Vol. 65, Issue 2
Est. 1981
THE PAISANO
January 31 - February 7, 2023
Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio Community /PaisanoOnline
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Vigil and speakout held in San Antonio to demand justice for Tyre Nichols By Laynie Clark Managing Editor
O
n Saturday, Jan. 28, San Antonio’s chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) organized a vigil and speakout at Martin Luther King Plaza to demand justice for Tyre Nichols. Nichols was pulled over on Jan. 7 by police officers in Memphis who stated that he was driving recklessly. Video surveillance shows the officers opening Nichols’ door and wrestling him to the ground as he says, “I didn’t do anything.” The footage shows Nichols breaking free and running in the direction of his mother’s home when the officers begin assault-
ing him; he died three days later in the hospital. Chris Banks, member and organizer of PSL, spoke out against the justice system. “Ask yourself, where are the good cops,” Banks said. “Don’t talk to me about a good cop. Your good cop means nothing if that cop ain’t speaking out … Your good cop means nothing to me and nothing to us if they won’t stand with the people. Tyre Nichols [was] beat to death on video; where are your good cops? There is no good cop in a racist system.” Guest speaker Lloyd Kuykendoll shared his feelings on the importance of unity and community. “... If you look around, you see different diversities,” Kuyk-
endoll said. “All of us coming from different communities, letting them know that our voices will be heard and we’re not going to be quiet … We’re not going to let them tell us what justice is. Justice is leaving the young man alone … You can’t get justice once you’re in the grave.” Kuykendoll also explained why it’s important to show up and fight. “We’re fighting to make sure that if any of us are stopped by the racist police that we are still going to see another day … It’s all voices that need to come together right now … We are standing together in unity.” Read the full article at paisano-online.com
“Ask yourself, where are the good cops...”
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Charter aims to codify justice reforms By Chloe Williams Web and Social Editor San Antonio Justice Charter is a coalition led by ACT 4 SA, an organization working to shrink the impact of overpolicing and mass incarceration in Bexar County, and Ground Game Texas, whose goal is to increase participation in democracy. The coalition also collaborates with Immigrant Legal Resource Center, SA Stands and MOVE Texas. According to the current San Antonio City Charter, at least 20,000 signatures from current San Antonio citizens are required to put something on the ballot. On Jan. 10, the coalition turned in over 38,000 signatures, and they fully expect the charter to be listed on the ballot as a “single measure (proposition)” for the May 6 election. If passed, the amendment aims to decriminalize marijuana and abortion, ban no knock warrants and chokeholds and adopt a “cite and release”
policy for nonviolent, lowlevel offenses. Executive Director of ACT 4 SA Ananda Tomas recounts that the group formed when “criminal justice organizations gathered to discuss how to get cite and release codified after failure to even have it heard on the city council floor.” “In these conversations also came the need to decriminalize marijuana and other criminal justice-centered initiatives — such as the failure of the city to actually make the banning of chokeholds law, rather than an SAPD policy that can change at any time,” Tomas said. “What further pushed us was the fact that certain candidates on the November ballot — such as Marc LaHood for District Attorney — wanted to end the cite and release program and believed that even the smallest amounts of marijuana should be arrestable offenses. Plus, we knew after the overturning of Roe v Wade and the trigger ban in Texas — we as the community had to take action.”
See Charter on Page 2
Dustin Vickers/The Paisano
Former Bexar County judge joins UTSA in non-faculty role By Gauri Raje News Editor Earlier this month, UTSA announced that former Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff will be joining the university in a non-faculty role. The university announced the appointment in an official statement on UTSA Today. “Furthering a commitment to public service and engaging students in the ideals of citizen government, former Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff will bring his 50 years of political involvement to The University of Texas at San Antonio community, beginning this spring,” the announcement reads. Wolff, who was appointed to the office of Bexar County Judge in 2001 after then Judge Cyndi Taylor Krier resigned to accept an appointment as a regent of the University of Texas System, went on to serve five full terms in the office. Prior to serving as County Judge, Wolff represented Bexar County in the Texas House of Representatives from 1971 to 1973, and the Texas Senate from 1973 to 1975. Wolff also served as a member of the San Antonio City Council from 1987 to 1991, and as
the mayor of San Antonio from 1991 to 1995. Wolff explained that it was during his time in the Texas State legislature that his connection with UTSA first began. “I was able to get a lot of funding for UTSA early on, so I followed their development right from the very start, and I’ve been supportive of them,”
nounced I wasn’t going to run again, and so, there were a lot of options, a lot of ways to do it, but I felt this was the best use of my time,” Wolff said. “What remaining years I have left, I felt this was the best way to spend them. To be of some use and benefit to future generations.” In his new nonfaculty role, Wolff will be giving lectures and talks to students at UTSA, drawing on his experience with public work and his business career. Some of the areas that Wolff hopes to share his knowledge in with students include public policy, business, political science and public health. Furthermore, Wolff explained that the subject matter of his lectures and talks will vary depending on what different professors would want him to cover. Along with his position at UTSA, Wolff was also appointed to a professorship at St. Photo Courtesy of Judge Nelson Wolff Mary’s University, his alma mater. Wolff said. “I hope to be able to inspire Wolff announced his retirestudents to really become ment from elected office last involved in their communities, year and began considering whether it’s in private life or other options, including the whether it’s in public office or non-faculty position at UTSA. whatever and to play a positive “I didn’t know what I was going to do when I first anrole,” Wolff said.
¹ https://www.bexar.org/3322/Cite-Release ² https://www.texastribune.org/2022/12/15/decriminalize-marijuana-texas-cities/
Chloe Williams /The Paisano