Attorney General Sessions says he will expand property seizures, people lose money to a Venmo scheme, Cabin overnight bus includes full sleeping cabins.
California legal protections could be tested as Sessions expands civil asset forfeiture
Attorney General Jeff Sessions signed an order Wednesday directing the Justice Department to expand its use of civil asset forfeitures. The policy allows law enforcement to seize property from people who are suspected of a crime--before they're convicted or even charged.
The policy is controversial within Sessions' own party. Critics, including California Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), say the practice violates Americans' civil rights. Issa and several other Congressional Republicans have introduced legislation to tighten restrictions on asset forfeiture and to make it easier for people who lose property to get it back.
Sessions defended his decision at the National District Attorney's Association in Minneapolis on Monday, calling forfeitures an important law enforcement tool to curb crime like drug trafficking. "No criminal should be allowed to keep the proceeds of their illegal activity," he said.
California passed legislation last year restricting civil asset forfeiture. State law now requires a criminal conviction for authorities to seize property valued under $40,000. That threshold was added to the bill to ensure police can still go after the property of suspected major drug traffickers.
The average forfeiture in California in 2013 was valued at about $5,100 by the Drug Policy Alliance.
In 2015, then-Attorney General Eric Holder moved to end "adoptive" forfeitures, where the federal government could take property seized by local police and forfeit it under federal law, circumventing state safeguards. In many parts of the country, this let local police keep 80 percent of assets seized by federal task forces like the DEA or ICE. Sessions' order this week reinstates "adoptive" forfeitures, reversing Holder's policy.
It remains unclear what changes at the federal level will mean for law enforcement in California.
SB 443, the bipartisan bill limiting civil asset forfeitures signed by Governor Brown last September, limited the federal loophole, also called "equitable sharing." Current California law prohibits state and local law enforcement from partnering with federal agencies on "adoptive" forfeitures of property, except when the value of assets seized is over $40,000.
Opponents of civil asset forfeiture say California's restrictions don't go far enough.
"Hopefully Congress will step in and provide meaningful, long-term solutions to this," said attorney Wesley Hottot on KPCC's Take Two. Hottot is part of the Institute for Justice, a group that advocates to limit civil asset forfeitures. "We can't keep treating people's property rights like they're a political football to be changed every time a new administration comes in."
Hottot said in some ways, Californians are shielded from the federal "adoption" forfeitures reinstated by Attorney General Sessions this week. But he pointed out Californians suspected of criminal activity can still have their assets seized if the value of their property exceeds $40,000.
"If you've got $40,001, they still don't need a criminal conviction," said Hottot.
Hottot also said he fears current California law encourages law enforcement to look for more property to seize. "Instead of just taking the $10,000 they find in your car, they'll take the $10,000 and the car to try to get over that 40,000 threshold and avoid the criminal conviction requirement," he said.
Hottot represented a San Diego medical marijuana distributor whose business was raided in January 2016 by drug enforcement agents. No charges have been filed in the case, and in May, the D.A. was ordered to return more than $100,000 seized from the distributor and his family.
Please click on the blue media player above to hear the full interview with Wesley Hottot on Take Two.
Today's O.J. Simpson parole hearing receives heavy media coverage
O.J. Simpson's parole hearing begins in Nevada today.
The 70-year-old former star running back will be there virtually. He's expected to address the parole board via video link from the prison where he is serving time on a 2007 conviction for kidnapping and and armed robbery.
If he receives parole, he could be freed as soon as October 1.
Many major media outlets are planning on providing live coverage, including ABC, NBC, CNN, and ESPN.
But how did we get to the point where a parole hearing, with Simpson appearing only a via video feed, justifies wall-to-wall media coverage?
Judy Muller covered the OJ Simpson trial for ABC News, before teaching journalism at the USC Annenberg School.
"In OJ Simpson’s case, the story is not really resolved yet for a lot of people. . . This is the kind of journalism that’s very easy - there’s nothing else going on today particularly. . . So, this is obvious and there are so many people still interested in this case, that all those networks know that at least some of the time they spend will get good ratings, and that’s really what this is about."
To listen to the full segment, click the blue play button above.
Rep. Rohrabacher facing scrutiny after report detailing Russian dealings
There are some troubling new revelations about Orange County Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher and his relationship with the Russian government.
The Daily Beast reported Wednesday that Rohrabacher may have taken direction from Russia when he discussed lifting US sanctions on Russian officials.
This is hardly the first time the congressman's name has come up in the same sentence as "Russia." But Rohrabacher's dealings are being viewed under a new light after it was revealed that two of those with Russian ties that Rohrabacher had worked with had met with Donald Trump Junior and members of the Trump campaign in June 2016.
For more, Take Two spoke to Nico Hines, London editor for the Daily Beast who has been writing about it.
Press the blue play button above to hear the full interview.
Online sellers in L.A. hit with Venmo scammers
Listen to the full interview using the audio player above.
When you go to a restaurant with friends and need to split the bill, instead of handing the server all your credit cards, you could just use the app Venmo instead.
Your bank accounts are connected with a few clicks on your phone so you can send each other money.
But in L.A., Venmo is also being used in a scheme against people selling expensive equipment online.
The buyers pay using the app and take the goods, but then hours later Venmo tells the seller that the payment was fraudulent.
It calls into question what kind of anti-fraud protections there are for Venmo users, and Russell Brandom, reporter for The Verge, tells Take Two why.
The Ride: Cabin 'mobile hotel' lets travelers sleep between LA and San Fran
When it comes to traveling between Los Angeles and San Francisco, there are planes, trains, automobiles — and now a new bus service that bills itself as a mobile boutique hotel.
Called Cabin, it travels overnight between the two cities, putting up passengers in individual rooms outfitted with comfortable beds, high-end sheets, privacy curtains, power outlets, USB cords, ear plugs and other amenities. When travelers check in for their 11 p.m. trip, they're offered a cup of chamomile tea. When they arrive at their destination — at 7 the next morning — it's espresso.
Inspired by luxury travel of a bygone era and Millennials’ need to multitask, Cabin is designed to combine sleep and travel, much like luxury cruise liners or the classic Orient Express.
"What they would book is a cabin for that journey and that personal space, that cabin, was as exciting as the destination itself," said Cabin co-founder and president, Gaetano Crupi.
These days what makes Cabin an exciting destination is the price — it’s $115 each way — along with the service and thoughtful extras like Dream Water laced with melatonin.
The original concept for Cabin wasn't a bus. It was self-driving cars.
"We were especially intrigued by the idea of falling asleep on Friday night and telling your car to take you somewhere very far away so you could spend Saturday there," Crupi said. "That was the point that we really were interested in because this would make your neighborhood feel like it was a 500-mile radius area.”
Self-driving cars aren’t likely to become a reality for a few more years, so Crupi and his business partner decided a bus was the next best thing.
About a year ago, Crupi and his Cabin co-founder Tom Currier tested their idea. They rented a coach that was ordinarily used for a traveling hockey team and rechristened it the Sleep Bus. They built a web site, put a few ads on Facebook "and waited to see what happened," Crupi said. "It was pretty much a total surprise when we sold out all of our tickets within 36 hours.“
It was only a proof of concept, but the wait list grew. And grew — to the point that 20,000 people wanted a ride.
"We were making customers angry because we didn’t have availability," Crupi said. "It was never intended as the full thing."
Not bad for a couple Stanford dropouts. So Crupi and Currier pulled the plug. They’ve spent the last year raising capital while attempting to get a grip on what customers really wanted from the service.
"A lot of the guests were asking: Are there bed bugs on this bus? Do you guys even wash the sheets? Is it safe at night? And so we quickly arrived to the conclusion that we really needed to make this experience pretty buttoned up so people can relax and just enjoy the environment.”
And that’s when they decided they weren't offering a bus service. Rather, a chic hotel on wheels.
But will it fly?
"I think it's basically a nice niche product," said Bob Rauch, a hospitality expert and hotel consultant based in San Diego who runs the web site, HotelGuru.com. “I don’t know that it’s going to be tens of thousands of people using it. I do think there’s demand for a bunch of reasons. L.A. to San Francisco, obviously driving it yourself is a pain in the neck. You can’t sleep while you’re driving.”
Amtrak is slow, Rauch says. And flying?
"It’s a few hundred bucks each way if it’s short notice and it’s a pain in the neck getting to the airport, having to park, get through security… and when you land you’ve got to deal with transportation in San Francisco, so it’s not a pleasant experience."
Even though Cabin thinks of itself as a rolling boutique hotel, it’s still a bus. But it might not always be. In the future, Crupi said, "We could provide a similar transportation accommodation experience on an airplane or a boat or a hyperloop or a drone or whatever transportation technology arises.”
For now, there’s the bus version of Cabin, which ran its maiden voyage from San Francisco to L.A. last Friday and will do so again this weekend. Starting September 1, it will begin nightly service both ways between the two cities.
Art on demand: how museums are engaging the public
Audio on demand, video on demand, and now...art on demand.
That's right, no need to hop on the 405 to visit the Getty or take a trip down the miracle mile...now you can get some fine art by sending a text.
Case in point: San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art's "Send Me" SMS service.
It's just another way museums are adapting to engage with the public.
"Send me" is the brainchild of Keir Winesmith, MOMA's head of digital, and creative technologist Jay Mollica. Keir spoke with A Martinez via Skype about how the project came about.
But first, A had to try out the texting service for himself. So, while he texted his request, ("Send me baseball.") Winesmith explained what was going on:
"So in the background, your text message is arriving at our 'Send Me' application which is then searching inside our collection with something that features baseball in some way. It's usually finding somewhere between five and some cases 100 things and it's picking one at random from those. And then it's turning it into an image and it's texting it back to you to tell you how it looks like and who made it."
A's request ended up producing a photo from a Larry Sultan series titled 'Pictures from Home.' At first glance, it seems a bit random that this photo would turn up for a baseball request.
But Winesmith explained these results are associated with keywords, that have been assigned to all pieces from the museum collection over the course of 10 years. So, although it may not seem apparent, there's a reason these pieces are generated with specific requests.
Sure enough, upon closer inspection A realized, there's someone off to the side watching a Dodger's game. "Wow," said A when he noticed the baseball connection, "I'm so sorry for even doubting you for a second, Keir."
In addition to phrases, folks can send requests using emojis, which proved to be a bit more challenging.
"It's definitely tougher because emojis, it turns out, both have subtext but are also subjective. So, what you use an emoji for might not be the same thing that I use an emoji for..."
Although the service was quietly rolled in June, it didn't go viral until this past weekend. When asked about the genesis and inspiration behind this service, Winesmith explained it's all a part of the digital shift museums are currently going through:
"We've been thinking about ways to make our collection more open for many years now, even decades you can say. Over the last few years, we've been really trying to focus in on reaching people who can't physically visit the museum.
Whether that's because they're not in San Francisco or they can't travel, or the timing isn't right or they possibly can't afford to come and visit...so...we wanted to do something that was about looking at the work in the collection that usually hidden from view."
To listen to the full segment, click the blue play button above.
Update: This copy has been updated to reflect the contributions of Jay Mollica, who programmed the "Send Me" SMS service.
The Binge: From the seas to the forests
Every month Take Two contributor
stops by with a curated list of the best things to stream on the web, we call it - THE BINGE!
This time we're going to the great outdoors! Here's Mark's list.
SHARK (Netflix)
While there are many nature specials to view, one of the best is the excellent two-part documentary simply called Shark. Wonderfully narrated by British actor Paul McGann, it is full of amazing footage and information.
from
on Vimeo.
MERU (Amazon Prime)
From 2015 comes an astounding documentary called Meru. It tells the story of three talented mountain climbers determined to scale one of the most difficult peaks in the world, which is also known as The Shark’s Fin.
THE HUNT (Netflix)
This is an incredibly well done series that focuses more on the predator and prey relationship in nature. It's fascinating and filled with the terrific type of footage that's becoming more common with nature documentaries. It's also helped by the narration of the legendary Sir David Attenborough, who also narrates both versions of Plant Earth.
The Hunt covers everything from crocodiles to polar bears to killer whales to this, a fight between an impala and a leopard.
is a writer living in Los Angeles. If you want to catch up on past Binge segments, here you go.