Resolution No. 2956
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.1 RESOLUTION NO. 2956
2 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF VERNON, URGING
THE ADOPrIONf:: OF THE LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS INITIATED BY THE
3 DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES AS OF FEBRUARY 1,
1968.
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5 THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF VERNON RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
6 WHEREAS, the District Attorney of the County of Los
7 Angeles has communicated with the City Council of the City of
8 Vernon under letter dated March 18, 1968, urging the adoption of
9 legislative proposals recommended by the Office of the District
10 Attorney, said proposals being dated February 1, 1968, and
111 WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Vernon, having
12 studied said legislative proposals deems the adoption of such
13 proposals to be for the benefit of the inhabitants of the City of
14 Vernon, and for the benefit of other persons who engage in
15 occupations within the City of Vernon,
16 NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF VERNON
17 DOES RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
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SECTION 1: The City Council of the City of Vernon does
19 hereby urge the Legislature of the State of California to enact as
20 State law the legislative proposals urged by Evel1eJ. Younger,
21 District Attorney of the County of Los Angeles, said proposals
22 dated February 1, 1968, and involving the subjects of pandering
23 pornography, juvenile pornography, prosecution felony appeals,
24 grand jury, and arrest records.
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SECTION 2: The City Clerk of the City of Vernon shall
26 certify to the passage of this resolution, and thereupon and
271 thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
281 ADOPTED and APPROVED this 16th day of April, 1968.
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.. F. ...<~emer,CitY
Clerk
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.1 STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
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2; COUNTY.. OF LOS ANGELES )
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4 I, F. A. ZIEMER, City Clerk of the City of Vernon, do
5 hereby certify that the foregoing resolution, being Resolution
6 No. 2956, was duly adopted by the City Council of the City of
7 Vernon, and approved by the Mayor of said City at a regular
8 meeting of the City Council held on April 16, 1968.
City Clerk
2.
SUPPORTING
DOCUMENTS
c c : Creedon
CITY OF VERNON
CALIFQRNIA
April 18, 1968
M%'. Ivelle, J. YounP'l', Qi.triet Attorn.,.
County of Las Aft,.t..
6OC) Hall of Justice
Los Attgel.-. ,Califorilia 90012
n.ar Sir:
lneloaedpleaaefinda certified copy of. Re$olutton
80. No. 2956- AIESO:t.UTION Of THE CrrYCOUNCIL (W !'HI' CITY OF
VDNON, UJ,OINCTUAOOPrtON' or THE LlCISLATIVBPROPOSAlS
IHITIAT,ID .!'ml DISTRICT ATTORNEY Of THE COUNTY at to$ANGlLBS
ASOP FEBaUAaY I, .1968, ,...ich wa. adopted by the City Council
,at it. regular .etlq of ,April 16, 1968.
Youravftytruly.
PAZ: 11.
F. Ail Ziemer,
City Clerk
eme.
cc: A....blyman FloydL. Wakefteld
52nd District
4160StateCapf.tol
Sacramento, California 95814
Senator 'Lawencel. Walsh
Thtrtieth District
SOS9StateC.pitol
SaC1:'ametlto, Califomia 95814
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COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY
RE,CE,IVED
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600 HALL OF .J USTICE
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORN IA 90012
F. A. ZIEMER
CITY CLERK
EVELLE J. YOUNGER,DISTRICTATTORNEY
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March 18, 1968
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The City Council
City of Vernon
City Hall
4305 Santa Fe Avenue
Vernon, California 90058
Attention: Mr. F. A. Ziemer, City Clerk
Gentlemen:
As the District Attorney of Los Angeles County, I believe that
there are specific legislative remedies available to provide
the citizens of the County with the type of law enforcement
and criminal justice to which they are entitled. To this end,
my office has proposed this year, as in past years, a specific
program of Legislative Proposals which you will find attached
hereto and which we feel cover areas of particular importance.
In the 1967 Legislative Session, our office was able to present
to the State Legislators the written endorsements of our
legislative proposals not only from major civic, fraternal,
labor and other community groups, but also endorsements by
resolution of the maj ority of the City Councils in the County
of Los Angeles. In all likelihood, your city was included.
Endorsements of' this type were probably the single most
effective influence persuading the legislators of 1967 to pass
the majority of our Legislative Proposals.
I am again asking that your city join with me and the majority
of the citizens in Los Angeles County in active support to
secure passage of the attached Legislative Proposals. If at
your next r~gular session the honorable members of your City
Council will consider and support this program, I am sure we
will be able to perform a better service to the citizens of
Los Angeles County in the difficult war against crime.
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Enclosure
E\lEti.E J
YOUNGER
D I !i T Il , C T
ATTORNEy
LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS
E'ebruary 1, 1968
As District Attorney of Los Angeles County I
believe that there are certain problems confronting the
citizens of this state in the administration of criminal
justice which can only be solved by the State Legislature.
To that end, I have selected a limited number of areas in
which I intend to press for remedial legislation. It is
important that all citizens be aware of these items so
that they can lend their active support to secure passage
of the necessary laws. There will be many bills introduced
in the Legislature, but the following appear to be of
particular importance.
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WELLE J. YOONGER .- I
District Attorney
County of Los Angeles
PANDERING PORNOGRAPHY BILL
Bill
An act to amend Penal Code section 311, subdivision a, relating
to the definition of "obscenity," and Penal Code section 311.5,
relating to the advertisement of matter represented or held out
to be obscene.
Effect
This bill will serve the following two purposes~
(a) It will codify United States Supreme Court
decisions which permit evidence of pandering
to be considered in determining the nature of
the matter and its lack of redeeming social
importance.
(b) It will redefine the crime of advertising
matter represented or held out to be obscene
so as to include persons who promote the sale,
distribution or exhibition of such matter.
Background
This bill will permit the prosecution to offer into evidence
ways by which a publisher, in promoting material, has exploited
and pandered such material for its prurient appeal. This is
simply a codification of a rule which was enunciated by the
United States Supreme Court, and which will assist in the pro-
secution of the large-scale producers and publishers of obscene
materials -- a multi-million dollar business.
The second portion of the bill results from a prior California
appellate court decision holding that, under present existing
law, Penal Code section 311.5 makes it criminal for a person to
solicit someone else to promote the sale or distribution of
matter represented or held out to be obscene, but does not cover
a person who himself engages in such promotion. This appellate
decision resulted from an apparently inadvertent omission of
draftsmanship in the language originally enacted as Penal Code
section 311.5.
The present amendment overcomes what appears to be an obvious
oversight originally on the part of the Legislature. It is
difficult to believe that the Legislature intended to permit a
person to do things himself, without any criminal liability,
for which he was made criminally punishable if others were to
do these very same things at his request.
Senate Bill No. 134
JUVENILE PORNOGRAPHY BILL
Bill
An act to add chapter 7.6 (commencing with Section 313) to
ti tIe 9 of part 1 of' the Penal Code, relating to distribution
of harmful matter to children.
Effect
This bill will make it a misdemeanor
(a) to knowingly sell, distribute or loan harmful
matter to a person under the age of 18;
(b) to knowingly sell to a person under the age
of 18 an admission ticket . . . to premises
whereon there is exhibited "harmful matter;"
(c) to knowingly send to a person under the age
of 18 . . . an advertisement offering to sell
. . . any matter ,,,,hich is in fact harmful or
which is represented or held out to be harmful.
"Harmful matter" is defined as ~;matter whose description, or
representation, or both, of nudity, sex, or sexually deviant
practices taken as a whole (i) predominantly appeals to the
prurient, shameful, or morbid interest of minors in nudity,
sex, or sexually deviant practices; (ii) is patently offen-
sive to contemporary standards in the adult community as a
whole with respect to the suitability of such description or
representation for minors; and (iii) is of slight redeeming
social importance for minors" II
The bill provides exceptions for public libraries, parent-child
transactions and, under certain circumstances, motion picture
projectionists, as well as protecting those who in good faith
inadvertently sell or furnish harmful matter to persons under
the age of 18.
Background
This bill attempts to stem the indiscriminate flow of porno-
graphic material to minors emanating from sources whose only
Concern with what they sell, or to whom they sell it, is the
profits involved. Rather than permitting persons to sell
anything they choose to children, this law would protect a
parent's right to determine what his child should see or read,
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GRAND JURY
Bill
An act to amend various sections of the Government Code and
Penal Code relating to Grand Juries.
Effect
To permit the empaneling of additional Grand Juries for
specific assignments by the court on its own motions or at
the request of the District Attorney.
Background
Historically, each county in the State of California has had
just one Grand Jury which serves for a full year.
The Grand Jury has had essentially two roles~ (1) that of
investigating and examining the operation of the various
governmental agencies within the County, and (2) hearing
evidence of criminal charges and deliberating upon the
finding of indictments.
Experience in the County of Los Angeles with its large pop-
ulation and numerous large governmental departments has shown
that one Grand Jury cannot effectively handle all of its
assigned tasks without a tremendous burden upon the time of
the members of the Grand Jury.
There are many criminal cases which could and should be
handled by the Grand Jury if time and the schedule of the
Jury will permit. rlany times this has not been possible.
If this suggested machinery were established it would permit
the District Attorney to request the court, or would permit
the court on its own motion, to impanel additional Grand
Juries within the County for the purpose of hearing specific
cases or undertaking specific investigations. This would in
turn allow the main Grand Jury to devote more of its time to
its assigned duties of investigating into the operating of
County government and to make a more significant contribution
to the administration of criminal justice.
Assembly Bill No. 193
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ARREST RECORDS
Since his election in 1964, the District Attorney has had this
office involved in continuing efforts to develop legislation
to provide meaningful relief to persons who have been arrested,
but who are actually innocent of any wrongdoing.
\le feel that through our efforts, and in conjunction with the
Senate J~diciary Committee, a bill will be forthcoming that
will provide a method whereby innocent persons will be relieved
of the stigma of an arrest record, and at the same time pre-
serving law enforcement's interest in the integrity of its
records system.
while simultaneously affording adequate protection to those
who in good faith attemp.t to comply \vith the law.
This bill does not attempt to limit or censor in any way
materials adults may desire to read or view. Nor does it
limit or censor in any way what materials parents may furnish
to their children, or what juveniles may legitimately obtain
through their school or public library.
Hather, it establishes a community determined constitutional
standard as to what material can be furnished to minors from
such sources as newsstands and mail order houses. This stand-
ard is different in intent and purpose from that applied to
transactions between adults.
The use of a standard for juveniles which is more restrictive
than that applicable to adults is constitutionally permissible
in the light of the state I s concern for protecting the ".[ell-
being of its youth.
Our society has long recognized its right and duty to protect
minors from physical hazards to their health' and welfare.
For that reason, the sale of tobacco and liquor to minors has
long been prohibited and the working conditions of minors
regulated. It is just as important and right that we should
now protect the mental health and morals of our juveniles in
their formative years from exposure to pornographic materials.
This bill, which was drafted and prepared by our office, has
been introduced into the Legislature.
Senate Bill No. 124
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PROSECUTION FELONY APPEALS BILL
Bill
An act to amend Penal Code section 1238, relating to appeals
by the People of the State of California.
Effect
This bill would permit the p:cosecution to appeal from llan
order or judgment dismissinsr or other\elise terminating the
action before the defendant has been placed in jeopardy or
where the defendant has waived jeopardy.'i (Jeopardy is that
time in a criminal case where -the Constitution prohibits
proceeding with another trial of a defendant after the pre-
vious trial has been terminated. In other words, the defen-
dant cannot be retried~ If the defendant has waived jeopardy,
the People may try him again.
Background
At the present time the prosecution may appeal the dismissal
or termination of a misdemeanor case before the defendant
has been placed in jeopardy or when the defendant has waived
jeopardy. There is no evidence that this provision has re-
sulted in any abuse or undue hardship upon defendants.
Instead, it has permitted the adjudication of the truth in
misdemeanor cases in accordance with a correct application
of the law. The provision relating to misdemeanors, in
effect, authorizes appeals only on questions of law and not
on questions of fact, since the prosecution cannot appeal
from an acquittal.
Yet in felony cases, the right of the prosecution to appeal
is more limited despite the fact that the harm to society
may be much greater if the person charged with a felony is
erroneously permitted to evade the proper administration of
justice. The bill would grant the prosecution the same
rights in felonies as it now is granted in misdemeanors.
No problem of jeopardy is involved, since there must either
be a dismissal or termination of the action before jeopardy,
or the defendant must have waived his right to claim jeopardy.
The net effect of the bill will be to provide more equal
justice to all, since it will insure that all those who
allegedly violate the law will be subject to the proper
application of the law. The bill will thus prevent unequal
protection of the law due to misapplication of the law.
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RESOLUTION RE
LEGISLATION AFFECTING LAU ENFORCEMENT
~~HEREAS it is the duty of every citizen to help law enforcement
~rotect people from crime, and
i-THEREAS there is a need for better laws to deal with today's
crime problems, and
~:mEREAS the District Attorney of Los Angeles County, Evelle J.
Younger, together with police agencies and others in law
enforcement, will back some new legal measures to make it
easier to fight crime, and
WHEREAS the
has~studied the Dtstrict
(Name or Organization)
Attorney's proposals for new laws
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the
(Name of Organization)
strongly supports the enactment of each of the proposals
contained in the attached pamphlet entitled i;Legislative
Proposals.1i
(Signature and title of officer)
(Address)
(Phone)
(Date)
Upon approval please send to:
Hank Quevedo
Office of the District Attorney
Room 615, Hall of Justice
Los Angeles, California 90012
10M-2-68
SACRAMENTO ADDRESS
4160 STATE CAPITOL..
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. 95914
TELEPHONE: 445-7852
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DISTRICT OFFICE
7707 STATE STREET
HUNTINGTON PARK, CALIF. 90255
TELEPHONE: 582-0939
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Qhdifornht 1fi~BizIatur~
COMMITTEES
CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
CONSERVATION AND WILDLIFE
NATURAL RESOURCES, PLANNING,
AND PUBLIC WORKS
REPLY TO: 0 DISTRICT
o CAPITOL
FLOYD L. W AKEFI ELD
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ASSEMBLYMAN. FIFTY.SECOND DISTRICT
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April 29, 1968
Mr. F. A. ziemer
City Clerk
City Hall
Vernon, California
Dear Mr. Ziemer:
Thank you for sending me a copy of the
Resolution urging adoption of the legislative proposals
initiatied by the District Attorney of the county of
Los Angeles as of February 1, 1968, which was adopted
by the Council on April 16, 1968.
I appreciate having this information.
FLW:mt