Today on AirTalk with guest host Kyle Stokes, we take a look at the increase in LA County's homelessness count. Also on the show, we review the major Supreme Court rulings this week; discuss the week's political headlines; and more.
With DACA Decision Looming, Supreme Court Kicks Off Big Week With Major Rulings On LGBTQ Workplace Discrimination, California Sanctuary Law
The U.S. Supreme Court was expected to produce plenty of news with the bevy of important decisions on their docket this week, and the justices wasted no time on Monday morning with regards to both important rulings and decisions not to hear certain arguments.
In a big win for the state of California, the Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s bid to throw out the state’s immigrant-sanctuary law that limits local police cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The justices’ order leaves in place lower court rulings that upheld the law. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas voted to hear the administration's appeal. The administration said the 2017 state immigrant-sanctuary measure conflicts with federal immigration law and makes it harder to deport people who are in the country illegally. California argued that encouraging local police to participate in federal immigration enforcement is counterproductive because it makes people less likely to report crimes if they believe they’ll be deported for doing so.
The High Court also ruled Monday that The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a landmark civil rights law protects LGBT people from discrimination in employment, a resounding victory for LGBT rights from a conservative court. The court decided by a 6-3 vote that a key provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 known as Title VII that bars job discrimination because of sex, among other reasons, encompasses bias against LGBT workers.
At least for now, the Supreme Court is declining to get involved in an ongoing debate by citizens and in Congress over policing, rejecting cases Monday that would have allowed the justices to revisit when police can be held financially responsible for wrongdoing. With protests over racism and police brutality continuing nationwide, the justices turned away more than half a dozen cases involving the legal doctrine known as qualified immunity, which the high court created more than 50 years ago. It shields officials, including police, from lawsuits for money as a result for things they do in the course of their job.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Greg Stohr, U.S. Supreme Court reporter for Bloomberg News; he tweets
Lawrence Hurley, reporter covering the Supreme Court for Reuters; he tweets
Josie Huang, KPCC reporter who’s been talking with DACA recipients about the impending decision
Kevin de León, sponsor of SB-54, the state’s sanctuary law; former California State Senator; Los Angeles city councilmember-elect for District 14, which includes the neighborhoods of Boyle Heights, Downtown Los Angeles, and parts of Northeast Los Angeles
COVID-19: The Latest In LA County, Beijing Reintroducing Strict Lockdown Measures After Potential Mass Exposure
Two days after the release of a new public health order that reopened more businesses in Los Angeles County, health officials confirmed 17 new deaths related to COVID-19 and 1,003 new cases.
That brings the total deaths in the county to 2,907 and total cases to 73,018. There currently are 1,383 people; 30% in the ICU and 20% of them are on ventilators. In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, guest host Kyle Stokes speaks with Kimberly Shriner, M.D., infectious disease specialist at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena.
Today’s topics include:
The latest in LA County
Officials: CA coronavirus surge tied to increase in testing
Will first COVID-19 vaccines prevent infection?
How did two infected hair stylists prevent transmission to 140 clients?
Coronavirus survivors find support groups important
Passengers with COVID-19 flew to LAX without warning to public
Beijing attempts to contact trace, contain spread
With files from LAist
Guest:
Kimberly Shriner, M.D., infectious disease specialist at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena
2020 LA County Homeless Count Shows 50 Percent Increase In People Who Became Homeless Since Last Year
The 2020 homeless count for Los Angeles County was released Friday and shows double digit increases in people experiencing homelessness at both the city and county levels.
The number of people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County rose to 66,433 people this year compared to 58,936 last year, almost a 13 percent increase. The City of Los Angeles saw an increase of 14.2 percent from last year. Because the count was conducted in January, before the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s not clear from the homeless count what role the virus outbreak has played on the numbers of people experiencing homelessness since doing the count. KPCC housing and homelessness reporter Matt Tinoco reports that the bigger issue is the 83,000 people who became homeless over the last year, a 50 percent increase in that time period, a number he says works out to about 227 people becoming newly homeless every day.
The report also showed that the numbers in certain groups of people like Black Angelenos and women continue to stagnate, and even worsen in some cases. The number of Black Angelenos without permanent, habitable housing during the count was about 34 percent of the county's total homeless population. To put this in perspective, about 8 percent of L.A. County's population is Black. The count also showed a 16 percent increase in women experiencing homelessness, with 49 percent of cisgender women in that group and 60 percent of transgender women reporting domestic or intimate partner violence according to the Downtown Women's Center.
Click here for a breakdown of all the data and what it means and here for a deeper dive on why homelessness continues to rise in Southern California from KPCC/LAist’s Matt Tinoco.
Guests:
Heidi Marston, executive director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the lead agency coordinating housing and services for homeless families and individuals in Los Angeles County
Matt Tinoco, KPCC/LAist reporter covering housing and homelessness; he tweets
Pete White, executive director of Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN), a nonprofit organization working to create opportunities for people experiencing poverty in Los Angeles; he is also a member of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s commission on Black people and homelessness
The Denkmann Report: Sanctuary Law, People’s Budget, November Ballot Additions And More
We check in with KPCC’s senior politics reporter on the latest in state and local politics, including:
The Supreme Court decided not to hear the Trump administration’s challenge to California sanctuary law
Palmdale officials say there will be a full investigation of Robert Fuller’s death, which had been initially determined an apparent suicide
Update on protests in Southern California / City Hall response
Presentation today by Black Lives Matter LA and other community groups behind the "People's Budget" at 10am at City Hall
That's followed by a 12pm Budget Committee meeting where the measure proposing $150 million in cuts to the LAPD's budget will be discussed
Today, L.A. County will be presenting on the "life-threatening" impacts to social safety net and public safety programs if there's not an additional $1 billion in the state budget to help bolster those services
Californians will decide whether to open up the path towards affirmative action. That’s one of many huge issues that will be decided by voters in November. We recap what those are
If you or a loved one needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Los Angeles County maintains a 24-hour bilingual hotline at 800-854-7771.
Guest:
Libby Denkmann, KPCC politics reporter; she tweets
Week In Politics: Poll Numbers, Political Impact Of Protests, VP Search And More
AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable recaps the major headlines you might’ve missed in politics news over the weekend and looks ahead to the week to come. Here are the headlines we’re following this week:
What’s happening with protests nationally?
Could the movement to ‘defund police’ hurt Dems? One poll says yes. Another poll says Americans support broad reforms
What is the president’s role right now and is he stepping up?
Trump had planned a political rally on Juneteenth, the day when the news of emancipation reached people who were enslaved in Texas. He’s since postponed
2020:
The Trump 2020 campaign’s senior legal adviser disputed a CNN poll that showed Trump trailing Biden. Other polling supports the case that support for Trump is receding
Trump lauded the use of tear gas against protesters by law enforcement in Minneapolis. His administration hasn’t announced any measures in response to demands of the protests. Is his
2) People who voted for Trump in 2016 but are now somewhat skeptical are quite defensive of his record on the economy and even corona.
— Yascha Mounk (@Yascha_Mounk) June 12, 2020
But they HATE how he handles race. This isn't mild "he should watch what he says a bit more" disagreement. They RECOIL from his divisiveness.a dealbreaker, even for his base?
As the Biden campaign’s VP search continues, some wonder whether Biden should look left for his VP and his policies?
Meanwhile, the White House is pushing through restrictive immigration policies
Guests:
Pete Peterson, dean of the School of Public Policy and senior fellow at The Davenport Institute at Pepperdine University; he tweets
Amanda Renteria, senior advisor for Emerge America, a national organization that works to identify and train Democratic women who want to run for political office; she is the former national political director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and has been a staffer for Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Debbie Stabenow