Today on the show, we'll take a look at the new transgender bathroom law now in effect in California schools. Also, Obamacare is officially in effect for those who signed up last year. Then, a new study says pharmacists often misinform teens about obtaining emergency contraception. Pot is not legal in Colorado for recreational use. How might this influence pot laws in other states?
2014's New Laws: Transgender student bathroom law AB1266
Well, it's finally 2014. A new year means a new set of laws go into effect.
Among them is a new California law that's the first of its kind in the nation. AB1266 defines the rights of transgender children in public schools, and educators have been scrambling to figure out how exactly to put this law into place.
Reporter Julie Watson of the Associated Press joins the show to explain.
How will UC, CSU campuses implement the new smoking ban?
One of the major policy changes in 2014 is the tobacco ban on all UC and CSU campuses. The schools join over 1,000 other colleges and universities nationwide that now prohibit the use of tobacco products on their grounds.
Some schools, like Tulane University, plan to charge smokers a $25 fine every time they're caught.
For perspective on how one university has handled this ban on campus, we're joined by Adrienne Howarth-Moore, the director of human resources at the University of Texas at Austin.
Ask Emily on Take Two: Obamacare officially in effect
Emily Bazar of the California Healthcare Foundation Center for Health Reporting joins the show for her regular explainer of the Affordable Care Act, Ask Emily.
Now that it's 2014, those who bought insurance under the Affordable Care Act can officially start looking for their doctors.
Study finds teens face barriers in obtaining emergency contraception
By law, the emergency contraceptive known as Plan B should be made available at pharmacies to anyone of any age. But a new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that's seldom the case.
Pediatric physician Tracy Wilkinson of Children's Hospital Los Angeles conducted that study. She joins the show with more.
Arizona border search case may go to the Supreme Court
A Tucson lawyer has asked the Supreme Court to take up a case that may help determine just how thoroughly border officials can search electronics from U.S. citizens without reasonable suspicion.
As Michel Marizco of the Fronteras Desk reports, this is one of a number of cases making their way through the courts that seek to limit the government's right to dig into personal electronic files at international borders.
Every day, thousands of people cross the border under the scrutiny of the U.S. port inspectors. Customs and Border Protection inspectors, dressed in blue, are looking for contraband: humans, narcotics, or illegal imports. Sometimes a quick question or a quick peek in the trunk is enough to get by.
Except, if inspectors want to do so, they can exercise what’s called the border search exception. It’s a rule designed to provide an exception to the Fourth Amendment’s limits on search and seizure.
Those same rules apply to your tablet or laptop, or even the photos you carry on your smartphone. Privacy advocates have fought some of these cases in court.
Consider Lisa Wayne's case. In 2008, Wayne was returning from Mexico through the Dallas airport with her laptop. At the time she was president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. An inspector stopped her.
"He said 'I see that you are an attorney' and I said 'yes' and he said, 'are you coming back from seeing a client?' and I said 'well I wouldn’t be a very good attorney if I disclosed that to you,'" she said.
Wayne says at that point, the agent took her laptop away. She doesn’t know what was copied or what was looked at.
"We don’t know, was it random? What information was there that made them believe they should be looking at my laptop?"
Wayne's laptop was returned that day. That’s not always the case. In 2010, David House was also returning from Mexico. He was working on the team raising funds for the soldier who leaked State Department cables to Wikileaks. His computer wasn’t returned for seven weeks and his files were copied.
In 2013, the U.S. Justice Department settled the lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and agreed to destroy the files it had kept.
The ACLU has estimated about 6,500 people had their electronic devices searched as they entered the country between 2008 and 2010. And as it stands right now, these searches at the border are still legal, says the ACLU’s Catherine Crump.
"And by the way, the ACLU thinks that’s wrong and unconstitutional but that’s what the Ninth Circuit [Court Of Appeals] has held for now," she said.
The case the Supreme Court is being asked to consider right now involves this question: Can the searches go even deeper than a cursory border inspection – taking your computer away to conduct what’s called a forensic search. That’s what nabbed Howard Cotterman in 2007.
"They use this forensic software that can look in unallocated space to find things that you think you deleted and so forth," said Cotterman's attorney, Bill Kirchner.
Cotterman is not a sympathetic character in this battle.
In 2007, Cotterman and his wife were crossing into the U.S. with a laptop and a camera. He has a child molestation conviction on his record and that triggered an alert. His laptop was taken 170 miles away to a Tucson lab and investigated byte by byte. Investigators eventually found almost 400 child pornography photos on his computer.
In prison ever since, Cotterman has fought the case, saying the meticulous search went beyond what investigators are allowed to do under reasonable suspicion rules.
The Justice Department would not respond to repeated requests for comments for this story but it has already filed a brief with the Supreme Court asking the court not to hear Cotterman's case.
The Supreme Court is expected to decide whether it will take up Cotterman’s complicated case in January. Privacy advocates like the ACLU are watching closely, hoping the case will begin to define the limits of when and how deeply invasive electronic searches can go.
Why paternity leave benefits the mother most
What's the best thing you can do for your wife, who's just had a baby? Take a nice, long paternity leave.
Increasingly, men are embracing programs that let them spend six weeks or more with their newborns. Social scientists say that while it's good for the dad and the infant, it may be the mother who benefits the most.
Writer Liza Mundy details the case for paternity leave in an article published at Atlantic.com.
How Mexico's soda tax could impact US debate
Attempts to limit soda consumption tend to fizzle out here in U.S.
New York City unsuccessfully tried to restrict drink sizes in restaurants and there are several failed measures around the country to tax soda. That's why lawmakers here are watching what happens down in Mexico.
Mexicans drink more soda per capita than anywhere else in the world, and the country just enacted a law that tacks on a peso for every liter sold. The hope is that it'll reduce the rates of obesity and diabetes in the country now that Mexico has taken the title of world's fattest country away from the U.S.
If it's successful, it might reinvigorate attempts to get similar laws passed here. For more we're joined by Helena Bottemiller Evich, agriculture reporter for Politico.
State Of Affairs: Election year, Sheriff Lee Baca and more
It's Thursday and that means it's time for State of Affairs, our look at politics and government throughout California. To help us with that we're joined in studio by KPCC political reporter Alice Walton and KPCC political editor Oscar Garza.
Last week we looked back at the top 13 political stories in California for 2013, so this week we're going to look ahead at what you predict will be the biggest stories of 2014.
First up, 2014 is an election year. Starting at the top of the ticket, there will be races for governor, attorney general and controller, just to name a few. What can we expect from these races?
Any guesses on how Governor Jerry Brown will officially announce his reelection campaign? He’s already raising money, he’s ahead in the polls so an announcement can’t be that far off.
The state Assembly and even-numbered state Senate districts will also be up for reelection. What should we be looking for in these legislative races?
Before we leave the world of elections, our State of Affairs counterpart Frank Stoltze reported the other week that the head of the Jesse Unruh Institute of Politics at USC is considering a run for secretary of state. He was once a Republican consultant but now he’s no longer affiliated with a party. What does that mean as far as his chances in the election?
Back here in LA County, 2014 will be a big year for the Board of Supervisors. There will be two open seats. Sheriff Lee Baca is up for reelection. What impact will his challengers have this time around?
Finally, 2013 saw the election of Mayor Eric Garcetti and the better part of the Los Angeles City Council. How long will this honeymoon last? And what do you think will be the dynamics of that relationship in 2014?
What will the new year bring? Congressional midterm elections
It's only six months until California's mid-term Congressional primary. 53 seats are up for grabs, though KPCC's Washington Correspondent Kitty Felde says the number of competitive races is considerably smaller than it was two years ago.
Pot prices in Colorado surge as demand skyrockets
UPDATE: January 9, 2014
Marijuana use has been legal in the state of Colorado for just over a week. Last Thursday, the day after legalization took effect, we rang up Adam Raleigh of the Telluride Bud Company to see how things were going.
At that point he had a two-hour line around the block, and suffice it to say that was emblematic of what was happening all over the state. In fact there's been so much demand, some $5 million in sales in the first five days according to the National Cannabis Industry Association. There have even been reports of rationing at some pot shops.
Raleigh joins the show again for an update on how his shop is doing, one week after pot was made legal in the state.
PREVIOUSLY: January 2, 2014
Cold, snowy weather and long lines did not deter people eager to take advantage of Colorado's new marijuana laws on the very first day they went into effect. Twenty four pot shops opened yesterday, one of them, Telluride Bud Company, belongs to our next guest, Adam Raleigh.
Raleigh joins the show to talk about how business is going so far.
Will 2014 be the year for marijuana legalization in the US?
Now recreational marijuana is OK in Colorado, and retail shops in Washington state are expected to start operating by late spring. But we wondered about the rest of the country and whether other states might soon follow suit.
For an answer to that, we're joined by John Hudak, a fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution.
Disneyland markets resort to Latino visitors on Three Kings' Day
The Christmas season is anything but over for Latino children around the world. This Sunday, they're celebrating "Three Kings' Day," or "El Día de los Reyes."
Disneyland makes a big deal of all sorts of holidays and, in this increasingly Latino Golden State, Viva Navidad is no exception. The California Report's Susan Valot has more from Anaheim.
New snail species invades renovated Echo Park
There’s a new species inhabiting the grounds of the freshly renovated Echo Park Lake, snails. The snails can reach the size of a small apple and they lay many bright pink eggs, which are visible throughout the whole park.
KPCC’s Katherine Davis finds out more about the new invaders.
Calif. Supreme Court grants law license to undocumented law school grad (updated)
In a landmark case for immigrants' rights, California's highest court on Thursday admitted a Mexican immigrant to the state bar, even though he lacks legal status.
While Sergio Garcia has been granted a law license, he can't be hired by a law firm because he is in the country illegally. He is able to practice on his own, however, and he said he plans to hire associates.
"It's a wonderful thing," Garcia, who is 36, told KPCC. "It's been something I've been working on for the last five years of my life, almost."
Legal experts described the state Supreme Court's 7-0 ruling as a potentially precedent-setting decision that would benefit other immigrants in Garcia's situation.
"Under the Supreme Court ruling, now undocumented applicants will be treated in the same way as other applicants," said Ingrid Eagly, assistant professor of law at UCLA. "Their unlawful status by itself is not something that can be categorically used to exclude them from the bar."
State overrides federal ban
In oral arguments last September, justices had questioned the validity of Garcia's bid to practice law, citing a 1996 federal law that keeps immigrants without legal status from earning professional licenses from the government.
There is a way for states to override the federal ban, and in October, the California state legislature enacted a law that did exactly that - which, in turn, cleared the way for justices to come to their unanimous decision.
"In light of the recently enacted state legislation, we conclude that the Committee’s motion to admit Garcia to the State Bar should be granted," Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye wrote.
The Department of Justice, which had initially opposed licensing Garcia, declined to comment Thursday. But in a Nov. 13 brief filed with the state Supreme Court, the department indicated that its argument against Garcia was no longer relevant because the state, by enacting the special provision, had:
"... exercised the authority expressly recognized in the federal statute to enact laws affirmatively making unlawfully present aliens eligible for state and local public benefits for which such aliens would otherwise be ineligible ..."
Garcia's case could influence similar cases pending in New York and Florida by spotlighting the role state lawmakers can play in immigration issues, said USC law professor Jody Armour.
"[The federal government] said essentially, 'We aren't going to pass pro-immigrant reform in a way that allows undocumented immigrants to get professional licenses, but we're not going to keep you from doing it. You can go ahead and do it, and you can take the credit for it or the blame for it, but you have the responsibility,'" Armour said.
RELATED: Undocumented immigrant Sergio Garcia's fight to practice law in the US
RELATED: A lawyer without a green card? California justices weigh a landmark case
A groundswell of support
Garcia has received an outpouring of support on his Facebook page, where he posted this message: "With tears in my eyes I'm happy to report I am being admitted to the bar, thank God! This one is for all of you who dare to dream and by doing so change the world! Love you all! History was made today!"
Among Garcia's backers was California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris. A spokesman for her office, Nick Pacilio, issued this statement:
“We applaud today’s ruling and are pleased that the Court agreed with the State’s argument in favor of granting Sergio Garcia admission to the bar. California’s success has hinged on the hard work and self-sufficiency of immigrants like Sergio.”
Also supportive was the State Bar, which had found Garcia to have met all the requirements needed to receive a law license. In a statement, President Luis J. Rodriguez said:
"With today's ruling, the California Supreme Court reaffirms the Committee of Bar Examiners' finding as not a political decision but rather one grounded in the law."
In response to criticisms that he doesn't have a right to practice law as someone living illegally in the US, Garcia pointed out that he was a minor — 17 — when he was last brought to the United States. (He first came as an infant but returned to Mexico when he was 9.) He also noted that his being in the U.S. unlawfully is a civil infraction, "so I'm not a criminal."
Garcia, who's application for a green card has been pending for years, said he has worked hard to become a lawyer and wants to inspire young students with his story.
"I want to as help those less fortunate, those who cannot usually afford legal representation and to make sure they're not railroaded by the court system or the insurance companies or whoever it might be," Garcia said. "I'm all for the little guy."
Aside from setting up his law practice, Garcia said he'll be busy getting a book about his life published ("people love a fairytale story") and raising $100,000 in scholarship money for young people through his eponymous foundation.
Niels Frenzen of USC’s School of Law said Garcia's case is important not so much in the number of people it will affect - he doubts there are that many people in Garcia’s shoes - but in the message it sends of California being on the leading edge of immigrant rights.
"It’s certainly is an important statement in this political debate that we’re in the middle of right now regarding people who don’t have legal status and recognizing that there are people like Garcia who are Americans in every sense of the word other than not having that piece of paper," Frenzen said.
To learn more about how the justices made their decision, read the court ruling:
California Supreme Court ruling on Sergio Garcia
This story has been updated.