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Does the First Amendment protect sheriff's deputy cliques and tattoos from scrutiny?
LA Sheriff Jim McDonnell addressing recruits at the Biscailuz Training Academy in Los Angeles, Calif. on Thursday, May 3, 2018.
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Susanica Tam/For KPCC
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Does the First Amendment protect sheriff's deputy cliques and tattoos from scrutiny?
On Tuesday the L.A. Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission takes up the issue of secretive and sometimes violent deputy cliques inside the department – and the tattoos that identify the cliques' members. One of the commissioners -- a Loyola Law school professor - is challenging the county's long-held legal position that deputy cliques and tattoos are protected under the First Amendment. KPCC's Frank Stoltze goes in-depth on the issue.
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