AirTalk discusses a series of gun control bills that are making their way through the California Legislature. We also examine legal strategies of the ‘Golden State Killer’ case; revisit Los Angeles' vintage establishments; and more.
State lawmakers have until the end of the month to pass some of toughest gun control laws in the country
A series of gun control bills are making their way through the California Legislature and lawmakers have until the end of August to get them in front of Governor Jerry Brown for his approval.
The bills were introduced in the aftermath of the Parkland school shooting in February, and include a proposal that would raise the legal age of gun purchase in the state from 18 to 21, and another that would impose a lifetime ban on gun ownership for anyone who’s been found guilty of misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
We debate the bills and their likelihood for approval.
Guests:
Allison Anderman, managing attorney at Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a public interest law center that promotes gun control; she tweets
Craig DeLuz, director of legislative and public affairs at Firearms Policy Coalition, an organization advocating for second amendment rights in CA; he tweets
Cannabis-use dependency: Not just blowing smoke
If you’ve had enough conversations with cannabis advocates, you’ve probably heard at least one of them mention some iteration of “marijuana isn’t addictive” as a reason supporting legalization.
But how much do we know scientifically about the potential habit or dependency forming properties of cannabis? Can you become physically and psychologically dependent on marijuana the same way you can to other drugs like opioids?
The answer is complicated. The number of Americans who are self-report a cannabis use disorder has doubled since the early 2000s, and the number of Americans who say they use it every day has gone up 50 percent in that same time frame. So why are more people using cannabis every day? For starters, it’s easy to get, especially in states like California where it has been legalized for recreational use. The legalization movement also means that social acceptance of cannabis use is more common. And the product people are smoking? It’s not exactly your granddaddy’s weed. The plant itself as well as products made from it are being engineered to be more potent. But because marijuana is still classified as a Schedule I drug under federal law, there is little hard evidence outside of national survey results that can point to factors like ease of access or product potency as having a direct link to cannabis use disorder.
If you self-identify as having a cannabis use disorder or have in the past, or you know someone who has, what made you realize that your daily use was forming a dependency? How did you go about addressing it? What kinds of treatments are available to those who develop a cannabis dependency? Join the conversation at 866-893-5722.
Guests:
Ziva Cooper, associate professor of clinical neurobiology in psychiatry at Columbia University, where she studies the adverse and therapeutic effects of cannabis and cannabinoids; she tweets
Keith Humphreys, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University; he served as senior policy advisor for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy from 2009-2010 and is a member of the steering committee of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Marijuana Policy in California; he tweets
As district attorneys shift prosecution of ‘Golden State Killer' to Sacramento County, we preview the legal strategies for both sides
The so-called “Golden State Killer” made national headlines when police arrested a suspect in April of 2018 after decades of investigation.
But what may attract even more eyeballs than the headlines about alleged serial rapist and murderer Joseph DeAngelo’s arrest will be his trial, which prosecutors announced Tuesday would be a joint effort held in a single trial in a Sacramento courtroom. It’s so highly anticipated that even DeAngelo’s lawyer has called it the “biggest trial in California history.”
Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert and five other DAs announced that they had refiled the 13 murder counts, which took place in several California counties, in Sacramento Superior Court in order to consolidate the case and speed up the trial process. 10 of those counts have special enhancements that will permit prosecutors to pursue the death penalty if they so choose, though they say that call won’t be made for some time. The amended complaint also includes 13 new charges of kidnapping to commit robbery.
Prosecutors said they decided on Sacramento county because many of DeAngelo’s alleged crimes happened there, and that the county is large and has the forensic and legal resources to handle a trial of this nature.
DeAngelo, who is set to be arraigned on Thursday, is a former police officer and Vietnam War veteran accused of committing a series of rapes, kidnappings and murders over the course of 11 years. After disappearing for years into the general public, investigators were able to use a genealogy website to match DNA from a crime scene to the DNA of a relative who was registered with the site.
What will be the strategies for the prosecution and defense? Given the high-profile nature of the case, are attorneys on either side expecting trouble with jury selection? We’ll tackle these questions and more as Larry Mantle and our legal experts preview the upcoming trial.
Guests:
Joseph Serna, is a Metro reporter with the Los Angeles Times; he’s been following the golden state killer; he tweets
Dmitry Gorin, a former trial prosecutor in the Los Angeles DA’s office and a criminal defense attorney; he tweets
Ambrosio Rodriguez, former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney; he led the sex crimes team in the Riverside County D.A.’s office; he tweets
Are incomes really stagnant? Pew study indicates they’re moving ahead
A new Pew Research Center analysis of Federal Reserve data released last month found, unlike common belief, average household incomes are not stagnant and that wages for most Americans have actually gone up historically.
The collapse of the housing market a decade ago hit many homeowners hard. But according to Pew economist Richard Fry most working Americans now have higher incomes than before the Great Recession of 2008.
The Pew study indicates that incomes are moving ahead but slowly. Meanwhile, the median incomes for American households had declined about 3 percent since 2007. The Pew economist attributes this contradiction to a decline in income among retirees.
While retirees’ incomes typically drop, they seem to maintain a comfortable life thanks to a combination of social security benefits and a lifetime of savings. We talk to economists about the state of the economy, is wage stagnation overstated? We question if we are richer than we think.
Guests:
Richard Fry, senior researcher at Pew Research Center, who crunched the numbers of a recent Federal Reserve study and found that Generation X is the only generation to recover the wealth lost after the 2008 housing crash
Chris Thornberg, founding partner of Beacon Economics; his focus includes economic forecasting, employment and labor markets and economic policy
AirTalk Asks: Your favorite retro LA spots
Newcomers might think that Los Angeles is all glam and new buildings, but Angelenos know that the city has a rich and complex history – and one that you can still find in vintage spots that have retained their retro charm.
There’s the Musso & Frank Grill in Hollywood which has been around since 1919, and has served its classic martini to Hollywood greats such as Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe and Steve McQueen, as well as literary icons such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Raymond Chandler.
There’s Larry Edmunds Bookshop, the last remaining bookseller on what used to be know as “Booksellers Row” on Hollywood Boulevard. Other highlights in the L.A. Magazine’s “100 Places Where You Can Experience Retro Los Angeles” include Tiki-Ti, Atomic Records, Moonlight Rollerway and Olvera Street.
Where’s your favorite retro L.A. spot and why? Tell us at 866-893-5722.
Guest:
Chris Nichols, associate editor at the Los Angeles Magazine and co-author of “100 Places Where You Can Experience Retro Los Angeles"; he tweets