*Exclusive: WATCH the Deposition of Barbara Ferrer, Director of LA County Public Health
"When the information is not aligned with what we've determined is accurate information, that would represent misinformation,"- Barbara Ferrer
Today we share an exclusive first look at Restore Childhood contributor Julie Hamill’s long awaited deposition of LA County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
Restore Childhood is proud to support this effort to uncover the truth behind the censorship of independent voices by LACDPH and to gain an understanding of how LA County’s long lasting vaccine and mask mandates came to stand.
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Yours,
Natalya, Dana and Yasmina
Here’s Julie:
On May 3, I took the deposition of LA County Dept of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
Beyond getting the testimony and documents I needed to prove the Alliance of Los Angeles County Parents' case, I came away with an epiphany.
I expected to dislike Barbara Ferrer based on the suffering my family and millions of others experienced over the past three years. But I found her somewhat endearing.
It appeared to me that she believes in what she's done.
I disagree with her and know her policies have caused significant harm. The County Department of Public Health’s actions have irreparably damaged people and violated the law.
But Barbara is not a lawyer, nor is she an elected official.
Her office gets away with unconstitutional and excessive policies because no one with authority checks her. Having a politically connected censorship team doesn’t hurt either.
Apparently, at no point in the last three years has a lawyer in the County Counsel's office said "this seems like it might violate the constitutional rights of millions of citizens in Los Angeles."
The County Board of Supervisors, which oversees her work and has the authority to hire/fire/evaluate her, has never pushed back and said, "Hey, we should weigh your concerns against the constitutional rights of the 10+ million citizens in the county."
Not only did the County not question the constitutional impacts of the Department's policies, but they hired a very expensive private Big Law firm to litigate against citizens seeking to enforce their constitutional rights.
This law firm furthered the County’s practice of silencing and censoring the public by excluding client representative Sarah Beth Burwick from the deposition. They used high rise building security to keep Ms. Burwick locked out of the building for three hours, and then alleged that her conduct in the lobby and on Twitter made her “not a good liability risk.”
The Twitter thread in question is here.
A hearing on the Alliance’s motion for sanctions against opposing counsel for this abusive and harassing conduct will be held on June 21, 2023.
I filed this case because no one else would.
I was a desperate mom working with hundreds of other desperate parents in need of a solution.
Nobody would listen to us.
I'm proud of where the Alliance has gotten, but I am concerned about where we're going as a country.
We need more civics education and training on constitutional law. The principles upon which this country was founded have been disregarded by agencies across the country.
We need to work to restore them or we will continue to lose our freedoms bit by bit until they're gone.
This case goes to trial October 16, 2023. I will keep you posted.
Julie Hamill is a lawyer, mom, and school board member from Rancho Palos Verdes, California. She represents the Alliance of Los Angeles County Parents in their lawsuit against the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health, seeking to end arbitrary and capricious mandates that harm children. The views stated are her own and do not represent the views of any organization with which she is affiliated.