Rivers

Since we’re talking about California in general and San Francisco in particular it’s probably difficult to surprise us anymore when some crazytown news crops up, but this item from the San Francisco Gate should still raise a few eyebrows. A Superior Court judge out there found himself explaining why he had tossed out more than 66,000 arrest warrants last year and essentially stopped issuing new ones for what are frequently described as “quality of life crimes.”

San Francisco’s chief judge says he and his colleagues discarded 66,000 arrest warrants issued over five years for quality-of-life crimes, like sleeping on the sidewalk, because it made no sense to lock people up for fines they couldn’t afford.

The crimes, which also include urinating on sidewalks and being drunk in public, are infractions punishable only by fines. But when those who were cited failed to show up in court, judges in the past have issued bench warrants ordering them to appear, with a sentence of five days in jail for failing to show up.

But San Francisco Superior Court judges stopped issuing the warrants a year ago and recently disposed of about 66,000 bench warrants issued since January 2011. The city’s police union and some members of the public have protested, but Presiding Judge John Stewart defended the court’s action Tuesday in a meeting with The Chronicle’s editorial board.

These are primarily crimes involving vagrancy, public intoxication and other low level crimes which nonetheless tend to detract from the quality of life in the community. And that’s why the generic description is so ironic here. The actual “quality of life” issue under discussion isn’t that of the defendants who were found to be urinating in front of the diner or sleeping on a park bench.

boatbob2

The LAST time I was in San Francisco,and seen all the BUMS,sleeping on the sidewalks,in front of large department stores,and the pan handlers,I vowed to NEVER return,it used to be Fruits and Nuts,now,its fruits,nuts,bums,panhandlers,queers,and dopers.

Rivers

Same here! It has been years since I visited SF, and it was full of nutbags, fruitcakes, hippies, and queers back then. I vowed to never ever spend another nickel in that weird city. and I haven't. In fact I won't even visit CA for the same reasons.

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

Why would that be surprising? After all, until 2013 San Francisco allowed public nudity all the time and in all places including restaurants and in doctors waiting rooms. the only requirement was that you bring a towel to sit on so you don't spread disease. Now there are only special times, like bicycle races, motorcycle races for dykes on bikes, all "gay pride" events, and as I understand it all "gay bars". The change came about, as Paul has stated because tourists found public nudity unacceptable. There is no reason for most normal people to desire to visit the modern Sodom.

reconreb Loc: America / Inglis Fla.

Well ,, Calif. has cow farts to tackle ,, no time for pee in San Franfreakshow right now ..

PoppaGringo Loc: Muslim City, Mexifornia, B.R.

They also defecate on the sidewalks.

Coos Bay Tom Loc: coos bay oregon

The same is going on in Portland.--Very discouraging

waltmoreno

I live part-time on a large catamaran moored in Sausalito when I'm not on my farm up in wine country. When I look across the bay and see San Francisco, I always think of it as Babylon. Babylon means confusion and that's what I see in San Francisco. I avoid going there unless I absolutely have to. It's most definitely a modern day Sodom.

J.A.F.I.1946

Still waiting for the big earthquake to solve most of the BS in California. San Andreas? just thinkin'

BDOG

Nature has a way of cleaning itself up.

mongo Loc: TEXAS

I've always wondered about that. I thought that they just had really big dogs, good to know!

SEMPER FI

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

San Francisco has, at least the last time I heard a requirement that dog owners clean up after their dogs with a fine of at least $50.00 according to friends who went to San Francisco for a dog show, and said she would never return. There was so much nudity in town that she and her teen age kids found it appauling, but that was in 2010.

thinksense

The people who wrote the above posts are exaggerating shamefully. I guess this is “pile on” California week.

I admit that things have changed from the beautiful, clean State that we had when I first moved here, but that has come mainly from the huge influx of coloured, and brown races that has more than tripled our population since those early times. These races have been shown to harbor a multitude of very low intelligence level people. The large contingent of lower class blacks do not take care of their neighborhoods, in fact they trash them, and whenever they move into an area it shortly becomes a slum. The same can be said for the small contingent of lower class Mexicans. And the upper class of both these people are very embarrassed and angry about that, but can’t do much to mitigate it. Unfortunately their “Political Leaders” make things worse while fattening off the problems they cause.

I’ve NEVER seen public nudity in S. F.. For one thing the climate is to cool summer and winter to allow it.

As for Bums sleeping in the doorways. That is happening in every big city in the country, and there is no more of that here than in your towns. I don’t condone it, but in our country’s wonderfully forward political environment it is happening. Again this seems to be more related to overpopulation, and the large number of criminal and semi-insane cases thrown out on the streets, much probably caused by the poisoning in our food and water supply that the lower classes are fed, and the states “Leaders” refusing to allot money for their incarceration. (In most states they are turning these people onto the streets for the same reasons.)

Fecal matter on the streets? Very rare. No more than in your town I’ll bet.

I would appreciate a little more honesty on this forum and less chest beating nonsense.

Yeah, I know, it is more fun to pile on. (;-)

waltmoreno

I disagree.
San Francisco is and has become a magnet for homeless people because of their very liberal policies which provide for more in the way of housing, meals, cash, and other social services that other communities cannot and simply do not.
That's why so many young homeless people flock to San Francisco.
In addition to the long-standing tradition of being on the societal cutting edge of feel-good communities.

thinksense

If you notice I broke my original answer into two parts. The first was to discuss what has happened to California and the second to what I observe in S.F.

I have no argument with what you say on this. You are very right. S.F. has always been too liberal a community. But the original discussion was supposedly about certain disgusting things supposedly happening on the city streets. I contend that the posts were exaggerating the condition.