De-Bug The System

Our Participatory Defense family from St. Paul, MN Damon Drake speaks to us about the impact of ICE raids in currently happening in Minneapolis. Damon talks about how their community is supporting families affected by ICE by providing food, school transportation, and help within the court system.  In order to get through this moment, Damon emphasizes the need for unity among different communities...

Welcome to the De-Bug the System Podcast! This episode of "The Discrimination Playbook: ICE at the Super Bowl & How it Relates to Local Policing" discusses the consistent threats from the federal administration that ICE agents will be present in Santa Clara County for the Super Bowl and how this relates to local policing. Our conversation covers ICE activity already happening in Sant...

Welcome to the De-Bug the System Podcast! This episode "The Discrimination Playbook: Hiding and Arresting Poverty in San Jose for the Super Bowl & World Cup" dives into what the Super Bowl and World Cup coming to the Bay Area means for the most vulnerable in San Jose in 2026. We reflect on San Jose's iteration of the common-used playbook that uses public resources and police to...

On this episode of the De-Bug the System podcast, De-Bug organizer Ana sits down with participatory defense organizer Laila Aziz. Laila and her fellow organizers at Pillars of the Community, a San Diego based organization, held the San Diego County District Attorney accountable for racial disparities in sentencing. How did they do this? They held a People's Tribunal, inspired by movement lead...

Fighting for Racial Justice from Legislation to Law: A Webinar on the Implementation and Future of the California Racial Justice Act Watch our webinar from Thursday, April 24th, a dialogue on the Racial Justice Act (RJA), featuring a discussion with practitioners from different vantage points who are all fighting for the promise of the Racial Justice Act to be realized. The discussion gives insigh...

In the new presidential regime Author J.M. Valle calls out the lies that crime is rampant and urges the county of Santa Clara to investigate what is working to decrease the jail population we have been seeing - all the more reason to continue to resist a new jail! "Part of the presidential campaign was the spread of algorithmic misinformation during the election race. It appeared as if the en...

The Mass Incarceration Mayor and his War Against the Poor read by author Raj Jayadev takes a look at San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and his policies that continue to criminalize poverty, targeting the most vulnerable, for political gain.  "In his logic, it is not the forces and factors that cause homelessness that need to be confronted, it is those who are suffering from it... After a few of years...

De-Bug youth, Santos and Jules, attended their first Youth Leadership Conference in Sacramento, CA alongside other youth from around the state. With the focus on leadership development, they participated in workshops and event at the conference. In today's episode, they reflect on their experience attending the conference as impacted youth and what they took away from their time in Sacramento...

Return to Sender: Slavery and the War on Drugs  A Forum on Why We Must Vote No on Prop 36 and Yes on Prop 6 More on Prop 36: Prop 36 expands on the misleading claim that California is experiencing an increase in crime and is funded by conservatives and corporations. It will lock up Black and Brown communities, criminalize unhoused loved ones, and divert millions of dollars from reentry, mental hea...

Today, we talk with De-Bug’s San Mateo Participatory Defense core who has been observing arraignment court for the past 3 years and just filed a Judicial Complaint based on people's rights not being protected under the Humphrey ruling.  On March 25, 2021, the California Supreme Court upheld the Humphrey decision, ruling that people cannot be held pre-trial due to their inability to pay. It de...

On this episode of the De-Bug the System Podcast, we discuss California's Mandela Act (AB 280) and the history of solitary confinement in California and how this new law, if passed, will end the inhumane practice. We will listen to excerpts from a recent rally in Sacramento, CA where people from around the state came together to demand that Governor Newsome sign AB 280 into law. Today's...

De-Bug youth, Jordyn, Jules and Citrali, sit down with Daniel and Xavier to talk about their perspective of Kendrick and Drake, how they understand what happened and what they think is significant. 

De-Bug youth, Josiah, talks about his first experience going to a Racial Justice Act hearing in Santa Clara County. The Racial Justice Act is a California law that allows folks to challenge their case if racism played a role either explicitly or systemically in charging or sentencing. Josiah reflects on how the police could be found liable for racially profiling someone and the cop in the courtroo...

Jordyn and Jules, granddaughters of Rudy Cardenas who was killed by an undercover state agent in San Jose, traveled to the California state capital to advocate for AB 3021, a bill to protect grieving families from coercive police interrogations. They talk about traveling to Sacramento and the experience during the Senate Public Safety Committee Hearing for AB 3021. They also reflect on going door...

We sat down with some of our justice families to discuss the disturbing similarities they experienced in the aftermath of having their loved ones killed by law enforcement. In their most vulnerable moment, law enforcement withheld information, interrogated, lied, and manipulated these families into making statements that were eventually used against them in court, resulting in criminalization of t...

Listen to San Jose families impacted by police violence respond to the recent San Jose Mercury News first of its kind investigation exposing the overwhelming numbers of lethal, harmful, and deadly use of force by the San Jose police, especially on those with mental health issues or are under the influence.  Article link here.  ​As movement leaders with Silicon Valley Debug, families affected by po...