Sunday, June 22, 2014

Scary OC

1. Killed by Cops
     It doesn't matter if you're an unarmed homeless white guy, a skinny teenage white girl with a butter knife, an unarmed black man, or any number of armed and unarmed cholos and ex-cholos: Cops across OC LOVE to kill folks, especially because they know they'll get off scot-free. They have shown the country that OC law enforcement really is color-blind: whatever your ethnicity or class, you JUST MIGHT get offed by them for no good reason. Yay, OC justice!
—From Gustavo Arellano’s The 10 Most Stereotypical Ways to Die in Orange County

Sobel wins anew

     Somehow, we managed to miss this recent court victory for our good friend attorney Carol Sobel.
     From nearly a week ago:

Appeals court panel ends L.A. ban on homeless living in vehicles (LA Times)
     For the second time in two years, a federal appeals court has struck down a key enforcement tool in Los Angeles' efforts to deal with burgeoning homelessness, declaring a ban on living in vehicles an invitation to discriminate against the poor.
     A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided unanimously Thursday that a city ordinance prohibiting people from living in vehicles was unconstitutionally vague. That ruling followed a 9th Circuit decision in 2012 that prevented Los Angeles from confiscating and destroying possessions that homeless people leave temporarily on sidewalks.
     Both ordinances had been enforced, along with other policies, to help the city cope with a homeless
     "The City of Los Angeles has many options at its disposal to alleviate the plight and suffering of its homeless citizens," wrote Judge Harry Pregerson, who was appointed by President Carter. "Selectively preventing the homeless and the poor from using their vehicles for activities many other citizens also conduct in their cars should not be one of those options."
. . .
     Civil rights attorney Carol Sobel, who represented the homeless people, said it was past time for the city to try new strategies.
     "Honestly," Sobel said, "these policies are bad."

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...