Senator Leland Yee was indicted on public corruption charges yesterday. How will this impact state politics? National Labor Relations Board ruled yesterday that college football players at Northwestern have the right to unionize. How could this change college football and other sports? Later, President Jimmy Carter joins Larry to discuss his new book "A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power.”
FBI says: Senator Leland Yee tells undercover agents they can trade weapons, make money
State Sen. Leland Yee was arrested on corruption and firearms trafficking charges yesterday, as part of an extensive FBI operation that netted 26 people across the Bay Area.
Yee, a prominent Asian American political leader in California, was arraigned on seven charges. An indictment unsealed by prosecutors yesterday accused Yee of accepting campaign donations from an undercover FBI agent in exchange for political favors. He is also accused to trying to help an undercover agent get weapons.
If convicted on all counts, Yee could face up to 125 years in prison. This is the third high-profile scandal facing California Senate Democrats this year. In January,a Los Angeles County jury found Sen. Rod Wright of Baldwin Hills guilty of eight counts of voter fraud and perjury. Sen. Ron Calderon of Montebello is facing corruption charges alleging that he took kickbacks while in office.
Yee’s indictment sparked shock and outrage across the state. Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has called for Yee's immediate resignation. "We're going to demand that Leland Yee -- yes, innocent until proven guilty -- leave the Senate and leave it now," Steinberg said at a news conference, adding that the Senate is ready to suspend him.
Guests:
Mattias Gafni, Investigative Reporter, Bay Area News Group
Assemblymember Cristina Garcia, Democratic Assemblymember representing the 58th district including Bell Gardens, Artesia and Norwalk and chair of Assembly ethics committee.
Harmeet Dhillon, Vice Chair of the California Republican Party; co-founder of the San Francisco-based law firm Dhillon and Smith
Carla Marinucci, Senior Political Writer, San Francisco Chronicle
Dan Walters, Political Columnist, The Sacramento Bee
David Lee, Director, Chinese American Voters Education Committee, based in San Francisco; Lee has worked with Yee in the past.
NLRB says Northwestern football players can unionize: Do you approve?
A regional director of the National Labor Relations Board ruled Wednesday that college football players at Northwestern University have the right to unionize.
The College Athletes Players Association, formed by Northwestern football players, argued that scholarship students are “employees” and should be represented by a union — the players sought a “seat at the table” for collective bargaining.
Northwestern has already announced that it will appeal the decision to the Washington chapter of the NLRB, the beginning of what is expected to be a long appellate process. But the initial decision has already sparked more interest in the conversation about unionized college sports.
If the ruling stands, private colleges nationwide could be impacted (the NLRB has no jurisdiction over public universities). What seems like an issue for big sports schools competing nationally in high-stakes, big-money games may also affect smaller programs within athletic departments.
How will non-scholarship athletes fare? Will smaller teams or less prominently featured sports form unions? Will the NCAA, universities, and states adapt their rules to accommodate “paid,” unionized players? How will public schools adapt to these changes?
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Guest:
Pat Haden, Director of Athletics at the University of Southern California
Zev Eigen, Associate Professor Law at Northwestern Law School and Associate Professor of Management & Strategy (by courtesy) at Kellogg School of Management
OC Sheriff Sandra Hutchens wrestles with major policy change on concealed-carry weapons permitting
The backlog of applications for concealed weapons permits in Orange County has surged to nearly 4,000 since the county eased its requirements to obtain such permits following a February 13 federal appeals court ruling that California’s urban communities were too strict in issuing them.
Orange County Sherriff Sandra Hutchens says her office has had to hire more staff to process all the new applications, but some applicants report they’ve been told it may take years for their applications to be processed—with some permit interview appointments set for mid-2016.
Since the February ruling, the Sherriff’s Department has received more than four times the concealed carry permit applications it typically receives in a whole year, reports the Los Angeles Times. Earlier this month, Hutchens said she’d eliminate the in-person gun inspection from the application process to speed things up. Applicants would still be required to pass background checks and take firearm safety training classes before obtaining a permit.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision challenged San Diego County’s concealed carry permitting policy—which determined that an applicant had to face some danger greater than that faced by an average member of the public to have “good cause” for carrying a hidden gun in public.
When the defendant in the case—San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore—announced he wouldn’t appeal the decision, California Attorney General Kamala Harris intervened—calling on the court to review and reverse the decision.
The controversial court decision is stirring debate among those on either side of California’s gun debate—particularly in Orange and Ventura Counties—which have loosened their restrictions to comply with the ruling.
What do you think concealed carry laws should look like in places like Orange County, San Diego or Los Angeles? What should be required of those seeking permits? How can Orange County make its permitting process more efficient?
Guest:
Sandra Hutchens, Orange County Sheriff
President Carter launches 'Call to Action' to end human rights abuses against women and girls
“A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power” documents various crimes and human rights abuses against women and girls, including slavery, genital cutting, child marriage, honor killings. Abuses against women aren’t limited to the developing world, and examples are just as prevalent in the U.S. today, think sexual assault cases on college campuses and in the military.
Carter places special emphasis on the role religion can play in perpetuating the discrimination of women. “The relegation of women to an inferior or circumscribed status by many religious leaders is one of the primary reasons for the promotion and perpetuation of sexual abuse. If potential male exploiters of women are led to believe that their victim is considered inferior of 'different' even by God, they can presume that it must be permissible to take advantage of their superior male status. It is crucial that devout believers abandon the premise that their faith mandates sexual discrimination,” he writes.
President Carter will be signing copies of his new book, A Call to Action, tomorrow at noon at the Barnes & Noble bookstore at The Grove
Guest:
President Jimmy Carter, the thirty-ninth President of the United States (1977 to 1981), Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2002, and the author of over two dozen books, including “A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power” (Simon and Schuster, 2014)