Jerry Brown approves bill protecting Californians' internet speed -- Feds threaten litigation
Sacramento Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON: "On Sunday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill barring internet service providers from slowing customer speeds, blocking access to lawful content and offering “fast lanes” for large sites like Facebook, Google and Netflix."
"The net neutrality protections proposed under Senate Bill 822 by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, immediately generated a legal challenge. No sooner had Brown signed the bill than the U.S. Department of Justice announced it will fight the state in court."
"Once again, the California legislature has enacted an extreme and illegal state law attempting to frustrate federal policy,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. “The Justice Department should not have to spend valuable time and resources to file this suit today, but we have a duty to defend the prerogatives of the federal government and protect our Constitutional order. We will do so with vigor. We are confident that we will prevail in this case – because the facts are on our side."
READ MORE related to Net Neutrality: California OKs net-neutrality rules: Trump admin promptly sues -- The Chronicle's MELODY GUTIERREZ
The case for spending 32 percent more on California schools
EdSource's JOHN FENSTERWALD: "Two separate panels of experienced California teachers and administrators were given background information and three days together to help answer a longer version of this question: How much would it cost to provide all California students the academic knowledge, skills and opportunities they’ll need to successfully pursue their plans after high school and participate in civic life?"
"After the educators determined the necessary staffing and resources and researchers crunched the numbers, the answer — the price of adequately funding California’s schools — was $91.8 billion per year, $22.1 billion more than districts spent in 2016-17. The 32 percent increase would include providing preschool to all 4-year-olds and hiring more counselors, nurses, specialized teachers and administrators to reduce one of the nation’s highest ratios of students to school staff. (The panelists first learned the final spending total when the study was published.)"
"“What Does It Cost to Educate California’s Students? A Professional Judgment Approach” details how the panels determined the amount of the funding increase and the reasoning behind it. The 78-page study and 224-page technical appendix will be one of the more closely scrutinized studies in Getting Down to Facts II, a compilation of 36 reports that was released Sept. 17. Stanford University and the university-affiliated nonprofit Policy Analysis for California Education, or PACE, coordinated the project."
GOP senators demand probe of Feinstein's office after Kavanaugh accusations
Sacramento Bee's DON SWEENEY: "Two GOP senators called Sunday for an investigation into the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., over allegations made against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh."
"Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, on separate Sunday talk shows suggested Feinstein’s office might have leaked a confidential letter by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford accusing Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in high school."
"That’s illegal, inappropriate,” Graham said on ABC’s “This Week,” reported The Huffington Post. “The FBI will do a supplemental background investigation (of the Kavanaugh allegations) then I’m going to call for an investigation of what happened in this committee — who betrayed Dr. Ford’s trust."
READ MORE related to KavanaughGate: 'I'm a victim of sexual assault,' Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway tells CNN -- Sacramento Bee's DON SWEENEY; What would a Kavanaugh confirmation mean forn the midterm elections? It's all about trade-offs -- LA Times's GEORGE SKELTON
Hundreds serving time for murder could get sprung under new California law
Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "California will give a second chance to potentially hundreds of individuals serving prison time for murders they did not commit."
"Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday signed without comment Senate Bill 1437, which scales back prosecutors’ ability to use the “felony murder rule” to charge accomplices to a homicide. It also allows inmates locked up for felony murder – estimated by proponents of the bill at between 400 and 800 – to apply for re-sentencing."
"Current California law states that someone can be held criminally liable for murder if it occurs during a felony they committed, such as a burglary or a robbery, even if they were not present for the actual death."
Jerry Brown limits prosecution of minors to 'work toward a more just system'
Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday signed a pair of measures that limits when and how young people can be prosecuted for criminal charges."
"It continues Brown’s efforts, in his final term, to undo many of the tough sentencing policies he supported during his first stint as governor, which contributed to an unconstitutionally overcrowdedprison system in California."
"Senate Bill 439 establishes 12 years as the minimum age for prosecution in juvenile court, unless a minor younger than 12 has committed murder or rape."
On wetland regulation, we may define away nature at our own peril
Water Deeply's MATT WEISER: "THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION has moved decisively to weaken the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule, a federal regulatory process that seeks to protect wetlands and seasonal streams from excessive development."
"This effort has suffered setbacks in the courts, which has only helped create more uncertainty about how these waters should be protected. To fill the regulatory void, California is moving to adopt its own rules, an effort that is hugely controversial but which may be necessary in the absence of sufficient federal oversight."
"Wetlands and ephemeral streams are essential habitat for wildlife, and vital filters for the drinking water we all depend on every day. In many cases, they also serve as flood protection, storing or slowing down storm runoff that would otherwise threaten downstream development."
Old cannabis convictions eased under new law
Sacramento Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON: "A bill aiming to make it easier for people to erase their old marijuana convictions was signed into law Sunday night by Gov. Jerry Brown."
"Under Assembly Bill 1793 from Rob Bonta, an Alameda Democrat, the Department of Justice would review the records in the state summary criminal history information database and identify past convictions that are eligible to be stricken."
"Bonta praised Brown’s decision, saying the proposal will help give people a second chance. He tweeted Sunday that his bill will “reduce or remove outdated cannabis convictions so people can turn the page and make a fresh start! Outdated convictions shouldn’t be a barrier to employment and housing."
READ MORE related to Drug Legislation: California bill to let SF open safe drug-injection site is vetoed by Brown -- The Chronicle''s MELODY GUTIERREZ
Truth-in-lending law needed now
OPINION: LUZ URRUTIA in Capitol Weekly: "Would you take out a loan for a new home if you didn’t know the interest rate? How about for a car? Or even for a credit card?"
"More than likely, not."
"Understanding the financing terms, including the annualized interest rate, is crucial information when you’re considering a loan. And it makes perfect sense that whoever is offering you that loan would also be required to provide that information."
UC Berkeley struggles with how to return Native American remains
The Chronicle's NANETTE ASIMOV: "Nearly seven decades ago, a UC Berkeley archaeologist named Robert E. Greengo dug deep into the wet clay of Fresno County and felt a portion of the soil give way to something harder."
"Bones. Hundreds of them. From the ooze, Greengo extracted partially complete human skeletons of two adults and a male teenager from a depth of 7 feet, near the town of Firebaugh. The year was 1951. The archaeologist also pulled out a mortar fragment, the long bone of an animal and two large pieces of obsidian — a flake and a point — all used by native people to honor the dead."
"He gave the objects to the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology on the UC Berkeley campus, which today houses one of the largest collections of Native American remains and artifacts in the country."
Police shootings will get more public scrutiny as California opens access to investigations
Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "Following years of growing public outcry and protest over police shootings, Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday signed a pair of bills that will increase transparency around officer killings of civilians by expanding access to personnel and video records."
"Their approval bucks decades of law enforcement influence at the Capitol that advocates say has made it difficult to challenge some of the nation’s strictest laws shielding police misconduct from public scrutiny."
"Despite heavy opposition once again from law enforcement unions, who argued that the proposals could put their members at risk, lawmakers passed two significant accountability measures this session. Advocates contend the changes will help bolster community trust in policing."
READ MORE related to Prisons & Public Safety: California opens some police misconduct records to public view -- The Chronicle's MELODY GUTIERREZ; Brown signs bill to count backlogged rape kits in California -- The Chronicle's MELODY GUTIERREZ
US and Canada reach last-minute accord to conclude talks on new NAFTA
LA Times's DON LEE: "In an eleventh-hour breakthrough that may have saved the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Trump administration and top Canadian officials came to terms late Sunday on a deal — opening the way for the United States, Canada and Mexico to sign a renewed trade pact at the end of November."
"The agreement still needs to be ratified by legislatures in all three countries, which won’t happen until next year at the earliest. But in striking an accord with Canada after settling with Mexico in late August, negotiators hit a crucial U.S.-imposed Sunday midnight deadline that otherwise could have pushed President Trump toward a breakup of the trilateral accord."
67 protesters arrested after storming Petaluma poultry plant
The Chronicle's MICHAEL CABANATUAN: "Sixty-seven animal rights protesters were arrested Saturday after they stormed a poultry plant in Petaluma and snatched chickens, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office."
"Sheriff’s deputies responded to multiple 911 calls from McCoy Poultry Services, on the 100 block of Jewett Road in Petaluma, at about 1:30 p.m. and ran into about 200 animal rights protesters conducting what they called “a coordinated protest” inside and outside the business."
"The protesters, part of animal rights activist group Direct Action Everywhere, said on their Facebook page that they were rescuing animals that were sick or injured, and said that the business provides chickens to Amazon."
