Jamiel's Law fails to qualify for ballot

Supporters of a proposed Los Angeles voter initiative that would allow police to arrest illegal-immigrant gang members solely for being in the country illegally failed to collect enough petition signatures to qualify the measure for the May ballot, officials said today.

Only 18,559 signed petitions were turned in – a fraction of the 73,963 required, said Jinny Pak, of the Los Angeles City Clerk’s office. Officials in the elections office didn’t even bother to sample the petitions to determine how many of the signatures were valid registered voters because so few were turned in, she said. Backers of the proposed law can continue to circulate petitions to qualify the measure for a future ballot.

Read the rest after the jump.

--Phil Willon

The next city election is in March 2011, although the measure could be included in an earlier county election or even a special election, Pak said. The proposed law was named after 17-year-old Los Angeles High School football player Jamiel Shaw II, who was gunned down in March allegedly by a reputed gang member who was in the country illegally.

The measure would modify the Los Angeles Police Department's Special Order 40, which prohibits officers from initiating contact with individuals for the sole purpose of determining whether they are illegal immigrants.

Comments

[Angeleno]

God bless Jamiel's family. My heart aches for their loss. But let us not use Jamiel's memory to create more divisions among the residents of Los Angeles. Changes to Special Order 40, as our own Chief of Police has said, would actually result in more unsolved crime and less victims and witnesses willing to come forward. Angelenos need to learn how to live together as a community, as a family. And a family needs to integrate all of its members, not reject them.

[tony]

Getting rid of gang members would be great in it's self. Getting rid of illegal-immigrant gang members would be fantastic. California law makers are WIMPS

[The Truth Hurts Sometimes]

Yes, anyone with a heart can't help but feel for the family. However in their blinding grief, they refused to accept that their son had gang ties, and that it was a factor in his killing. In the process, they publicly slandered a well respected Deputy DA who had done nothing but tell them the truth about their son's affiliations prior to trial. Remember all that controversy? It snowballed with talk radio hosts vilifying the DA daily, before anyone (outside the law enforcement) really knew the evidence. The Deputy DA was removed from the case and suffered continued personal attacks. Once the trial started, the evidence corroborated Jamiel's gang affiliation. It was reported widely in the news, but the parents STILL refused to acknowledge or accept that truth. Understandable for a parent to have a hard time accepting such a thing, I'm sure. But it's truly atrocious (and even criminal) that certain 'talking heads' in TV and radio broadcasting didn't retract their positions and apologize for their barrage of slanderous statements. A nice public vindication from head DA Cooley himself would have been appropriate...

[Dina]

You need to keep trying. We are behind you.

[Michael]

Where's that petition? I want to sign.

What's all this garbage about fracturing Angelenos? It you're here illegally, then get out. If you're not going to leav on your own, we'll kick you out.

Stop enabling people to break the law.

[Carlos]

I personally think that as a latino community or any immigrant community we should applaud and support these efforts for far too long we have seen people come to this country for a better life and I applaud that but unfortunatly we have others who take advantage of others who have no voice. I think if you are in a gang no matter you have lost your rights because all you do is take the rights of others away by itimidation, extortion and so forth. If this law even takes one gang member of the street it is worth it

[El Guapo]

It's easy for Angeleno and like others to make such assessments on whether or not the changs to 40 would create 'any' divisions. I doubt Angeleno or anyone else would feel that way if it was their son taken out by some vermin that should never even have been here or if Angeleno had been run down by some drunk illegal on the street. No other peoples or legal system in the world would tolerate this INVASION by criminals; least of all Mexico.

[Robert]

Someone said they refused to accept that their son had gang ties, and that it was a factor in his killing. How do you know. You state this as though it were proven fact. Are you some kind of all knowing insider? You look like a professional spin doctor to me. Didn't work.

[Godot]

I agree. All non-Native American gang members should be exported back to their countries of origin. If there are multiple countries, then one can be chosen at random.

[roy]

We Americans were negligent about our own immigration laws for so long that really, it's unfair to enforce them as-is now. We reaped the benefit of cheap, compliant labor, and in return they boosted the economy. We can't really be allowed "take backs", it's fundamentally unfair.

Congress must pass new laws which take into consideration the human rights of those immigrants who came here, boosted our economy, and didn't break the law. After all, 99 per cent of native born citizens are descended from people who came here without papers.

[GetOUT]

Angeleno | December 11, 2008 at 11:27 AM----

Something YOU and those like you have a DIFFICULT time understanding the meaning of ILLEGAL.

Just to help you out, ILLEGAL means you have NO, ZERO rights to be in this country PERIOD. So, that means if you don't like changes to the laws made by citizens in THEIR own country...leave.

Special order 40 is nothing but a cover for ALL illegal aliens in Los Angeles, it should be removed entirely. I am sick to death of the fake sob stories about "poor illegal aliens". They have done nothing but turn our city/State into a living hell.

I for one would sanction the removal of them ALL by force if given the choice.

And I am LATINO!

[Franklly....]

Ship them back home. They would be doing their families and this State a huge favor.

Plus the gangsters in Mexico could recruit them.

[anybody's business]

we already have enough crime in this city wihtout the inclusion of illegals so yes, the law should be passed before another one murders and flees the country! don't give up, walter moore and family!

[dot]

Are there two different Jamiel's Law being talked about ?

1. Police are not going to stop and ask about gang members status.

2. Zine's amendment was to have their status checked once they did
something to go to jail, something is not being explain to the people,
this amendment would still get they off the street and deported

[Arthur]

Walter Moore, who authored this bill, has said that Jamiel's family had gathered 76,000 signatures. Where's the other 57,000 signatures that have yet to be turned in??? Is the system rigged so that Jamiel's Law wouldn't go into the ballot??

[dot]

Are there two different Jamiel's Law being talked about ?

1. Police are not going to stop and ask about gang members status.

2. Zine's amendment was to have their status checked once they did something to go to jail, something is not being explain to the people, this amendment would still get they off the street and deported

[Another Latino]

For the "Angelenos need to learn how to live together as a community, as a family." bs. Community is a buzz word that means nothing.

You need to go to school, do your homework, obey the laws, work hard, get a job, go to the job 5 days a week and take care of yourself and your family.

[DRE DAWG]

Then we push on for the next election and get this on the ballot!!!! Jamiel was murdered because he was black...that's the end of the story. But no one talks about it, especially the news. Latino gang members, especially those who are mexican, are targeting young, blacks (irregardless if they are in a gang, but most especially so) and killing them. And in response, black gang members are killing latinos in retribution. There is a WAR out there and everyone from our do-nothing Mayor to our community leaders are ignoring it because it's "devisive." Jamiel's Law targets gang members who are already on LAPD's watch for being in a gang. Their information is already there in the database. Support this Law so we can instantly send illegal, gang members packing. The illegals who come over to work and send money back to their families, they're fine. The illegals who come over to become community terrorists, they need to get out!!!!

[DingTank]

What is the relavence that Shaw had ties or not?

Absolutely none.

At best, this is just another example of rationalizing away bad behavior by pointing to other bad behavior.

If I could do that, then I'd have a group of vigilantes running the streets taking out people that I thought were hurting society in ways I thought was important to me.

[Disgusted]

This was not well publicized at all. The LAT is so sympathetic to the plight of people who are in this country illegally that they ran the story about it on the day of the deadline.

Shameful.

[Had it up to here!]

to: THE TRUTH HURTS SOMETIMES. Who are you? And just how do you know that Jamiel had ties to gangs? This is not a proven fact.

By the way,. I smell corruption here. What happened to the 76,000+ signatures? How can the city clerk say there's only 18,000 when the Shaws turned in 76,000+ ? What's going on?

And I say to the illegals ... if you're here illegally, then get out. You have NO RIGHTS.. NONE.

No other country tolerates this invasion of illegals. The leaders in this country need to be voted out of office, because they are NOT doing their jobs. They should put the US citizens first, not last.

[A Latino in 90041]

Sad to see it didn't make the city ballot, but this is not like a court case where it's over and done; another petition aimed at the county or state level is another option. Lots of people wanted to sign this petition but it was restricted to voters registered in the City of L.A.. Another petition that would include all registered voters should not be so tough to manage and now that there's a little more experience in getting peitition signatures, the next task would be less formidable.

For the younger readers, Sp. Order 40 is an LAPD policy adopted in 1979 when the illegal immigration condition was an entirely different picture. Then, in weighing the choice between a no-enforcement/ no-risk for contacts with police for the sake of a greater good in crime-fighting vs. anyone illegal is at risk and they might become invisible meant something different.

The balance has changed and you really don't see data to support the theory that was applied to justify the policy. I thnk the LAPD brass just doesn't want to add another layer of responsibility to the street cops when the federal and local agencies do not have the capacity to work together well. More work means more time off the street doing reports and contacts with ICE. That can and should be improved.

LAPD bosses see that there's no benefit for them to take on more roles; Keep it simple and stay out of immigration issues. They adopt the theme- we are already stretched too thin as it is. Add to this the other reply they use, something I first heard in the early 1970's from Freddie Prinze (Sr.) in NBC's "Chico and the Man," "It's not my job, man."

We need to make it their job for the safety of us all. Who can justify allowing more murders at the hands of certain criminals who should not be here?

[Michael]

The head of the Jamiel's Law effort, Althea Shaw, reports there appears to be some major discrepancies in how the city handled the processing and the custody of the petitions. Sounds like straight out of the Al Franken race or the Governor's office in Chicago.

[Concerned American]

It wasn't even Althea Shaw who was heading this "effort"; it was Walter Moore, who only put forth this so-called law to grab some attention for himself, since he just so happens to also be running for Mayor.

[American Patriot]

There is no such thing as an "illegal immigrant". The U.S. Constitution does not grant the federal government any authority to create or enforce immigration laws.

Walter Moore is an idiot and he tried to use local police to enforce federal laws, and worse than that, illegitimate and unconstitutional federal laws. This was a thinly veiled attempt to enforce the racism of Walter Moore and his very few supporters.

I am happy this went down in flames. It's not the role of L.A. police to enforce federal law, especially when it's an illegitimate law. Walter Moore tried to create an illegitimate law to enforce yet another illegitimate law. He should be ashamed, but since he is shamelessly stupid, he probably won't be.