Owners of The Griffin bar in Atwater Village encountered some tough decisions after the fight took place, and we wonder what, if any, protocol bars and establishments should have in place for incidents such as these. We also discuss police liability during car chases; dive into what it means for particular races to code switch; and more.
US charges Russian woman as spy and the fallout from the Trump-Putin summit
A 29-year-old gun-rights activist served as a covert Russian agent while living in Washington, gathering intelligence on American officials and political organizations and working to establish back-channel lines of communications for the Kremlin, federal prosecutors charged Monday.
The announcement of the arrest of Maria Butina came just hours after President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and just days after special counsel Robert Mueller charged 12 Russian intelligence officials with directing a sprawling hacking effort aimed at swaying the 2016 election.
In the meantime, the fallout continues for President Trump after he sided with Putin in disputing the findings by US intelligence that the Russians interfered in the 2016 election.
With files from the Associated Press
With guest host Libby Denkmann
Guests:
Bill Hennigan, DC-based national security correspondent for TIME, who’s been following the story; he tweets
Ronald Neumann, American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan (2005–2007), Bahrain (2001–2004) and Algeria (1994–1997); president of the American Academy of Diplomacy, a non-partisan organization of former senior diplomats that aim to strengthen American diplomacy
How a CA lawsuit could make police officers think twice before getting involved in a car chase
The California Supreme Court is set to decide on whether to move forward with a case that aims to make police departments culpable in accidents that occur during car chases.
The case goes back to 2015, when a Gardena officer pursued a truck driven by a man suspected of armed robbery. The officer struck the truck at 50 mph while attempting a pursuit intervention technique (PIT), a maneuver that is potentially lethal when conducted at speeds more than 35 mph. A passenger in the truck, Mark Gamar, was killed, and his mother then sued the Gardena Police Department.
Law enforcement groups are watching the case closely, because if the court decides to pursue it there’s a good chance that it will spark more lawsuits from individuals seeking compensation after having been involved in police chase accidents.
With guest host Libby Denkmann.
Guest:
Jeff Noble, police practices consultant and former deputy chief of police of the Irvine Police Department
After bar altercation between Proud Boys and Democratic Socialists of America-LA, how should bar owners and restaurateurs handle similar incidents?
On Saturday night, a group of Proud Boys — self-described "western chauvinists" from a fraternal order of men who "refuse to apologize for creating the modern world" — gathered at The Griffin, a bar on Los Feliz Boulevard in Atwater Village.
The Proud Boys are classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the organization has openly threatened to assault opponents and celebrated violent clashes with groups like Antifa. Only men can join Proud Boys (there's a separate group for women). On their official website, the group says it is "anti-SJW (social justice warrior) without being alt-right," and that its membership does not discriminate based on race, religion, or sexual preference.
Members of activist groups including the
and
came to the bar and alerted management about the Proud Boys' background. It’s still unclear how the incident started, each side says the other instigated.
In an Instagram post after the incident, the owners of The Griffin, who were not at the bar when the argument started, said they took responsibility for the way things were handled and that it was on them to have a policy in place to handle situations like that, especially in the owners’ absence. They said they were unaware that members of the Proud Boys would be meeting there and that by the time they knew, several members were already inside and that they felt it was better to employ a tactic they’ve used with troublemakers in the past — “kill them with kindness and they’ll get bored and go away.” A second social media post said the bar would post “No Tolerance” signs and turn away anyone affiliated with a hate group who tried to get in.
But how easy will that be to enforce, both practically and on a legal level? Do you think the business deserves to be boycotted? If you were in the position of the bar’s owners, how might you have handled the situation differently. If you own a bar or restaurant and have had to deal with tensions between ideologically-opposed groups, how have you handled the situation? What about as a patron, how would you have reacted?
With files from LAist. Read the full piece here.
We reached out to The Griffin for comment but as of the airing of this segment, they have not responded to our request.
Guest:
Eugene Volokh, professor of law at UCLA and founder and co-author of the legal blog The Volokh Conspiracy
The latest at the border: Judge temporarily pauses deportations of reunited migrant families
A federal judge has temporarily halted deportations of families who have been recently reunited after they were separated by the Trump administration.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed paperwork saying attorneys were concerned about rumors of "mass deportations" following reunification of children ages five to 17 with their parents. They asked that deportations be stalled at least a week after the families were reunified to allow time to ensure no family is being improperly deported.
Judge Dana Sabraw said Monday he'd order a temporary halt to any deportations for a week until the government can respond to the ACLU motion. He asked whether there were any issues over whether he had jurisdiction but there were no verbal objections. He gave government lawyers one week to respond to the ACLU's concerns, and he would rule permanently after going over the paperwork.
The Trump administration has said it completed reunifying all eligible children under five, and reunifying families with older children is happening on a rolling basis. Meanwhile, the Trump administration announced its plan Friday to reunite 2,500 kids with their families in ten days. That announcement came after a federal judge pressed the administration last week to meet deadline to reunify dozens of migrant children.
We check in on immigration, including President Trump’s plans to reunite those families and what is happening at the border.
With files from the Associated Press
With guest host Libby Denkmann
Guests:
Alicia A. Caldwell, Los Angeles-based immigration reporter for the Wall Street Journal, who has been reporting on immigration, border security and the recent pause on deportation of reunited families; she tweets
Ted Hesson, employment and immigration reporter for POLITICO Pro, who has reported on the latest court order to temporary halt deportation of reunited families; he tweets
California men’s rights groups are taking ladies’ nights to court
There’s a loose coalition of men’s rights activists in California who are challenging female-centric businesses and marketing strategies, citing discrimination against men via the California Unruh Civil Rights Act.
This 1959 piece of state legislation applies to all businesses and outlaws discrimination based on a number of categories, including sex.
So what about an all-ladies networking night at a club or a Wednesday night bar special where women can get a free drink? These are the types of practices that are being challenged by these groups, who follow the Civil Rights test case tradition and send men to be turned away at these events.
In her latest piece for the New York Times, Katie Rosman profiles some of the men in this movement and examines whether the law is on their side. Are they being discriminated against? Can women-focused events legally defend their legitimacy?
With guest host Libby Denkmann.
Guests:
Katie Rosman, reporter for the New York Times; her recent piece is “A Fight for Men’s Rights, in California Courts”; she tweets
Diane Klein, professor of law at University of La Verne, where her areas of expertise include civil rights and anti-discrimination law
The protagonist in ‘Sorry to Bother You’ code switches for professional success. So why—and when—do you do it?
In the film, “Sorry to Bother You,” a black telemarketer in Oakland (played by Lakeith Stanfield) discovers the key to professional success is to speak with his clients in his so-called “white voice.”
The practice is as known as code switching in the field of linguistics. Using the film as a point of departure, AirTalks want to know why—and when—do you code switch?
Call us at 866 893 5722 to join the conversation.
With guest host Libby Denkmann
Guest:
John Baugh, professor of linguistics at Washington University in St. Louis