Taylor Kate Brown reports for the SF Chron, "Homicide, rape, assault and robbery have doubled on BART [the Bay Area Rapid Transit system] in the last four years -- from 234 incidents in 2015 to 481 incidents last year -- after six years of relative stability, according to state Department of Justice records."
Capitol groundskeepers who have been attacked by homeless people recently may carry pepper spray, but the state won't yet pay for it, according to a letter the California Department of General Services sent to the workers' union.
The amici are a diverse group. Boise is supported not only by law enforcement groups and conservative organizations and government entities but also by organizations serving the homeless and by localities with quite left-of-center governing bodies, including the City of Los Angeles.
Cities across America increasingly grapple with people living on their streets, and court rulings have made it hard to enforce laws against public camping. A series of decisions by the liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, for instance, determined that clearing homeless encampments is an unconstitutional form of punishment. Now Boise, Idaho, as part of a ten-year legal fight, is appealing to the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling by the Ninth Circuit that effectively bars the city from cleaning up camp sites on public property. How the case turns out may determine whether cities have powers to police their streets amid a sharp rise in public camping and sleeping.
"Bikini barista" stands are drive-through businesses where scantily clad employees sell coffee and other nonalcoholic beverages. In Everett, Washington, a police investigation confirmed complaints that some baristas were engaging in lewd conduct at these establishments, that some baristas had been victimized by patrons, and that other crimes were associated with the stands. The City responded by adopting Everett Municipal Code (EMC) § 5.132.010-060 (the Dress Code Ordinance) requiring that the dress of employees, owners, and operators of Quick-Service Facilities cover "minimum body areas." Separately, the City also broadened its lewd conduct misdemeanor by expanding the Everett Municipal Code's definition of "lewd act" to include the public display of specific parts of the body. EMC § 10.24.010. The City also created a new misdemeanor called Facilitating Lewd Conduct for those who permit, cause or encourage lewd conduct. EMC § 10.24.020
Progressive political activists allege that tech companies have inflated housing costs and forced middle-class people onto the streets. Declaring that "no two people living on Skid Row . . . ended up there for the same reasons," Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, for his part, blames a housing shortage, stagnant wages, cuts to mental health services, domestic and sexual abuse, shortcomings in criminal justice, and a lack of resources for veterans. These factors may all have played a role, but the most pervasive cause of West Coast homelessness is clear: heroin, fentanyl, and synthetic opioids.
The Home Depot in Oakland is having problems with homelessness and crime, and it's gotten so bad that the hardware chain may shut the store unless the city can curb the thefts and clean up the tent and RV camps that dot the area, City Councilman Noel Gallo said.
Which great thinker has done the most to make life better for the people of most modest means? In my view, it is not anyone in the progressive pantheon. It is George Kelling, whose work on policing, where adopted, has made formerly unlivable neighborhoods livable again.
Former Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom says San Francisco has become "too permissive" when it comes to open drug use and other bad behavior on the city's streets.
"People shooting up on the streets and sidewalks, where kids are in strollers, is not acceptable -- it's just not," Newsom said during a visit to The Chronicle's editorial board last week.Newsom, who served as mayor for seven years before being elected lieutenant governor in 2011, has been attacked by GOP opponent John Cox for his leadership in San Francisco, a city that has drawn attention for homelessness, feces littering the streets and blatant drug use.
Plaintiffs participated in a Trump for President campaign rally in Louisville in March 2016 . . . with the purpose of protesting. Perceived to be disruptive, they were unceremoniously ushered out after then-candidate Donald J. Trump said, "Get 'em out of here." Plaintiffs were pushed and shoved by members of the audience as they made their exit and now seek damages from Trump alleging his actions amounted to "inciting to riot," a misdemeanor under Kentucky law. The district court denied Trump's motion to dismiss the claim but certified its order for immediate interlocutory appeal. The court identified a two-part question for review: whether plaintiffs have stated a valid claim under Kentucky law and, if so, whether the First Amendment immunizes Trump from punishment under state law. We answer "no" to the first part, because plaintiffs' allegations do not satisfy the required elements of "incitement to riot." As to the second part, we hold "yes," Trump's speech enjoys First Amendment protection, because he did not specifically advocate imminent lawless action. The district court's denial of Trump's motion to dismiss the claim must therefore be reversed.
The anarchy and disorder dominating progressive cities across the West Coast recently hit a new low in Seattle. King County officials are looking to roll out a "safe injection van," a legal venue at which addicts could shoot up illegal drugs unhindered and "safely." The first of its kind in the United States, the van would manage to undermine further the rule of law while also doing little to help addicts. Seattle's urban decay goes deeper, though, with skyrocketing rates of homelessness, an explosion in opioid usage and deaths, and spikes in violent crime.
