The Brief

Here’s the scenario: L.A. has to handle a really tricky issue. Maybe it’s homelessness, rebuilding after wildfires, or community relations with police — but you are responsible for helping come up with policy solutions to address it.

You’re not a City Council member or government official of any kind. You’re just an ordinary resident, working with a group of other randomly selected residents to hammer out workable ideas for the government to adopt.

This is the idea behind a civic assembly, a process designed to bring communities closer to the public decision-making that affects their lives. Over the past decade, cities across the world — primarily in Europe but also in Brazil, Colombia, Canada and a small number of places in the United States — have increasingly experimented with civic assemblies to address questions like how to improve air quality, what to do with a city-owned piece of land, how to tackle youth homelessness, and more.

They’re not used in L.A. — yet. But some groups have tried to build momentum to make civic assemblies a reality here.

Part of that effort means letting Angelenos try the experience out for themselves.

On a recent Saturday afternoon, a group of around 30 residents gathered in a room at the Veterans Memorial Building in Culver City.

Their job was to tackle one big local question the way a real civic assembly would. The session was co-hosted by Public Democracy L.A., an advocacy group championing more inclusivity and representation in L.A.’s democratic systems, and Braver Angels, a national organization dedicated to bridging political divides.

“I’ve been dying to do this with other people,” said Joan Jaeckel, a resident from Studio City. She said the idea of civic assemblies appealed to her because it was a way to start a discussion from a point of curiosity and learning, rather than fighting from opposing political sides.

“I’m tired of yelling at the TV and writing on Facebook. But to do this with other people is exhilarating,” she said.

How a civic assembly works

A civic assembly (also called a citizens’ assembly) is sort of a cross between a city council meeting and jury duty. The idea: Gather a group of residents — chosen randomly, but also selected for demographic factors like age, race or socioeconomic status to make sure the group is representative of the broader community — and give them a big question to address.

The group then holds a series of meetings to learn about it, deliberate, and come up with a set of policy solutions. In the end, it produces a list of recommended policies that the government can turn into real legislation.

A protestor drapes a banner from scaffolding in London.

(

Carl Court

/

Getty Images Europe

)

Civic assemblies are usually formed when there’s an especially complicated or divisive problem to solve. In some cities like Brussels and Paris, they’re a permanent staple of government decision-making and are formed every year.

The idea isn’t a far stretch from some of the ways local governments in Southern California already try to get residents involved. For example: K-12 schools have school site councils, made up of parents, students, staff and community members. And there are citizens’ advisory groups, which recruit residents to provide policy recommendations and feedback for city governments (like South Gate or Long Beach) or individual agencies (like L.A. Metro). However, elected officials appoint these members.

What makes civic assemblies different is their accessibility. They’re intended for as many people as possible to have a chance to participate and designed to reflect the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of the wider community — including those traditionally left out of government decision-making. Participants are paid stipends to cover the costs of transportation, child care, food and other needs so they can attend.

This inclusive selection process is one reason Culver City Councilmember Bubba Fish has been interested in the idea. The city, like many others, has struggled to get input on important local issues from residents who don’t regularly participate in city government or civic life, he said. A civic assembly was a way to hear from a wide range of residents who also had time to become fully educated about the topic at hand.

He attended the mock civic assembly to see if it could be a good fit for an upcoming task: redesigning the public input process for Culver City’s annual budget.

“I went through our budget process when I first got elected and I could not believe how few people we heard from,” Fish said. Culver City lawmakers recently agreed to set aside $250,000 to improve the budget process. They have yet to decide how to spend that money, but creating a civic assembly to help design a new budget process is one option on the table.

Alex Levy, an organizer with Public Democracy L.A., said she hoped the experience would inspire people to imagine other scenarios where a civic assembly could be useful in their communities.

“We think that these little model assemblies can provide a good avenue for smaller problems within communities that can be solved,” Levy said. “So like for a neighborhood council that’s just trying to just figure out where a streetlight goes, or bike lanes — there's all these questions that are facing these communities, and maybe an assembly could be useful for that.”

The mock civic assembly

The randomized, demographically representative selection process wasn’t part of the mock civic assembly. The group overall was older and whiter than one that would have been picked for a real assembly. But that day’s goal wasn’t to fully mimic the real thing. Instead, it was to help participants get a feel for the experience. Could people who had little to no background knowledge about the topic feel confident weighing in on policy? How would it feel to craft solutions with people of different backgrounds or opinions?

The L.A. participants received their big question to tackle for the day: “What should happen to land in areas damaged by fire to balance resiliency, safety and housing needs?”

It required a steep learning curve. Many participants said they knew little or nothing about the complicated issues involved — fire resilience, municipal finance, housing policy and more. But in a civic assembly, you don’t have to be an expert on any of the issues. The learning is built into the process.

Experts from local government, advocacy groups and other stakeholders are usually part of the civic assembly meetings, citing data, giving additional context and sharing their organizations’ stances. For this session, representatives came from Abundant Housing LA, a group that champions greater housing density; Altadena Green, which works to preserve Altadena’s tree canopy; and the office of State Sen. Ben Allen, whose district includes the Pacific Palisades. Each gave a 10-minute presentation at the start of the session to outline their organization’s perspective on post-wildfire rebuilding.

Participants split up into groups of four or five, each probing one policy idea. Among them: low-interest loans for those looking to rebuild in fire zones, forested buffer zones around residential neighborhoods, and ensuring that all new development and utilities in burn zones are gas-free.

One group's policy evaluation sheet and final votes.

(

Brianna Lee

/

LAist

)

Facilitators helped each group organize their thoughts and make sure everyone had a chance to speak. What were the benefits or negatives of each proposal in terms of logistics, finances or social effects? What questions remained?

Participants scribbled on sticky notes, peppered the experts with questions and bounced thoughts off each other, at times tweaking the wording of a proposal or adding qualifiers. A proposal about giving low-interest loans to homeowners or multi-family projects in burn zones got an added caveat that those loans could be interest-free or forgivable if they provided low-income rents for the loan term. Another group changed their proposal’s language from “Plan for community-level greenbelt buffers” to “Activate the local workforce to build community-level and neighborhood scale greenbelts” instead.

There was little, if any, heated debate. Most were simply trying to better understand the full impact of the proposals before them: Are developers disproportionately benefiting from this idea? Would going gas-free for all new construction mean added strain on the power grid? Where does insurance fit into all of this? Who’s responsible for footing the bill?

At the end of the session, participants stuck colored dots on each proposal to indicate whether they loved it, would support it with some changes, still weren’t sure about it, or rejected it. In a real civic assembly, proposals with the strongest support would pass through to the official recommendation list.

How well does this work in real life?

A group's policy evaluation from the Culver City mock assembly, with a slight alteration to the original premise.

(

Brianna Lee

/

LAist

)

Major legislation has come out of civic assemblies in other countries. Famously, Ireland’s citizens’ assemblies led to the repeal of a nationwide abortion ban and the legalization of same-sex marriage.

It’s hardly a slam dunk for getting new laws passed, though. For instance, when France convened a citizens’ assembly on climate in 2019, President Emmanuel Macron pledged to advance or sign their proposals “without filter.” In the end, only 10% of the group’s 149 proposals made it into the government’s climate bill unchanged, while 37% were modified or watered down. More than half were rejected outright.

But even if the actual power of civic assemblies hold to make change is a mixed bag, there’s another, more consistent effect: studies show civic assemblies are a really worthwhile experience for the people who participate in them.

For instance, an analysis of Petaluma’s 2022 civic assembly on what to do with a hotly contested fairgrounds land found that more than 90% of participants felt a growing sense of community with other members of the group and felt their input was meaningful in local decision-making. Nearly 40% reported that they were more politically active since their civic assembly experience.

In another pilot assembly to come up with solutions for child care access in Montrose, Colorado, more than 90% of participants said after the fact that their thoughts were heard, they were exposed to opinions and perspectives they hadn’t considered before, and that they supported using the same process to address community problems in the future.

Those who attended L.A.’s mock assembly seemed to share many of these feelings too.

“I was surprised at just how nuanced our discussion could get,” said Patrick Traynor, an Irvine resident. Traynor said he came because he had been fascinated by the idea of civic assemblies, but knew very little about fire safety or the finances of land ownership and renting, the issues his group was assigned to discuss. He wound up learning a lot about both topics, with help from the experts available.

A real civic assembly, he said, could help residents learn the ins and outs of complex issues in a way that they would never have time for just by filling out a ballot.

“I’m even more excited about this idea now that I’ve done this mock assembly,” he said.

Jamal Thomas from Bell Gardens said that hearing from others not only allowed him to think of solutions from a wider range of perspectives, but also made him feel like solutions were more attainable.

“Honestly, just listening to people’s experiences and what people want and need about different options and opportunities really helped me believe that there’s hope in getting some of this done,” he said.

Fish, the Culver City council member, said the experience was “incredibly eye-opening” for him.

"I was so floored by how it encourages collaboration and deep respect between people,” he said. “I went in thinking about the budget and I came out thinking, ‘How do I make this a part of our regular decision-making process as a city?'"

What would it take to bring more civic assemblies to L.A.?

Culver City’s subcommittee on governance is scheduled to hold its next meeting on Tuesday, July 8 at 3 p.m. It will hear a presentation on civic assemblies from Public Democracy L.A., and from there the subcommittee will consider whether to move forward with putting its first civic assembly together on the budget process.

If you want to give public comment on the issue, the meeting agenda has instructions on how to do so.

If you’re interested in exploring the idea of civic assemblies elsewhere — maybe in your local school, or another city government — you can get in touch with this event’s organizers, Public Democracy L.A. and Braver Angels, to see what upcoming events they may be putting together. Public Democracy L.A. also holds regular meetings where civic assembly advocates can strategize ways to bring them closer to reality.

A majority of the Supreme Court justices seemed skeptical of the Trump administration's argument on birthright citizenship Wednesday and appeared ready to rule in favor of upholding automatic citizenship for babies born on U.S. soil.

That included multiple conservative justices, who had tough questions for Trump's solicitor general, D. John Sauer. Sauer argued the government's case against birthright citizenship, the practice enshrined in the 14th Amendment in the Constitution, which became law in 1868.

It states: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

Sauer, however, asserted that contrary to the law as understood for 160 years, the 14th Amendment does not confer automatic citizenship on every baby born in the U.S. He told the court that the true meaning of the amendment was to grant citizenship to former slaves and their children, no more. And, therefore, President Trump was well within his rights when he signed an executive order barring citizenship for children born in this country to parents who are illegally here, or who are here legally, but on long-term visas.

But Chief Justice John Roberts was doubtful about that executive order.

"The examples you give to support that strike me as very quirky," Roberts told Sauer. "And then you expand it to a whole class of illegal aliens," he continued. "I'm not quite sure how you can get to that big group from such tiny and, sort of, idiosyncratic examples."

"We're in a new world now," Sauer contended. "A billion people are one plane ride away from having a child who's a U.S. citizen."

"It's a new world," Roberts replied, but "it's the same Constitution."

Not seeing a play button? Click here.

Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that the Trump executive order focuses on parents, but the 14th Amendment focuses on birthright for the child. He asked: how would you know who the father is, or the mother? What if they're unmarried? Whose house do they live in?

Justice Amy Coney Barrett questioned the practicality of the Trump proposal.

"How would it work?" she asked. "How would you adjudicate these cases? You're not going to know at the time of birth whether they have the intent to stay or not, including U.S. citizens by the way."

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wondered, "So [are] we bringing pregnant women in for depositions? What are we doing to figure this out?"

The justices also grilled Sauer about the landmark 1898 case of Wong Kim Ark, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Wong had birthright citizenship, because he was born in the United States. Sauer, however, maintained that Wong was only given birthright citizenship because his parents were legally domiciled in the United States.

"I think even your brief concedes that the position you're taking now is a revisionist one with respect to a substantial part of our history," Justice Elena Kagan said. "That's, in part, because of Wong Kim Ark and the way people have read that case ever since then."

Challenging the Trump birthright plan, the American Civil Liberties Union's Cecillia Wang told the Supreme Court that the 14th Amendment was enacted after the Civil War in order to have a universal rule of citizenship, subject to a closed set of exceptions, and that the birthright applies to all children born on U.S. soil.

"We can't take the current administration's policy considerations into account to try to re-engineer and radically re-interpret the original meaning of the 14th Amendment," Wang argued.

However, in reference to current perceived immigration problems versus those that existed at the time the 14th Amendment was enacted, Kagan posited: "What do we do if we think we have a new problem that didn't exist at the time of the 14th Amendment?"

Justice Brett Kavanaugh followed up, asking whether the provisions of the 14th Amendment are frozen in place.

Yes, replied Wang, because the framers of it were intent on putting the citizenship question out of the reach of Congress.

The decision, expected by this summer, will almost certainly result in a historic ruling, and Trump himself made his mark at the court Wednesday morning.

He became the first sitting president known to attend oral arguments, signaling the importance of this issue to him personally.

After leaving the courtroom before the arguments were over, he wrote on Truth Social, "We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow 'Birthright' Citizenship!" In fact, roughly three dozen countries offer it.

Trump arrived about 10 minutes before the arguments began, listened to Sauer field the justices' questions for a little over an hour and then left a few minutes after Wang began to make her case.

Outside the court, dozens of people rallied in support of birthright citizenship

Volunteers with the ACLU, joined by immigrant rights organizations like CASA and the League of United Latin American Citizens, handed out fliers that read "protect birthright citizenship" and "14th Amendment."

"We're all out here to protect the fundamental right of birthright citizenship. It's written in the 14th Amendment," said Anu Joshi, a staff member of the ACLU. "It's what makes us America."

Among the crowd were several people who were citizens by birthright themselves.

"I am a birthright citizen so this hits really, really close to home because without birthright citizenship I wouldn't even have my citizenship in the United States," said Stephanie Sanchez, a first-generation Mexican-American who came to the rally. "Here I am representing my community and fighting back."

After the arguments, ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero told the crowd he felt confident in the way the arguments played out inside.

"We are fighting for the heart and soul of this country. The fight to protect birthright citizenship is about our neighbors, our families, our kids. It's not about the past, it's about the future," he said. "We will only accept what is just and what is right."

Largely absent from the crowd were proponents of the president's position.

Domenico Montanaro, Ximena Bustillo and Anusha Mathur contributed to this story.
Copyright 2026 NPR

I hope you had luck in securing the first round of LA28 Olympics tickets — and that you’re not still waiting for page refreshes this morning! We’ve got all the info on how to get your tickets and why you shouldn’t fret if it doesn’t work out on this first try.

LAist’s Mariana Dale went to Hollywood High School this week to see how students and teachers felt about Mitski bringing a concert to the historic space. Seems like no one was missing class since perfect attendance meant a shot at tickets.

No matter your music taste, there’s a show for you this weekend. It may not be the height of summer yet, but things will be heating up at the Hollywood Bowl as Ben Platt and Rachel Zegler reunite for their concert performance of Broadway hit The Last Five Years. Plus, Licorice Pizza recommends Mercury Prize-winning London rapper Dave at the Palladium, St. Paul & the Broken Bones are at the Belasco, Calum Scott plays the Wiltern, and there’s a really cool First Fridays night at the Natural History Museum with dub legend Adrian Sherwood. Saturday has pop trio LANY at the Intuit Dome, Lamb of God slaughtering the YouTube Theater, SoundCloud rapper Rich Amiri at the Fonda, post-hardcore band Hail the Sun at the Wiltern, pop sensation Nessa Barrett at the Masonic Lodge, and another rising pop star, Alexander Stewart, at Chinatown’s cool new venue, Pacific Electric.

Explore more from LAist: Check out the latest L.A. chefs who are nominated for a James Beard award, or follow the space trail if you were inspired by the new Ryan Gosling film, Project Hail Mary.

Events

O.C. Japan Fair

April 3-5
O.C. Fair & Event Center
88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa
COST: FROM $16.78; MORE INFO

Experience sakura season without leaving the area at the O.C. Japan Fair, featuring 250 vendors, craftspeople, food booths, art activities and more, all celebrating Japanese culture. From sake tastings to sushi-making workshops to musical performances and kimono try-ons, the annual event is one of the largest Japanese cultural fairs in California.

Play L.A. New Works Festival 

April 3-4
Greenway Court Theatre
544 North Fairfax Ave., Mid-City
COST: FREE, MORE INFO

(

PLAY LA Festival

)

Check out readings of five new plays — all for free! — at the Play L.A. New Works Festival, put on by Stage Raw and the Greenway Arts Alliance, along with a number of L.A. indie theater powerhouses. This year’s plays are Stonewall’s Bouncer by Louisa Hill, produced by The Victory Theatre; At Olduvai Gorge by India Kotis, produced by The Odyssey Theatre Company; Ghost Play by Mathew Scott Montgomery, produced by InHouse Theatre; The Incident by Rachel Borders, produced by The Road Theatre Ensemble; and Three Dates by Erica Wachs, produced by IAMA Theatre Company. Go see one, or go see them all!

SoCal Corgi Beach Day 

Saturday, April 4, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
21351 California 1, Huntington Beach 
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

(

Vlad D

/

Unsplash

)

Head to Huntington Beach for the cutest event of the year, the annual SoCal Corgi Beach Day. This year’s theme is "Tiki Beach Pawty," because of course it is. Honor Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite pets and spend the day at the beach with these short, stout, snuggly friends while they frolic and compete in events like — I am not making this up – Corgi Limbo.

Plaza Mexico Celebrates Easter 

Sunday, April 5, 12:00 p.m. to 4 p.m.
3100 E. Imperial Highway, Lynwood
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

(

Plaza México

)

You have your pick of Easter Bunny photo ops and egg hunts around town, and Plaza Mexico would be a great one with the family. Meet and take a picture with the Easter bunny, enjoy kids' arts & crafts, family activities, vendors and sweet treats.

Writers Bloc: Cory Booker

Friday, April 3, 7:30 p.m.
John Adams Middle School (JAMS) Performing Arts Center
2425 16th St., Santa Monica
COST: $33; MORE INFO

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 05: Senator Cory Booker attends PBS' "Black & Jewish America: An Interwoven History" Screening With Henry Louis Gates, Jr. And Conversation With Sen. Cory Booker at 92NY on February 05, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

(

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

/

Getty Images North America

)

Spend Friday night with New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, whose new book, Stand, tells stories from his political life that aim to share "actionable insights" to help preserve democracy in these challenging times. The conversation with Writers Bloc will be hosted by Sean Bailey, the former head of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production for 14 years and the current CEO of the new multi-platform production company B5 Studios. The event is sold out, but there is a waitlist available.

Behind the Canvas — An Exclusive Art Talk with the Jurors of A Woman's Place: Framing the Future

Saturday, April 4, 11 a.m. 
Ebell of Los Angeles 
741 S. Lucerne Blvd., Mid-Wilshire
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

(

The Ebell

)

Have coffee and doughnuts with the curators of the Ebell’s Women’s History Month exhibit, "A Woman’s Place: Framing the Future." You can catch the show before it closes and see work from women artists exploring new interpretations of womanhood, feminism and art.

Grunion Run 

Saturday, April 4, starting at 10:30 p.m.
Venice Breakwater
Ocean Front Walk, Venice
COST: FREE; MORE INFO 

Thousands of grunions on the shore.

(

Courtesy of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

)

I have lived in Venice for more than 20 years and never actually seen a grunion, despite efforts, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fun to see all your neighbors scouring the beach by moonlight on a Saturday night. The Venice Oceanarium folks always organize an educational tent with lessons on how these unique fish show up on our shores to reproduce, and maybe you’ll luck out and time it right this year.

She’s Auspicious

Saturday, April 4, 7 p.m.
Broad Stage
1310 11th St., Santa Monica
COST: FROM $40; MORE INFO 

L.A. native Mythili Prakash takes the Tamil dance form Bharatanatyam to new heights as a choreographer and performer. Her short dance film Mollika, commissioned by Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage in London, was nominated for a 2025 National Dance Award for Best Short Dance Film. She’s Auspicious, her latest production, "blurs the line between goddess and woman, exploring the dichotomy between celebration of the goddess versus the treatment of women in society." It was nominated for an Olivier Award in the category Best New Dance Performance in the U.K., and lucky for us, is on for one performance only at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica.

The cool weather continues for one more day in Southern California. Later this evening, strong winds will kick in for some mountains and highway corridors ahead of a Santa Ana wind event slated for Friday.

Temperatures at the beaches are going to stick around the mid to upper 60s, and around 70 degrees more inland.

Coachella Valley, San Bernardino and Riverside County mountains will continue to see gusty winds until tonight.

At noon, the Antelope Valley will be under a wind advisory, with winds expected to reach 20 to 30 mph, and some gusts up to 50 mph. Wind advisories will also kick in for the 5 Freeway corridor, Ventura County mountains and the Santa Susana mountains, where gusts could reach 45 mph.