top of page


Protect Your People Public Safety & Justice Committee Community Report: A Sharing of Direct Experience, Analysis, and Critique of the Santa Clara County Criminal Legal System from January-August 2025
Editor's Note: The Protect Your People Public Safety & Justice Committee Community Report was assembled by De-Bug families and organizers...
Featured Story
De-Bug’s story-telling highlights those closest to the issues who can share the most powerful, captivating, and insightful story.


The Jail Population is Decreasing, Our People are Coming Home and We Will Continue to Resist a New Jail
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
J.M. Valle
Mar 283 min read


San Jose’s Mass Incarceration Mayor and His War Against the Poor
Author Raj Jayadev explains why San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan will be remembered as San Jose's Mass Incarceration Mayor.
Raj Jayadev
Mar 146 min read


The Dragon Lives On: George Jackson & CDCR's ongoing plot to destroy racial unity in California prisons
E ntering the brick corridors of San Quentin and the sweltering gates at Solano, it was not lost on me that almost no man I knew ever...
Zack Kirk
Mar 1126 min read


NAACP and Mawekma Ohlone Tribal Council Call to Remove Racist Mural in Palo Alto Court
On behalf of the San Jose NAACP, Raymond Goins submitted the following letter to the Presiding Judge of the Palo Alto Court.
Raymond Goins
Mar 112 min read


The Need for Unity in the Face of Trump, Racism, and Oppression
Despy Madrid is a 17 year old activist and writer from Tracy California.
Despy Madrid
Mar 63 min read


Denying Access to Data and Counsel is a “Silent Evisceration” of the Racial Justice Act
Author Zach Kirk reflects and examines the California Supreme Court Justice Liu's dissent that calls to reflection the misreading of Califor
Zack Kirk
Feb 215 min read


Fighting Deportation Using Participatory Defense (Webinar)
The Pipeline to Deportation Starts at the Moment of Arrest T his conversation is from a webinar that we hosted on using Participatory...
SV De-Bug staff
Jan 231 min read


The Myth, Magic & Espíritu de Aztlán
The 2014 discovery of "Chicana" and what appears to be "Aztlán" on the Diego Gutierrez Map is largely unknown
J.M. Valle
Jan 224 min read


A San Jose Tribute to Reverend Jethroe Moore II
Raj Jayadev writes in honor of the late Jeff Moore, San Jose Civil Rights Icon
Raj Jayadev
Jan 95 min read


Letter to Santa Clara County DA to Follow Community Call to Use Discretion to Shield Against Prop 36 Punishment
Prop 36 takes effect this week. And though the election is over, the fight to protect our communities from it's aim of mass incarceration and mass deportation is just beginning. The danger of Prop 36, and how to prevent it's harm, is located in how DA's make charging decisions. How prosecutors wield their discretion at the charging level will make all the determination if someone will face a prison sentence, or a felony, or a deportable offense, or not.
SV De-Bug staff
Dec 19, 20245 min read


Build Our Fortresses and Define the Era
Illo by AD Avila I was in Norristown, Pennsylvania a couple days after the election. I went to celebrate the five year anniversary of...
Raj Jayadev
Dec 17, 20246 min read


How Community Expertise Can Animate the Power of the Racial Justice Act
Due to the Racial Justice Act, people can now point to racial bias to challenge a charge, conviction or sentence. Who better than communities of color themselves to be the authoritative voice to explain the racism of the system? Author Xavier España explains how the Racial Justice Act can be a vehicle for community voice.
Xavier España
Dec 12, 20245 min read


Return to Sender: Slavery and The War on Drugs. A Community Forum on Why We Must Pass Prop 6 and Stop Prop 36
We came together to discuss why & how we must beat back slavery in prisons & the return of the failed drug war. YES to Prop 6 and NO to Prop 36. Featuring impacted community leaders who have long advocated for the incarcerated, the houseless, those w/ mental health needs, & communities of color. Panelists include Sandy Perry (South Bay Land Trust), Yvonne Maxwell (Ujima), Cecilia Chavez (De-Bug), J. Vasquez (CURYJ), Xavier Espana (De-Bug).
SV De-Bug staff
Oct 16, 20242 min read


Passing Prop 6 will Allow Rehabilitation to be a Priority in CDCR
Author Donovan, is a campaign ambassador for the Yes on 6 campaign and he writes how a job while incarcerated in CDCR takes priority over rehabilitative programs, vocational classes and even family visits - a failing of the system to rehabilitate and prepare people to return to their communities with skills and experience. If Prop 6 is approved by voters it will help eliminate those obstacles to rehabilitation by banning forced prison labor.
Donovan Castillero
Oct 15, 20244 min read


Supervisors Simitian, Chavez, Arenas Vote For Tasers - a Lethal Weapon That Disproportionately Kills Black, Brown, and Mentally Ill Community
Starting October 15th, 2024 - the Santa Clara County Sheriffs will be armed with tasers in the jail and on patrol. A mother of a son didn't know if he would survive the abuse in jail, a daughter whose father was killed by law enforcement, and a prisoners rights advocate share the deadly implications of Santa Clara County approving tasers. (Photo by Daniel Zapien)
SV De-Bug staff
Oct 13, 20245 min read


Prop 36 is a Path Back to Mass Incarceration That Decimated Black and Brown Communities
Author Raymond Goins writes that Prop 36 is the criminalization of survival, and would bring California back to an era of the War on Drugs that decimated Black and Brown communities.
Raymond Goins
Sep 22, 20245 min read


Everyone Agrees Slavery Is Unethical - So Why Is It OK When It Happens to Us In Prison?
Many people believe slavery is part of America's past. But involuntary servitude is an accepted practice in California prisons. Proposition 6, on the 2024 ballot, would end the practice of forced labor in CDCR. Author Xavier España shares what it is like to work for next to nothing while locked up.
Xavier España
Sep 17, 20243 min read


The Broken Promise of Independent Oversight of the Santa Clara County Jail
Editor's Note:
After hunger strikes, federal consent decrees, and a slew of civil rights lawsuits around conditions inside the jail, and abuses the detained faced - the County created an independent oversight body called OCLEM. The county awarded a contract to a firm called OIR to run OCLEM. But after a few years of implementation, the oversight is not what the community hoped for. A new Sheriff proposal to arm officers with Tasers was essentially endorsed by OIR, raising a k
SV De-Bug staff
Aug 12, 202411 min read


Resilient Against All Odds: My Story of Struggle and Success
Editor's Note:
Author Santos Loyola shares his journey from feeling like another male in juvenile hall - to becoming a teen father and looking to school and faith to transform his life for the better.
Santos Loyola
Aug 4, 20247 min read


Santa Clara County DA Cries Victim in the Face of the Racial Justice Act
Despite marketing a progressive position, the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office has opposed every Racial Justice Act filed on behalf of community members. Now they are claiming the fight for racial justice victimizes them - the prosecutor.
Raj Jayadev
Jul 9, 20246 min read
bottom of page
