Today on AirTalk, we discuss a case the Supreme Court is considering that could affect homelessness nationwide. Also on the show, we take a look at how the trade war is impacting the LA and Long Beach ports.
SCOTUS Decides Whether To Take Up Homeless Encampment Case
Is it a constitutional right to sleep on the sidewalk if you have nowhere else to go? It's a question the U.S. Supreme Court could answer if justices opt to hear the prominent homeless rights case, Martin et. al. v. City of Boise, Idaho.
The case has sent shockwaves across the West, a region where unsheltered homelessness is increasingly visible and public frustration with it is boiling over.
The high court is scheduled to consider taking up Martin v. Boise on Friday. The case revolves around claims by several currently and formerly homeless plaintiffs that the city of Boise violated their constitutional rights by criminally prosecuting them for sleeping outside. Plaintiffs argued it amounted to cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
Go to LAist.com to read the full story
Guests:
Carol Sobel, civil rights attorney who has brought on various challenges against Los Angeles’ criminalization of homelessness; she represented Jones in the Jones vs. Los Angeles case, in which an appeals court ruled that the city can’t enforce its rules against homeless individuals involuntarily sleeping in public
Elizabeth Mitchell, attorney for the LA Alliance on Human Rights, a coalition of downtown-LA based stakeholders to address homelessness; she represented the International Downtown Association (IDA), which drafted one of the amicus briefs on behalf of Boise
How Does the Trade War Affect LA’s Ports?
The battlefield of the US trade war with China hasn’t been exactly hot this week.
Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng has been murky on what’s been said in negotiations, how China might react to additional tariffs, and if there’s going to be any retaliation for telecom Huawei being banned from buying American supplies. Perhaps it’s becoming a bit of a cold war; President Trump and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin have deferred any kind of hard deadline for a phase-one agreement and China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs… agrees. There is no deadline.
How exactly is this frosty state of affairs affecting business in Los Angeles’ two gigantic shipping harbors, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach? We check in to see what the trade war’s impact is, as well as what the Ports’ operators are doing to reduce truck emissions following the rules the South Coast Air Quality Management District voted on last May.
Guests:
Gene Seroka, Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles
Mario Cordero, Executive Director of the Port of Long Beach; he tweets
FilmWeek: ‘Playmobil: The Movie,’ ‘The Aeronauts,’ ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire’ and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Claudia Puig, Peter Rainer and Charles Solomon review this weekend’s new movie releases.
"Playmobil: The Movie" in wide release
"The Aeronauts" in select theaters (check local listings)
“The Frame” host John Horn caught up with stars Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones earlier this year at the Telluride Film Festival. You can find the interview here.
"Portrait of a Lady on Fire" at Arclight Cinemas Hollywood
"Varda by Agnès" at the Aero Theatre
"63 Up" at the Nuart Theatre
"Most Likely to Succeed" at Laemmle’s Monica Film Center
"Little Joe" at Laemmle’s Royal
"Meet Me In St. Louis" (1944, 75th Anniversary) at Regal Alhambra Renaissance, AMC Santa Anita & AMC Atlantic Times Square (Dec. 8 & Dec. 11 only)
"They Shall Not Grow Old" in select theaters (check local listings)
Critics' Hits:
Claudia: "Portrait of a Lady on Fire" & "63 Up"
Peter: "Varda by Agnès"
Charles: "Meet Me in St. Louis" & "They Shall Not Grow Old"
Mixed Feelings:
Claudia: "Little Joe"
Peter: "Most Likely to Succeed"
Misses:
Claudia: "The Aeronauts"
Charles: "Playmobil: The Movie"
Guests:
Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA); she tweets
Peter Rainer, film critic for KPCC and the Christian Science Monitor
Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC, Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine
Fathers, Sons And The Family Dynamics Haunting This Year’s Film Releases
Dysfunctional families have long been ripe material for film. Tense dinner scenes are a mainstay in dramas and comedies alike, often used as sites of generational strife and cultural impasse.
Yet this season’s film releases seem to be grappling with familial relationships in more central, complicated ways. Critic Randee Dawn writes in the Los Angeles Times about how “Waves,” “Ad Astra,” “Rocketman,” “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” “Honey Boy” and to some extent the comedy “Knives Out” all contend with the profound legacy that strained familial relationships can have long into a person’s adult life. Several of these films take up the dynamic between fathers and sons as a means for grappling with masculinity and violence. Others explore families more broadly, delving into topics like inheritance, duty and unconditional love. This week on FilmWeek, our critics discuss some of the most important family relationships depicted in film.
What films do you think have captured powerful familial relationships? Do you think there are wider cultural reasons compelling filmmakers to explore the family this year? Let us know in the comments or call us at 866-893-5722.
Guests:
Randee Dawn, freelance writer for The Los Angeles Times Envelope, which covers awards shows year round for the newspaper; her latest article is “Father-son relationships play out in many movies this season, but rarely pleasantly”; she tweets
Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA); she tweets
Peter Rainer, film critic for KPCC and the Christian Science Monitor
Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC, Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine