I urge you to exercise your executive power to release Sundiata Acoli by commuting his sentence to time served. Mr. Acoli (formerly Clark Squire) is 84 years old and has been incarcerated nearly 48 years. He was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for the 1973 killing of State Trooper Werner Foerster. He has taken responsibility and expressed remorse. For the past 27 years Sundiata has had a completely clean disciplinary record and is a strong candidate for commutation.
Read More and Sign the Petition
Abolition May is a Turtle Island (aka North America)-wide coalition organized around action during May 2021 to demand the abolition of pigs (aka police) from campuses and from Earth. Days of action include May 3 - a day of refusal, and regional and local days of action, culminating on May 25 in a commemoration of the anniversary of George Floyd's death. UCSD Day of Action on May 19!
Our houseless neighbor, Jesse, was brutalized by police officers on May 12 for allegedly urinating in public near our UCSD campus. Since then students from UCSD have come together to fight for Jesse because we all know and love him as a member of our community. Jesse has suffered injuries to the face and eye, and has since told me that he did not get the chance to urinate before the police arrived. Houselessness is not a crime and being able to use the restroom is a human right. I call on UC San Diego and Mayor Todd Gloria to take action to actually provide long term solutions to our houseless crisis and to condemn the use of force by these officers.
Read More and Sign the Petition (change.org)
We are raising funds for an emergency hotel stay and legal fees for the Black houseless man beaten by SDPD for allegedly urinating in public in La Jolla.
Read More and Donate (gofundme.com)
UCSB3COLA (twitter link) Info Sheets on proposed changes to UCPD:
Compilation of UCPD Violence and Surveillance (twitter link) "happy national day of refusal @ucsd_ftp love that my employer has it’s own army" from Katrina Vahitova (twitter link)
The UC Office of the President is proposing changes to its Police Policies and Administrative Procedures that strengthen its commitment to military policing. The changes, described in an article by Michael Meranze, include formation of a UC SWAT force, implementation of pain compliance techniques and wide-ranging exceptions to wearing and activating body cameras.
Read Michael Meranze's article UCOP Doubles Down on Militarized Policing
Proposed Changes to UC's Police Policies and Administrative Procedures
The Coalition for Police Accountability and Transparency is advocating for a law to be passed called PrOTECT (Preventing Overpolicing through Equitable Community Treatment). PrOTECT seeks to ban the use of consent searches and limit discretionary stops by police.
PrOTECT will:
• Require officers to have probable cause to stop or detain anyone (this includes “Fourth Waivers” - people on probation or parole who have waived some of their Fourth Amendment rights);
• Require probable cause for searches;
• Prohibit officers from questioning people about any offenses beyond the offense for which they were stopped unless the officers have probable cause; and
• Hold officers accountable if they violate the ordinance.
Greek Universities have been off-limits to the Greek military and police forces since 1974, following the military dictatorship's murderous armed attack on the Athens Polytechnic University Uprising in November of the previous year and its subsequent implosion. The current Mitsotakis right-wing government is aiming to re-introduce special police forces on to university campuses, a plan that is broadly opposed by students, staff, instructors and administrators. The Initiative of Academics: NO POLICE ON CAMPUS is distributing a petition opposing the reintroduction of pigs to universities, signed by over 1000 Greek academics, and is requesting that academics from around the world sign the petition.
Read the petition and instructions for adding your signature
Los Angeles County operations the largest jail system in the United States, which incarcerates more people than any other nation on Earth. This talk, part of UCSD Ethnics Studies Department's 30th Anniversary celebration, provides an introduction tot the Million Dollar Hoods (MDH) project, method, and impact. Led by Professor Kelly Lytle Hernandez, MDH is a university-based, community-driven research project that maps the fiscal and human cost of mass incarceration in Los Angeles.
Wednesday, January 27, 2021 || 300-500PM PST
Critical Gender Studies, in collaboration with the Digital Gym, is excited to kick off winter quarter with another "Materializing Abolition: Queer and Feminist Strategies" event! On January 21 at 6 pm we will be joined by Prof. Eric Stanley and Krys Shelley, both active in queer liberation and anti-prison struggles. This month's conversation centers on "Prison as Gendering Technology; Queer as Abolitionist Tactic." We will explore ways in which systems of policing and incarceration are produced by, and forcibly produce, heteronormative gender binaries, and how queer activism sheds light on how we can mobilize a politics of care. We look forward to seeing you there!
Thursday, January 21 at 600PM PST
