Vol. 49 No. 35
December 20, 2018 - December 26, 2018
This publication is a Certified DBE/ SBE / MBE in the State of California CUCP #43264 Metro File #7074 & State of Texas File #802505971 Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them and these will continue till they have resisted either with words or blows or words or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they suppress. —Fredrick Douglass (1849)
Editor in Chief’s Corner Email: sbamericannews@gmail.com Clifton Harris Publisher of The San Bernardino AMERICAN News
Former San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy reaches plea deal in jail sex case Richard K. De Atley PUBLISHED: December 17, 2018 at 11:45 am | UPDATED: December 17, 2018 at 3:35 pm Crime + Public Safety, News
Marie H. Reed Learning Center, an example of expanded educational resources and community partnership in the District of Columbia.
How Zip Codes Relate to Achievement Gaps By: Akil Wilson
There’s no question that education quality has an extraordinary impact on the future lives of students. As a parent of a new middle school student, I can personally attest to the importance of dedicated teachers, early childhood education and a focused, personalized approach to education. In numerous studies it has been shown that the quality of education, especially within the country’s public school system, varies widely by location. There are several factors that contribute to success in adulthood. However, routinely we find that early childhood education and the empowerment of excellent teachers plays a pivotal role. Students from economicallydisadvantaged areas of inner-city school districts have a plethora of obstacles to overcome, including but not limited to: lack of economic mobility, reduced health care options, and exposure to crime. Where schools should provide some relief from these challenges, they often serve as a grim reminder of how difficult it can be to escape difficult circumstances.
Harvard University Economist Raj Chetti has researched this topic extensively, compiling data from millions of Americans, he found that education quality relates to economic and social mobility. According to Mr. Chetti’s research, on average, “only about 7.5% of children from the bottom 1/5th of incomes will reach the top 1/5th of incomes nationwide. However, those odds tend to rise to 14-15% in rural areas and places with higher social capital. They sometimes decrease to below 5% in impoverished or socioeconomically-disadvantaged places.” Children in lower income brackets disproportionately tend to be the recipients of sub-par educational resources. As Mr. Chetti points out on NPR’s ‘Hidden Brain’ Podcast, larger class sizes and less experienced teachers are all indicators that students are much less likely to obtain the cognitive and social skills necessary to advance themselves and their families. The fact that these lower-performing public schools tend to be found in more impoverished or
socially/culturally isolated areas is not a coincidence. Prior to the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in the 2017-2018 school year, education standards were largely determined by federal standards outlined in No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This structure did very little to address the specific needs of the most disadvantaged communities. ESSA seeks to improve students’ chances at success by encouraging a more personalized approach to students’ needs, strengths and interests as well as improving and decreasing the emphasis on standardized testing. Much of the research suggests this approach will do more to advance specific, individual state school system goals and impact students’ lives. It’s very important that parents, teachers, administrators and community members take strategic steps to address factors contributing to the educational shortcomings in some of our schools while working with policy makers to equitably utilize all the tools
and resources available. The future is now, and if our community ever hopes to eliminate the disparities that are at the root of many of the issues we are often confronted with (i.e. poverty, mass incarceration, chronic unemployment) we have to begin with education. By requiring states to identify and intervene with their lowestperforming schools and take a more tailored approach to their improvement, ESSA is poised to have a significant and measurable impact on the state of public education in America. There is a very real correlation between underperforming schools and generational poverty. If we wish to eliminate the latter, we must tackle education with a focus and energy that is specifically tailored to the needs of our communities. Akil Wilson is a native Washington, DC-based, podcaster, and parent. He is a contributing writer for the Washington Informer in addition to providing broadcast commentary for a variety of media outlets.
Lawsuit: ICE Detention Centers Deny Detainees Contact with Attorneys Riverside County News
RIVERSIDE — For immigrants facing deportation, assistance from attorneys can make a profound difference in the outcome of their cases — immigrants with lawyers have an overwhelmingly better chance of being able to stay in the U.S. For asylum seekers, it can be a matter of life or death. But at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers in Southern California, officials make it nearly impossible for many detainees to contact and consult with attorneys. That violates not only the Immigration and Nationality Act, but also the First and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution. The American Civil Liberties Foundation of Southern California and the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School have filed a class action lawsuit
against ICE, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and the private prison operator Geo Group, Inc. for creating unlawful barriers to attorney-client communications. “The Constitution guarantees immigrants the right to meaningfully communicate with their attorneys, said Jennifer Stark, clinical supervising attorney with the Stanford Immigrants’ Rights Clinic. The complaint was drafted and researched by clinic students, including Gracie Chang, Annie Shi, and Josh Walden. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Riverside, was brought on behalf of individual detainees and two prominent, non-profit legal organizations — the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Immigrant Defenders Law Center — that provide legal services to detainees.
At the immigration centers named in the suit — the Theo Lacy and James A. Musick facilities in Orange County operated by the Orange County Sheriff, and the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County operated by Geo — officials make it nearly impossible for many detainees to communicate with attorneys and collect documentation necessary to pursue their claims. “Legal representation is fundamental to ensuring due process for immigrants facing removal, but when our detained clients can’t effectively communicate with us, our abilities to be effective advocates are compromised,” said Meeth Soni, co-legal director at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center. Telephone access — often detainees’ main conduit to the out-
side world — is severely restricted, non-confidential, and expensive to the point that many detainees have had no opportunity to contact organizations or private attorneys for legal help. To make matters worse, the phone systems won’t allow detainees to leave recorded messages or navigate an automated menu to reach a live individual— it cuts them off if the call is not answered by a live person. If a detainee succeeds in getting assistance from a lawyer, face-to-face meetings necessary to build a case are limited to the point of being nearly useless. The suit charges that the detainee facilities have very few or no private consultation rooms. In many cases, detainees and lawyers are forced to meet where their con(continued on page 3)
A former San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputy faces two years in state prison when he receives a final sentence early next year for charges that linked to him having sex with female inmates at the Morongo Basin Station jail, court records show. Brian Derryberry, who was charged in July 2016, entered pleas on the case Dec. 4, according to court records. Derryberry, who state records show is currently a licensed real estate salesperson, was fired as a deputy around the same time his arrest was announced by sheriff’s investigators. The jail, which can hold 79 inmates, is part of the sheriff’s Morongo Basin Station in Joshua Tree. Under a Vargas waiver that will allow him to remain out of custody until he reports for final sentencing on Feb. 1 at the Victorville Courthouse, Derryberry pleaded guilty to all nine charges he faced and received a maximum possible sentence of 35 years to life. Deputy District Attorney Jason Wilkinson, who prosecuted the case, said Thursday that Derryberry received the maximum sentence to ensure he follows all the Vargas waiver rules and re-
turns to court to complete the plea agreement he reached. Derryberry will then plead to one count of sodomy and one count of a criminal threat, and receive a sentence of two years in state prison. The prosecution will move to dismiss the other seven charges against Derryberry, Wilkinson said. Wilkinson said Derryberry will be required to register for life as a sex offender, and will undergo a psychological evaluation when he is considered for parole. The Vargas waiver allows a court to impose the larger sentence as a measure to assure a defendant who is out of custody, but has pleaded in the case, returns for final sentencing. The requirements for a defendant are similar to probation rules, including keeping all law enforcement appointments, obeying all laws, and being subject to search without consent or warrant.
Obituary: Jazz Singer Nancy Wilson Dies at 81 ANDREW DALTON and HILLEL ITALIE of The Associated Press Published: 15 December 2018
Nancy Wilson (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
Nancy Wilson, the Grammywinning “song stylist” and torch singer whose polished pop-jazz vocals made her a platinum artist and top concert performer, has died. Wilson, who retired from touring in 2011, died after a long illness at her home in Pioneertown, a California desert community near Joshua Tree National Park, her manager and publicist Devra Hall Levy told The Associated Press late Thursday night. She was 81. Influenced by Dinah Washington, Nat “King” Cole and other stars, Wilson covered everything from jazz standards to “Little Green Apples” and in the 1960s alone released eight albums that reached the top 20 on Billboard’s pop charts. Sometimes elegant and understated, or quick and conversational and a little naughty, she was best known for such songs as her
breakthrough “Guess Who I Saw Today” and the 1964 hit ”(You Don’t Know) How Glad I Am,” which drew upon Broadway, pop and jazz. She resisted being identified with a single category, especially jazz, and referred to herself as a “song stylist.” “The music that I sing today was the pop music of the 1960s,” she told The San Francisco Chronicle in 2010. "I just never considered myself a jazz singer. I do not do runs and — you know. I take a lyric and make it mine. I consider myself an interpreter of the lyric.” “How Glad I Am” brought her a Grammy in 1965 for best R&B performance, and she later won Grammys for best jazz vocal album in 2005 for the intimate “R.S.V.P (Rare Songs, Very Personal)” and in 2007 for “Turned to Blue,” a showcase for the relaxed, confident swing she mastered later in life. Active in the civil rights movement, including the Selma march of 1965, she received an NAACP Image Award in 1998. Wilson was married twice — to drummer Kenny Dennis, whom she divorced in 1970; and to Wiley Burton, who died in 2008. She had three children.
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