National Roundup

California
State task force set up to consider reparations for slavery
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are setting up a task force to study and make recommendations for reparations to African Americans, particularly the descendants of slaves, as the nation struggles again with civil rights and unrest following the latest shooting of a Black man by police.

The state Senate supported creating the nine-member commission on a bipartisan 33-3 vote Saturday. The measure returns to the Assembly for a final vote before lawmakers adjourn for the year on Monday, though Assembly members overwhelmingly already approved an earlier version of the bill.

“Let’s be clear: Chattel slavery, both in California and across our nation, birthed a legacy of racial harm and inequity that continues to impact the conditions of Black life in California,” said Democratic Sen. Holly Mitchell of Los Angeles.

She cited disproportionate homelessness, unemployment, involvement in the criminal justice system, lower academic performance and higher health risks during the coronavirus pandemic.

Although California before the Civil War was officially a free state, Mitchell listed legal and judicial steps state officials took at the time to support slavery in Southern states while repressing Blacks.

The legislation would require the task force to conduct a detailed study of the impact of slavery in California and recommend to the Legislature by July 2023 the form of compensation that should be awarded, how it should be awarded, and who should be should be eligible for compensation.

The panel, which would start meeting no later than June 2021, could also recommend other forms of rehabilitation or redress.

In the last two years, Texas, New York, and Vermont have considered similar legislation, according to a legislative analysis. It said reparations could take the form of cash, housing assistance, lower tuition, forgiving student loans, job training or community investments, for instance.

Sen. Steven Bradford, a Democrat from Gardena who supported the bill, said he only wished it was more than a study.

He noted that Friday marked the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington and The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

“If the 40 acres and a mule that was promised to free slaves were delivered to the descendants of those slaves today, we would all be billionaires,” Bradford said. “I hear far too many people say, ‘Well, I didn’t own slaves, that was so long ago.’ Well, you inherit wealth — you can inherit the debt that you owe to African-Americans.”

New York
Family settles lawsuit over death of trans woman in jail
NEW YORK (AP) — The family of a transgender woman with epilepsy who died in an isolated cell in New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex has settled its lawsuit with the city for $5.9 million, the family’s lawyer said.

The settlement was reached Friday in the federal lawsuit over the June 7, 2019, death of Layleen Polanco. The terms of the settlement were not made public. But David Shanies, the lawyer for Polanco’s family, confirmed published reports about the settlement amount.

Shanies said in a statement Sunday that he hopes the deal means Polanco’s “wonderful and devoted family can find some small measure of peace.”

The 27-year-old Polanco had been in custody since April 2019, unable to post $500 bail after an assault arrest. The city medical examiner’s office ruled that Polanco’s cause of death was sudden unexplained death in epilepsy.

Polanco’s family members charged in their lawsuit that correction officers failed to check on her as she was dying, ignoring the fact that her medical condition meant she “could suffer serious injury or death without intervention.”

A city Department of Investigation report did not find evidence that officers contributed to her death but did say that she had not been checked on for the better part of an hour as she should have been in accordance with a Department of Correction policy.

The Bronx district attorney’s office declined to press criminal charges in connection to Polanco’s death, but city officials announced in June that 17 correction officers would face disciplinary action  in connection with her death.

Asked to comment on the settlement of the lawsuit, a spokesperson for the New York City law department said Polanco’s death “was an absolute tragedy” and added that the city “will continue to do everything it can to make reforms towards a correction system that is fundamentally safer, fairer, and more humane.”

Missouri
St. Louis couple charged after waving guns appear in court
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The attorney for a white St. Louis couple charged for waving guns during a racial injustice protest outside their home said Monday that they’re anxious to prove “with absolute certainty” that they did not commit a crime.

One week after Mark and Patricia McCloskey spoke on video to the Republican National Convention, they were in court briefly Monday morning and did not enter a plea. The judge continued their case until Oct. 6.

The couple emerged from their Renaissance palazzo-style mansion with guns on the night of June 28 after protesters veered onto their private street. The couple said the demonstrators knocked down an iron gate and ignored a “No Trespassing” sign, and they felt threatened.

Mark McCloskey, 63, came out with AR-15 rifle, according to court records, which said Patricia McCloskey, 61, displayed a semiautomatic handgun. No shots were fired.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner said their actions created the risk of bloodshed during what she called an otherwise peaceful protest. She charged  both with felony unlawful use of a weapon.

The McCloskeys did not speak to reporters after the court hearing. Their attorney, Joel Schwartz, reiterated their claims that no laws were broken.

“We are simply anxious to remove all the noise from this case, move the case forward, and have the facts heard by a jury and let the jury decide whether or not the McCloskeys committed any felony offenses because we are convinced with absolute certainty that there was no felony committed here,” Schwartz said.

Missouri law allows homeowners to use force, even lethal force, to defend their homes. The McCloskeys drew support from President Donald Trump, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and other leading Republicans.

Last week, the McCloskeys, who are both attorneys, made the case in an opening night speech of the Republican National Convention that they had a “God-given right” to defend themselves and their property.