By: Denise Tejada, Turnstyle News

The University of California, Berkeley released a statement today in response to the filing of a lawsuit by 24 students that includes demands for compensation after experiencing police brutality and false arrest, and for violations of First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights, during a peaceful demonstration on Berkeley’s campus on Nov. 9. The statement reads:

“It is disconcerting that the plaintiffs have filed a lawsuit that is filled with so many inaccuracies. For example, the claim that members of the administration are opposed to the “protesters’ defense of affordable, public education” is completely unfounded.

“Since arriving at UC Berkeley, Chancellor Birgeneau has established a consistent record of aggressively advocating for increased state funding for public higher education, and speaking out against the disinvestment that has led to dramatic increases in tuition. UC Berkeley’s administration is fully committed to preserving the public character, access and excellence of this university.

“The chancellor has also been very clear about the extent to which the events of Nov. 9, even if legally justifiable, are disturbing and inconsistent with the character and traditions of this institution. For that reason he has asked that the students, faculty, staff and community members who sit on our independent Police Review Board expedite the investigation of the confrontations. Their findings and recommendations will guide any changes in policy and practice that are needed to ensure we never have a repeat of the events of Nov. 9. At this point our attention is focused on supporting the board’s comprehensive review, for it is this process — not litigation — that will help us move forward together as a campus community.”

By: Denise Tejada, Turnstyle News

On Wednesday, 20 students -- along with a civil rights group, BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) -- will file a lawsuit against UC Berkeley administrators, the UC Police Department, and Alameda County Sheriff's officers. The lawsuit is demanding compensation for police brutality and false arrest, and the violation of students' First Amendment and Fourth Amendment rights, during a peaceful demonstration on Berkeley's campus on Nov. 9.

On that day, police were filmed shoving and beating protesters, many of whom were UC Berkeley students, on campus during a peaceful demonstration. Some of the students were arrested after the ordeal.

Students were shocked by the treatment they received from police. “A police officer jabbed me three or four times in the lower abdomen,” said Ashley Pinkerton, a UC Berkeley Peace and Conflict studies student. “Each time it was a jolt more than the pain because my adrenaline was rushing so much, so I didn’t really feel that stuff till much later.” Pinkerton found herself standing up against campus police after helping another student who she saw being “strangled” by officers.

Pinkerton has been a supporter of the Occupy movement and has attended the general assemblies in Oakland. She said she's now proud to support the Occupy movement at her school. “I think, overall, just being in something that is so collectively active, it gives you this really righteous feeling...you share something really intense."

Youth Radio is gathering reflections from people in downtown Oakland as the city awaits today's sentencing of former transit cop Johannes Mehserle in the shooting death of Oscar Grant. Below are the writings and impressions coming from the streets. These will be updated throughout the day, and some will appear in Youth Radio's Grant Station magazine.

By Charlie Foster

The trial for Johannes Mehserle, former Oakland BART Police Officer, had California buzzing over the controversy. Mehserle shot 22 year-old train rider Oscar Grant in the back on New Year’s Day 2009 after pinning him to the ground on the Fruitvale BART platform. Mehserle was convicted in early July of involuntary manslaughter. The sentencing for Mehserle takes place on Friday, Nov. 5, at 8:30 a.m.  in Los Angeles, CA.  

The verdict of involuntary manslaughter had Oscar Grant supporters up in arms. Mehserle's main defense presented to the jury was that he mistakenly pulled his gun instead of his taser, but the prosecution argued otherwise. In the pending civil case, John Burris, the Oakland attorney representing the Mehserle family, claims that pulling the gun was not an accident, and that Mehserle should have been convicted of murder. (View Youth Radio's extensive coverage of the Oscar Grant / Mehserle case including an original photo magazine of the event.)

Mehserle could face between five and 14 years in prison. However, there are several complicating factors for Judge Robert Perry to consider. SF Gate reported, “Although one state law requires an increased prison term for using a gun during a felony, another law allows a judge to grant probation for involuntary manslaughter... In ordinary circumstances, state law says anyone found to have used a gun during a felony must serve extra time in prison. If Perry decides that the law applies to Mehserle, the ex-police officer could get as much as 14 years and would have to serve at least 85 percent of his term.”

Other factors that Judge Perry will take into account include the fact that Mehserle has no prior legal record, as well as the opportunity to send a message to the community in such a high-profile case.

In the days following the 2009 shooting, Oakland streets erupted in multiple violent protests. Angry citizens overturned cars, broke store windows, and lit fires in dumpsters. Tensions were high throughout the Mehserle trial with many comparing the case to the Rodney King case, and while thousands took to the streets on July 8th when the verdict was announced, violence and looting wasn't as widespread as had been projected.

With Friday's sentencing just days away, some downtown Oakland businesses are again boarding up windows in anticipation of possible rioting. Most residents we've spoken to, say they aren't sure quite what to expect.

Who’s getting suspended from school?  According to a study published recently by the Southern Poverty Law Center, black students are being suspended at a rate of 15 percent, while white students are getting suspended at approximately five percent. The study reports that poor and minority children are consistently suspended more often, and therefore experience the effects of the loss of instructional time more profoundly. 

The report examined middle school suspension data from the Department of Education for the years 2002 - 2006. The study authors suspect that the general increase in suspensions is due to more schools adopting zero tolerance discipline policies, which usually mean that consequences for poor behavior are issued quicker.  But are these policies affecting some students in harsher ways than others?  

Youth Radio spoke with Henry Robinson, the At Risk Specialist for the Milpitas Unified School District in California to get his opinion on the study’s findings.  He is based at the Milpitas Police Department and works in conjunction with the school district.

Why do you think more and more students are getting suspended in general?

I already know about this phenomenon, and I think part of the reason that these numbers are so high is that it’s easier to suspend than to expel. When you suspend a child from school, you are using the local rules of the school district.  The local administration will say, “Okay, your child talked back, you violated our rules, and you’re suspended.”

To expel you have to go through a hearing. A suspension can happen without a hearing.  
Some school districts in urban areas, rather than deal with the kid’s problem, just get rid of the student.  Expulsion happens when there’s an issue of school safety, for instance if someone brought a gun to school.  

What’s your reaction to the racial disparity in the suspension numbers?
I think that suspension is being used as a crutch, rather than addressing the larger issues as systematic problems.  It’s easier for schools to just get rid of the kids for a period of time. Suspension becomes a method of problem-solving rather than dealing with the root of the behavior.  

The Community Justice Network Blog is sharing some personal insights into the failings of our justice system.  Racial profiling is alive and well, according to Ophelia Williams.

"When he thinks back to his 21st birthday, my nephew’s memories won’t be of family, friends, a night with his girlfriend, or even a hangover like most celebrating their first taste of adulthood. His memory will be of a cold cell, trapped night after night in the company of strangers, fighting for his freedom to be restored. This is all because a White man wanted so badly to accuse someone of robbing him and his girlfriend allegedly at gunpoint as they left a Haight Street bar.
You’re probably feeling conflicted, because human nature leads us to sympathize with the alleged victim. I’m sorry this man and his girlfriend were allegedly robbed of her purse containing medicinal marijuana, but the fact that there was no gun found, no purse found, and nothing at all that connected my nephew and his friends to the robbery should have been enough to force a further investigation of the alleged crime. But that’s not what happened. A White couple had been allegedly robbed by three Black boys and someone had to pay! Because my nephew “fit the description” – Black in the wrong place at the wrong time – he had his first experience fighting the labyrinth of the criminal justice system."

Read more at the Community Justice Network Blog. 

The following originally aired on KCBS.

By Kavon Jones

Many people in the east bay took to the streets protesting Oscar Grant’s death, but when but when black on black crime happens in our own neighborhoods, what do we do about it?

I’m Kavon Jones with a commentary from Youth Radio.

Black people need to stop being part-time protestors, and start addressing the problems inside our own communities. There are thousands of Oscar Grants, except too often the killings are black on black violence, but it’s no different. Picking and choosing which murders to protest won’t heal Oakland or our neighborhoods.

Even worse, some people used Oscar Grant’s death as an excuse to run around downtown Oakland and be like "imma take this cuz they killed Oscar Grant,” which is absolutely the wrong way to get justice.

And justice is often not so hard to imagine. Too often we know the troublemakers in our community, but the stigma of snitching and the fear of death, keeps people from coming forward.

Oscar Grant became a symbol of police brutality. We need to recognize that every black on black murder is also a symbol for a community in crisis, and then have the courage to seek justice for our friends, family, and neighbors.

Youth Radio has created an online magazine (scroll down and click on the cover to flip through) documenting the 19 months following the shooting death of Oscar Grant at the hands of former Bay Area Rapid Transit Officer Johannes Mehserle.

In the following days, we'll be filling the magazine's final pages with our reporting on Mehserle's sentencing -- and with reflections gathered from the blank pages posted in downtown Oakland. Or you can add your comments, below.

Click here for more multimedia stories about the Oscar Grant case.