Why do some people choose to sit out elections? We debate the light sentencing of a Stanford swimmer convicted of rape; and the man who predicted the big daddy of all El Niños last winter and spring - JPL's Bill Pazert - faces judgement day on AirTalk
The politics of not voting
Eligible voters who choose to not vote cite a miscellany of reasons: they think politicians are corrupt; the system is too entrenched to change; a vote won't achieve their ends; the results are a fait accompli.
In Nevada, the ballot offers a "none of these candidates" option - a box that former candidate Rand Paul wants to see on ballots across the United States.
Social movements such as Occupy and Black Lives Matter have engaged citizens to get active, agitate, and speak out for radical change, but there is no consensus within those movements about whether voting is one of their tools. Voter turnout of African Americans in this year's primary battles show a slight dip in turnout among those younger than age 45 - 11 percent turned out in 2008 compared to 10 percent this year according to exit poll analysis conducted last month in "The Washington Post."
While low voter turnout is caused primarily by apathy and ignorance, some Americans make a conscious choice to buck the system on election days. What do you think of Americans choosing not to vote?
Guest:
Lonna Rae Atkeson, Professor of Political Science, University of New Mexico; Director for the Center for the Study of Voting, Elections, and Democracy, University of New Mexico; Rae has been monitoring elections in various states this cycle, including Washington this coming Saturday
As economists increasingly uncertain about growth, a look at economies in election years
Business economists are giving a more pessimistic outlook about U.S. economic growth this year for the third consecutive month and uncertainty over the November presidential election has proven to be damaging.
The median estimate from economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics calls for gross domestic product growth of only 1.8 percent, down from the 2.2 percent forecast in March.
The outlook for next year calls for 2.3 percent growth. And the latest red flag came from last week’s disappointing jobs report.
*With Files from AP
Guest:
Julian Zelizer, Professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University and a fellow at the New America Foundation. His latest book is, “The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society.” (Penguin Press, 2015)
NY Times Supreme Court guru on the big cases left to be decided this session
The U.S. Supreme Court winds down its current session at the end of this month, and the panel of eight justices still have some major rulings to parse through concerning issues like immigration, abortion, and affirmative action.
In all, 24 opinions are still left to be issued before the final gavel bangs.
While some of the more impactful rulings may not come down until later this month, the Supreme Court did say today that it would take another look at a case arguing that political leaders in Virginia gerrymandered electoral maps to keep African-American voters from having as much of a say. They also said they would hear the cases of two death row inmates from Texas, one of whom says discrimination affected his sentencing and another who says he shouldn't be put to death because of intellectual disability.
Still to come down are rulings on Fisher v. University of Texas, which deals with how colleges and universities use race in deciding who gets admitted, as well as United States v. Texas, which is the challenge from Texas and several other states to President Obama’s executive action on immigration.
Guest:
Adam Liptak, Supreme Court reporter for the New York Times; he tweets
Debating the legal sentencing in Stanford University rape case
Santa Clara County Superior Court judge Aaron Persky’s 6-month sentence has sparked a strong public outrage.
Brock Turner, 20, was convicted of three felonies, including assault with intent to rape, and could have received a maximum of 14 years in prison. Judge Persky instead sentenced Turner to six months in county jail and 3 years’ probation, citing positive character and a lack of criminal record as the two main reasons for the ruling.
Turner’s father has been quoted saying, “That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action,” before the sentence was finalized, sparking reactions from the public and from the Stanford community. A petition requesting the removal of Judge Persky has collected more than 331,000 signatures in hopes of damaging his chance of being reelected.
Is the sentence too lenient for the convicted crimes? How does it compare to similar cases?
Guests:
Tamara Lave, an associate professor of law at University of Miami. She was a deputy public defender for ten years in San Diego, she’s represented people who have been accused of rape.
John Manly, an attorney with the Irvine-based firm Manly, Stewart Finaldi, who specializes in representing victims of sexual assault and abuse
The final word on the El Niño that never came to Southern California
The man who predicted the big daddy of all El Niños last winter and spring faces judgment day on AirTalk.
Guest:
William Patzert, a climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Director of new ESPN 30-for-30 docu-series on the challenges of retelling O.J.’s story
O.J. Simpson’s story has been told in nearly every way possible; TV dramas, literature, and documentaries have all chronicled the famous rise and fall of the former football star.
So when Emmy-winning director Ezra Edelman decided to dive into O.J.’s story as part of ESPN’s highly-successful 30-for-30 documentary series, he knew that it would be a tall order to find fresh angles to a story that nearly everyone has heard from beginning to end.
But after combing through the case and wrangling some interviews with the likes of Marcia Clark and other key players in the trial, what resulted is a five-part episodic documentary that will air on ABC and ESPN starting June 11. The series also had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and had theatrical openings in New York City and Los Angeles, making it eligible for an Oscar. L.A. Times TV critic Mary McNamara wrote that it could be the first TV show to win an Academy Award.
Today on AirTalk, we’ll sit down with Ezra Edelman and talk about the challenges of re-telling such a well known story, what he learned about the case that he didn’t know before, and what he hopes viewers will come away with after watching the series.
"O.J.: Made In America” premieres this Saturday, June 11, at 9 p.m. ET on ABC. The full episodic documentary will then air over the course of four days on ESPN. You can see the full schedule of air times below:
Tuesday, June 14
7 p.m. ET – Re-air of “O.J.: Made in America – Part 1”
9 p.m. ET – Premiere of “O.J.: Made in America – Part 2”
Wednesday, June 15
7 p.m. ET – Re-air of “O.J.: Made in America – Part 2”
9 p.m. ET – Premiere of “O.J.: Made in America – Part 3”
Friday, June 17
7 p.m. ET – Re-air of “O.J.: Made in America – Part 3”
9 p.m. ET – Premiere of “O.J.: Made in America – Part 4”
Saturday, June 18
7 p.m. ET – Re-air of “O.J.: Made in America – Part 4”
9 p.m. ET – Premiere of finale “O.J.: Made in America – Part 5”
Guest:
Ezra Edelman, director of the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary “O.J.: Made in America”