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She Fought the Law and She Won: WeHo versus the LASD
Over the past month, there have been two competing headlines about West Hollywood’s fight with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. The LASD-approved one goes something like this:. West Hollywood Votes to Reduce Los Angeles County Sheriff Funding Amid Crime Wave. Enter WeHo (West Hollywood) Public Safety Commissioner Nika...
Racial Justice & Pedestrian Safety Fuel Jaywalking Debate, while CA has new bill to decriminalize low risk jaywalking
For nearly a century, jaywalking has been illegal in most states and localities. But several recent reports have shown that police in some areas disproportionately ticket people of color. And critics say citing people for crossing at the wrong place just gives them another reason to drive instead of walk.
When ‘slow violence’ becomes ‘fast violence’ in an LA community besieged by industry and pollution
The Los Angeles community of Wilmington is home to the largest concentration of oil refineries in California. The neighborhood’s 53,000 residents, mostly Latino, share their home with 400 industrial sites and five oil refineries. Fumes from the refineries’ leaks and flares pollute the air, and cause leukemia and other forms of cancer, as well as heart disease, asthma, and other physical and mental health problems.
LA Dem’s endorse Luna over Villanueva, while Supes vote 4 to 1 to ask county voters to give the board authority to remove the sheriff
This past Tuesday, July 12, was not the greatest of days for Sheriff Alex Villanueva. First, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a motion giving the go-ahead for a special election in November to ask county voters to grant the board the authority to remove the county’s sheriff with a four fifths vote if they deem it necessary, “for cause…”
Drug courts face choice: Close or expand access after Prop. 47 fallout
Last year, Yolo County tried an experiment: No one arrested for simple drug possession would be prosecuted or sent to drug court. Instead, those arrested with drugs were directed to the county health department. The county was responding to a trend across California: Significantly fewer people are choosing to go...
When Disability Intersects with Domestic Violence, Here’s How to Better Help Survivors
I discovered I had a disability before I realized I was in an abusive relationship, but the two were interwoven in my life for many years. My disability, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, made it difficult to cope with my daily life, let alone navigate the violent relationship I was in. My habits and compulsions were gradually consuming all my time and energy. But my relationship made it much more difficult to seek treatment and stay on life-changing medications.
The troubling relationship between prosecutorial misconduct & death penalty exonerations
[W]hile [a prosecutor] may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul ones. It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one. U.S. Supreme Court...
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