Man Arrested and Convicted for Using Washable Chalk at Police Protest

This week on the Street Heat radio show:

(starting at 2:35 minutes into the audio) Anyone in Fresno county who has been arrested, charged with a crime and is heading to court knows how hard it is to get competent legal assistance from the Public Defenders office. The problem is so bad that the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the county claiming that defendants are being denied their right to a fair trial. ACLU attorney Novella Coleman is the first guest on this edition of the Street Heat radio show, talking about why the lawsuit was filed, what they hope to accomplish and what will happen next.

(starting at 19:20 minutes into the audio) Brian Sumner was convicted last week of vandalism - he used washable chalk to draw attention to police accountability issues. He was sentenced this week to probation and spoke about the issues involved - free speech, allegations of malicious prosecution and police accountability. Dylan Donnelly joined Brian and talked about their website http://copblockfresno.org and other actions they are taking to embolden and educate; and to advance accountability by creating a record of police encounters.

(starting at 39:55 minutes into the audio) County Sheriff Margaret Mims announced recently that they will allow officers from Immigration Customs Enforcement to have access to Jail inmates so they can be more easily deported when released. Immigration Rights activists are not happy about this development. Find out why in this interview with Luis Ojeda on the 3rd segment of this week’s Street Heat show.

Pam Whalen is the host and Mike Rhodes is the producer and board operator.