Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement A UC Berkeley study released Monday found that prosecutors often routinely strike Black and Latino prospective jurors and that appellate courts have failed to rein in the practice.The study, “Whitewashing the Jury Box,” was spearheaded by UC Berkeley law professor Elisabeth Semel, who runs the The report examined, among other things, nearly 700 cases decided by the state’s Courts of Appeal from 2006 through 2018 that involved appeals of prosecutors’ jury strikes.In about 72% of the cases, prosecutors used their peremptory challenges...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement A UC Berkeley study released Monday found that prosecutors often routinely strike Black and Latino prospective jurors and that appellate courts have failed to rein in the practice.The study, “Whitewashing the Jury Box,” was spearheaded by UC Berkeley law professor Elisabeth Semel, who runs the The report examined, among other things, nearly 700 cases decided by the state’s Courts of Appeal from 2006 through 2018 that involved appeals of prosecutors’ jury strikes.In about 72% of the cases, prosecutors used their peremptory challenges...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement For more than three decades, California has clung to one of the nation’s toughest testing standards for law school students hoping to practice law in the most populous state in the country. But this month, the California Supreme Court, which oversees the state bar, agreed to lower the passing score for the exam, a victory for law school deans who have long hoped the change would raise the number of Black and Latino people practicing law.After holding virtual meetings with law school graduates and deans, the state’s highest court this...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement For more than three decades, California has clung to one of the nation’s toughest testing standards for law school students hoping to practice law in the most populous state in the country. But this month, the California Supreme Court, which oversees the state bar, agreed to lower the passing score for the exam, a victory for law school deans who have long hoped the change would raise the number of Black and Latino people practicing law.After holding virtual meetings with law school graduates and deans, the state’s highest court this...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement For two decades, it was a treasured perk for some county employees across California: the ability to boost their pensions by cashing out unused vacation or sick leave, or working extra hours, at the end of their careers. In some cases, workers received more in pension payments than they earned while working.But with the state’s economy struggling and a pension crisis looming, then-Gov. Jerry Brown backed a sweeping reform measure in 2013 that prohibited county workers from “pension spiking.” Labor unions sued to overturn the new...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement For two decades, it was a treasured perk for some county employees across California: the ability to boost their pensions by cashing out unused vacation or sick leave, or working extra hours, at the end of their careers. In some cases, workers received more in pension payments than they earned while working.But with the state’s economy struggling and a pension crisis looming, then-Gov. Jerry Brown backed a sweeping reform measure in 2013 that prohibited county workers from “pension spiking.” Labor unions sued to overturn the new...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement Hospitals filling up. Reopening of schools postponed. Battles over wearing masks in public intensifying. July has brought a month of grim with a state once seen as a model of prevention enduring a new surge in cases as the economy rapidly reopened. But will July end with more bad news or some tentative signs that the efforts to slow infections by closing down some businesses and institutions might be paying off?Health officials are anxious for more signs of the latter, especially amid indications that other hot-spot states may be...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement Hospitals filling up. Reopening of schools postponed. Battles over wearing masks in public intensifying. July has brought a month of grim with a state once seen as a model of prevention enduring a new surge in cases as the economy rapidly reopened. But will July end with more bad news or some tentative signs that the efforts to slow infections by closing down some businesses and institutions might be paying off?Health officials are anxious for more signs of the latter, especially amid indications that other hot-spot states may be...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement There’s a common refrain that masks don’t protect you; they protect other people from your own germs, which is especially important to keep unknowingly infected people from spreading the coronavirus. But now, there’s mounting evidence that masks also protect you. If you’re unlucky enough to encounter an infectious person, wearing any kind of face covering will reduce the amount of virus that your body will take in. AdvertisementAs it turns out, that’s pretty important. Breathing in a small amount of virus may lead to no disease or...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement There’s a common refrain that masks don’t protect you; they protect other people from your own germs, which is especially important to keep unknowingly infected people from spreading the coronavirus. But now, there’s mounting evidence that masks also protect you. If you’re unlucky enough to encounter an infectious person, wearing any kind of face covering will reduce the amount of virus that your body will take in. AdvertisementAs it turns out, that’s pretty important. Breathing in a small amount of virus may lead to no disease or...WW…

Copyright © 2020, Los Angeles Times | | | |AdvertisementThe next two weeks are shaping up to be critical for California as officials wait to see if the sweeping restrictions imposed in late June and July show any signs of slowing the rapid spread of coronavirus in communities across the state.This week was marked by a series of grim milestones as California shattered a one-day record for new coronavirus cases — more than 11,000 on Tuesday — as well as rising infection rates and growing numbers of hospitalizations. Because the coronavirus can take weeks to incubate, much of the current surge...…Copyright © 2020, Los Angeles Times | | | |AdvertisementThe next two weeks are shaping up to be critical for California as officials wait to see if the sweeping restrictions imposed in late June and July show any signs of slowing the rapid spread of coronavirus in communities across the state.This week was marked by a series of grim milestones as California shattered a one-day record for new coronavirus cases — more than 11,000 on Tuesday — as well as rising infection rates and growing numbers of hospitalizations. Because the coronavirus can take weeks to incubate, much of the current surge...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement California law requires Apple Inc. to pay its workers for being searched before they leave retail stores, the California Supreme Court decided unanimously Thursday.A group of Apple workers filed a class-action lawsuit against the tech giant, charging they were required to submit to searches before leaving the stores but were not compensated for the time those searches required. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where the case is now pending, asked the California Supreme Court to clarify whether state law requires compensation.In...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement California law requires Apple Inc. to pay its workers for being searched before they leave retail stores, the California Supreme Court decided unanimously Thursday.A group of Apple workers filed a class-action lawsuit against the tech giant, charging they were required to submit to searches before leaving the stores but were not compensated for the time those searches required. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where the case is now pending, asked the California Supreme Court to clarify whether state law requires compensation.In...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement When sheriff’s deputies searched a white van on June 6 in a wooded hamlet in Santa Cruz County, they found ammunition, firearms, bomb-making equipment — and a ballistic vest with a curious patch.The patch contained an igloo and Hawaiian-style print, markings associated with a growing, extremist, anti-government movement aimed at fomenting unrest and civil war.On Tuesday, federal law enforcement officials announced that they were charging Air Force Sgt. Steven Carrillo, 32, the alleged owner of that vest, and suspected accomplice...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement When sheriff’s deputies searched a white van on June 6 in a wooded hamlet in Santa Cruz County, they found ammunition, firearms, bomb-making equipment — and a ballistic vest with a curious patch.The patch contained an igloo and Hawaiian-style print, markings associated with a growing, extremist, anti-government movement aimed at fomenting unrest and civil war.On Tuesday, federal law enforcement officials announced that they were charging Air Force Sgt. Steven Carrillo, 32, the alleged owner of that vest, and suspected accomplice...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement San Francisco police officers will be replaced with trained, unarmed professionals to respond to calls for help on noncriminal matters involving mental health, the homeless, school discipline and neighbor disputes, That change and others, which will be implemented over the coming months, are part of a plan by Mayor London Breed to try to reduce police confrontations with the community. Breed unveiled her proposals after weeks of massive protests over in Minneapolis.“San Francisco has made progress reforming our police department, but...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement San Francisco police officers will be replaced with trained, unarmed professionals to respond to calls for help on noncriminal matters involving mental health, the homeless, school discipline and neighbor disputes, That change and others, which will be implemented over the coming months, are part of a plan by Mayor London Breed to try to reduce police confrontations with the community. Breed unveiled her proposals after weeks of massive protests over in Minneapolis.“San Francisco has made progress reforming our police department, but...WW…

Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement In the wake of the officers in Northern California, more attention is being directed to the “boogaloo” movement, a far-right fringe group that has been tied to violence around the country.On Tuesday, federal law enforcement officials announced they were charging Air Force Sgt. Steven Carrillo, 32, and suspected accomplice Robert A. Justus Jr., 30, in the May 29 shooting death in Oakland. Carrillo also faces state charges in the June 6 killing of a .AdvertisementBrian Levin, executive director of the Center for the Study of Hate and...…Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times | | | | Advertisement In the wake of the officers in Northern California, more attention is being directed to the “boogaloo” movement, a far-right fringe group that has been tied to violence around the country.On Tuesday, federal law enforcement officials announced they were charging Air Force Sgt. Steven Carrillo, 32, and suspected accomplice Robert A. Justus Jr., 30, in the May 29 shooting death in Oakland. Carrillo also faces state charges in the June 6 killing of a .AdvertisementBrian Levin, executive director of the Center for the Study of Hate and...WW…