In a unanimous ruling on September 28, California’s Second District Court of Appeal announced that the San Louis Obispo District Attorney’s Office cannot prosecute seven Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters because the District Attorney’s “well publicized association with critics of the Black Lives Matter Movement.” According to the North Coast Times, in July of 2020 Tianna Arata allegedly lead roughly 300 BLM demonstrators onto Highway 101, blocking all lanes for an hour. Some of the demonstrators attacked cars, smashing the window of one car with a skateboard, shattering glass on a four-year-old child in the back seat. Arata was charged with a felony and several misdemeanors. Six other BLM protesters were also charged. But, later that year, Superior Court Judge Matthew Guerreo disqualified Dow and every prosecutor in his office, citing a campaign email from Dow and his wife which stated that the District Attorney was leading the fight against the “wacky defund the police movement and anarchist groups that are trying to undermine the rule of law and public safety in our community.”
Dow appealed that ruling, and the court of appeal upheld it. The attorney representing BLM told reporters “We got exactly what we wanted our of this,” and noted that all four of the judges involved were white men and three had “reputations as conservatives.”
It is correct that BLM got what they wanted; a ruling prohibiting a district attorney who denounces anti-law enforcement policies and lawbreakers in an email from prosecuting demonstrators breaking the law for a political cause. The lawyer’s statement about the judges is partially correct. They are white men. But Matthew Guerrero was a public defender before Governor Jerry Brown appointed him to the Superior Court in 2018. Appeals Court Justice Arthur Gilbert was appointed to the court by Governor Jerry Brown in 1982. Justice Steven Perren was appointed to the Superior Court by Governor Jerry Brown in 1982 and elevated to the court of appeal by Governor Grey Davis in 1999. Former public defender Kenneth Yeagan was appointed to the Municipal Court by Governor Jerry Brown on January 3, 1983. He was elevated to the court of appeal by Governor George Deukmejian. All of these judges were appointed to the bench by the most anti-law enforcement Governor in California history, Jerry Brown. Two were elevated to the appellate court by Brown, one by his former Chief of Staff Grey Davis, and one by pro-law enforcement Governor George Deukmejian.
The things BLM demonstrators did in many, if not most, of the big cities where George Floyd protests were held, included violations of the law for crimes like arson, assault, vandalism, looting and eighteen deaths. Progressive District Attorneys and Mayors in “woke” cities including Los Angeles, New York, Minneapolis and Seattle chose not to enforce the law and arrest the rioters. In many smaller communities like San Louis Obispo, District Attorneys and Mayors did crack down on demonstrators, protecting residents and businesses. Progressives are unlawfully attempting to make an example out of the San Louis Obispo DA for doing this.
The appellate court ruling should be appealed.
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