From shadow@netcom.com Wed Jun 1 16:28:11 1994 Received: from netcom.netcom.com by fido.wps.com (8.6.5/wps.com-hackery) id JAA14350; Wed, 1 Jun 1994 09:28:08 -0700 Received: by netcom.netcom.com (8.6.8.1/Netcom) id JAA01639; Wed, 1 Jun 1994 09:27:36 -0700 Date: Wed, 1 Jun 1994 09:27:36 -0700 Message-Id: <199406011627.JAA01639@netcom.netcom.com> To: steiner@netcom.com, mike_steiner@qm.claris.com, wjones@igc.apc.org, tburghardt@igc.apc.org, virginia@ella.mills.edu, deke@fido.wps.com, kay9bee@aol.com, sashar@igc.apc.org, sciww@ucscb.ucsc.edu, jim.bill@syntex.com Subject: Re: Santa Cruz DA race affects us all! From: shadow@netcom.com (Moonshadow) Reply-To: shadow@netcom.com X-Status: Status: OR Hi all ......... I thought you might be interested in the following. It was posted in the norml.hemp conference area on PeaceNet. .........Cynthia/Moonshadow > /* Written 11:15 pm May 31, 1994 by crsucb@igc.apc.org in igc:norml.hemp */ > /* ---------- "Santa Cruz DA race affects us all!" ---------- */ > Santa Cruz DAs race turns ugly. > > > I recently returned from my second trip to Santa Cruz where I am > researching local politics as part of an examination on how communities > are responding to violence. There is good news to report as far as > alternatives are concerned, But these ideas are being silenced by > politics. We are seeing one of the biggest media-induced hysteria > campaigns since the Red Scare and the Drug War. Indeed, the corporate > press and television seem to want a police state. In this mix are > thousands of judges, attorneys, police, criminals (big and small), prison > guards and millions of regular citizens. The only hope is that the > regular citizens get a clue and start asking questions. Like who wants > this War on Crime and why? > > I went to Santa Cruz to follow the grassroots campaign that underdog > progressive Ed Frey is running for the Santa Cruz County DA's seat. When > I got there I found that the race has turned ugly, but few are paying > attention and there's a lot at stake. > > In a time when get tough types are frothing at the mouth for more prisons > and executions, Frey is a startling contrast. His reasoned positions on > everything from gang violence and drugs to the way courts work should be > attracting national attention, if, for no other reason, the Santa Cruz > voters seem to like what they hear. "It's sensible, feasible and just to > look at crime for what it is, and not what demagogues want to make it > represent There's no group that can be blamed for crime." says Frey, > "For example, with youth violence, we must engage with them directly, not > lock them out. It's not too late." > > Too soft you think? Not really. After a fourteen year tenure, Danner's > lackluster performance has finally begun to generate doubts and > criticisms by local people. Frey is trying to turn that doubt into an > electoral victory. If the playing field were even, Frey could win. But > Danner is trying to make it all uphill for Frey, reaching deep for dirty > tricks. This strategy is provoking some ugly scenes and events. Most, > if not all of these come from his supporters. If this is the prototype > of the tough on crime types, get your passports renewed. > > * In the last month, Ed Frey's kids were attacked at an outdoor event by > a fanatic supporter of Art Danner. The local press refused to print it > by omitting the crime blotter altogether for a few days. Where the story > did get coverage, the editors left out that the wacko was an upstanding > and well known supporter of Art Danner. "Freedom of the press is for > those who own one" goes the saying. > > * This last week Ed Frey's two dogs were poisoned and killed, bringing > terror to his wife and seven kids, and adding more nasty tricks from > Danner fans. But the local elites are not moved. They like the devil > they know. Danner is one of them, so they have now circled the wagons to > shut out Frey's campaign. If Frey wins, we might all finally find out > why, barring any election night shredding at the D.A.s office. > > * Local Limbaugh outlet, KSCO sold airtime to the Frey people only to > later tell them their hired host would not do. Although privately > contracted, the conservatives on the station's management objected > because they had fired him some time ago for being too liberal. Outraged > by this heavy handed censorship, Frey reminded the station brass that he > knows the law well. They relented and Frey went on the air. His calm > and sensible ideas got most of the callers attention. They found > themselves agreeing. Good things happen when issues get serious > discussion with no censors. > > * The local establishment daily, the Sentinel, has given up any pretense > of objectivity. One Sentinel reporter claims the race was too boring to > cover. No sooner said, the Sentinel endorsed Danner big time, patting > him on the back for bucking the voters and prosecuting the medical > marijuana patients. Yet these cases never make convictions. Juries and > judges are throwing them out as fast as Art Danner can file them. > > * Danner has tried to depict the Frey campaign as some kind of unworthy, > unwashed, unreal blip in the electoral horizon. In public fora Danner > repeats his attack that Frey is either wrong or misinformed. This chant > wears thin with attendees who note that Danner is unable to articulate > approaches or policies on anything important. Now that he realizes that > Frey has made himself attractive to a rather large cross-section of the > electorate, he acts desperate. One example while I was there: an > anonymous call to the Frey campaign answering machine included a "church > lady" style accusation that one of Frey's staff was a prostitute. > Welllll, isn't THAT special? > > A visit to the Frey office quickly reveals why the Church Lady was > feeling a bit farglempt. Scott Imler, veteran gay organizer, runs this > office across from Bookshop Santa Cruz with two computers and a fax > machine. Scott has worked on everything from the nuclear freeze to > medical marijuana. He put together an experienced staff that had helped > him get medical marijuana passed with a whopping 77% in a high turnout > election in 1992. His energetic coterie of progressive volunteers have > been working on what Frey calls "a community response to violence". The > catchy phrase has suddenly appeared in other local campaign literature. > Now everybody is talking alternatives to throw away the key. Imler has > found ways to get the public's attention, from Frey's teal colored > banners and signs (echo Go Sharks!), to surgically placed ads, radio > spots, and appearances at public events. Frey has remained visible, > accessible and almost ubiquitous. > > Frey is thrilled. He wants the community to see his campaign as an > opportunity to do locally what elected officials and legislators refuse > to do at the state or national level- to try something new, bold, serious > and overdue. Frey suggests nothing short of an unabashed attempt to > humanize criminal justice through a philosophy of prevention through harm > reduction and victim identification. He believes that criminals have to > face their victims and get make direct payment or restitution. > > Unlike most liberals, the more radical Frey can be quite precise. He > suggests cost-cutting approaches like pre-trial case review for > non-violent crime, rehabilitation for young offenders, community based > justice centers to address petty crime, gang activity and local responses > to street problems. At the same time, he says that jails and prisons > were made to put certain people inside, even for a long, long time. He > just wants to make sure there's room for the ones who belong there, not > "more prisons to put everyone and their uncle away." He calls these > "common sense, sober alternatives to the foaming at the mouth right wing > harangue the media seems to like so much." > > To pull this off, Frey talks about a D.A's office that works with the > local school districts, group homes, and County Health. He opposes > "three strikes, you're out" because he says it will end up with more > police officers shot by desperate and armed repeat offenders. "Officers > dealing with armed suspects have no way of knowing that the suspect is > going to try to avoid arrest at all costs. Three strikes is bad policy > all around." > > Danner avoids the issues, repeating his mantra that policy critics should > run for the legislature. He says the D.A.s office is apolitical! And > monkeys might jump.... Danner supports "three strikes" and wages a Drug > War style campaign against local marijuana patients, including several > AIDS patients. While Danner cracks down on pot, the whole world knows > that Santa Cruz is a major coke trans-ship point. And the hills have > their share of metamphetamine labs. But the county spends huge sums > eradicating pot gardens and comparatively little on the real nasty stuff > like crack and speed. The south county is falling to unemployment, and > the Latino community faces increased gang violence. > > "In his fourteen year tenure, violent crime in the county has skyrocketed > with little convictions to show off his lock 'em up talk," says Scott > Imler, Frey's campaign organizer. "In the wake of these trends, Danner > announced that violent crime was down in the county. Apparently he > hadn't bothered to read the state statistics available to his office." > > Imler, the ever present organizer is proud of this campaign. He muses > about past campaigns and says that this one "can go far to integrate a > reform agenda in criminal justice." He recently returned from months > lobbying for medical marijuana reform in Washington D.C. He says the > experience cured him of any illusions about reform potential at the > federal level. Undeterred, he returned to form a distribution network in > Santa Cruz so that terminally ill and sick patients could get free > medical pot. Scott does that for free too, getting prosperous pot > growers and dealers to chip in and do something altruistic. You gotta > love this guy. > > Ed Frey is no virgin either. He has been fighting the state's absurd > marijuana laws for years. In Humboldt County eighteen years ago he > forced local cops to arrest him for walking into their police station > with a copy of the dreaded hemp plant. Older and wiser now, he is > unhappy with mere symbolic protest. In the last decade Frey went into > private practice doing pro bono work in broad areas of the law. No case > escapes his interest. He is noted for staying up nights reading > everything from First Amendment arguments to local real estate law. In > all he has tried more cases and knows more than Danner ever has as D.A. > But Danner continues to challenge his opponent's credentials. > > Danner has little record to run on. He focuses on high profile cases and > then messes them up. In a recent murder case the accused walked because > Danner leaned on a witness. The judge was furious and so was Frey. Art > had done this before! But the story was under-reported in the county > though it made Bay Area television. Furthermore, he has a proven > reputation for overlooking domestic violence, which has angered local > women's groups. > > In other areas he seems too keen to use his power as District Attorney. > There are charges that he has overstepped his authority snooping on > individuals who posted files on a local BBS. Danner thought the posting > by an eyewitness to a violent drug bust was dangerous to his drug squad. > He tracked one user and then DA's office people came knocking on his door > about his posting. (My door is locked.) > > This case of Big Brotheritis involved the now infamous CNET, the elite > Drug Warriors exposed last year on national television for wanton > brutality and racism in the county. Danner never did do anything about > it. At times the apparently distracted D.A. seems to be more interested > cybercrime, real and imagined. In one controversial case he was > criticized for turning his public office into a private law firm working > on what amounted to civil cases for the Scott's Valley software giant, > Borland. > > Frey's campaign has shown that voters are more interested in restitution, > rehabilitation, gun control, and prevention, than prisons and executions. > Meanwhile Danner is pulling no punches. In the county building, > sheriff's employees talk openly of a "surprise for those marijuana > people" before the election. Indeed, sleepy little Santa Cruz is a place > where the good ol' boys don't give up without a fight, even if that fight > is aimed at repressing, intimidating and harassing those who want change > through the ballot box, and their children and their dogs. > > But Santa Cruz voters could change all that on June 7 > > > George Leddy > > c/o ESPM, 112 Giannini Hall > University of California > Berkeley, CA 94720 > > > > -- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% | "When a woman seriously asks herself what it | means to be a woman she is pulling at a | thread that can unravel an entire culture." | | Kim Chernin - "Reinventing Eve" | %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% From deke Wed Jun 1 18:03:30 1994 Received: from localhost by fido.wps.com (8.6.5/wps.com-hackery) id LAA14559; Wed, 1 Jun 1994 11:00:50 -0700 From: deke (Deke Motif Nihilson) Message-Id: <199406011800.LAA14559@wps.com> Subject: Re: Santa Cruz DA race affects us all! To: shadow@netcom.com Date: Wed, 1 Jun 1994 11:00:50 -0700 (PDT) Cc: sciww (Santa Cruz IWW), deke (Deke Motif Nihilson) In-Reply-To: <199406011627.JAA01639@netcom.netcom.com> from "Moonshadow" at Jun 1, 94 09:27:36 am X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL23] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Length: 1443 X-Status: Status: OR Thanx for all the H*O*T mail, Moonshadow!!! Especially the S.C. DA piece. As someone recently returned to the Big, Sleazy City from a "sleepy" small California mid-coastal town, this is the sorta thing that sheds some light on just what the fuck I saw in that place that makes me love it so much, even from here... I'll continue to circulate it. Thanx again! Also, as a quite political (though non-sectarian) leftie (anarchosyndicalist flavor!), I totally agree with you about in-front-of-the-clinics proorities. Perhaps one of the things we could do to de-rhetoricize the politicos *in front of* the clinics is to create a space (as BACORR or whatever) *away* from the clinics, in which it would be safe and even *encouraged* for people to be political about their reasons for being involved in clinic defense. Forums, debates, BACORR Sectarian Society Recruitment Night-- whatever. Make a big, public-invite kinda deal about it. Make it open to all, and no one group wil be able to comandeer the BACORR "image"-- rather, we'll get a rep (gasp!) for being so inclusive and *tolerant*! And it'll make the politicos less desperate in terms of *selling their papers* (and screaming at each other, the fundies, clients etc.) because that will be the *inappropriate* (as opposed to the *only*) place for their rhetoric to be heard! Just one of themstorms in the cortex... Stay FABulous, as I remain In Solidarity True, --Deke