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The city of Newport Beach filed an amicus brief in support of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department late last week, while Costa Mesa issued its own brief with the same intent.
The briefs come in response to a ruling in a lawsuit by Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter Wilson, ordering that the jail population be reduced in response to the coronavirus. The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in April.
Wilson ruled Dec. 11 that Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes had shown “deliberate indifference” to the substantial risk that the coronavirus can pose to medically vulnerable people in custody, which in turn violates their constitutional rights.
Securing a job and stable housing as an ex-convict was no easy feat even before the pandemic.
Now, the task is all the more daunting as employment opportunities dwindle and support services that were once provided are suspended.
“A lot of the jobs that people get when they are trying to reenter society are not there, so it’s more difficult for these people to get back on their feet,” said Deputy Public Defender Bobby Waltman. “And if they can’t get back on their feet, they’re back in that cycle of desperation that leads to crime.”
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But a new nonprofit aims to help solve this dilemma by connecting youth and adults who have been incarcerated with the treatment, training and employment opportunities they need to reintegrate into society.
State Senator Promotes Bill to Create Fentanyl Task Force in Southern California
Sen. Pat Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) has introduced a measure in the California Legislature to create a task force in Southern California to combat the region’s growing problem with the deadly opioid fentanyl.
Senate Bill 75 (SB 75), a bipartisan measure, would form a task force under the auspices of the California attorney general to coordinate law enforcement efforts and assist local agencies in their work to reduce reduce fentanyl-related deaths.
“As a former social worker who once worked in communities ravaged by drugs, California must do more to save people from fentanyl-related tragedies,” Bates said in a Dec. 21 press release. “A task force would help maximize existing resources and improve communication among various agencies.”
As more inmates are released from Orange County jails, they face reentering a community besieged by a deadly virus and an economic crisis.
Securing a job and stable housing as an ex-convict was no easy feat even prior to the pandemic.
Now, the task is all the more daunting as employment opportunities dwindle and support services that were once provided are suspended.
“A lot of the jobs that people get when they are trying to reenter society are not there, so it’s more difficult for these people to get back on their feet,” said Deputy Public Defender Bobby Waltman. “And if they can’t get back on their feet, they’re back in that cycle of desperation that leads to crime.”