A zusa B eacon
Monday Edition of the
Monrovia Weekly ArcAdiA Weekly Temple Tribune MONDAY, OCTOBER 29 - NOVEMBER 4, 2012 VOLUME XVII, NO. XXXXIV CITY
Immigrants and Citizens Sue L.A. County for Illegal Detentions
-Photo by Terry Miller
1. Detaining people beyond their release date solely on the immigration hold. 2. Refusing to allow pretrial detainees to post bail to secure their release from jail if they have an ICE hold. Some 2,100 inmates each day (or 14 percent of the daily jail population) have ICE holds lodged against them in the L.A. County Jails. These inmates spend on average nearly three weeks longer in L.A. County Jails than inmates without immigration holds, despite being, on average, better candidates for pretrial release or other diversion programs. In 2011 alone, LASD over-detained nearly 20,000 people without legal authority due to immigration holds when they otherwise would have been released from custody. While immigration holds are requests from ICE that LASD voluntarily hold them beyond their release date to wait for ICE to pick them up, LASD treats them as mandatory orders and detains anyone subject to an ICE hold for days after their release date. These detentions violate the U.S. Constitution and state law. “Our Constitution guarantees that law enforcement cannot jail residents without
probable cause to believe they’ve broken the law,” said Jennie Pasquarella, ACLU/SC staff attorney. “But LASD holds thousands of people each year beyond their release dates, simply because ICE says they would like to investigate whether they may be removable. In this country, the government can’t lock someone in jail at the start of the investigation, it can only do so if investigates and finds good cause to do so.” Until now, LASD has refused to allow detainees with an ICE hold to post bail, even when bail had been set by a court. In response to a prefiling demand letter sent by plaintiffs’ attorneys, LASD recognized that individuals subject to ICE holds should be allowed to post bail, have sent bulletins to watch commanders clarifying this rule, and are working on revising policies and data systems to prevent unlawful detentions in the future. “We are very pleased LASD has agreed to alter this practice in response to our demand letter, but it never should have been happening in the first place,” said Kate Desormeau, staff attorney at the Immigrants’ Rights Proj-
Six people have brought a landmark class-action lawsuit against Sheriff Baca and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) on grounds they are or were illegally detained in the jails and stations of Los Angeles County Jail for days, weeks, or months after they were entitled to be released because they are the subject of “immigration holds.” Immigration holds, sometimes called
“immigration detainers,” are notices issued by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requesting that an individual in local custody be held pending further action. Unlike warrants, they are issued without any judicial determination of probable cause, and they are frequently issued in error. The lawsuit addresses two related practices of the Sheriff’s Department:
Arcadia Police Investigate Death of Cyclist
Local Mt Sierra College Celebrations VP Says State is Planned for Overcharging Students The California agency for students remaining educaHalloween charged with protecting stu- tion. When a student enrolls dents enrolled in for-profit in a college they are required and Dia de schools and colleges is over- to pay a STRF (Student Tustudents state-man- ition Recovery Fund) fee for los Muertos charging dated fees by up to 2 ½ times, all four years tuition. Howaccording to an email sent ever, when a student takes
The Arcadia Police Department Major Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) was called to assist Patrol with an automobile vs. bicyclist collision, occurring Saturday evening (October 20, 2012) shortly before 10:00 p.m. at Santa Anita Avenue and Duarte Road. Contrary to the original news release, the preliminary investigation has found the bicyclist was Please see page 3
BY SUSAN MOTANDER
In Monrovia, the city is sponsoring its annual “Haunted Happenings” event on Wednesday, October 31 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., at Library Park , on 321 South Myrtle Avenue . The afternoon will be filled with ghoulish fun for the entire family. There will be Please see page 7
out by Mt. Sierra College Vice President, John Davis on Thursday. The agency BPPE (Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education) mandated fees for students attending for-profit schools to be paid to the state. The intended purpose is to protect students by having a fund available in the event a school was to go out of business. The fund would be drawn upon to pay
Please see page 5
the summer off and enrolls in the fall term for the second year they are required to again pay the STRF fee for the remaining three years of tuition. If the student takes the summer off the follow year they pay STRF fee for the remaining two years, etc. Doing the math, students who take summers off, end up paying STRF fees for 10 Please see page 4
FREE
Temple Station Major Crimes Arrests 23 Men for Soliciting Prostitutes During a Major Crimes sting operation Thursday evening Oct. 25, LASD Temple Station detectives arrested a total of 23 men at The Sunkist Motel in South El Monte, according to Lt. Edward Godfrey of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Dept., Temple Station. During the operation two men were also arrested
on narcotics charges in addition to the 647B violation and one was arrested on an additional parole violation in addition to 647B. Lt. Godfrey told Beacon Media that the parolee was released just one week ago after serving time for sex crimes. Godfrey said the operation was considered a success.
Hate Crimes Increase 15%, Year’s Total Remains Second Lowest in 22 Years The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations (LACCHR) today released its annual examination of hate crimes reported throughout Los Angeles County. The findings for 2011 show that after falling dramatically three years in a row, the number of hate crimes rose from 427 to 489, a 15% increase over the previous year. All major categories of
hate crimes increased: both race/ethnicity/national origin crimes and sexual orientation crimes rose 13%, and religion-motivated crimes grew by 24%. Hate crimes reflecting white supremacist ideology rose from being 18 to 21% of all hate crimes. However, the annual total is still the second lowest recorded during the past 22 years. Please see page 9
Vanessa Natalie Manjarrez Crowned 95th Rose Queen® for 2013
Vanessa Natalie Manjarrez recieves her crown from President Sally Bixby. -Photo by Terry Miller
The Pasadena Tournament of Roses® 2013 President, Sally Bixby, crowned the 95th Rose Queen®, Van-
essa Manjarrez, today in an official Coronation ceremony Please see page 8