A grand jury decided Wednesday not to indict a New York police officer who put a fatal chokehold on an unarmed 43-year-old Eric black man, Eric Garner, despite the encounter being caught on video tape. Also, a change to the formula used under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) could have a large impact on development throughout the state. Then, do you think the drinking age should be lowered?
Eric Garner decision: What needs to change in police training
A grand jury decided Wednesday not to indict a New York police officer who put a fatal chokehold on an unarmed 43-year-old black man, Eric Garner, despite the encounter being caught on video tape. Just like in Ferguson, many are wondering what evidence the grand jury in New York was looking at that made them decide there wasn’t enough to charge the NYPD officer in Garner’s death. So how did they come to this decision?
Garner’s death is the latest in a slew of incidents that have raised tensions between law enforcement and the black community. In addition to the Ferguson grand jury’s decision last week not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown, Cleveland police are also coming under fire for an incident involving one of their officers shooting a 12-year-old boy who was playing with a BB gun in a park.
In fact, the Justice Department released a report Thursday saying that the Cleveland Police Department uses excessive force far too often, are poorly trained in tactics, and endanger the public and fellow officers with their recklessness.
Here in Los Angeles, LAPD chief Charlie Beck is faulting three officers in the death of an unarmed man last year, saying they violated department rules for using deadly force. The three officers have remained relieved of duty since the incident and it will be up to Chief Beck to decide how the officers will be punished, if at all.
The common factor among each of these incidents is the questionable tactical decisions made by the police officers involved. Is enough being done to properly train police officers to use deadly force responsibly? How, if at all, should police training change after the incidents in Cleveland, Ferguson, L.A., and New York?
Guests:
John L Burris, civil rights lawyer at The Law Offices of John L. Burris in Oakland and former prosecutor
Ben Tracktenberg, associate professor of law at the University of Missouri where he teaches criminal procedure, evidence and legal ethics
Tim Williams, retired LAPD Senior Detective Supervisor (Robbery-Homicide Division), 1974-2003; Expert on police procedure and use-of-force for state and federal court; owner of T.T. Williams Jr. investigations
What chance does the immigration lawsuit from 17 states have against President Obama?
A lawsuit has been filed by 17 states on Wednesday against President Obama’s executive action on immigration. The suit says that the President had overstepped his authority and violated the Constitution in issuing the order.
The federal suit was announced by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. “The president’s unilateral executive action tramples the U.S. Constitution’s Take Care Clause and federal law,” Abbott said in a statement.
States involved include Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
What are the prospects of the lawsuit?
Guests:
Stephen Legomsky, professor, Washington University Law School; former Chief Counsel of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Ronald Rotunda, professor of law, Chapman University
Proposed CEQA changes could push development to disincentivize car use
A change to the formula used under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) could have a large impact on development throughout the state. Currently, the CEQA process views projects as having a negative environmental impact if they slow traffic. The proposed changes would change the perspective from one focusing on stemming traffic to one with an eye towards decreasing the amount of cars on the road and the temporal length of transportation.
If the proposed changes become final, the slight difference in priorities may change the way developers treat the city and suburbs. Whereas previous attempts under the act expanded car lanes and synchronized streetlights in order to lessen traffic, new attempts would discourage suburban sprawl and instead incentivize options for alternative transport. Those who bike and use mass transit may benefit from the proposed regulatory process, and supporters of green development are supporting the changes with the belief that it will lower greenhouse emissions. Yet for drivers who already have long commutes, driving through the city could become more onerous.
How should the state of California regulate development under CEQA? Do you think your commute could be affected if the development process changes?
Guests:
Ethan Elkind, Associate Director of the Climate Change and Business Program, with a joint appointment at UC Berkeley School of Law and UCLA School of Law. Author of the book, "Railtown: The Fight for the Los Angeles Metro Rail and the Future of the City" (University of California Press, 2014)
Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association
Could lowering the legal drinking age stem sexual assaults on college campuses?
It’s no secret that underage drinking on college campuses is an issue that administrators have been dealing with for many years. More recently, an uptick in sexual assaults on college campuses across the country has drawn a lot of attention to the amount of binge drinking and underage drinking that goes on at a typical college or university. A recentop-ed in the New York Times tackles this issue, and argues that lowering the drinking age could be the first step to helping curb sexual assault on college campuses.
A recent article in Rolling Stone chronicled the sexual assault of a University of Virginia student and her discovery that trying to bring her attackers to justice would only result in more pain. Colleges and universities are now faced with the challenge of not only curbing binge and underage drinking, but also finding a way to curb sexual assaults.
Those in favor of lowering the drinking age say the current drinking age pushes many college students to drink under the radar by attending fraternity parties or other social gatherings. They say a lower drinking age would allow students to drink in public establishments where staff or security personnel are present rather than at private house parties. Those opposed to lowering the drinking age say that it would only encourage more binge drinking at a younger age, which could lead to more sexual assault.
Do you think the drinking age should be lowered? What age should it be? If the drinking age were lowered, what impact would it have on sexual assaults on college campuses?
Guests
Jed Rubenfeld, Robert R. Slaughter Professor of Law at Yale Law School, Yale University, wrote an op-ed in the New York Times about how colleges are mishandling rape
Bill DeJong, Professor of Community Health Sciences at Boston University’s School of Public Health