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California Supreme Court Rules Thousands of Sex Offenders Are Eligible for Early Release

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On Monday, the California Supreme Court ruled that thousands of inmates convicted of non-forcible sex crimes may be eligible for early release under a ballot measure that was overwhelmingly approved by voters four years ago.

The initiative, called Proposition 57, was written by then-Governor Jerry Brown (D) and passed by nearly two-thirds of the electorate. It was crafted to reduce the state’s prison population, saying any person found guilty of a “nonviolent felony offense” would be eligible for early parole. Brown said it was never intended to cover sex offenders. However, the original language did not exempt them from consideration. Lower appeals courts had ruled that nonviolent sex offenders could not be excluded, and the high court affirmed those rulings.

“The initiative’s language provides no indication that the voters intended to allow the (Corrections) Department to create a wholesale exclusion from parole consideration based on an inmate’s sex offense convictions when the inmate was convicted of a nonviolent felony,” wrote Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye in the court’s 7-0 decision.

According to The Associated Press, “the ballot measure allows officials to consider paroling inmates convicted of nonviolent crimes after they have served their basic sentence and before they have completed sometimes lengthy additional terms for enhancements for things like using a gun, having prior criminal convictions, or being involved in a street gang.”

(Read more from “California Supreme Court Rules Thousands of Sex Offenders Are Eligible for Early Release” HERE)

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California Doctor Fired After Denouncing State Lockdowns

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A California doctor was fired after he questioned the effectiveness of coronavirus lockdowns in his state.

“All the data that I am aware of, looking at children and the virus, shows that it’s safe” to reopen schools, Dr. Michael Deboisblanc told Fox News. “There are many other states now that have months of track records showing that it’s safe for their kids to go back to school. And the state of California and the county is just not making that possible.”

“These are restaurants that are just trying to survive and keep their doors open,” he added. “It’s been very difficult for them.”

Deboisblanc was fired from his position as trauma medical director for John Muir Health after he sent a letter to Contra Costa County health officials saying officials should end a stay-at-home order back in May.

“Personally, I think it’s time,” he said this spring of ending lockdowns. “I think, originally, this was put in place to flatten the curve and to make sure hospitals have the resources to take care of COVID patients. We have the current resources to do that, and our other community health is suffering.” (Read more from “California Doctor Fired After Denouncing State Lockdowns” HERE)

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11-Year-Old Boy Dies After Shooting Himself During Zoom Class

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An 11-year-old boy died after he shot himself in his California home during a Zoom class this week, according to a new report.

The pre-teen was attending the virtual class with his microphone and camera turned off when he took his own life just after 11 a.m. Wednesday in Woodbridge, a community in Northern California’s Central Valley, KOVR reported.

His sister, who was attending her own virtual class in another room, found him and alerted her neighbor and teacher, who helped call authorities, according to the report. . .

The boy, identified by the Sacramento Bee as Adan Llanos, was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he later died, according to authorities. (Read more from “11-Year-Old Boy Dies After Shooting Himself During Zoom Class” HERE)

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U.S. Supreme Court Rules Against California’s Worship Bans

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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday against California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) restrictions on indoor worship services, agreeing with religious groups they are unconstitutional.

The High Court granted a petition from Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena that sought to overturn a lower court’s ruling in favor of Newsom’s restrictions.

The ruling cited the Supreme Court’s decision last week in a similar case in which it ruled in favor of faith groups that challenged New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) worship restrictions. . .

“Governor Gavin Newsom’s orders ban ALL in-person worship for 99.1 percent of Californians,” the nonprofit litigation firm stated, adding that while Newsom has banned the majority of in-person religious services, “warehouses, big box centers, shopping malls, liquors stores, family entertainment and destination centers, gyms, fitness centers, and museums receive preferential treatment with either no capacity limits or no numerical limits.” (Read more from “U.S. Supreme Court Rules Against California’s Worship Bans” HERE)

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WATCH: Pastor Turns Church Into ‘Strip Club’ to Avert Lockdown Order

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For a brief moment, a California pastor turned his church into a “strip club” so it could be deemed an “essential” business and remain open amid the state’s discriminatory COVID-19 lockdown.

Pastor Rob McCoy of Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Ventura County, reported the blog RedState, noted that strip-club owners in the state have challenged the shutdown in court on First Amendment grounds, winning a temporary order Nov. 12 from a Superior Court judge that allowed them to reopen. . .

Crediting former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee with the idea, he played a clip from the Fox News show “Hannity” in which Huckabee explained “a church could announce that their pastor would remove his tie during the sermon, and since he was taking off an article of clothing, that would make the church a temporary strip club and therefore it would be legal for the parishioners to attend services.”

McCoy took of his tie and threw it into the audience.

“After a few good laughs, McCoy’s message focused on the increased persecution churches face during the pandemic shutdowns and the tyrannical rule being embraced by so many on both sides of the aisle,” the report said.

(Read more from “Pastor Turns Church Into ‘Strip Club’ to Avert Lockdown Order” HERE)

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Hours After Voting To Ban Outdoor Dining, LA County Supervisor Dined Outdoors

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California county supervisor dined outdoors only hours after voting to ban outdoor dining, FOX 11 reported Monday.

Shortly after Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl voted Tuesday to ban outdoor dining, calling outdoor dining a “most dangerous situation,” she was seen dining outside at the Santa Monica restaurant Il Forno Trattoria, according to FOX 11.

Kuehl admitted through a spokesperson that she dined at Il Forno “on the very last day it was permissible.” The outdoor dining ban went into effect Wednesday, the publication reported.

“She loves Il Forno, has been saddened to see it, like so many restaurants, suffer from a decline in revenue,” the spokesperson told FOX 11. “She ate there, taking appropriate precautions, and sadly will not dine there again until our Public Health Orders permit.” (Read more from “Hours After Voting To Ban Outdoor Dining, LA County Supervisor Dined Outdoors” HERE)

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California Sheriffs Tell Newsom They Won’t Enforce COVID Curfew

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Several California sheriffs are telling Gov. Gavin Newsom (D.) that they are planning not to enforce the state’s new curfew rules.

“We’re not going to make criminals of normally law-abiding citizens,” Fresno County sheriff Margaret Mims said. Officials in four other law-enforcement agencies in the state also said they do not plan to treat gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic as criminal, according to Fox 26.

Mims argued that the police have higher priorities, including “taking guns away from gang members, stopping narcotic trafficking, and saving children from internet predators.” She also said there is little data showing that activities between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. play a significant role in spreading the virus. . .

Other police officers in the state echoed Mims’s position and said they would encourage compliance and boost education efforts about the dangers of the virus’s spread without arresting people. Sacramento County sheriff Scott Jones said his department would not enforce the curfew, limitations on social gatherings, or masks mandates. (Read more from “California Sheriffs Tell Newsom They Won’t Enforce COVID Curfew” HERE)

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‘How *Do* You Deprogram 75 Million People?’ — Democrat Wants ‘Post WWII’-Type Re-Education for Conservatives

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A California Democrats regional director suggested Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s supporters should be deprogrammed through post World War II reconstruction tactics.

“No seriously…how *do* you deprogram 75 million people,” California Democrats regional director and Democratic National Convention member David Atkins tweeted Wednesday. “Where do you start? Fox? Facebook? We have to start thinking in terms of post-WWII Germany or Japan. Or the failures of Reconstruction in the South.”

“This is not your standard partisan policy disagreement,” he continued. “This is a conspiracy theory fueled belligerent death cult against reality & basic decency. The only actual policy debates of note are happening within the dem coalition between left and center left.” . . .

“And yeah, many are out of line,” he tweeted. “But what do you expect people to do in self-preservation? The Right has been running 4 years on ‘f**k your feelings, my conspiracy theories are valid opinions, and we have more guns.’”

Atkins said that conservatives are giving themselves the coronavirus “just to own the libs” and “dying in COVID wards insisting they don’t have COVID because it must be a liberal plot.” (Read more from “‘How *Do* You Deprogram 75 Million People?’ — Democrat Wants ‘Post WWII’-Type Re-Education for Conservatives” HERE)

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The Exemption in California’s Lockdown Order That Exposes Its Absurdity

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Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced a “limited Stay at Home Order” beginning Saturday for one month.

“Non-essential work and gatherings must stop from 10pm-5am in counties in the purple tier,” Newsom said.

In a statement, he noted that it was the same as his March lockdown order but was only taking place during the seven-hour window. . .

But as Deadline noticed, the order appears to exclude people in the entertainment industry, listing them as essential workers, which was not the case in the March order.

Found listed under the Industrial, Commercial, Residential, and Sheltering Facilities and Services tab, the order excludes “Workers supporting the entertainment industries, studios, and other related establishments, provided they follow covid-19 public health guidance around physical distancing,” if remote work is not possible.

(Read more from “The Exemption in California’s Lockdown Order That Exposes Its Absurdity” HERE)

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‘Customers Are Calling Us Crying’: Scams and Soaring Prices as Californians Move Out

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Record numbers of residents have been leaving California in recent years, but in 2020 the growth of remote work, the lure of cheaper housing and a summer of unprecedented wildfires has accelerated the trend. As a result, the moving business in San Francisco’s Bay Area is booming, but the surge has come with its own set of problems.

Moving trucks are hard to find, prices to get out of the Bay are being pushed sky-high, and the supply side of the market – with high starting costs and because movers are required to obtain state licenses – has been slow to respond.

The shortage has created openings for an underground moving economy complete with scammers who take advantage of desperate California escapees, left without easy options.

Moving companies across the Bay have said they were booked up months in advance through the summer. It continued through the autumn – in typical years, the industry sees a lull after kids start school. A spokesperson at Gentle Giant moving company says it performed three times the number of moves out of San Francisco in September 2020 than a year earlier.

Even at U-Haul stores – the rental truck retailer with the largest fleet across the US – trucks are in short supply. With so many trucks departing the Bay Area, the exodus has left an imbalance of returning vehicles. The shortage has sharply driven up truck prices for one-way trips out of town. (Read more from “‘Customers Are Calling Us Crying’: Scams and Soaring Prices as Californians Move Out” HERE)

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