advocacy

Newsom’s decision caps months of debate and weeks of pleas from residents, advocacy groups and cities imploring him to either sign or veto.

These services include psychological treatment, legal advocacy and referral and a team of on-call, volunteer advocates—the core of the operation—who ensure survivors’ interactions with law enforcement and hospital staff go smoothly.

All of these are straightforward violations of the 1939 Hatch Act, which bans federal employees from engaging in political activities, according to a recent complaint filed by the advocacy group Public Citizen.

Adam Rose, a deputy director of advocacy for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said the department has in recent months been frustratingly unresponsive when confronted with reports of abuses by officers.

“This is a historic day for California’s students, educators, and families,” Marshall Tuck, chief executive of the advocacy group EdVoice, said in a statement.