On Tuesday, California Supreme Court Associate Justice Cruz Reynoso and chair of the pepper spray task force, sent a letter to UC President Mark Yudof suggesting the task force results be released in early April.
“… We want to move as expeditiously as possible for the public release of the Task Force report; however, considering the Court’s actions I am proposing to release the Task Force report the first week of April, subject to any further legal action,” Reynoso wrote in the letter.
On March 16, a judge ruled that some of the results were to be sealed, while the rest of the report could be released to the public. However, Reynoso said that releasing the report in pieces would not be idea.
“Releasing portions of the Task Force report in piecemeal fashion would provide a skewed view of our findings and undercut the rationale behind our recommendations. In effect, it would provide the campus a distorted view of our work and undermine our efforts with an incomprehensive account of the events that took place. In fact, several Task Force members have indicated they will be compelled to withdraw their support of authorship,” Reynoso wrote.
Reynoso further stated that some members of the task force would remove their names as authors if the report was released in pieces.
The report, which was scheduled to come out March 6, was put on hold when the union representing campus police successfully sealed the report through a court order.
The task force was originally called for by Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, and put together by Yudof. The release has been delayed 3 times.
At the hearing on March 16, the judge ordered both parties to return on March 28, after which UC General Counsel believes there is a good chance they will be able to release the full report, according to Reynoso.
– Hannah Strumwasser
