San Jose Inside

Law enforcement uses the state’s gang-enhancement law to crack down on violence, but a judge’s ruling in the Joshua Herrera case raises questions about its reach

THE moment before Rebecca Rivera entered the courtroom to hear whether or not her son Joshua Herrera was going to face a life sentence in prison, she gathered with 40 or so supporters, who were bustling around with nervous tension. “I talked to Joshua last night, and he wanted us all to know that whatever happens in there—he is coming home.” She began to weep, then collected herself and walked into court. The potentially devastating question that was left in her wake, the one no one dared ask, was: When? Rivera had already consoled the mother of another young man involved in the case, Alex Samarro, who had been given 23-to-life the day prior, and knew the pain she saw yesterday could be hers today.

Joshua Herrera May be Facing Life in Prison Because of an Unevaluated Gang Enhancement Law

On the steps of the Main Jail, Rebecca Rivera called out to God and her son at the same time. She asked that God save her son from a life in prison, and that her son hear her prayer. 24-year-old Joshua Herrera, housed on the fourth floor of that jail, did in fact hear his mother and the 200 or so supporters who chanted and cheered through Rebecca’s impromptu speech, many of whom also had sons, uncles, nephews somewhere in that building. And from the fourth floor, it must have been quite a sight, an unlikely movement that Rivera has pieced together since Joshua was convicted of home invasion robbery with gang enhancements in 2006. Marching alongside the Herrera family were young Chicano men who also have been labeled as gang members themselves, college students sporting their banners, firefighters who met Joshua, and about 50 leather-clad bikers sitting on Harleys that roared like they had jet engines inside them.

For some people the Christmas and New Year holidays were a little too happy; 792 arrests were made in Santa Clara County for DUI during the seasonal crackdown from December 14 until January 1, up from 716 last year. There were 165 arrests in San Jose and one death in the county related to drunk driving, down from four last year. That may seem like a lot of arrests, but I wonder how many drunk drivers didn’t get caught?

The results are in and the sound and fury are subsiding: the Mexican Heritage Plaza is still in the red, the San Jose Police Department arrests more minorities than their ratio in the population, and people are still skeptical of sports facilities. And, in a news flash from Monte Sereno, neighbors are fighting over a fence. There does not seem to be much else of excitement in the paper these days.

In honor of the New Year, I thought I would come up with New Year’s resolutions for other people since setting them for myself has proven to be as successful as the Pavilion Shops. So, here is what I envision that a few select people should vow to change in 2007.

Once again, the ugly head of gambling is raised in San Jose politics. It has been seen before.  In the eighties, in the wake of destroyed families, ruined lives, and rising crime rates, a number of people were indicted and sent to jail. Grand jury investigations were the staple of the daily news. On every level it was a tragedy. A decade ago, the “win at any cost” leaders of the Democratic Party laundered money from the Bay 101 card club into a number of local races. Two years later, the State Fair Political Practices Commission found them guilty of a number of infractions, including late reporting. In other words, the leaders of the local Democratic Party did not want the voters to know who was funding these campaigns. Secrecy was their tactic and it worked then. They never seem to learn and they have seldom been called to task for these illegal and unethical actions. Now, it is happening again—big time!

I think that we all ought to slow down and take stock of this impending election. There has certainly been a lot of heated debate on this site lately on the relative merits of the candidates for mayor. If I have it correctly, much of it is centered on two candidates, Cindy Chavez and David Pandori.  Now, partisans would have you believe that Cindy is a “do-nothing” council member, a pawn of dark forces, while Pandori is portrayed as a loner DA incapable of getting along with even his family.  Not surprisingly, the truth is very different.

It is often said that with people, their true measure is not so much how they deal with success, but how they deal with failure and adversity.  Most of us have had plenty of both in our lives and had to learn to absorb and work through it by trying to make failure, either meaningful or productive.  So it is with our city. 

Residents Immediately Lose Driving Privileges
During his visit to San Jose on Wednesday, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, in his speech to the Commonwealth Club, dropped a bomb on the residents of San Jose by not only telling them they would never get their own baseball team, but that they were also living illegally in San Jose.

Well we must be doing something right. Last week the business and Rotary members were angry that I criticized them for their silence on assorted ethics issues at City Hall. I also said then that Big Labors’ stubborn refusal to break with Terry Gregory until the key practically turned in the jailhouse door, was an act of political cowardice.  Pure partisanship had trumped the interests of the people of San Jose.