Sorry but you would all be crying like a little b**** if the cops and firefighters that earn every penny they get in retirement were not there when your perfect make believe world falls apart so shut the f*** up. Until you do the job you have no idea what you are talking about. – Comment onFacebook.com/CalPolicyCenterpost, June 3, 2015

This comment, made by a California police supervisor onto the Facebook page of our organization, graphically encapsulateswhat is entirely understandable resentment on the part of public servants to a new reality – their pay and benefits are being exposed to public debate. It would be easy to dismiss this comment as inappropriate, or to merely characterize it as an example of public sector arrogance. But that would be a huge mistake.

Compared to the lives most of us are privileged to lead, public safety employees endure unrelenting stress. While it is important to be honest about rates of police and firefighter mortality and job related disabilities, the fact that many other jobs carrygreaterrisk of death or injury does not… Read More

As the lead legislative intervenor challenging an August 2009 federal court order reducing California’s prison population, I am dismayed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today in Brown v. Plata.

The decision to force California’s prisons to release 46,000 convicted felons is a historic attack on the constitutional rights of states and the liberty of all Californians.

By flooding our neighborhoods with criminals, the Court will make one of highest taxed states in the nation among the most dangerous as well, further tarnishing the California dream.

At a time when law-abiding Californians cannot find jobs, it’s hard to imagine how convicted felons will do anything other than return to a life of crime.

But at least Justice Kennedy can sleep easier at night knowing that none of these dangerous felons will be released in his neighborhood.… Read More