – nice to know what the Chief really thinks especially as he does seem to be generally right, and his advice is well worth following.
November 2nd, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Thanks, WBC, it’s fixed. Part 2 was the missing segment. Click it now and all is good.