Court date

 

From the LAT's Jean Merl: "The date was set this week by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy, who also presided over the public corruption trial of former Bell elected officials earlier this year."

 

"Wright, who previously served in the state Assembly and was elected last fall to a second term in the Senate, was indicted by a county grand jury on eight felony counts in September 2010."

 

"Prosecutors allege that Wright lied about his residence when he first ran for the Legislature’s upper house  in 2007, when he reported he had moved to an Inglewood apartment complex he owned inside what was then the 25^th District. State legislators are required to live in the districts they represent."

 

Efforts by the counties to unravel a piece of the state's realignment hotly disputed realignment program, in which some state inmates are shifted to the counties, failed its frirst committee test in the Capitol.

 

From the Press-Enterprise's Jim Miller: "A bill that would transfer county jail inmates serving long sentences to state prison failed in its first committee, the latest of several attempts to undo parts of California’s criminal-justice realignment that are likely dead for the year."

 

"In a count earlier this year, Riverside County had almost 70 jail inmates serving lengthy terms and San Bernardino County had more than 100 because of the realignment law. Statewide, more than 1,100 long-term inmates are serving their sentences in jails rather than prisons."

 

"Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach, sponsor of the legislation to move long-term inmates to prison, testified to the Senate Public Safety Committee that the offenders have clogged the county’s jails and triggered a lawsuit against the county alleging inadequate inmate medical and mental health care."

 

Speaking of realignment, L.A. County is fed up with the system and as the state faces pressure to reduce its prison inmate population still further, L.A. is saying enough is enough.

 

From Rina Palta at KPCC: ""Under no circumstances are counties interested in expanding the current realignment population," Powers said."

 

"Powers, appearing before the L.A. Board of Supervisors Tuesday, said he was just back from a meeting in Sacramento with officials from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Powers said he and officials from other counties made it clear they're not willing to take on any more new offenders."

 

"Earlier this month, a federal court threatened to hold Governor Jerry Brown in contempt if he didn't come up with a plan to meet court-ordered overcrowding reduction in the prison system. Brown has said the court order is out of date, and doesn't take into account vast improvements California has made to its prison medical and mental health systems."

 

Polls show the public likes Jerry Brown, and apparently burglars do, too: The governor has been hit by burglars  -- twice.

 

From Steve Harmon in the Mercury-News: "In Sacramento, the man climbed to the roof of his J Street apartment building, which is over a P.F. Chang's restaurant, and jumped onto the governor's balcony. A neighbor called police, who arrested the man on suspicion of prowling."

 

"The man, described in police reports as a "suspicious subject," was later released and likely didn't know whose apartment he was trying to break into, the governor said."

 

"In November 2011, Brown's wife, Anne Gust Brown, was home alone when Oakland police received a call that California Highway Patrol officers, who were on routine guard at the Oakland home, had detained a vehicle and three men on "an unspecified dignitary's property," said Sgt. Chris Bolton."

 

Some of Jerry Brown's most important political donors have joined together to oppose him on health-care policy.

 

From Anthony York in the LAT: "But doctors, hospital officials and others say the rate cuts could threaten the success of the federal law. They say lower reimbursements for treating poor patients will reduce the number of people who agree to treat Medi-Cal patients."

 

"The groups who are rallying against the governor’s cuts include some of Brown’s largest political donors."

 

"Among them are the California Hospitals Assn., which donated $2 million to the to the governor’s tax initiative last year. Also in the new coalition, dubbed We Care for California, is Kaiser Permanente, the Serive Employees International Union's United Healthcare Workers and the California Medical Assn., which have all been strong Brown supporters."