National Roundup

California
First openly gay justice confirmed to high court
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California has confirmed its first openly gay justice to the state Supreme Court.

The Commission on Judicial Appointments unanimously confirmed Justice Martin Jenkins on Tuesday, praising him for his “brilliant intellect, first-class temperament, and boundless humanity.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom nominated Jenkins last month to replace Justice Ming Chin, who retired on Aug. 31. During a news conference last month, Jenkins said his identity as a gay man has been “perhaps the greatest challenge of my life.”

Jenkins, who is Black, joins a diverse court that includes Justice Leondra Kruger, who is also Black; Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, who is Latino; two Asian Americans, Chief Justice Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye and Justice Goodwin Liu; and white justices Joshua Groban and Carol Corrigan. The job comes with a $261,949 salary.

Jenkins grew up in a two-bedroom, one bathroom house in San Francisco. His dad was a clerk and janitor at the city’s iconic Coit Tower. He played football at Santa Clara University and dreamed of a career in the NFL. But he decided to go to law school at the urging of his coach.

Jenkins graduated from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1980. He worked as a prosecutor in Alameda County and as a civil rights attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in the Reagan administration.

A lifelong registered Democrat, Jenkins has been appointed to four judgeships by both Democrats and Republicans. Democratic President Bill Clinton made him a federal judge in 1998, and California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed him to the state Courts of Appeal in 2008.

Jenkins retired last year and joined Newsom’s administration as the judicial appointment secretary, helping Newsom vet potential appointments for judgeships.

“Justice Jenkins embodies the qualities sought in a Supreme Court candidate: collegiality, writing ability, scholarship and distinction in the legal profession coupled with an unparalleled breadth of experience,” Aminder Singh, chair of the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation, wrote in a report summarizing Jenkin’s qualifications.


California
Governor eases penalties for 35 former felons
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom eased the sentences or criminal histories of nearly three dozen current or former felons on Tuesday, including 10 pardons intended to aid immigrants who face the possibility of deportation.

“Their deportations would be an unjust collateral consequence that would harm their families and communities,” his office said in announcing the actions. One of the 10 is currently in a federal immigration detention facility.

The 10 were among 22 pardons, 13 commutations and four medical reprieves, the last a category prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The state corrections secretary and a federal court-appointed official who controls the prison medical system recommended the medical risk clemency review. They are in addition to thousands of other earlier releases intended to free space within the state’s prison system to slow the virus’ spread or allow for better treatment.

A reprieve allows inmates to temporarily serve their sentences in alternative locations in the community.

Recipients included 71-year-old Larry Johnson, serving a life term for a third-strike crime of stealing a VCR and gaming system from a home in 1995, according to Newsom’s office. The others are ages 87, 71 and 68 and similarly are serving life terms for third-strike offenses of robbery or burglary.

Pardons don’t erase convictions, but they can help immigrants mitigate the criminal histories that can be used as the basis for their deportations.

Among them, for example, is Somdeng “Danny” Thongsy, 41, who entered the U.S. legally when he was 2 years old. He seeking to avoid deportation back to Laos for killing one rival gang member and injuring two others in 1997, when he was age 17. He was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison.

Newsom’s office also highlighted his pardoning of Violet Henderson, 66, who once was one of the few women to help build the Bay Bridge. She was convicted of conspiring to commit grand theft when she was 18 and served 18 months in prison before going on to lead the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s waste reduction and recycling programs. She expects to graduate from the University of California, Berkeley, with a double major in 2022.

The 13 commutations modify criminal sentences for those currently in prison, mostly granting immediate parole or allowing inmates to seek parole.

The include, for instance, David Diaz, who has served 21 years for attempting to murder a victim who says Diaz didn’t do it, according to Newsom’s office. He was 19 when he was convicted of shooting and injuring a rival gang member.

Other commutations include those convicted of murder, second-degree murder, attempted murder, assault and carjacking,

Since taking office nearly two years ago, Newsom, a Democrat, has granted 63 pardons, 78 commutations and the four reprieves.


Ohio
State high court dismisses Toledo bullying lawsuit
COLUMBUS (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court unanimously sided with three Toledo public school employees on Tuesday in a lawsuit brought by the parents of a kindergartener alleging that the employees acting recklessly by not preventing bullying by another student.

The parents of the child sued teacher Amanda Lute, Assistant Principal Cynthia Skaff and Principal Ralph Schade for allegedly failing to intervene to prevent an alleged series of bullying encounters from escalating, The Blade reported.

The parents, who are only identified by their initials in the lawsuit, claim that their child’s cheek was punctured with a sharpened pencil by another student.

Lute said that she did not discover that the victim had been poked in the cheek until four days after the alleged incident when the parents removed their child from the school.

Lute said that her desk was 10 feet from the table the two students shared and that she did not hear anything.

The Ohio and Toledo Federation of Teachers, Buckeye Association of School Administrators, Ohio Association for School Business Officials, Ohio School Boards Association, the Toledo Association of Administrative Personnel, and the city of Toledo filed briefs in defense of the employees and voiced concern over the precedent the case could take if it was allowed to proceed.

Justice Patrick Fischer wrote that the appellants presented evidence that they took steps to prevent bullying in the classroom.

Jennifer Dawson, the school’s district attorney, said that she was “extremely pleased with the court’s unanimous ruling.”