Following Former President Trump’s Arraignment, Making Legal Sense Of The 34 Felony Charges Against Him
For the first time in history, a former U.S. president has appeared in court as a criminal defendant. Donald Trump surrendered to authorities Tuesday after being indicted by a New York grand jury on charges related to hush money payments at the height of the 2016 presidential election. Trump, a 2024 presidential candidate, pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges in a Manhattan courtroom. He then flew home to Florida and spoke to a crowd of supporters at his home. Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Prosecutors said Trump conspired to undermine the 2016 presidential election by trying to suppress information that could harm his candidacy, and then concealing the true nature of the hush money payments. Joining us today on AirTalk is criminal defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor, Meghan Blanco and UCLA Lecturer in Law Edward Han.
With files from the Associated Press
Proud Of The Neighborhood You Live In? Spread The Love And Tell Us What Makes Your Part Of Town So Special
Sometimes passing by your favorite local park or picking up the aroma of your favorite café can make you feel like you’re living in the happiest little corner of the world. Just seeing a familiar landmark reminding you why it feels so good to live where you do can make all the stress of a terrible day melt away. Often there’s no other place like your neighborhood because you’ve taken the time to explore the great sights, sounds, people and cuisine that make your investment as a resident really count. But why keep it all to yourself?
Today on AirTalk, we’re bringing back our monthly segment, Neighborhood Love, to take some time to share treasured places and memories of wherever it is you live. And it’s the perfect day for it, because LAist Studios podcast “How To L.A.” is also releasing its latest in its series of episodes profiling SoCal neighborhoods. This time, host Brian De Los Santos heads to Northeast L.A. to explore Montecito Heights.
We hear from AirTalk listeners on what they love about their own neighborhoods.
Latest On Measure ULA: L.A. City Unable To Spend Funds As They Deal With Ongoing Legal Challenges
Los Angeles started collecting a major new tax on Saturday on large property sales to fund affordable housing and rental assistance to address homelessness, a requirement under Measure ULA, which was approved by a majority of voters last November.
Two lawsuits were filed late last year seeking to block the tax, and the court rulings are still pending. With no decision date in sight, it’s left to the city of Los Angeles collecting a tax that they haven’t been able to use on the services it's meant to serve, until this legal process ends with them being cleared to do so. This is a result of a concern, voiced by City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo, that the funds would need to be refunded if the city lost the ongoing lawsuits.
Today on AirTalk, we update listeners on the status of Measure ULA with Nick Gerda, LAist senior reporter covering unhoused communities, and Richard Green, director and chair of USC’s Lusk Center for Real Estate.
With files from LAist, read Nick’s latest piece here.
Why CA Doesn't Allow Accents On Birth Certificates, Other Documents And The Proposal That Could Change That
California residents are not allowed to include accents or tildes on various government documents, like birth or death certificates and marriage licenses. It's been this way since the mid 1980s when California made English the state's official language. Assembly Bill 77 would change that.
The proposal, which is not the first of its kind to be introduced in recent years, would allow diacritics on these documents, and it would allow residents to request updated ones as well. The change would not only impact the state's sizable Latino population but many others as well. Joining to discuss is Efrén Pérez, professor of political science and psychology at UCLA, where he directs the Race, Ethnicity, Politics, and Society Lab (REPS), and Ana Celia Zentella, professor emerita at UC San Diego and an anthro-political linguist.
‘Nine Black Robes’ Traces The Rightward Shift Of The US Supreme Court, And How It Has Affected Americans’ Live
The recent conservative ideological shift of the U.S. Supreme Court has been well-documented -- but at no point was it more apparent than when the draft opinion of the Supreme Court’s expected decision to strike down Roe v. Wade leaked in May of 2022. President Trump played a role with the three appointments he made to the Supreme Court during his presidency -- Justices Neal Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney-Barrett, but as CNN Senior Supreme Court Analyst Joan Biskupic writes in her new book "Nine Black Robes: Inside the Supreme Court's Drive to the Right and Its Historic Consequences" this ideological sea change has been years in the making, and predates even the Trump administration.
Today on AirTalk, Joan joins us to talk about her new book, and what the Supreme Court’s ideological shift to the right might mean for the future of U.S. policy making.
