California’s Unemployment Crash: A CalMatters Investigation
Behind the scenes at the state Capitol, California is launching an unprecedented $1.2 billion overhaul of its battered job safety net. Its Employment Development Department — better known as the EDD — is attempting to rebuild its unemployment and disability systems as it recovers from a pandemic that left millions of workers waiting for payments and tens of billions of dollars missing to suspected fraud. A year-long CalMatters investigation finds that the state was primed for disaster by years of missed red flags and failed reforms. Once COVID hit, public records and interviews reveal that California’s system was initially friendlier to scammers than to many real workers — and then the state got so aggressive that many workers struggled to prove their own identities. The question for the EDD now: Will history repeat itself, or can California finally lead a nationwide quest to reinvent unemployment? Lauren Hepler, investigative reporter for CalMatters joins Larry to discuss the future of unemployment in California. Have questions about the EDD crash and the future rebuild? Call us at 866-893-5722 or email us at ATcomments@LAist.com.
With files from CalMatters
Why History Is At The Center Of SCOTUS Case Looking At Gun Rights And Domestic Abusers
The high court is hearing arguments Tuesday in a challenge to a 1994 law that prohibited violent spouses and partners from having firearms. The closely watched case is the first one involving guns to reach the justices since their landmark Bruen decision last year expanded gun rights and changed the way courts evaluate whether restrictions on firearms violate the constitutional right to “keep and bear arms.” Firearms are the most common weapon used in homicides of spouses, intimate partners, children or relatives in recent years, according to data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Guns were used in more than half, 57%, of those killings in 2020, a year that saw an overall increase in domestic violence during the coronavirus pandemic. Seventy women a month, on average, are shot and killed by intimate partners, according to the gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety. Rahimi’s case reached the Supreme Court after prosecutors appealed a ruling that threw out his conviction for possessing guns while subject to a restraining order. But even though Rahimi was hardly “a model citizen,” Wilson wrote, the law at issue could not be justified by looking to history. That’s the test Justice Clarence Thomas laid out in his opinion for the court in Bruen. That word, history, has become integral in how this ruling could shake out. And not everyone interprets what history means the same in this case. Joining to discuss is Jacob Charles, associate professor of law at Pepperdine Law School, and Laura Edwards, Class of 1921 Bicentennial Professor in the History of American Law and Liberty at Princeton University.
With files from the Associated Press
New Book Offers Look Into The Life Of Mollie Moon & Her Influence On The Civil Rights Movement
So many books have highlighted the grassroots work done during the 1960s Civil Rights movement, but one aspect of it had rarely been mentioned at the time CUNY historian Tanisha Ford had been looking through archived newspaper clippings prior to her newest book. “Our Secret Society” was the product of her research, which led her to stumble over fundraiser and civil rights advocate Mollie Moon. Being fascinated by her name and work, Ford found that Moon helped fundraise millions for the movement during her time as president of the National Urban League’s fundraising division. Today on AirTalk, we talk to Tanisha Ford, professor of history at City University of New York (CUNY), about her new book “Our Secret Society: Mollie Moon and the Glamour, Money, and Power Behind the Civil Rights Movement” and the steps it took to bring this story to the masses.
The Reparations Club bookstore will be hosting an in-person event Tanisha Ford on her new book, where she’ll be joined by writer and activist Darnell Moore. The event will be on Thursday, November 9 at 7 PM. You can learn more about the event and RSVP by registering here.
Veterans Series: Mental Health, PTSD, And Other Unseen Wounds Of War
Roughly 7% of veterans will experience post-traumatic stress disorder in their life, which is only slightly higher than the rate amongst civilians. However, PTSD has long been overlooked amongst the veteran population, in part for the shame and stigma that surrounds it and also because the diagnoses didn’t become official until the 1980s with Vietnam veterans. Today, we know a lot about the disorder and have tools for diagnoses and treatments that range from psychedelic to writing therapies. Joining us for this discuss is the complexities of the mental health, personal experiences, and exciting new research is Sandra Morissette, professor of clinical psychology at University of Texas, San Antonio, Diego Garcia, Marine Corps veteran from 2001 to 2005, Elliot Ackerman, former Marine Corps special ops and author of the memoir “Places and Names: On War, Revolution, and Returning,” and Shauna Springer, chief psychologist at Stella. If you are a veteran who has experienced PTSD or had mental health struggle and are willing to share your experience, we’d love to hear from you. Call us at 866-893-5722 or email us at ATcomments@LAist.com
