What should a school do with a problem kid who’s a threat to everyone around him? It’s complicated. One problem is that the officials making that decision—the teacher, the school’s administration and staff, the local school district—all may have different opinions. Some may incline towards leniency and second chances, others towards maximum punishment, depending on the severity of the offense.

Justin Phillips’ intemperate screed against Chief Armstrong, in Sunday’s Chronicle, is proof that the radical woke left fears the Chief. They correctly perceive him as the most popular person in Oakland, the almost-certain winner of the At-Large City Council seat, and a future Mayor. So the mud-slinging has begun.

We all hate retail theft, right? We’re all pissed that security guards aren’t allowed to stop shoplifters. We’re all appalled at the brazenness of thieves who walk into Whole Foods or CVS, load up on whatever they want, and walk out knowing they’ll get away with it. Right?

There’s a game afoot across America these days: have a person of color commit an egregious crime, then get hunted down by local police. A scuffle of some sort ensues. The perp is stopped, sometimes lethally if he resists violently. Then the perp, if still alive, or his family, if he’s dead, sues the cops, the city, and God only knows who else. A media hungry for controversy publicizes the brouhaha on page one. Nightly news stations have “BREAKING NEWS” on the latest cop violence, with young, ambitious on-camera talent reporting breathless from a court house. Conversations in coffee shops drift toward “killer cops” and the need to restrain them. Anti-cop types like Cat Brooks rub their hands with glee, while ambulance-chasing lawyers line up interviews with reporters to explain how their client was a victim of “systemic racism.”

Passed in 2020, the CRJA “allows anyone serving time in a California prison or jail for a felony to challenge his conviction and sentencing retroactively on the ground of systemic racial bias.”