Governor Brown’s new prison plan may hit a serious roadblock. Soldiers in Afghanistan: what do they really experience? Abortion billboard a question of free speech, privacy or abuse?
Governor Brown’s new prison plan may hit a serious roadblock
The U.S. Supreme Court last month upheld the order to reduce overcrowding in California’s prison by about 33,000 inmates in two years. The justices ruled that easing congestion is the only way for California to improve the unconstitutionally poor medical and mental health care for inmates. Yesterday, Governor Jerry Brown’s administration unveiled the state’s plan to comply with the order. The plan depends almost entirely on shifting thousands of prisoners to county jails instead of state prisons. That’s a plan that Governor Brown signed earlier this year. But that law is stuck in the legislature as lawmakers wrangle over how to fund it. If Democrats and Republicans can’t come agree on funding, how will the state comply with the Supreme Court’s order? Will Brown’s administration have to ask for more time or realign the plan?
Guest:
Julie Small, KPCC's State Capital Reporter
Soldiers in Afghanistan: what do they really experience?
“In war, truth is the first casualty,” is one of the most commonly used phrases to describe how civilians never truly know what it’s like on the battle field. But after spending 15 months embedded with a U.S. platoon in Afghanistan, journalist and author Sebastian Junger got pretty good sense of what it feels like to survive behind enemy lines. Junger’s book War, written in the first person, takes readers on that journey, as soldiers patrol the remote Korenangal Valley of eastern Afghanistan. Junger is well known for his best seller The Perfect Storm, which was made into a movie starring George Clooney. He also co-directed the war documentary Restrepo with fellow journalist and photographer Tim Hetherington, who died April 20 while covering the conflict in Libya. Sebastian Junger joins Larry in-studio to talk about the paperback release of War and the book’s enduring message.
Guest:
Sebastian Junger, author of War (Twelve) and bestsellers The Perfect Storm and A Death in Belmont
Abortion billboard a question of free speech, privacy or abuse?
In the middle of the quiet desert community of Alamogordo, New Mexico stands a blaring billboard. It shows a picture of the billboard creator Greg Fultz holding the outline of a newborn baby. The accompanying text reads: "This would have been a picture of my 2-month old baby if the mother had decided not to KILL our child!" Fultz alleges that his ex-girlfriend, Nani Lawrence, had an abortion -- something she denies. Last week, Lawrence sought a protection order from her ex-boyfriend. The local court commissioner granted the order and recommended the billboard be taken down. The lawyer for Fultz, Todd Holmes, says as distasteful as the ad might be, his client is exercising his first amendment rights to speak out against abortion. Lawrence's attorney, Ellen Jessen, argues that Fultz's right to free speech ends where Lawrence's right to privacy begins. She also says it's harassing and stalking behavior. Where’s the line between free speech and privacy? Who owns the private information about a pregnancy -- the woman, the man or both? Fultz says the billboard isn't just about him -- it's about any man who might be in his position. Does that make it a topic of public concern and therefore a topic for free speech?
Guests:
Todd Holmes, of Holmes Law Firm, based in Alamogordo, New Mexico; Lawyer representing Greg Fultz
Eugene Volokh, Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law
Barry McDonald, Professor of Law at the Pepperdine University School of Law