Police Commision’s No-Name Policy; Black And Brown Violence In The Jails And Out; Change In Lethal Injection; Bush Administration Plans To Sell Pieces Of Forest Land; Not A Geniune Black Man
Police Commision’s No-Name Policy
The Los Angeles Police Commission will release the background on a legal opinion that was the basis of its recent decision to withhold names of officers from shooting reports. The change, which reversed a 25-year-old policy, drew a strong rebuke from city council members. The commission says the names will be withheld to satisfy laws governing personnel records, but civil rights activists see this as a reduction in the transparency necessary for maintaining healthy relations between the police and the public. Larry talks with Fifth District City Councilman Jack Weiss and KPCC reporter Frank Stoltze about this new policy.
Black And Brown Violence In The Jails And Out
LA County jails have been plagued by 11 days of fighting between black and Latino inmates, resulting in two deaths. Is this black/brown violence unique to the jails or is it a manifestation of a larger race-relations problem? Larry talks to Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor, Third District, Connie Rice, civil rights attorney, The Advancement Project, and Nicholas Vaca , a sociologist, writer and lawyer who specializes in Latino/black relations, and Frank Stoltze, KPCC reporter.
Change In Lethal Injection
A federal judge ruled that California must change its lethal injection method for the execution of Michael Morales next week because the current mix of drugs may constitute cruel and unusual punishment. U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel in San Jose on Tuesday declined to immediately postpone Morales' Feb. 21 scheduled execution, but he ordered the state to either have an expert present to ensure he's unconscious from a sedative or replace a three-drug death potion with a lethal dose of barbiturate. If the state declines to choose either new option, Fogel said he would stay the execution and have hearings on whether California's injection protocol was cruel and unusual punishment, a violation of the U.S. Constitution. Larry Mantle speaks with a Natasha Minsker, Director of Death Penalty Policy for the American Civil Liberties Union about the order to change the execution process in California.
Bush Administration Plans To Sell Pieces Of Forest Land
The Bush administration plans to sell a large portion of public lands in the United States including 85,000 acres of National Forest Land in California. Larry talks with Dave Tenney, Agriculture Deputy Undersecretary for Natural Resources and the Environment for the U.S.D.A. which oversees the U.S. Forest Service, and Amy Mall, Senior Forest Policy Analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council about the issue.
Not A Geniune Black Man
Larry Mantle talks with comedian Brian Copeland whose first solo show, NOT A GENUINE BLACK MAN, reveals a little-known chapter of Bay Area history. In 1971, San Leandro was named one of the most racist suburbs in America. Congressional hearings were held. The next year, the then eight-year-old Brian Copeland and his African-American family moved to San Leandro. In a monologue that's both funny and poignant, Brian explores how surroundings make us who we are. NOT A GENUINE BLACK MAN opens Saturday, February 25th at the new Hayworth Theater on Wilshire Blvd. (2511 Wilshire Blvd., two blocks east of Rampart).