Frank Stoltze
I came to L.A. as a very young reporter on New Year’s Day, 1991. Two months later, four LAPD officers were caught on videotape beating Rodney King. A year later, the night before the riots/rebellion broke out, I was in the Nickerson Gardens housing project in Watts at an extraordinary rally of rival gangs that had brokered a truce.
Today, I cover Civics and Democracy in L.A. As we face perhaps the greatest threat to democracy since the Civil War, I seek to engage with communities and examine the hurdles to becoming involved in the political process. I cover the various social and political movements seeking to improve the lives of Angelenos. I also cover anti-democratic forces.
And after all these years, I still need to figure out the best donut shop in L.A. The best torta. The best (not fanciest) coffee. Best of all I get to meet the smartest, most interesting people and bring their voices to you.
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Sheriff Alex Villanueva proposed the idea to DA George Gascón last month. -
The finding doesn't answer the crucial question of whether the deputy’s decision to use deadly force was lawful.
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The reformist L.A. DA said the statewide organization is a home 'solely for those willing to toe the ‘tough on crime’ line.'
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Gascón is asking the supervisors to name former federal prosecutor Lawrence Middleton, who has extensive experience prosecuting police misconduct. He was part of the team that prosecuted four LAPD officers charged with violating Rodney King's constitutional rights.
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The Sheriff's Department says it got the utility's permission last month to create a helipad near Villanueva's home for his security; SoCalGas says it had turned down a request last summer.
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A judge says the DA is violating state law and creating an ethical dilemma for prosecutors by requiring them to seek the dismissal of most sentencing enhancements in current cases.
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The preliminary injunction bars the DA from directing his prosecutors to seek the dismissal of all sentencing enhancements in pending cases for things like using a gun or belonging to a gang. But Gascón is allowed to order prosecutors not to seek most enhancements in future cases.
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District Attorney George Gascón's policies designed to fight mass incarceration of Black and brown men are running into opposition in L.A. courtrooms from some of his own prosecutors.
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DA George Gascón has directed his prosecutors to seek the dismissal of additional charges that can add many years to a defendant's sentence, arguing that they drive mass incarceration of mostly Black and brown men. But some prosecutors are resisting his order; we watch this play out in a double murder case.
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Two detectives on the case also declined to testify as well, saying doing so could compromise their investigation.
