State Senate

Oct 19 2012

Ow Recommendation: Yes

A “Yes” vote approves and a “No” vote rejects the new State Senate districts drawn by the Citizens Redistricting Commission. If rejected, districts will be adjusted by officials supervised by the California Supreme Court. Fiscal Impact: Approving the referendum would have no fiscal impact on the state and local governments. Rejecting the referendum would result in a one-time cost of about $1 million to the state and counties.

Juliana D. Norwood  |   OW Staff Writer
Oct 21 2010

Redistricting may have racist undertones

Proposition 20 is a ballot measure that if passed, will remove elected representatives of the state legislature from the process of establishing congressional districts and transfer that authority to a recently-authorized 14-member Citizens Redistricting Commission.

The commission is comprised of five Democrats, five Republicans, and four voters registered with neither party, and requires that any newly-proposed district lines be approved by nine commissioners including three Democrats, three Republicans, and three from neither party.

Jan 29 2009

Los Angeles County Supervisor, Second District

On the second full day of his presidency, President Obama signed executive orders requiring all interrogations to follow the non-coercive methods of the Army Field Manual consistent with international conventions, making good on a campaign promise that attracted the support of civil libertarians and constitutional scholars alike. The orders also ended the Central Intelligence Agency’s program of operating secret prisons in foreign countries and ordered the closure of the detention camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, within a year.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jan 15 2009

No free pass for the 26th District Senate contenders

 Here’s a political trivia quiz for the voters who will decide who’ll fill the vacated twenty sixth district state senate seat formerly held by Mark Ridley-Thomas. What does the district encompass? What committees does the senator sit on? Did you receive a newsletter, e-letter, bulletin, or attend a townhall or meeting from the senator telling you what legislative bills, motions, hearings, initiatives he introduced or passed? Did he invite you to a community event, activity, or meeting to give you an update on his legislative actions?

Earl Ofari Hutchinson  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jan 8 2009

No free pass for the 26th District Senate contenders

 Here’s a political trivia quiz for the voters who will decide who’ll fill the vacated 26th district state senate seat formerly held by Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas.

What does the district encompass? What committees does the senator sit on? Did you receive a newsletter, eletter, bulletin, or attend a townhall or meeting from the senator telling you what legislative bills, motions, hearings, initatives he introduced or passed? Did he invite you to a community event, activity, or meeting to give you an update on his legislative actions?

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.