Tag Archives: Mike Carona

Orange County

Mike Carona gets five years in the clink

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Oh how the tables have turned for “America’s Sheriff” Mike Carona.  He’ll be just another prisoner in our messed up prison system soon enough:

Mike Carona’s fall from “America’s Sheriff” to convicted felon reached bottom Monday as a federal judge gave Orange County’s former top law enforcement officer a half-hour lecture about honesty before sentencing him to 5 1/2 years in prison for attempting to obstruct a grand jury investigation.

“I need a sheriff I can trust,” U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford told Carona. “Lying will not be tolerated in this courtroom, especially by the county’s highest-ranking law enforcement officer.” (LAT 4/28/09)

The bluster and pomposity that was the Mike Carona experience has now been replaced by former LA County deputy sheriff and FBI Academy GraduateSheriff-Coroner Sandra Hutchens.

Orange County is better off with Ms. Hutchens as Sheriff, although I imagine these will be some hard days for Carona.  He does not have a lot of fans in the prisons.

Uncategorized

Thursday Open Thread

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• The Alliance for Justice has some more information about the 501c3 status of the Mormon Church, vis a vis Proposition 8. I don’t think there is a lot to go on here, or that pushing on this is the best idea, but it is worth keeping an eye on.

• It is truly sad that the swelled ranks of the California jobless can’t get through to the unemployment office to file their claims.  I remember this being a problem the one time I used the state unemployment system several years ago, I can only imagine how impossible it is today.

• This CMR analysis touts “Obama’s hidden coattails” for Congressional candidates in California.  I believe they were hidden because there weren’t any.  Obama is the first Democrat to win the state without flipping a seat Dem since 1940.  

• The California Supreme Court made a big decision on health insurance today.  Basically the case says that ERs cannot go after patients in disputes with the insurance company. It is a big win for consumer advocates, who had argued that consumers were getting caught in the crossfire of the hospitals and the insurance companies.

• The trial of former OC Sheriff Mike “America’s Sheriff” Carona went to the jury today. We’ll let you know about the verdict just as soon as we hear.

• Expect even more stringent restrictions on smoking outside restaurant patios and doorways in Los Angeles.  It should be noted that the biggest public health benefit of the last 50 years has been cigarette taxes.  Anything that helps encourage people to quit using a substance that can kill them makes at least some sense to me, nanny-state considerations be damned.

• Newly Elected SF Supervisor David Chiu was elected Board President. He succeeds his predecessor, Aaron Peskin, in District 3 as well. Chiu was considered something of a consensus candidate. He’s a bit easier to get along with than Peskin, but will likely still take issue with the Mayor.    

Budget, Prisons

Tuesday Open Thread

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• The trial on prison overcrowding began today. This could blow another hole in our budget, or could end up in a mass release of prisoners. Either way, this is yet another sad day for a failed corrections system in the state.

• We’ve already run out of money in our fire fighting budget, and exceeded the budget allocation by over $200 million.  Tack it on to the 12Billion in deficit, I suppose.

• Jerry McNerney as the Secretary of Energy?    It seems like more rumor than fact, and his spokesman is denying any contact with Barack Obama.  But this would start a chain reaction and would likely set up a contested special election.  McNerney hasn’t been the best Congressman, but he does have fairly substantial knowledge about energy issues, particularly wind power.

• Markos has an important post on the Prop. 8 protests, the Human Rights Campaign, and grassroots politics.

• Disgraced conservative former SF Supervisor Ed Jew pleaded guilty to lying about where he lived in order to run for Supervisor. Ed Jew lasted only a few months before trying to shake down a business in the City. SF is better for his absence.

• “America’s Sheriff” Mike Carona’s exploits are getting detailed in his corruption trial. Yesterday we learned that one of his contributors got something of a “get out of jail free” card.  Fun, just like a board game!

• In election counting news, Tom McClintock’s lead over Charlie Brown is down to 562 votes, with provisionals to come, which usually favor Democrats.

Blog Roundup, Environment, Health Care, Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco

November 3, 2007 Blog Roundup and Open Thread

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Today’s Blog Roundup is on the flip. Let me know what I missed in comments, or just use this as an open thread.

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Read These

Dianne Feinstein is
Principle-Free or Actively Pro-Torture:  You make the call.
(With Bonus Jane Harman Posts)

Reflections on the SoCal
Fires

Local

Environment

All the Rest

Blog Roundup, Health Care, Orange County, San Francisco

November 1, 2007 Blog Roundup and Open Thread

Today’s Blog Roundup is on the flip. Paid work is nuts this week, so just a link dump. Look for categories to return next week. Let me know what I missed in comments, or just use this as an open thread.

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Blog Roundup, Orange County, San Francisco

October 31, 2007 Blog Roundup and Open Thread

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Today’s Blog Roundup is on the flip. I’m experiencing some ennui this evening, so it’s just a link dump. Let me know what I missed in comments, or just use this as an open thread.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger, Blog Roundup, Health Care, Orange County, San Francisco

October 30, 2007 Blog Roundup and Open Thread

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Today’s Blog Roundup is on the flip. Let me know what I missed in comments, or just use this as an open thread.

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Wildfire Coverage Winding
Down

Local News

Propositions

Health Care

Everything Else

Orange County

OC Sheriff Mike Carona indicted on federal corruption charges

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Mike Carona has ruled the Orange County Sheriff's Department with a iron fist for quite a while now. He's supported a conservative blog, however, the FlashReport isn't why Sheriff Carona was indicted, but rather for enriching himself.

Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona has been indicted on federal corruption charges stemming from a lengthy investigation into allegations that he had misused his office for financial gain, law enforcement officials said Monday. The indictment, filed under seal, is expected to be made public soon, perhaps as early as today, officials said.

A one-time close friend of Carona, former Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo, already has pleaded guilty in the case, his attorney confirmed Monday. In the plea, Jaramillo admitted that he had collected cash and gifts worth about $45,000 and had filed false income tax returns concealing the income.

The once superstar of the Orange County GOP has tough times ahead of him, and will likely have difficulty making it up the political ladder. Of course, the liberal OC has a lot more. 

Orange County

Mike Carona, “America’s Sheriff”: An Officer & A Sleazebag

Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona appointed 86 political allies, campaign contributors, friends and relatives to the sheriff’s reserve program soon after he was elected in January 1999, a supervisor who once ran the program said in a deposition released Wednesday.

Ah, the sheriff! Yes, the one who sexually harasses his female staff members! Yes, the one who loves to hang out with THE LAS VEGAS MAFIA! Yes, the one who breached the county’s top-secret anti-terrorism plans to a con-artist! Well, it looks like Mike Carona has found himself in new trouble… And this time, it’s The OC Register that’s actually reporting it!

Go ahead and follow me after the flip for the latest on our favorite perverted politician… Oops, didn’t I mean “law enforcement officer”? You know you want to… ; )

So how has this latest scandal surfaced? Well, you can thank one trigger-happy reserve officer for this!

Lt. Jeff Bardzik’s deposition was taken earlier this month as part of a $4 million lawsuit brought by two golfers who allege the sheriff’s one-time friend and former reserve deputy, Raymond Yi, flashed a reserve badge and threatened them with a department-issued gun. Bardzik testified that he recommended the sheriff’s department take away Yi’s gun and badge. Yi, whose reserve status was suspended, also faces a criminal trial June 11 for his actions.

The sheriff himself is scheduled to give a deposition in the golfers’ lawsuit. But in a motion filed May 1, Carona asked a judge to seal the testimony to stop it from being given to the media. […]

On Wednesday, Bardzik declined to comment on his deposition because of his own ongoing lawsuit against Carona, which also contains the same criticisms of the sheriff’s reserve division. The 22-year veteran also alleges he was demoted because he did not support the sheriff during the 2006 election.

Ah, isn’t Mikey Carona precious? Hasn’t he named some fantastic reserve officers? Don’t you trust these individuals with YOUR safety? Well, if Carona had continued to have his way, you probably wouldn’t be able to trust them.

An April 2001 audit by Peace Officers Standards and Training, uncovered the appointments, and most of the volunteers were decertified due to their lack of training and not passing background checks.

About 5,000 reserve officers volunteer statewide. Their duties range from crowd control to helping transport prisoners to patrolling neighborhoods. They are allowed to carry guns on duty. In Orange County, there are 240 reserve deputies, said sheriff’s Capt. Dave Wilson.

But I guess these aren’t the duties that Mikey Carona cares about! No, he has far more important things on his mind. Like patronage. Like rewarding loyalty. Like hot chicks. Like getting a little help from a few good fellas in Vegas. Yes, Sheriff Carona knows what really matters here.

And this is someone that Arnold has named as a “homeland security adviser”? This is someone that Bush considers to be a “homeland security adviser”? Cheese, louise! I guess we still can’t really consider ourselves safe.

And this is Mike Carona, “America’s Sheriff“?

Orange County

Going to Jail? Make Sure You’re Here Legally!

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Look at what I found in today’s OC Register! In case you missed it, the Orange County Grand Jury has recommended that seven Orange County cities should follow the OC Sheriff Department’s lead in conducting immigration checks in their city jails. And yes, this is for real.

All of Orange County’s large cities should follow the sheriff’s department lead and train officers to do immigration checks in their jails, a grand jury said today.

In a report on Sheriff Mike Carona’s new program that partnered with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the panel said the cities of Anaheim, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Orange, Fullerton and Garden Grove should have similar plans.

Carona won approval for his plan from the Board of Supervisors in March, although many civil rights groups were opposed to it because they feared it would lead to racial profiling.

Under an agreement with ICE, 14 deputies were trained to check the immigration status of inmates using federal databases. The plan also allows deputies to create a file on a foreign national and notify federal authorities that the inmate should be detained and possibly deported.

So what’s so bad about this? What’s so good about this? What’s the big deal about this? Follow me after the flip for more on this…

So why not do this? It will get dangerous criminals off our streets and back in their home countries! Why allow these thuggish illegal aliens to suck up any more taxpayer dollars while sitting in our comfortable jails? Why not just send the dirty criminals back to where they belong?

But why do this? Most of those immigrants in jail are incarcerated for rather minor crimes, like tagging a fire hydrant or riding a bicycle on the wrong side of the street. Does that merit being separated from one’s family indefinitely? Does a parking violation merit losing one’s job and one’s livelihood? These are poor, desperate workers trying to survive. Do they really deserve this draconian measure?

And what about those inmates who are here legally, but are unfairly targeted by this system? Is that a real problem that we will face in Orange County? Is it fair to be targeted on the basis of the color of one’s skin? Is it fair to be targeted on the basis of “looking like an illegal alien”?

What do you think about this program? Should the seven Orange County cities join the program? Should the OC Sheriff continue the program at county jail and cities that contract with the OC Sheriiffs?