Law Foundation Statement on Chauvin Verdict

George Floyd should be alive today. We know that his death was preventable. 

The jury’s decision to hold former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin accountable for Floyd’s murder will hopefully send a message to law enforcement everywhere that police violence is intolerable and inhumane. 

The movement to end police violence does not end today. The Law Foundation stands with Black Lives Matter in calling for federal legislation that would have prevented George Floyd’s death and protected others who have been either killed, hurt, or traumatized by police violence. 

As a social justice organization, we are committed to racial equity. As lawyers and advocates, we see how our clients and the communities we serve are impacted on a daily basis by systemic racism within U.S. institutions, including in policing. 

Our country needs federal legislation that re-imagines community safety and addresses the structural racism that is central to policing. We call on President Biden and federal, state and local legislators to work directly with people impacted by police violence and their families to enact real policies that hold police officers accountable, divest from racist policing practices, and invest in community-led anti-poverty programs and social safety net services. 

The status quo will no longer be accepted. As a country, we must face a reckoning of the past, acknowledge policing’s racist history, and dismantle the myth of white supremacy and anti-Blackness entrenched deep in our society. 

Since March 29, at least 64 people have died at the hands of law enforcement in the United States with Black and Latino people representing the majority of those killed. They join too many more Black and Brown community members disproportionately affected by police violence. 

We say their names. George Floyd. Daunte Wright. Adam Toledo. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery.Tony McDade. Rayshard Brooks. Daniel Prude. Atatiana Jefferson. Aura Rosser. Stephon Clark. Botham Jean. Philando Castile. Alton Sterling. Freddie Gray. Janisha Fonville. Eric Garner. Michelle Cusseaux. Akai Gurley. Gabriella Nevarez. Tamir Rice. Michael Brown Jr. Tanisha Anderson. Elijah McClain. Korryn Gaines. Sandra Bland. Walter Scott. John Crawford III. Rekia Boyd. Oscar Grant III. There are many more. 

They should still be alive today.

Community Stabilization Fund Established to Combat Displacement & Homelessness

Community Stabilization Fund Established to Combat Displacement & Homelessness

Everyone, no matter who they are, should have an opportunity to live and thrive in San Jose. That is why we stand in support of the Community Stabilization Fund that was announced today as part of the Development Agreement between Google and the City of San Jose.  

After Google announced that it would develop a campus in Silicon Valley, the Law Foundation joined the Station Area Advisory Group, comprised of 38 member organizations appointed by city council to provide input on the impact of the project on local communities, land use, development and transportation. Alongside community partners such as Silicon Valley Rising, Somos Mayfair, Latinos United for a New America, and Working Partnerships, we successfully advocated for protections for residents at risk of being displaced by the development and called for the creation of good, fair-wage jobs.  

The Community Stabilization Fund will ensure that as Google builds properties and hires new employees to live and work in San Jose, those most acutely at risk of displacement will benefit, specifically Latinx and AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) communities in East San Jose and Downtown San Jose. The Fund sets aside dollars to prevent displacement, as well as to support economic opportunity for all people in San Jose. We are especially proud that the Fund will be governed by community members, including those with lived experience from East San Jose and Downtown. This will ensure that race equity issues are central to how the Fund is managed. We hope that this Fund serves as a model for future development projects, and inspires companies to take a deeper look at their social responsibility programs to ensure that communities of color are able to live and thrive in Silicon Valley.

Demand Letter Calls for Improved COVID Protections for Incarcerated People

Santa Clara County Jail Conditions Inexcusable; Demand Letter Calls for Improved COVID Protections for Incarcerated People 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 17, 2021

CONTACT: communications@lawfoundation.org

SANTA CLARA – The Law Foundation of Silicon Valley today demanded that Santa Clara immediately improve COVID-19 procedures at its two county jails and provide adequate protections to people who are incarcerated.

A letter sent to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and the Sheriff’s Office outlines constitutional violations as well as the county’s failure to follow best practices recommended by the CDC in both the Elmwood Correctional Facility and the Santa Clara County Main Jail. 

“People in jail are highly vulnerable to contagious illnesses,” said Abre’ Conner, Directing Attorney of the Law Foundation’s Health Program. “The county should be working to prevent, manage and treat COVID-19 in its jails, yet Santa Clara has failed to provide even minimally adequate procedures to protect people in jails. The county must immediately take action to prevent needless suffering and death.”

The letter outlines alarming accounts of conditions in the jails. Incarcerated individuals are forced to use “a single cloth or disposable paper mask that is expected to last for months.” The jail provides inadequate hygiene and cleaning supplies, forcing people to live in unsanitary conditions. Social distancing is impossible in bunk beds and crammed and shared spaces. Passenger vans used to travel to and from court “are filled to capacity, leaving only inches between people.” Shackles are not disinfected between uses. Moreover, individuals with mental health disabilities continue to emphasize that their needs are unmet and the jails seem unequipped to ensure resources exist for individuals with mental health disabilities. 

The letter also reveals that many corrections officers have masks “hanging around their necks,” and only “half of eligible staff have received the vaccine” due to choice—not availability. 

“People who work in prisons play an essential role in reducing the risk of the spread of disease,” said Sol Kim, Patient’s Rights Advocate for the Law Foundation’s Health Program. “They are jeopardizing the safety of others by not taking all of the necessary precautions. These unsafe conditions disproportionately impact Black and Latinx people, who make up most of the jail’s population due to pervasive racial disparities in the criminal justice system.” 

The CDC recommends testing every three to seven days, yet incarcerated people in Santa Clara County say they are being tested every two weeks. After testing positive, they say they are “placed in isolation without significant medical attention” and the quarantine areas are “filthy.” 

"As a longtime advocate for prisoners human rights in Santa Clara County jails, it's infuriating to know that these types of atrocities are still happening, especially during a pandemic,” said Jose Valle III, Silicon Valley De-Bug organizer. “I hope that the jail administration will be moved to make radical and lasting change so that people will never be housed in such subhuman conditions again."

The letter argues the conditions violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to be free from cruel and unusual punishment and state-inflicted harm. 

At least 584 people in the county jails have contracted COVID-19, with 46 percent of those infections in January of this year. Despite these high infection rates, numerous complaints, and a nine-day hunger strike protesting the jail’s conditions earlier this year, the incarcerated people remain in unsafe and unsanitary environments.

The letter requests a number of remedies including medical-grade masks provided daily, vaccines for incarcerated people living in congregate spaces and staff, enforced social distancing or a reduction in jail population, increased testing, and adequate soap, sanitizer, and cleaning materials.

Click here to read the letter.