ACORN’s behavior was `highly inappropriate’ but not criminal in California, Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown says

California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown said in a report Thursday that the community organizing group ACORN engaged in "highly inappropriate behavior" in the state but violated no criminal law.

Brown's office launched an investigation of ACORN's California operations at the request of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last September after the release of videos that appeared to show ACORN employees advising people about how to engage in prostitution and other other illegal activity.

ACORN — the Assn. of Community Organizations for Reform Now — disbanded Thursday after months of controversy over the videos and various government investigations.

Started in Arkansas in 1970, ACORN expanded around the nation with community offices working on such issues as affordable housing and voter registration. ACORN had 13 offices in California and 40,000 members.

"ACORN in California was disorganized and very poorly managed," Brown's report said. "It failed to recruit, train and monitor its employees to ensure compliance with California law."

Brown said some ACORN employees made suggestions about how to avoid criminal activity when approached by James O'Keefe III, a political filmmaker, and Hannah Giles, a Florida college student, who posed as a pimp and prostitute in meetings with ACORN workers from July 24 to Aug. 14, 2009. But the "most offensive" statements by ACORN workers occurred outside California, the report said.

In fact, one ACORN worker in San Diego even called the police about the couple, and another worker in San Bernardino treated the meeting as a joke, the report said.

"The evidence illustrates that things are not always as partisan zealots portray them through highly selective editing of reality," Brown said. "Sometimes a fuller truth is found on the cutting room floor."

Brown's office gave O'Keefe and Giles immunity from a state privacy law that prevents unauthorized taping in exchange for a complete set of their videos, the report said. It noted that persons who were taped without their knowledge could sue in civil court.

The report said ACORN probably violated state civil laws by disposing thousands of pages containing confidential information about employees, members and other individuals, failing to file a 2007 state tax return and engaging in four instances of possible voter registration fraud in San Diego.

ACORN also was unable to document how it used charitable funds raised for the victims of Southern California wildfires, the report said. But the probe "determined that ACORN spent more than it likely raised for the fire victims and therefore further action into this issue is not a wise use of the state's resources," the report said.

--Maura Dolan in San Francisco

Photo: L.A. Times file

Comments

[David Gillespie]

Jerry Brown is a screaming left wing liberal sissy. Of course he will side with ACORN. Had this issue involved a conservative group, the story would be much different.

[Jim Green]

Since when is conspiricy to commit tax fraud or conspiricy to commit child abuse or Rico violations with the chain of election law violations not illegal. I guess when you have a liberal Democrat like Jerry Brown as your Attorney General.

Funny though, just talking about crimes seemed to be enough to arrest the "Christian" Militia men.

[Curtis Dobbins]

Can anyone put any trust in a man who uses lawyer-speak to hide the truth. Fraud is a civil and criminal violation. Yet who knows that. So Jerry says its not criminal and creates a "dispute." But fraud often carries a felony conviction, even in civil cases. For instance, if an employer does not pay prevailing wages to his employees for their work on public projects, that is a felony. So even Jerry's proposition that Acorn didn't commit criminal offenses may be formally wrong. But since it is debateble, the progressive will hide behind the "dispute." They are rats carrying fleas.

[West Valley Dave]

AG Moonbeam is just a socialist covering for a criminal socialist enterprise. Instead of his inactivity he should have closed them down completely. Is this what YOU want to see from our next governor?

[Hostile Knowledge]

In the world of "progressivism," there is no such thing as criminal behavior.

Any ends justifies the means.

[David I]

I can understand why the Attorney General Jerry Brown would not want to investigate ACORN. This was an organization that was funded by tax payers dollars, to promote the advocacy of the democratic party while conducting voter registration. It was a common complaint, during the last presidential election.
Also as soon as the new congress took office at the beginning of last year, one of the first things that was passed was legislation to fund ACORN for there services.
If our Attorney General opened this can of worms, it possibly could expose the corruption of this process.
All the democrats want is for ACORN to go away quietly, which it has. I think there is a much bigger political scandal here, that is now being swept under the rug.

[Rick H.]

Well duh. Expecting a dem to say ACORN did anything illegal is like expecting Hitler to say the brown shirts did anything illegal. ACORN staff are the dems foot soldiers on the street.

[Russell]

Of course Jerry would believe his own double speak! All the other idiots here in Cali will vote for him to be the Gov. Please help us with the insanity.

[My opinon means nothing]

I would guess that David Gillespie, Jim Green, and Curtis Dobbins are one in the same. Sort of like an unholy trinity! I can tell this just from looking at the post times. Your real names must be Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Riely, and Glen Beck!

[Zach]

Gotta love how any mention of ACORN brings the venomous partisans oozing out of the woodwork. Why, of course they know better than some "Moonbeam" AG, they saw a video on Youtube!

Oh, but hold your accusations of left-wing socialism, because this commenter is also happy to see ACORN disbanded. Obviously their whole organization had let its standards go (which is all these bits of anecdotal evidence against them real shows), fortunately they shut down before we had to waste federal time and money on making it happen.

[ReMark]

The haters are out in force. Brown's report criticized ACORN but couldn't find evidence of criminal violations. What did show up was that ACORN staff were "caught" doing the right thing, including referring the filming couple to the police for its advocacy of illegal activity.
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If anything, Brown leaned over backwards by giving immunity to the two who secretly (and in violation of California law) taped the exchanges.
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ACORN haters exemplify the ideologues who find a button of truth and then create a fictional coat around it.

[Jeff G]

ACORN did not disband, they just reformed under a new name - ACCE (Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment ). Its smoke and mirrors, and Jerry Brown isn't going to hurt his best hope to reach the Govenor's Mansion again. They maybe crooks but to Dems like Brown and the Obama rable that doesn't matter.

[Steve]

There is no question ACORN is a criminal entity that uses our taxes (approved by criminal supporters in congress)to promote Democratic/progressive/liberal causes. It would be as criminal if it were a Republican/conservative association, but would be handled completely different by Jerry and his merry band of losers. Folks how can we allow these types of people to govern us when they are so corrupt?
Modern liberalism-- the smug and self-rightous assurance that it is virtuous to spend other people's money, and then to dismiss them when they have the gall to complain about it.