Why Thousands Of Inmates Who Are Eligible To Vote Won't

Here are the morning’s top stories on Friday, September 20, 2024…

• Thousands of Californians serving jail time are legally eligible to vote, but many don’t know it, according to advocates and inmates themselves.
• Protesters disrupted a University of California Board of Regents meeting Thursday where university leaders approved requests from campus police departments to purchase military equipment and weapons. 
• Eight Orange County firefighters who had been batting the Airport Fire were injured in a rollover crash in Irvine Thursday night.
• Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani made history on Thursday, becoming the first player in Major League Baseball history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season.

Thousands In California’s Jails Have The Right To Vote — But Here’s Why Many Won’t

While California prides itself on making voting easier, some groups of voters still face barriers. That includes many people in county jails, though the state has allowed most to vote since 2016.

The latest data from the California Department of Corrections shows that about 92,000 people are in state prisons, and many are ineligible to vote. But in 2023, another 78,000 were in county jails, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, a Massachusetts-based nonpartisan research group, and about 60% of them have not been convicted of a crime, so are eligible to vote. Some convicted Californians are also eligible.

A disproportionate number of people in jails are Black or Latino, and sometimes wait years until they go to trial. Most California jails don’t offer in-person voting, and voting by mail can be challenging. People might be registered at one address, but even if their mail is being forwarded to their jail, they get released or transferred elsewhere.

Advocates who have tried to help those jailed to vote list a host of hurdles that vary by county. Due to lengthy mail screening, some don’t get voter guides in time. Others don’t get voter guides at all, because people in jail can only receive mail under a certain page limit, or without staples.

UC Approves New Less-Lethal Arms For Its Police Force Amid Protest

Minutes after a UC regents committee began debating the purchase of additional less-lethal weapons and ammunition on Thursday, pro-Palestinian students in the UCLA meeting room drowned them out.

“Why did you shoot us?” one shouted — a reference to the less lethal rounds used at last spring’s campus unrest. Regent Jay Sures, chair of the compliance committee, showed little patience for what has become a common protest tactic, calling on UC police to declare an unlawful assembly and moved the committee to an adjoining room, where it swiftly approved the purchase of drones and ammunition such as pepper bullets and sponge rounds. There was no debate.

The move comes months after pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus, prompting many campuses to revise their time, place and manner policies that govern student protests — a move that many students and faculty have criticized as overly restrictive of free speech.

Orange County Firefighters Injured In Rollover Crash

Eight firefighters with the Orange County Fire Authority were injured Thursday night, after their truck crashed and flipped over in Irvine.

Fire officials say six of the firefighters suffered serious injuries and were taken to local trauma centers. The hand crew had just completed a 12 hour shift on the line of the Airport Fire burning in Orange and Riverside counties.

Ohtani First To Join 50-50 Club

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani had a game to remember on Thursday.

He finished the 20-4 win over the Miami Marlins 6-for-6 with three home runs, two stolen bases and 10 RBI’s. And that means he’s the first Major League Baseball player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season.

The Dodgers also clinched their 12th straight postseason appearance in the victory.