Posts Tagged: consideration

Opinion

Reduce violence through healing and compassion

Illustration of incarcerated men and women.(Image: Benjamin Haas, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: I am one of many survivors profiled as an “offender” instead of a victim. My prison sentence was preceded by years of trauma and violence. Today, I am a member of the Justice for Survivor Act coalition, AB 124, which would allow courts to consider an individuals’ age, history of trauma, human trafficking history, intimate partner or sexual violence victimization, potentially reducing their criminal penalties.

Opinion

Court ruling curbs contractors, agents in favor of lawyers

Illustration of a talent agent's files. (Image: Olivier Le Moal, via Shutterstock)

OPINION:Every day, California’s contractors negotiate written and oral contracts for clients and other third parties. So do art dealers, retail store clerks, car brokers, insurance, real estate and talent agents, auctioneers, architects and others. If the state Supreme Court refuses review on a recently published 2nd District Court of Appeals decision, any of those transactions done without an attorney signing off on the terms will be unlawful.

News

Vaccination bills signed amid angry protests

Demonstrators outside the governor's office in the state Capitol protesting vaccination legislation. (Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP)

Amid shouting and pounding on doors by hundreds of vaccination opponents, Gov. Gavin Newsom late Monday signed two bills designed to limit medical exemptions for school vaccinations. Hundreds of vaccination opponents delayed state Senate action on the bills for two hours by shouting from the gallery and displaying an upside-down American flag.

Opinion

June ballot’s ACA1 a recipe for Capitol gridlock

Pollution over Long Beach on a clear day. (Photo: Katharine Moore)

OPINION: We’ve all heard the clichés and stories about the failings of the political system – the bill that was written on the back of a cocktail napkin; the enormous proposal that was jammed through before anyone could read it; trading votes in shady, backroom deals.

Opinion

Online privacy bill not what it seems

Photo illustration of encrypted internet information and a keyboard. (Image: Alexander Yakimov, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: In the California legislature, a privacy bill – The California Broadband Internet Privacy Act – was originally drafted, ironically enough, in private.  Now, even though it has been amended multiple times, it still remains deeply troubling and will harm California’s consumers. The bill is an example of what most Californians hate about our state’s lawmaking process.  It uses the “gut-and-amend” ploy, which means removing much or all of an original bill’s contents and replacing it with unrelated text,

Opinion

The attack of the super-pollutants

A powerplant at sunset. (Photo: David Crockett)

OPINION: As Hollywood brings a new crop of super-hero movies to our theaters, state policymakers are considering action against a group of particularly nefarious villains known as “super-pollutants.” These contaminants, including black carbon and methane, are both rapidly warming our planet and also damaging human health.

News

Drought emergency: The need for a biodiversity policy

Lake Oroville ravaged by drought. (Photo: State Department of Water Resources, 2014)

Analysis: California ecosystems are losing their resilience and their ability to sustain native plants and animals. In the past, even in droughts, there were natural refuges to sustain native species. Today, most of these ecosystems are changing rapidly from human impacts and many have deteriorated to critical condition. Refuges are scarce.

News

Drought top issue; partisanship roils greenhouse gas law

Shasta Lake in August 2014. (Photo: David Greitzer, Shutterstock)

As the state suffers through its fourth year of drought, most Californians say the lack of water is the single most important environmental issue facing the state, a dramatic increase over the number who expressed similar concerns a year ago. A survey by the nonprofit Public Policy Institute of California reported that 58 percent of Californians ranked the drought as the top issue — up 23 points from July 2014 and up 50 points from July 2011.

News

Small town eyes CalPERS exit costs

Calpensions: A small but affluent Orange County city, with a current staff of only a half dozen employees, would have to pay about $3.6 million to leave CalPERS, the giant state pension system estimated two years ago. “I almost feel like just handing this to a reporter and saying, ‘Look at this.’

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