News & Commentary

It's been almost exactly a month since President Obama welcomed a debate about government surveillance, saying it was healthy for our democracy, but we have yet to see the debate begin. A debate entails a discussion on a particular matter in which opposing arguments are put forward. But, as we are now seeing, if only one side has the information relevant to the matter, there can be no meaningful debate.

Between 2010 and 2011, 251 school districts across California openly reported to the state that they denied more than 20,000 students the English language instruction to which they are legally entitled. This failure comes with grave consequences, as children without basic language support services in the classroom are more likely to perform poorly on reading and math tests, and drop out before graduation.

Police department policy manuals are public documents that should be readily available to citizens on municipal websites, pursuant to public document requests, or at the very least at public libraries.

The recent disclosure that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been tracking the Internet and phone activity of American citizens is about more than just government surveillance: It has profound implications for freedom of the press.

Los Angeles County officials have a powerful tool at their disposal to keep felons from committing more crimes in the future – but they’re not using it.

Today, the Ninth Circuit lifted the stay preventing California from marrying same-sex couples. The ruling comes two days after the U.S. Supreme Court restored marriage for same-sex couples in California, nearly five years after California voters, through Proposition 8, stripped same-sex couples of their freedom to marry.

For those concerned about civil rights, this week's Supreme Court rulings provided an emotional roller coaster. On Tuesday, the Court dealt a crippling blow to the Voting Rights Act, jeopardizing nearly 50 years of progress on voting discrimination. Then, just one day later, the Court overturned part of the indefensible Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), paving the way for married same-sex couples to receive federal benefits, rights, and responsibilities.