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By J.W. August
August 12, 2022 (San Diego) -- The message must have been clear to leaders in Sacramento. Assembly Bill 2790 --- the bill seeking to end reporting of domestic violence to law enforcement--failed in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The “how” is rarely revealed when a bill doesn’t get out of the appropriations committee. But the “why” can be explained, says Casey Gwinn, co-founder and president of the Family Justice Center. Gwinn led the effort to create the first and “all under one roof” domestic violence help center and strongly opposed AB2790.
“The bill is dead,” said Gwinn. He credits San Diego media coverage of the bill for stopping the effort Up to that time, there had been no coverage of the bill and it had sailed through the Assembly, headed to the Senate side.
It was a story published on this news website as well as coverage on Times of San Diego that led to extensive media coverage in the days that preceded the Senate hearing Those stories led to three television news stories on the “irresponsible nature of AB2790” said Gwinn. Gwinn continued, “Ultimately, we identified nine news stories” and “we sent them to all elected officials in San Diego County and to all members of the Senate Appropriations Committee.”
He concluded by saying the media coverage “played a crucial role in ensuring that a terrible public policy idea did not become law in California.”
J .W. August is an award-winning journalist and freelance producer who has served as investigative producer for NBC 7 San Diego and as managing editor and senior investigative producer at ABC 10 San Diego. His in-depth investigations have included a wide range of topics such as rising seas, hate groups, nuclear fuel storage, stem cell clinic claims, dolphin deaths, and massage parlors as fronts for organized crime. His 40-year career includes many honors, notably 35 Emmy awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the National Press Club award for consumer reporting, the Freedom Foundation award for coverage of hate groups along the border, the National Society of Professional Journalists’ Sunshine Award for fostering open government in San Diego, and the Investigative Reporters and Editors award for outstanding investigative reporting on illegal waste dumping. August is past president of the Society of Professional Journalists San Diego Chapter, as well as past president of Californians Aware, a public interest group devoted to helping the press and public hold public officials accountable for their actions. He is also an adjunct professor at Point Loma Nazarene University, teaching investigative skills and long-form storytelling to aspiring future journalists.
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