To fight back against the president’s racist policies, we also have to talk about class, says Berkeley Law professor
Turning off the lights in California
The state faces enormous challenges to prevent the catastrophic wildfires of recent years.
Don’t let impeachment furor distract us from preventing 2020 election interference
Amid the impeachment furor, don’t lose sight of the renewed importance of protecting the integrity of the 2020 election. The difference between Richard Nixon’s abuse of power (trying to get dirt on political opponents to help with his 1972 reelection, and then covering it up) and Donald Trump’s abuse (trying to get Ukraine’s president to … Continue reading »
Demagogues and Democracy – It Can’t Happen Here?
“Societies with strong democratic traditions and civil discourse may appear to be partially immune to the worst scenarios of nationalism gone haywire,” writes John Douglass, a senior research fellow at the Center for Studies in Higher Education. “But reflecting on the history of the United States … perhaps democracy itself is more fragile than many of us would like to think. Others have thought so.”
Lies about migrants, and the rise of the extreme right
The ascendance of the far right has jolted both American and European politics. It has undermined liberal democracy in Hungary and Poland, and threatens it in the United States and throughout Europe. That ascendance depends on virulent opposition to immigration and immigrants. Opposition to immigration is Donald Trump’s lodestar. Anti-immigrant rhetoric defines his central political … Continue reading »
Women of color present potent threat to Trump’s reelection
Co-authored with EunSook Lee Conservatives tacitly recognize the political power of women of color when they try to discredit them through ridicule and harassment. Consider President Trump’s attacks on the members of “the squad” who have proven to be remarkably deft and savvy politicians. Or recall that Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia played referee, scorekeeper … Continue reading »
The Supreme Court just abdicated its most important role: enforcing the Constitution
“In a 5-4 decision, split along ideological lines, the court’s conservative majority acknowledged that partisan gerrymandering is “incompatible with democratic principles,” but it nonetheless said that the issue should be regarded as a “political question” and that federal courts thus lack jurisdiction to hear cases challenging it.”
UC Needs to Rethink Tuition and Innovate
In their most recent meeting in San Francisco, the UC Regents approved a 2.6 percent increase in tuition for nonresident students, but left in-state undergraduate tuition steady. UC is still struggling to make-up for the huge cuts in state financing that came on the heels of the Great Recession. But why increase only nonresident tuition, … Continue reading »
Sanctuary cities should call Trump’s bluff and welcome migrants
The White House has now proposed—or threatened—to send migrants apprehended at the border to “sanctuary cities.” “Those Illegal Immigrants who can no longer be legally held … will be… given to Sanctuary Cities and States!” Trump tweeted. Sanctuary jurisdictions should call Trump’s bluff and welcome these migrants. To be a “sanctuary” means not only to … Continue reading »
Why Mueller had to punt on obstruction
The following is an excerpt from a Politico article about the surprises in the Mueller report. I think that one of the most surprising parts of the report was its discussion of why it could not reach definite conclusions on obstruction of justice. Barr concluded on the facts and the law that DOJ could not … Continue reading »
Remembering the Red Summer of 1919
One hundred years ago this July, the Chicago riot began when Eugene Williams was murdered for “swimming while Black”. Williams had gone swimming in Lake Michigan when he inadvertently crossed the invisible line that separated the black and white beaches and bathing areas. He was stoned by Whites and drowned but the police arrested a … Continue reading »
Iran: 40 Years after the Revolution
Revolutions inevitably generate complicated and at times polarizing outcomes, both from an ideological and practical standpoint. Any cursory assessment of revolutions is likely to result in a shallow and grossly incomplete picture, while forecasting the current or future status of freedoms won or lost in the ultimate success of a revolution almost always invites controversy. … Continue reading »
Affirmative Action’s Last Stand? Harvard vs SFFA
Ever since the US Supreme Court’s 1978 Bakke vs the UC Board of Regents decision, the appropriate role of race and ethnicity as a factor in admissions to highly selective universities has been the focus of a succession of legal challenges. The list is long. Those that have reached the Supreme Court include Hopwood v … Continue reading »
Elizabeth Warren’s approach to combating inequality makes sense
As the Democrats take over the House and Democratic presidential hopefuls begin the slog toward the 2020 primaries, their party is also debating its economic policy vision for the future. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who just announced that she is forming an exploratory committee for a presidential bid, offers a program that focuses more on what … Continue reading »
Henry H. Haight, UC’s 150th anniversary and the erasure of history in public spaces
Inspired by the events of Charlottesville in summer 2017, I became interested in local monuments to white supremacy here in the Bay Area. I knew Alameda had parks and streets honoring slave owners, but I had no idea that who Henry H. Haight was. An Alameda elementary school bears his name.
A free speech centennial: Should we celebrate?
It was 100 years ago that the U.S. Supreme Court decided its first free speech case. It was an inauspicious start to a century of free speech decisions, and the result would be unthinkable today. On March 3, 1919, the court handed down its decision in Schenk v. United States. In an opinion by the … Continue reading »
Shutting down the government—A very bad idea
Government matters!
California counties should relieve youths, families of juvenile fees
http://www.dailycal.org/2018/11/30/state-counties-must-relieve-youths-families-of-juvenile-fees/ Before his recent resignation, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions spent the better part of two years trying to turn back the clock on criminal justice reform. Among his other regressive actions, last year Sessions rescinded 25 guidance documents issued by his predecessors in the Department of Justice, or DOJ, including two that dealt explicitly … Continue reading »
California needs to end all collection on juvenile detention fees
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-selbin-juvenile-fees-sb190-20180911-story.html
Whitaker’s appointment is unconstitutional
President Donald Trump appointed Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general last week, despite the fact that he cannot legally hold the office. While the president could fix his mistake with any lesser official and in any normal time, the attorney general is no lesser official and this is no normal time. Whitaker takes office during … Continue reading »