Governors Briefs: CA. Launches Hotline to Report Hate Acts and Gov. Names Experts to San Quentin Transformation Advisory Council

Gov. Newsom Announces the Launch of CA vs Hate, a New Statewide Hotline to Report Hate Acts in California

SACRAMENTO – In response to a rise in hate crimes and at the start of Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Gov. Gavin Newsom, along with the California Civil Rights Department or CRD, May 4, announced the official launch of CA vs Hate, a new multilingual statewide hotline and website that provides a safe, anonymous reporting option for victims and witnesses of hate acts. CA vs Hate is in direct response to the rise in reported hate crimes in California, which in recent years, reached their highest levels since 2001 – jumping almost 33% from 2020 to 2021. 

Details: Visit CAvsHate.org or call 833-8-NO-HATE for resources and to report acts of hate.833-866-4283

Gov. Newsom Names Leading Criminal Justice and Public Safety Experts to San Quentin Transformation Advisory Council

SACRAMENTO — Calling on criminal justice, public safety, and rehabilitation professionals, along with justice-impacted individuals, representatives of crime victims, and survivors, Gov. Gavin Newsom May 5 announced the members of the San Quentin Transformation Advisory Council. The advisory council is tasked with assisting the administration in delivering on the Governor’s announcement to transform San Quentin State Prison by 2025 into a one-of-a-kind rehabilitation center focused on improving public safety through rehabilitation and education via a scalable “California Model” that can be utilized across the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or CDCR. 

Members of the Advisory Council include: 

Scott Budnick, Founder, Anti-Recidivism Coalition

Neil Flood, State Vice President, California Correctional Peace Officers Association

Tinisch Hollins, Executive Director, Californians for Safety and Justice

Katie James, Chief, CDCR’s Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services

Terah Lawyer-Harper, Executive Director, Creating Restorative Opportunities and Programs

Kenyatta Leal, Executive Director, Next Chapter Project

Jody Lewen, President, Mount Tamalpais College

Sam Lewis, Executive Director, Anti-Recidivism Coalition

Billie Mizell, Founder, Acting with Compassion and Truth; Chair Emeritus of the Insight Prison Project

Jonathan Moscone, Executive Director, California Arts Council

Dr. Mimi Silbert, President and CEO, Delancey Street

U.S. Marine Corps Major General James Michael Myatt (ret.)

Dr. Alison Pachynski, Chief Medical Executive, San Quentin State Prison

Chris Redlitz, Executive Director, The Last Mile

Michael Romano, Director and Founder, Three Strikes Project at Stanford University

Jesse Vasquez, Executive Director, Pollen Initiative

Additionally, the Council includes co-Chairs Dr. Brie Williams, San Quentin Warden Ronald Broomfield, and Amity president and CEO Doug Bond. They will be joined by Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who has been named the Governor’s lead adviser on this effort. In his role, Steinberg will serve as the main liaison between the advisory council and the Governor’s office.

The effort at San Quentin, never pursued at this scale in the United States, will serve as a nationwide model to advance a more effective justice system that builds safer communities. Building on justice innovation efforts taking place across CDCR — including initiatives at Valley State, Central California Women’s Facility, Salinas Valley, and California Medical Facility — the advisory council will develop an implementation plan to reimagine and strengthen programming, education and rehabilitation efforts and opportunities at San Quentin. The advisory council will recommend transformational programmatic, cultural, and physical change to San Quentin that can serve as a practical model that can be replicated and scaled to other institutions.