Politics

California judges could order help for homeless Californians under Newsom’s new plan

Published

3 years ago

March 8, 2022

California judges could order help for homeless Californians under Newsom’s new plan

As California cities wrestle to handle a homelessness and psychological well being disaster on their streets, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration on Thursday unveiled a proposal to push extra individuals with extreme psychiatric issues and dependancy points into court-ordered care that features treatment and housing.

The proposal, which Newsom is looking the Neighborhood Help, Restoration and Empowerment Court docket, is the state’s newest effort to handle one among California’s biggest struggles, and a recognition that one thing extra sturdy is required to resolve the issue. Newsom allotted $12 billion for homelessness within the state funds final 12 months and proposed a further $2 billion in his January monetary blueprint.

However implementing a court-ordered response to psychological sickness and substance abuse issues would speed up the state’s multipronged technique to assist 1000’s of individuals get much-needed companies, whereas acknowledging that the present system isn’t working because it ought to.

“Relatively than reforming within the margins a system that’s foundationally and basically damaged, we’re taking a brand new method,” Newsom mentioned throughout a Thursday information convention. “We’re providing a brand new technique and new partnerships. However we’re providing it in a means that we haven’t prior to now, and that’s with assets.”

Newsom mentioned the brand new initiative would include “unprecedented investments” that might whole within the “billions and billions of {dollars}” over a number of years to arrange the infrastructure and set up the workforce wanted to perform the plan. He mentioned CARE Court docket goals to handle the urgency and magnitude of the homelessness disaster, and comprises accountability provisions to make sure individuals observe this system.

“That is about accountability, however it’s about compassion, and it’s about recognizing the human situation,” he mentioned.

Sarah Dusseault, co-chair of the Blue Ribbon Fee on Homelessness in Los Angeles County, welcomed the announcement. Dusseault has labored in native authorities for years on options to homelessness, impressed by her expertise advocating on behalf of her brother and navigating a system that has made it troublesome for him to obtain look after his schizophrenia.

“I’m extremely enthusiastic about elevated entry to care,” Dusseault mentioned. “Folks get misplaced within the present system and we have now to create accountability measures so that individuals don’t get misplaced.”

All of California’s 58 counties must take part in this system via their civil courts, and native governments might face sanctions in the event that they don’t adjust to its necessities. An individual wouldn’t must expertise homelessness to take part in CARE Court docket, and households, clinicians, counties, behavioral well being suppliers and first responders might all ask judges to implement a plan. To find out if somebody qualifies for a CARE plan, a decide must order a medical evaluation.

Members might embody those that had been simply arrested and launched, or are exiting a short-term involuntary hospital maintain. A plan might be ordered to final for 12 months, with the potential for a 12-month extension. If unsuccessful, a participant might as an alternative be hospitalized or ordered right into a conservatorship. Felony circumstances that had been paused whereas individuals entered CARE Court docket might then resume if the plan didn’t work.

Conservatorships, that are normally reserved for these with severe psychological diseases, hand authorized decision-making energy to another person. The follow is extremely controversial, and a few critics argue that it unfairly strips individuals of their rights, whereas proponents declare it’s usually the best choice for these experiencing disaster. The Newsom administration mentioned CARE Court docket as an alternative would emphasize “individualized interventions” via a “client-centered method,” and individuals would have entry to a public defender and a care group all through the method.

On a Thursday name with reporters, administration officers mentioned the brand new program goals to save lots of lives and stop incarceration and homelessness among the many state’s most weak residents via a modernized method that doesn’t default to conservatorship.

“CARE Court docket is actually not a substitute for conservatorship,” mentioned Jason Elliott, Newsom’s prime advisor on housing, including that it’s a “new instrument.”

Thursday’s announcement deviates from what Newsom steered throughout his January funds proposal when he hinted at “leaning into conservatorships” this 12 months, although he supplied few particulars on the time on what that might embody.

Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s well being and human companies secretary, mentioned the plan would assist alleviate “one of the vital heartbreaking, heart-wrenching and but curable challenges that we face in our communities and on our streets.”

“For a neighborhood, a inhabitants of people who lives within the shadows, lives usually with out voice, at present is about lifting them up and prioritizing their wants,” Ghaly mentioned.

Jessica Cruz, govt director of the California chapter of the Nationwide Alliance on Psychological Sickness, mentioned the proposal is one thing for which households have advocated for years.

“This is a chance for households who’ve been in a lot ache and struggling for thus a few years, this provides us at the very least a chance to get the remedy our family members want,” Cruz mentioned. “This is a chance to save lots of lives and heal households.”

Cruz additionally mentioned that the CARE Court docket framework not solely presents an alternative choice to conservatorship, however would additionally give new hope to those that haven’t had success with prior remedy.

“It’s a special highway for individuals, a special door that individuals can actually open that has by no means been unlocked earlier than,” Cruz mentioned.

Ghaly mentioned the brand new program will concentrate on medical companies for individuals experiencing psychotic issues comparable to schizophrenia, together with remedy plans for substance abuse issues. One other essential factor of the plan is offering housing companies, Ghaly mentioned.

In response to the announcement, nonetheless, the California State Assn. of Counties in an announcement raised considerations with the proposal, together with that it comprises sanctions.

“Constructing off of previous collaborative successes between the state, counties and cities is essential. Counties are all in to do our half to resolve homelessness and rebuild behavioral well being infrastructure. Sanctions aren’t the best way to do it,” Graham Knaus, the affiliation’s govt director, mentioned within the assertion.

The affiliation additionally warned that behavioral well being infrastructure has suffered from a long time of inadequate funding. Although CARE Court docket would assist a “slender inhabitants,” the affiliation wrote, extra housing and systemic change is required, which suggests this system “can have restricted success.”

Although the plan up to now is only a coverage framework, the administration mentioned it’s working with the Legislature on a invoice that might codify the proposal. Newsom additionally mentioned CARE Court docket might be included within the funds, which might be the quickest approach to implement it. The deadline to cross laws is Aug. 31, however the Legislature approves the funds annually in June.

Elliott mentioned it’s crucial that lawmakers work shortly to cross laws so the plan can turn out to be legislation.

“We don’t have any time to waste right here,” Elliott mentioned.

Politics

How much does the new Congress look like your state?

Published

21 minutes ago

January 6, 2025

Press Room

How much does the new Congress look like your state?

When the new Congress convenes Friday, there will be fewer people of color in the delegation than in recent years.

The 119th Congress will have 136 people of color, four fewer than the previous U.S. House and Senate, which was the most ethnically and racially diverse in history. However, this year’s delegation consists of several firsts, including the first time an openly transgender woman has served in Congress.

When it comes to parity between congressional representatives and the populations they serve, Illinois and Ohio are the only states with the same percentage of people of color in both. People of color make up 42% of Illinois’ population and representation; Ohio is 24%.

Several other states are close to parity. New Mexico’s population is 64% nonwhite and 36% white. In the House and Senate, two out of five representatives are white, while 40% are nonwhite. Arizona’s representation is 55% white compared with 52% in its population.

Sixty-seven percent of California’s population and 52% of its representatives are people of color. The state’s delegation includes the highest number of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders with 10 members.

Less than a third of the 119th Congress are women. In the new Congress, six states have no female House or Senate members. Seven states have higher female representation in Congress than in their population.

U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) made history in November by becoming the first transgender member of Congress, four years after she became the first openly transgender state senator in the United States. Her victory represents a significant step forward for LGBTQ+ representation in government.

“My service is a testament to the fair-mindedness of Delawareans who this November demonstrated what I have seen throughout my life: that they judge candidates based on their ideas, not their identities,” McBride said. “I know how much this news would have meant to me as a young person growing up, worried that the heart of this country was simply not big enough to love someone like me, to have seen an out trans person get elected to federal office.”

North Dakota also had a milestone with Republican Julie Fedorchak becoming the first woman to represent the state in the U.S. House of Representatives. Fedorchak is also the first freshman in 14 years to be seated on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

“What’s most important to me is how I use this,” Fedorchak told The Times. “I’m really excited to join the Republican women, a majority of them have great backgrounds and are really serious about good policy.”

Mississippi is the only state yet to send a woman to the House.

The elections of Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) mark the first time two Black women have served on the U.S. Senate simultaneously.

U.S. Rep. Becca Balint speaking at a microphone.

In 2023, the 118th Congress was the most ethnically and racially diverse U.S. House and Senate in history. U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.) was the first member of Generation Z to walk the congressional corridors. Trailblazers like Democrats U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, Vermont’s first woman and out LGBTQ+ congressperson, and U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, Pennsylvania’s first Black woman in Congress, shattered long-standing glass ceilings.

Area chart shows the representation of people of color in the U.S. House and Senate over the years. The ethnic groups in the graphic include Asian American and Pacific Islander, Latino, Black, American Indian and Alaska Native, two or more races and other. The graphic shows that the new 119th delegation's nonwhite representatives are 45.7% Black, 31.8% Latino, 14% Asian American and Pacific Islander, 1.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 3.1% two or more races and 3.9% other.

New Jersey is the only state with an all-minority Senate delegation in the country.

Newly elected Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) is the first Korean American in the Senate. Kim said that while he is proud to break barriers, he looks forward to the day when his role in Congress is no longer seen as groundbreaking or pioneering, but commonplace. The night he was sworn into Congress, Kim called his mother who was crying tears of joy.

“It was really powerful to see this moment, not just for my family but for what it means to Korean Americans, Asian Americans, and what it means to immigrant families,” Kim said. “Hopefully they can see a continuation of this American dream that has been a shared pursuit for so many different ethnic groups and communities.”

Politics

Jimmy Carter’s Funeral: See the Full Schedule of Events

Published

7 hours ago

January 5, 2025

Press Room

Jimmy Carter’s Funeral: See the Full Schedule of Events

Over the next six days, various dignitaries, supporters and ordinary citizens will celebrate Jimmy Carter at several funeral events across the country that honor his life and career in public service, from his boyhood farm in rural Georgia to Washington and back.

The gestures of remembrance have all been carefully selected to reflect the 39th president’s rural roots in the small town of Plains, Ga., his political career in Georgia and Washington, and his legacy of global advocacy in Atlanta.

Here is the full schedule of events.

Saturday, Jan. 4

At 10:15 a.m., the Carter family will arrive at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga. There, former and current members of the Secret Service detail that protected Carter will escort his body to a hearse, which will then leave for Plains, the former president’s hometown.

The motorcade is expected to pass through Plains, pausing for a moment at his childhood farm. During that stop, the National Park Service will toll the farm bell 39 times, marking Carter’s service as the 39th president.

Once the motorcade leaves Plains, it will head for Atlanta, where it is scheduled to arrive at 3 p.m. Once there, the motorcade will pause for a moment of silence at the Georgia State Capitol, where Carter once served as governor.

A private service will then be held at the Carter Center in Atlanta, where the former president established his presidential library and headquarters for an organization dedicated to championing democracy, fighting diseases and other global causes.

Beginning at 7 p.m., the public will be able to pay their respects at the Carter Center through early Tuesday.

Tuesday, Jan. 7

Public visitation will end at 6 a.m.

At 9:30 a.m., there will be a ceremony marking Carter’s final departure from the Carter Center. His family will then travel with his body to Washington.

They will first fly to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, arriving at 12:45 p.m. A motorcade will then take them to the U.S. Navy Memorial, in recognition of Carter’s military service.

At 2 p.m., Carter’s body will be transferred to a horse-drawn military wagon, as part of a procession to the U.S. Capitol in Washington. At the Capitol, Carter will lie in state, with a 3 p.m. service scheduled for lawmakers to pay their respects.

The public will be able to visit until midnight, and then again on Wednesday through early Thursday.

Thursday, Jan. 9

Carter will leave the Capitol at 9 a.m., with a ceremony. The procession will head to Washington National Cathedral, where a national funeral service will take place at 10 a.m.

The funeral is expected to end by 11:15 a.m., at which point the family will accompany the coffin back to Joint Base Andrews to fly to Georgia. Once back in Georgia, a motorcade will drive to Plains.

Once the motorcade arrives at Maranatha Baptist Church, where Carter taught Sunday school for many years, a private funeral service will take place at 3:45 p.m.

An hour later, the motorcade is expected to travel to the Carter home, where his wife, Rosalynn, is buried. There, the Navy will conduct a ceremonial flyover, another tribute to Carter’s service both as a lieutenant and commander in chief.

Carter will finally be buried alongside his wife. A private interment ceremony, scheduled for 5:20 p.m., will conclude the services.

Politics

Musk renews harsh rebuke of Dems who rejected deporting sex offenders: Vote out ‘every one’

Published

8 hours ago

January 5, 2025

Press Room

Musk renews harsh rebuke of Dems who rejected deporting sex offenders: Vote out ‘every one’

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Tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk renewed criticism of the more than 150 House Democrats who voted against deporting illegal immigrants convicted of sex offenses, demanding each of the lawmakers be voted out of office.

“There is no excuse. Please post the list of people who opposed this law and want to keep illegals who are convicted sex offenders in America,” Musk posted to his X account on Saturday referencing a September House vote.

“They all need to be voted out of office. Every one of them.”

The Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act passed the House in September, after all 215 present Republicans voted in favor of the bill, and were joined by 51 Democratic colleagues. A total of 158 Democrats, however, voted against the bill.

158 DEMS VOTE AGAINST BILL TO DEPORT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO COMMIT SEX CRIMES

President-elect Trump and Elon Musk watch the launch of a test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket on Nov. 19, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

The Democrats who voted against the bill came under scrutiny in September, and are facing renewed criticism on social media this month as commenters resurrect the vote ahead of President-elect Trump taking office this month.

“The bill targeted rapists, pedophiles, domestic abusers, and stalkers, ensuring they couldn’t stay in the U.S. Opponents claimed it ‘demonized immigrants,’ but how does protecting convicted predators help anyone – especially their victims?” X show host Mario Nawfal posted to his account Saturday, sparking Musk to weigh in.

“Deporting violent offenders isn’t ‘fearmongering’ – it’s basic public safety. Why would anyone vote to keep criminals who prey on women and children?” Nawfal added.

EX-BORDER CHIEF WARNS OF ‘SIGNIFICANT THREAT’ AS MIGRANT NUMBERS SKYROCKET: ‘ENTIRE SECTORS’ MISSING AGENTS

The legislation would deport illegal immigrants convicted of sex crimes, and would also deem illegal immigrants who admit to domestic violence or sex-related charges – or are convicted of them – to be inadmissible in the U.S., Fox Digital previously reported. The legislation is currently with the Senate, and was referred to the Judiciary Committee.

U.S. Representatives of the 119th Congress

Representatives of the 119th Congress are sworn in during the first day of session in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 3, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Notable Democrats who voted against the legislation included Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., former California Rep. Adam Schiff, who now serves in the Senate, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Musk’s call for the Democrats to be voted out of Congress over the vote comes after he vowed in December to fund moderate Democratic politicians in deep blue districts, “so that the country can get rid of those who don’t represent them.”

CLYBURN BRUSHES OFF MUSK’S PLAN TO FUND MODERATES IN DEMOCRATIC DISTRICTS

President-elect Trump greets Elon Musk as he arrives to attend a SpaceX Starship launch on Nov. 19, 2024, in Brownsville, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Musk is also slated to serve alongside Vivek Ramaswamy to lead an upcoming presidential advisory committee, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which will work to cut excessive government spending and slash the size of the government under Trump’s second administration.

According to the office of the House clerk, the 158 Democrats who voted against the legislation are:

Alma Adams, North Carolina
Pete Aguilar, California
Gabe Amo, Rhode Island
Jake Auchincloss, Massachusetts
Becca Balint, Vermont
Nanette Barragán, California
Joyce Beatty, Ohio
Ami Bera, California
Donald Beyer, Virginia
Sanford D. Bishop Jr., Georgia
Earl Blumenauer, Oregon
Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon
Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware
Jamaal Bowman, New York
Shontel Brown, Ohio
Julia Brownley, California
Cori Bush, Missouri
Salud Carbajal, California
Tony Cárdenas, California
André Carson, Indiana
Troy Carter, Louisiana
Greg Casar, Texas
Ed Case, Hawaii
Sean Casten, Illinois
Kathy Castor, Florida
Joaquin Castro, Texas
Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Florida
Judy Chu, California
Katherine Clark, Massachusetts
Yvette Clarke, New York
Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri
James Clyburn, South Carolina
Steve Cohen, Tennessee
Gerald Connolly, Virginia
Luis Correa, California
Jim Costa, California
Jasmine Crockett, Texas
Jason Crow, Colorado
Danny Davis, Illinois
Madeleine Dean, Pennsylvania
Diana DeGette, Colorado
Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut
Suzan DelBene, Washington
Mark DeSaulnier, California
Debbie Dingell, Michigan
Lloyd Doggett, Texas
Veronica Escobar, Texas
Anna Eshoo, California
Adriano Espaillat, New York
Lizzie Fletcher, Texas
Bill Foster, Illinois
Valerie Foushee, North Carolina
Lois Frankel, Florida
Maxwell Frost, Florida
John Garamendi, California
Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, Illinois
Robert Garcia, California
Sylvia Garcia, Texas
Dan Goldman, New York
Jimmy Gomez, California
Al Green, Texas
James Himes, Connecticut
Steny Hoyer, Maryland
Valerie Hoyle, Oregon
Jared Huffman, California
Glenn Ivey, Maryland
Jonathan Jackson, Illinois
Sara Jacobs, California
Pramila Jayapal, Washington
Hakeem Jeffries, New York
Henry “Hank” Johnson, Georgia
Sydney Kamlager-Dove, California
Bill Keating, Massachusetts
Robin Kelly, Illinois
Ro Khanna, California
Dan Kildee, Michigan
Derek Kilmer, Washington
Andy Kim, New Jersey
Raja Krishnamoorthi, Illinois
Ann Kuster, New Hampshire
Greg Landsman, Ohio
Rick Larsen, Washington
John Larson, Connecticut
Barbara Lee, California
Summer Lee, Pennsylvania
Teresa Leger Fernandez, New Mexico
Ted Lieu, California
Zoe Lofgren, California
Doris Matsui, California
Lucy McBath, Georgia
Jennifer McClellan, Virginia
Betty McCollum, Minnesota
Morgan McGarvey, Kentucky
James McGovern, Massachusetts
Gregory Meeks, New York
Rob Menendez, New Jersey
Grace Meng, New York
Kweisi Mfume, Maryland
Gwen Moore, Wisconsin
Joseph Morelle, New York
Seth Moulton, Massachusetts
Kevin Mullin, California
Jerrold Nadler, New York
Grace Napolitano, California
Richard Neal, Massachusetts
Joe Neguse, Colorado
Donald Norcross, New Jersey
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York
Ilhan Omar, Minnesota
Frank Pallone, New Jersey
Nancy Pelosi, California
Scott Peters, California
Brittany Pettersen, Colorado
Dean Phillips, Minnesota
Chellie Pingree, Maine
Mark Pocan, Wisconsin
Katie Porter, California
Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts
Mike Quigley, Illinois
Delia Ramirez, Illinois
Jamie Raskin, Maryland
Deborah Ross, North Carolina
Raul Ruiz, California
C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, Maryland
Linda Sánchez, California
John Sarbanes, Maryland
Mary Scanlon, Pennsylvania
Janice Schakowsky, Illinois
Adam Schiff, California
Bradley Schneider, Illinois
Robert “Bobby” Scott, Virginia
David Scott, Georgia
Terri Sewell, Alabama
Brad Sherman, California
Darren Soto, Florida
Melanie Stansbury, New Mexico
Haley Stevens, Michigan
Marilyn Strickland, Washington
Mark Takano, California
Shri Thanedar, Michigan
Mike Thompson, California
Bennie Thompson, Mississippi
Rashida Tlaib, Michigan
Jill Tokuda, Hawaii
Paul Tonko, New York
Norma Torres, California
Ritchie Torres, New York
Lori Trahan, Massachusetts
David Trone, Maryland
Lauren Underwood, Illinois
Juan Vargas, California
Marc Veasey, Texas
Nydia Velázquez, New York
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida
Maxine Waters, California
Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey
Nikema Williams, Georgia
Frederica Wilson, Florida

The Democrats who voted against the legislation came under fierce scrutiny in September from conservatives.

“If you vote against it, you’re sexist against women,” South Carolina Republican Nancy Mace, who introduced the legislation, said in September to Fox Digital.

Migrants attempt to cross into the U.S. from Mexico at the border Dec. 17, 2023 in Jacumba Hot Springs, California. (Nick Ut/Getty Images)

ELON MUSK AGREES WITH RON PAUL’S CALL TO ‘ELIMINATE FOREIGN AID’

“I mean, truly, because we’re talking about illegals who are here who are committing domestic violence, rape and murder on women and children – they’ve gotta go. They shouldn’t be allowed into our country.”

“158 Democrats just voted AGAINST deporting migrants for s*x offenses. This is a slap in the face to every victim and their family members. Democrats hate you and your children,” popular conservative X account Libs of TikTok posted at the time.

Democrats who voted against the bill characterized it as xenophobic and an example of “fearmongering” against immigrants.

“Here we are again, debating another partisan bill that fear mongers about immigrants, instead of working together to fix the immigration system,” Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said during debate on the bill.

“I probably shouldn’t be too surprised. Scapegoating immigrants and attempting to weaponize the crime of domestic violence is appearing to be a time-honored tradition for Republicans.”

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.