Vol. 49 No. 23
September 27, 2018 - October 3, 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
Kavanaugh says he won't be 'intimidated California police uphold few complaints of officer misconduct into withdrawing' ByRay Downs, Ed Adamczyk and Danielle Haynes
and investigations stay secret By JAMES QUEALLY
Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate judiciary committee on Capitol Hill on September 6. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Brett Kavanaugh sent a letter to Senate leaders Monday saying he will not withdraw his nomination to the Supreme Court and denying a new sexual misconduct allegation. He sent the letter to Sens. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the two top members of the judiciary committee. "As I told the committee during my hearing, a federal judge must be independent, not swayed by public or political pressure," he wrote. "That is the kind of judge I will always be. "I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process. The coordinated effort to destroy my good name will not drive me out. The vile threats of violence against my family will not drive me out. The last-minute character assassination will not succeed." In the letter, Kavanaugh denied two allegations of sexual misconduct against him. The first, from Christine Blasey Ford, accused
the judge of attempted sexual assault at a party during the early 1980s. Ford made the allegation in a confidential letter sent to Feinstein and agreed to testify before the committee Thursday. A new allegation was made public Sunday night from Deborah Ramirez, a former Yale University classmate. Ramirez said Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a 1983 party while she and friends were playing a drinking game. Kavanaugh denied the accusation. "This alleged event from 35 years ago did not happen," he said in a statement. "The people who knew me then know that this did not happen and have said so. This is a smear, plain and simple." Ramirez contacted several former classmates to ask if they recalled the incident and said she couldn't be sure it was Kavanaugh, The New York Times reported. President Donald Trump again offered his support for
Letter to the Editor
RE: Boys & Girls Club of San Bernardino It is understandable that many people are concerned about the status of the Boys & Girls Club of San Bernardino (BGCSB), since losing its charter under the Boys & Girls Club of America (BGCA). However, my opinion as a former board member feels that this charter that SB held for more than 50 years was lost due to non-compliance issues. Per BGCA, to suffer the loss of a charter actually takes a long time of non-compliance. This would include, in the case of BGCSB, the lack of submittal of basic requirements such as audited financials, not submitting program reports in a timely manner, and numerous complaints received for other issues way beyond the stated issue of merely the background checks not meeting BGCA requirements. BGCA had attempted to work with the BGCSB for more than a year to attempt to correct all the issues, assistance was refused until after the window of appeal. The charter was rescinded in the month of February, however, the community and agencies were not informed until July. As an active leader in this community I would have appreciated those the supporting entities being informed in a timely manner so that we could have supported the BGCSB in meeting compliance issues and maintaining the existing
charter. Once the information regarding the charter was publicly made known, a group of concerned citizens and former BGCSB board members was formed; we contacted the national office to find out what exactly had occurred and if the loss of the charter could be appealed. The group was informed that the revocation was already in effect, after a lengthy attempt to work at the compliance issues. The Boys & Girls Club of San Bernardino has withstood previous challenges, including insufficient funding and management issues, but never have the issues impacted the charter, and therefore our ability to bounce back. The concerned citizens are currently seeking options to maintain services under the umbrella of the Boys & Girls Club. This may require moving in a different course than what was presented at the recent council meeting. The ultimate concern of the concerned citizens, former board members, founders and agencies is that there is a facility on the westside of SB where our youth can still go to a safe environment, where they can learn, play, engage and receive other services that will make them good quality adults. D. Armstead
Demonstrators protest against Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Monday. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo
Demonstrators protest against Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Monday. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo Kavanaugh Monday, as Capitol Police arrested several protesters who demonstrated against the nomination to the high court. Trump endorsed his appointee, calling him "a fine man" with "an unblemished past." "These are highly unsubstantiated statements from people represented by lawyers," Trump told reporters at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. "Judge Kavanaugh is an
outstanding person and I am with him all the way. "For people to come out of the woodwork from 36 years ago and 30 years ago and never mention it, all of a sudden it happens, in my opinion, it's totally political. It's totally political." In Washington, dozens of protesters occupied the corridors outside the offices of Feinstein and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, (continued on page 8)
Longtime Resident and Former Pastor Eullas (Jim) James, Dies Obituary Notice
Eullas (Jim) James September 16, 1941-September 15, 2018 Eullas Jim James was born September 16, 1941 in Chicago, Illinois to the union of Eullas and Margaret James. He was the eldest of seven children. In the year of 1947 his family relocated to Los Angeles, California where Jimmy attended elementary and middle school, then graduated from San Bernardino High School. Jimmy was employed at the County of San Bernardino Juvenile Hall Department for over 30 years. Jim loved traveling, skating, bowling, cruising, swimming and spending time with friends and family. Jimmy worked at sev-
eral ministries, working in the music department, as assistant pastor, and various other offices until being appointed Senior Pastor of St. Timothy Community Church for over 17 years. He leaves to cherish and celebrate his memory, his devoted wife of thirty-one years, Monica Brown James, two sons, Timothy and Steven James, one daughter Terry James, 2 brothers, 2 sisters, thirteen grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and a host of nephews, nieces, cousins, godchildren, along with Greater Victory Church family and friends.
Tatiana Lopez filed a complaint against the L.A. Sheriff's Department in 2009. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) Angry that she had been falsely accused of a drug crime, Tatiana Lopez filed a complaint against a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who had arrested her on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine. But when Lopez met with a sheriff’s lieutenant to discuss her accusation, he urged her to drop her complaint, she said. After a preliminary investigation, the Sheriff’s Department ruled the deputy had done nothing wrong, without giving her any explanation. It would take years of legal battles before a judge exonerated Lopez and a new internal investigation led the department to fire the deputy for lying about her arrest. Lopez is one of nearly 200,000 members of the public who filed a complaint against California law enforcement officers in the last decade. Her initial complaint ended the way most did — with police rejecting it without saying why. A Times analysis of complaint data reported to the California Department of Justice shows law enforcement agencies across the state upheld 8.4% of complaints filed by members of the public from 2008 to 2017. In a state with some of the strictest police privacy laws in the country, those who make complaints against officers are entitled to learn little more than whether their allegations were found to be true or not. They are given no other explanation about how a final decision was reached, what was done to investigate their allegation or whether an officer was disciplined. A bill that cleared the state Legislature last month would begin to address the issue by opening up records from internal investigations into shootings by police
officers and other major force incidents, as well as cases where officers were found to have committed sexual assault or lied on duty. Gov. Jerry Brown has not said whether he will sign the measure, Senate Bill 1421. But even if he does, records from the vast majority of internal affairs investigations would remain secret. The Times’ analysis of complaint data found several of California’s largest police agencies sustain complaints at a lower rate than the state average, including the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles and Oakland police departments. Police officials argue that a large number of the complaints they receive are frivolous, filed by suspects they have arrested or others who have an ax to grind. Some said the proliferation of body-worn cameras among California police agencies has helped disprove a larger number of allegations about interactions between police and the public. In Los Angeles, police said the low rate of upheld complaints was due, in part, to the department’s commitment to accepting a wide array of allegations. The LAPD received 25,006 complaints from the public in the last decade, according to state records. Officials concluded there was evidence proving 1,360, about 5.4%. “We take every single complaint on the planet,” said Josh Rubenstein, the LAPD’s chief spokesman. “When you open yourself up to that wide a spectrum, you are going to get a high number of complaints that are not legitimate.” Cmdr. Michael Hyams, who heads the LAPD’s Internal Affairs division, said that by exam(continued on page 7)
Our Values, Mission, & Vision Statement Our Values: Treat all people with care, respect, honor, and dignity. Tell it as it is with love, truth and integrity. Promote the interests of advertisers and sponsors along their strategic interest for the betterment of the community and beyond. Speak truth to power. Our Mission: To continuously improve communication between all people of the world. Our Vision: To be the best community newspaper in our region and the nation. Provider of: A voice for the poor, the underserved, those that are marginalized, Positive and edifying news about people, places and businesses. Keep San Bernardino, Riverside, and Los Angeles Counties informed about global trends while retaining the consciousness of local events and processes. Memberships and Associations: The San Bernardino American Newspaper is a member of the California Newspaper Publishers Association, National Newspaper Association and addociated with California Black Media.