California
New hearing ordered over state ban on private prisons
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (AP) — A federal appeals court on Tuesday agreed to reconsider a ruling that rejected the state’s first-in-the-nation ban on for-profit private prisons and immigration detention facilities.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new hearing before an 11-judge panel, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Last October, a three-judge appellate panel kept in place a key piece of the world’s largest detention system for immigrants — despite a 2019 state law aimed at phasing out privately-run immigration jails in California by 2028. The law was passed as one of numerous efforts by California Democrats to limit the state’s cooperation with the federal government on immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.
However, the appellate panel ruled 2-1 that the state law interferes with the federal government’s authority. Tuesday’s decision set aside that ruling and ordered a new hearing before a larger panel that will include Chief Judge Mary Murguia.
Murguia cast the dissenting vote last year. She said the law was prompted by reports of “substandard conditions, inadequate medical care, sexual assaults and deaths in for-profit facilities.”
Murguia was appointed by President Barack Obama while the other two members of the appellate panel were appointed by President Donald Trump.
The administration of Democratic President Joe Biden also has opposed the law on constitutional grounds, although Biden signed an executive order last year to end the government’s use of such prisons in the future.
Grand Rapids
Police union backs officer in Patrick Lyoya killing
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — The union representing police officers in a Michigan city is defending the officer who shot Patrick Lyoya in the back of the head.
The Grand Rapids Police Officers Association called Lyoya’s death “tragic” but said an “officer has the legal right to protect themselves and community in a volatile dangerous situation such as this, in order to return to his/her family at the end of their shift.”
Meanwhile, a City Commission meeting abruptly ended Tuesday night as residents used profanities and expressed anger over Lyoya’s killing. Police Chief Eric Winstrom watched from the rear of the room.
“Whose city? Our city! Whose streets? Our streets!” people chanted.
Lyoya, 26, was killed by Officer Christopher Schurr at the end of a brief foot chase and physical struggle that followed a traffic stop in Grand Rapids on April 4.
Lyoya was on the ground when Schurr ordered him to take his hands off the officer’s Taser, according to video of the incident.
Schurr told Lyoya that he had stopped the vehicle because the license plate didn’t match the car.
The union said on Facebook that it “stands with Officer Schurr and will continue to give him and his family whatever support they need.”
Lyoya’s family wants Schurr fired and charged with crimes. State police are investigating the shooting. Kent County prosecutor Chris Becker said he will not give up the case, despite calls by civil rights activists to recuse himself.
Earlier Tuesday, Winstrom told a community forum that he wants to put more emphasis on officers knowing how to turn down the heat during tense situations. Some experts believe Schurr should have stopped trying to subdue Lyoya when he resisted.
“I guarantee that we can do more,” said Winstrom, who has been chief for less than two months. “Actually, that’s one of the things I’ve already reached out to my colleagues to say, ‘Hey, I need some curriculum, because we are going to beef it up.’”
New York
Judge ponders crisis in NYC jail system, 2nd-largest in U.S.
NEW YORK (AP) — Meaningful changes could be implemented within days at the troubled Rikers Island jail complex, the head of New York City’s jails told a federal judge Tuesday.
The city has insisted that years of failed reforms could be overcome without the court taking control of the nation’s second-largest jail system.
“You will see change,” Department of Correction Commissioner Louis Molina promised Judge Laura Taylor Swain.
Molina said he’s “in alignment” with recommendations from Steve Martin, a monitor tasked with reporting on changes that are needed at a jail system which includes Rikers Island, where about 5,500 inmates are held.
In a recent report, Martin said about 30% of the workforce at the jails was not coming to work or not available to work with inmates. On Tuesday, he said of Molina: “Every time I’ve called on the commissioner for a remedy or attention, he has stepped up.”
“I don’t need to wait three weeks to take some actions,” Molina said, promising some changes would occur within days.
Sixteen inmates died at Rikers last year, and three have died so far in 2022.
Molina spoke after he was ordered to appear by the judge after she received a scathing letter about the jails from prosecutors, who suggested Molina appear before the court as they warned that court oversight of the jail system might be necessary.
“We remain alarmed by the extraordinary level of violence and disorder at the jails and the ongoing imminent risk of harm that inmates and correction officers face every day,” prosecutors wrote. “The jails are in a state of crisis, inmates and staff are being seriously injured, and action is desperately needed now.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Powell noted at Tuesday’s electronically held hearing that city officials had repeatedly promised there would be reforms that never materialized, as officials constantly sought new deadlines for planned improvements that would then be found to be blocked by local laws or regulations.
“We can’t agree to continue to hit the reset button,” he said.
Powell said there might be alternatives to the appointment of a receiver who would essentially take control of the jails. He said one improvement would be for a judge to order the removal of legal impediments, such as a clause in the contract with workers that requires unlimited sick leave.
He said prosecutors “don’t doubt the commissioner’s dedication,” but he said the government was giving serious consideration to the appointment of a receiver.
His viewpoint was shared by attorney Hayley Horowitz, who represents plaintiffs in a court case brought in 2011.
She said the situation had gotten so dire that some inmates are not allowed out of cells because there are no guards to open them.
“There’s not an easy answer, easy fix. But operational changes must be made,” she said.
Horowitz called the possibility of a receivership “a meaningful possibility,” adding: “We need to break the stalemate.”
In a statement last week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Molina “is laying the groundwork for long-term change.”
