Grassroots Leadership In The News

El Gobernador de Texas, Greg Abbott, informó el miércoles del envío de una carta oficial al Alcalde de Austin, Steve Adler, expresando varios reclamos sobre la crisis de la indigencia.

La carta exige que el alcalde y el concejo municipal aborden el tema con prontitud. En la misiva, el gobernador da como plazo el 1 de noviembre para tomar acción en contra la “violencia, jeringas usadas y heces en las calles de Austin que hacen peligrar a los residentes de Texas".

La carta advierte que “si no se implementan reformas significativas, el gobernador dirigirá a todas las agencias estatales correspondientes a cumplir con su responsabilidad de proteger la salud y la seguridad de los tejanos en la jurisdicción de Austin". Read more about Gobernador envía carta con reclamos sobre indigencia a alcalde de Austin

For criminal justice reformers, the incident shows that police need to be cut from the equation of mental health emergency response. “The footage of Tania Silva’s arrest shows a horrifying, yet common example of everything that goes wrong when law enforcement responds to a mental health crisis,” said Cate Graziani, an organizer with the Austin-based nonprofit Grassroots Leadership. Calling the arrest “traumatic and unnecessary,” Graziani said APD should have deferred to EMS or the mobile crisis team, and she noted that the presence of an APD mental health officer—meaning a cop who’s taken training in crisis intervention—seemed to make little difference. “Cops are not health workers,” she said, “and no amount of mental health training can guarantee the safety of individuals in crisis who call 911 for help.”

The incident fueled existing discontent with APD’s handling of mental health crises. Despite Austin’s reputation as a progressive beacon, a 2018 city audit found that of the country’s 15 most populous cities, plus Seattle, Austin had the “highest per capita rate of fatal police shootings involving persons believed to be experiencing a mental health crisis.” In a notorious 2016 incident, then-APD officer Geoffrey Freeman shot and killed 17-year-old David Joseph, who was in crisis and naked at the time.  Read more about Video: ‘Traumatic, Unnecessary’ Arrest of Austin Woman Shows How Cops Can Worsen Mental Health Crises

City council on Wednesday eliminated Houston’s daytime juvenile curfew, but stopped short of ditching the ordinance altogether despite pleas from advocacy groups who say the restrictions fail to deter crime and can burden young people with criminal records.

The amended ordinance would keep the existing nighttime curfew in effect, but would lower potential fines from $500 to $50. Teens cited under the ordinance also would be diverted to a teen court through the municipal court system.

The nighttime curfew prohibits youngsters aged 10 to 16 from being on the streets without an adult between the hours of 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekdays, and midnight to 6 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Kids traveling to and from work or a school-, religious- or government-sponsored activity are exempted from the curfew. Read more about Houston eliminates daytime juvenile curfew, lowers fines for nighttime violations

Como era de esperarse, la sesión especial realizda el miércoles en el ayuntamiento de Austin, se llevó a cabo a casa llena debido a la expectativa que generaron dos propuestas que modificarían las normas sobre la indigencia.

La reunión tuvo el propósito de añadir algunas restricciones a la modificación de las ordenanzas aprobada en junio, cuando el concejo desechó la prohibición de sentarse, acostarse y acampar en lugares públicos.

El cambio de parecer se debe a las quejas y preocupación de cientos de residentes, quienes culparon a este cambio por el aumento de la presencia y visibilidad de los indigentes. Read more about Municipio de Austin considera nuevos cambios a ordenanzas sobre la indigencia

On Tuesday afternoon (Sept. 3), Austin Police Depart­ment Assistant Chief Troy Gay had the displeasure of being the guy who had to tell everyone in a room packed with citizens, community leaders, and members of City Council's Judicial Committee exactly what they didn't want to hear: "Marijuana is still illegal under both state and federal law."

The veteran cop plainly and courteously laid out the department's stance: "APD has not increased our enforcement efforts, but we continue to cite-and-release and/or arrest as deemed necessary." The discussion of an item first outlined two weeks ago by Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza and Council Member Greg Casar waded deeply into the muddy waters of discretionary enforcement for misdemeanor pot charges.

Since July 3, when Travis County Attorney David Escamilla and District Attorney Margaret Mooreannounced that they'd reject all possession charges until law enforcement agencies could use accredited testing to discern whether confiscated cannabis is illicit marijuana or newly legal hemp, APD has continued to cite offenders and – to some degree – make arrests. Casar takes issue with that practice. "It doesn't make any sense to me to arrest someone [if] they're not going to get prosecuted," he told the Chronicle last week, emphasizing that arrests can result in serious life complications – interrupted income, getting your vehicle impounded, and potentially losing your job.

Several citizen speakers at Tuesday's meeting brought up how these impacts are not spread equally among Austin's cannabis users. "When APD makes these arrests, who are they arresting? What does the data show?" asked Annette Price, statewide director for Grassroots Leadership's Texas Advocates for Justice. "The data shows that the majority of these arrests are still people of color." Read more about Council, Community Urge APD to Halt Marijuana Arrests

On Wednesday morning, Trump administration officials announced a final rule that will allow the government to detain migrant children indefinitely in family detention centers while they and their parents await resolution of their asylum cases. Currently, kids may generally be held in such facilities for no longer than 20 days. The final rule will not be published in the Federal Register until Friday, and it won’t take effect for two months. A legal challenge is likely. 

OK—so let’s take about five steps back. 

In the summer of 2014, a wave of Central American minors and families was arriving at our Southern border—a trend that continues through the present. At the time, the Obama administration had virtually no capacity to hold these families. The notorious Hutto family detention facility near Austin had been converted into an all-women lockup five years prior, leaving the feds with nothing but a tiny 96-bed center in Pennsylvania. So, to the dismay of his liberal base, Obama resurrected family detention, launching a short-lived center in New Mexico and two South Texas lockups that remain today: the 830-bed Karnes County Residential Center and the 2,400-bed South Texas Family Residential Center, in Dilley. 

Quickly, stories of abuse and psychological trauma began emanating from the facilities, as some families were held for months on end. Until, in the summer of 2015, a federal judge intervened.  Read more about The Consequence of Trump’s New Family Detention Rules

La Policía de Austin publicó recientemente su segundo reporte trimestral en conformidad con los requisitos de las resoluciones de "Ciudad de Libertad" el municipio.

Estas políticas tienen la finalidad de limitar el uso de perfiles raciales en la aplicación de la ley, el contacto con las agencias de inmigración, además de dar discreción a los oficiales para emitir citatorios y no arrestar por ofensas menores.

El reporte incluye cifras de los arrestos realizados por la corporación y su contacto con la población entre abril y junio. Según el informe, APD realizó 84 arrestos, 21 menos que el primer trimestre del año.

Doce o el 35% de los detenidos fue de origen hispano, y 14 o el 41% de raza negra.

Las cifras alarmaron a algunos activistas.

“No bajó el perfil racial, no bajó el hecho de que la comunidad afroamericana es arrestada cuatro veces más que otra raza de la población en Austin”, dijo Alicia Torres, representante de Grassroots Leadership.

El informe también menciona siete instancias en que el departamento contacto a ICE para indagar sobre los antecedentes de ciertos individuos.

“Esto lo que nos dice es que el perfil racial sigue siendo parte de la actividad diaria del departamento de policía de Austin”, agregó Torres. Read more about Activistas denuncian a APD por incumplimiento de políticas de "Ciudad de Libertad"

Texas marijuana users who are caught with under a quarter pound of cannabis are now less likely to have handcuffs slapped on their wrists. Leaders at the Texas Depart­ment of Public Safety have directed its officers to issue citations for misdemeanor pot charges instead of making arrests.

The directive to cite and release came via a July 10 internal DPS memo recently obtained by The Texas Tribune. The missive, addressed from Deputy Director Randall Prince to "All Commissioned Personnel," reiterated the department's commitment to marijuana prohibition in the wake of hemp legalization laws that have made weed cases difficult to prosecute. "Departmental personnel are expected to continue enforcing marijuana related offenses," the memo read. "However, effective immediately, personnel will cite and release for any misdemeanor amount of marijuana, as authorized by Article 14.06 of the Texas Code of Criminal Pro­ced­ure. A citation in these circumstances is only authorized when the suspect resides in the county where the offense occurred." Depending on that county prosecutor's current stance on cannabis, the suspect may still have to face charges in court. Read more about Don’t Book ’em, Danno: DPS Backs Off on Pot Busts

Some 64% of respondents who identified as Democrats voiced support for the proposal, compared to 31% of Republicans. Total support, including by independent and unaffiliated voters, clocked in at 48%, with 32% opposed, 11% expressing no opinion, and 8% saying they didn’t know. 

“It shows that progressive voters want to see bold ideas on immigration that roll back the mass criminalization and deportation that we’ve seen for the last 15 to 20 years,” Bob Libal, the executive director of the Austin-based criminal justice group Grassroots Leadership, told HuffPost. “Reforming the federal criminal justice system also has to include ending these mass prosecutions for simple immigration offenses.” Read more about Most Democrats Want Border-Crossings Decriminalized, Poll Says