Posts Tagged: law

News

New law protecting sex workers stirs emotions

A photo illustration of a young girl in custody. (Image: structuresxx, via Shutterstock

The woman, writing to Gov. Gavin Newsom about Senate Bill 233, called herself voiceless.In her letter she told the governor about rapes she’s suffered while homeless and on the streets. Pimps had beaten her. One once threw her out of a hotel, leaving her naked in the parking lot.She feared to call police. They never listened to her before, the unnamed woman wrote.

News

Temps suffer higher injury rates than permanent workers

PriorityWorkForce office in Santa Ana. (Photo: Eli Wolfe, FairWarning)

Last October, Erick Solis, a 19-year-old temp worker at a Los Angeles food company, lost two fingers when his hand got caught in an unguarded dough-rolling machine. Cal/OSHA, the state job safety agency, cited the company, JSL Foods Inc., for willful violations because an almost identical accident had happened before

Opinion

Truth-in-lending law needed now

A photo illustration using stacks of quarters to show rising interest rates. (Photo: Doubletree Studio)

Would you take out a loan for a new home if you didn’t know the interest rate? How about for a car? Or even for a credit card? More than likely, not.

News

Brown signs no-money bail bill

An inmate sits on his cell bunk. (Photo: Peppinuzzo,via Shutterstock)

Gov. Brown on Tuesday signed landmark legislation to eliminate money bail for many California defendants, replacing it instead with a system based on a person’s flight risk and other factors. “Today, California reforms its bail system so that rich and poor alike are treated fairly,” Brown said.

News

California sanctuary law draws fire

Road sign illustration by Rex Wholster, via Shutterstock

Los Alamitos Mayor Troy Edgar never imagined that the city’s action to exempt itself from California’s controversial sanctuary law would spark a movement. But that’s what has happened. Following a March vote by the city council, at least six counties and numerous other cities across the state — all with strong Republican registration — have announced opposition to Senate Bill 54, the California Values Act.

Analysis

Washington and Sacramento, side-by-side

The state Capitol in Sacramento. (Photo SchnepfDesign, via Shutterstock)

Clearly, Washington, D.C., and Sacramento share many things in common — including such negatives as a hyper-heated political culture, insularity and a pervasive sense of entitlement. And California’s Legislature is obviously based upon the federal legislative model. Nonetheless, their legislative  rules are different, so let’s take a look at some of the major distinctions.

News

Armed Black Panthers in the Capitol, 50 years on

A Black Panther Party member brings a shotgun into the state Capitol, May 2, 1967. He was one of two dozen armed Panthers who entered the building. (Photo: Walt Zeboski/Associated Press)

It’s largely forgotten now, but 50 years ago, it created a national sensation. It even caused the National Rifle Association and Ronald Reagan to back a gun-control bill authored by a Republican. Tuesday is the 50th anniversary of the May 2, 1967 “invasion” of the state Capitol by two dozen gun-toting Black Panthers.

Opinion

‘Infill development’ can help solve California’s housing crisis

View towards Guadalupe Freeway from Communications Hill, San Jose. (Photo: Sundry Photography, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: They say the real estate agent’s mantra is “location, location, location.” And when it comes to crafting smart housing policy, location is key, as well. As California legislators consider more than 130 bills designed to tackle the state’s housing crisis, they should consider ways to encourage infill housing — compact housing in already urbanized land near transit, jobs, and services.

Recent News

The difficulties of a judicial recall

An illustration of blind justice. (Image: Sebra, via Shutterstock)

The Marshall Project: After the sentencing last Thursday of a Stanford University student for sexual assault, hundreds of thousands of people became outraged, and social media lit up with calls — including one by a Stanford law professor — that the judge be recalled by popular vote. Yet recalling a sitting judge is almost unheard of, both in California and nationally.

News

California inconsistently enforces hospital privacy laws

An elderly patient in a wheelchair receiving care at a California hospital. (Photo: bikeriderlondon, via shutterstock)

In 2008, outraged by a string of snooping incidents involving celebrities’ medical records, California legislators passed a groundbreaking law that compelled hospitals to quickly report patient privacy breaches and gave the state power to levy fines for such violations. But a ProPublica analysis of state data shows enforcement has been inconsistent.

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