Systemic racism is examined after a report finds enormous disparities in arrest data between traffic stops and ethnicity.
Sac Bee's Jeremy White writes: "Black and Latino Californians are disproportionately likely to have their driver’s licenses suspended and face arrest as a result of traffic stops, according to a new report."
"In Los Angeles County, for instance, the report found that a third of the people arrested on driving with suspended licenses were black, despite African Americans making up less than a tenth of the population. In San Francisco, where the population is 5.8 percent black, African Americans made up nearly half of all arrests on driving with a suspended license."
"The outcomes occur despite “no documented difference in driving behavior,” according to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, which led the report’s authors to conclude the disparities reflect a deeper problem."
Speaking of law enforcement, a detailed look at the immigration system and shows how thousands of undocumented juveniles are being held in institutions across California indefinitely.
From Tyche Hendricks in KQED: "As Pablo Aguilar was waking up in his cell in Yolo County’s juvenile hall in rural Northern California one recent Sunday morning, a white minivan was making its way toward him, up Interstate 5."
"Dawn illuminated the tomato fields across the road from the jail, but the 16-year-old likely didn’t see that. The only window in Pablo’s cell — roughly 6 inches tall by 2 feet long — was positioned so high in the cinderblock wall that he would have needed to stand on his concrete bunk to peek out."
"But in the minivan, his mother, Evelyn, watched the farmland of the Central Valley turn rosy, then golden, as the sun crested the mountains to the east. Evelyn, 38, had driven a portion of the 400-mile journey from Los Angeles, but now Mario, a friend from church, was at the wheel. Evelyn’s mother, Albertina, was dozing in the back seat. (We’ve agreed not to use their last names, because Evelyn is undocumented.)"
That old problem of "double dipping" -- public officials tapping more than one public revenue stream -- is generating new interest, following the release of a a new report.
LAT's Patrick McGreevy reports: "Republican state Sen. John Moorlach of Costa Mesa has emerged as a leading voice in the Legislature against skyrocketing debt piled up by public pension systems."
"But some in the pension reform movement say the former Orange County treasurer may be contributing to the problem: Moorlach receives an $83,827 government pension check from the Orange County Employees Retirement System while making $100,113 a year as a senator."
"At least 16 other state lawmakers collect two checks each month, including Assemblyman Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove), who retired two years ago at 50 as a captain in the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department. When added to his legislative pay, Cooper's annual pension of $173,820 brings his total income each year to $273,000."
Pay equality is not just a descrepency between men and women; it is now a racial issue as well.
Allison Noon writes in OC Register: "Just as California businesses begin to implement a law requiring equal pay for workers regardless of their gender, already the toughest of its kind in the nation, a state lawmaker is seeking to expand it to protect employees from racial discrimination."
"The proposal by Sen. Isadore Hall would build on California's existing fair pay law by adding "race or ethnicity" to the requirement that employers justify any pay discrepancies between men and women who do "substantially similar" work."
"The current law, passed last year, allows employees to openly discuss their compensation and challenge pay gaps between men and women. Hall's proposal, scheduled to be heard in committee for the first time Wednesday, would permit workers to challenge racially disparate pay, too."
California's "ballot bonanza" continues as the deadline for filing approaches slowly around the corner.
Sacramento Bee's Jim Miller writes: "With a suggested filing deadline later this month, proponents of would-be November ballot measures continue to shell out big bucks to try to collect hundreds of thousands of voter signatures."
"As of late last week, signature-gatherers were paying $5.50 a signature for an initiative that would require that legislation be in print for three days before lawmakers vote. A criminal justice measure backed by Gov. Jerry Brown was paying $5 a signature. Signatures to qualify a marijuana legalization measure were netting $2."
"Besides paid gatherers, some measures’ supporters are putting in weekend volunteer hours at farmers markets, fun runs or anywhere else voter signatures might be had."
Dave Regan's influence on California's recent minimum wage bill has not gone unnoticed; however, some still question his efficacy and morality.
Christopher Cadelago reports with Sacramento Bee: "On the day Gov. Jerry Brown gathered last week in Los Angeles with legislators and union members to sign a bill raising California’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022, Dave Regan was calculating the payoff for workers at his health care union’s office in Oakland."
"His organization, representing 85,000 hospital employees, spent about $1.6 million to qualify a minimum wage initiative for the fall ballot."
"For the relatively small sum the union spent, he said, millions of low-wage workers will get $20 billion in increased wages once their pay rises to $15 an hour. "
The impact of local gun laws and whether-or-not California's recent attempts at violence-free legislation are effective is examined in this KQED article.
KQED's Alex Emslie writes: "California voters could be asked this fall to approve new statewide gun restrictions if an initiative championed by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom qualifies for the ballot. Some California cities aren’t waiting to enact a key provision of the law — a ban on possessing magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds."
"But it’s hard to measure what, if any, difference these so-called high-capacity magazine bans make in curbing day-to-day gun violence common on the streets of major California cities. The state has banned the sale and import of such magazines since 2000, but any owned before that are grandfathered in. Newsom’s initiative would ban their possession, and anyone who owns an 11-plus round magazine would be required to get rid of it within about nine months or be guilty of a crime."
"Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland and Sunnyvale have enacted similar ordinances."
And from our "It's a Dog's Life" file comes the tale of the dog cafe, which provides a setting for pooches and their potential owners to relax.
"A California business is offering guests the opportunity to enjoy cafe-style beverages while interacting with dogs seeking forever homes."
"The Dog Cafe" in Los Angeles touts itself as the first of its kind in the United States to provide the style of pet adoption that has already gained popularity with cats throughout the country and abroad."
"The Dog Cafe offers a comfortable and fun space for humans and dogs to hang out with each other, away from overcrowded shelters, which can provoke fear and aggression in perfectly adoptable pups," the company's website states."
"The cafe had its grand opening on Thursday and has already been completely booked through April 12."
Woof!
