On March 12, 2000, a man named Gary Ewick concealed three golf clubs worth $399 each by placing them up his pants leg and walked out of a Los Angeles-area golf course. Upon discovery, an employee phoned the police, leading to Ewick’s subsequent conviction and a required 25 years to life in prison. How did stealing $1200 worth of golf clubs warrant a potential life sentence in prison?
Read MoreSkyrocketing housing prices, exorbitant monthly rents, and tent cities popping up throughout California cities. We’ve all heard the statistics - California is in a severe housing crisis. In response to this, our leaders have set aggressive housing production goals, with Governor Newsom notably promising to develop a whopping 3.5 million new homes by 2025. Yet we are continually disappointed. In the four years since Newsom took office, less than half a million homes have been built within the state.
Read MoreFollowing the leak of the draft opinion of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in May 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted that, “California will not sit back. We are going to fight like hell.” The decision, officially released later that year in June, overturned the 50-year precedent of Roe v. Wade and removed federal protection of abortion services in the United States. This decision turned abortion rights over to the states, which has resulted in 13 states banning abortion.
Read MoreCalifornia has not executed a death row inmate since January 2006, yet still has 690 inmates living in fear of execution. In 2012 and 2016, propositions to abolish the death penalty failed. In 2012, the proposition was defeated with 51.95% of the vote, and in 2016, the proposition was defeated with 53.15% of the vote. In comparison, President Obama received 59.3% of the vote in California in 2012 and Hilary Clinton received 61.5% in 2016. The stark contrast between the two results can be explained by the American fear of crime and its importance in elections.
California started off the New Year by turning its streets into rivers. At least 22 people were killed.
As 2022 ended, an atmospheric river washed over California causing a mega-storm that lasted almost three weeks. As rivers overflowed and levees failed, cities began to flood and thousands were forced to evacuate their homes. However, this “once in a lifetime” event was just one of many climate disasters that have occurred in this season alone. In December, most of the US and part of Canada experienced a winter storm that swept from coast to coast, and in January a series of off-season tornadoes traveled through the southern states.
Read MoreGavin Newsom has alluded to running for president multiple times in the last few years following a successful recall avoidance and a steamroll reelection win in 2022, but when would he run? And if he runs…could he win?
According to Berkeley professor of politics Dan Schnur, “Yeah, he’s definitely running for president, the only question is where he’s running in 2024 or 2028.”
California has experienced eight of the state’s largest wildfires in the last five years. To combat these fires, California has enlisted firefighters from out-of-state and sometimes other countries to fight these deadly wildfires. Another significant and often overlooked source of manpower against wildfires is the prison population. Since World War Two, California prisons and Cal Fire have run the Conservation Camp Program. The Conservation Camp Program trains eligible prisoners to become firefighters as a source of rehabilitation. The inmates undergo one week of classroom instruction and one week of field training and exercises.
Read MoreOn Sept. 28th, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 2011, greenlighting the conversion of derelict commercial spaces into housing, regardless of local government objections. The bill is the latest in a series of moves meant to tackle California’s ballooning cost of housing, limiting the power of cities and counties to micromanage or block new construction. That same day, Newsom gave his signature to AB 2097, eliminating parking mandates for developments near mass transit, and AB 2221, which specifies legal ambiguities surrounding what constitutes a ‘granny flat’, ending the ability of localities to deny their erection on arbitrary grounds.
Last Saturday, the Davis Political Review hosted a public debate between the Davis College Republicans and the New Liberals club. The event was the first of its kind in Davis where student panelists questioned other students with differing perspectives on topics ranging from freedom of speech, campus violence, foreign policy, and inflation while providing them with a platform to civilly discuss their different opinions. We would like to thank the New Liberals club and the Davis College Republicans for their participation in this debate. As a nonpartisan organization, we in the DPR understand the value of our free speech, and most importantly the duty we hold to protect it.
Read MoreThe reaction to the death of Li Wenliang represents one crack in the firewall of politburo sponsored censorship and the policing and surveillance of thought.
Read MoreThe issue and morality of “anchor babies” is already surrounded by a lot of controversy—by cracking down on “birth tourism”, it seems this amendment will simply trigger more protests and backlash for the administration to deal with
Read MoreThe authority that the Trump administration is moving to dismantle is one set by the Clean Air Act, and every effort made by the administration has been dealt with defiantly by California officials.
Read MoreHopefully, with overwhelming support for ranked-choice voting from most of California's legislators and the rising support at large for the system, California will eventually join the rest of the country in adopting ranked-choice voting
Read MoreThe paramount issue lies not just within the idea of justice for crime but the way in which criminal justice has been used as a weapon within which some are treated more kindly while others are not, regardless of what the law says.
Read MoreThe lack of quality education has directly affected the 37,000 Oakland public school students, leading to their poor academic performance in comparison to other California students around the state.
Read MoreMost U.S. states tax feminine hygiene products. Progressive California is trying to change that.
Read MoreThe High-speed rail project has suddenly become the next battleground in the war between President Trump and the state of California.
Read MoreGovernor Newsom’s proposal may put us on the path towards improving the lives of incarcerated children.
Read MoreFor generations, Latino students have been left behind to wallow in defunded schools, which afford them little to no opportunity to rise above the self-fulfilling prophecy that says they will not, and cannot, succeed.
Read MoreReferring to people with gender-neutral pronouns isn’t a problem; but forcing people to identify with pronouns they do not necessarily identify with is.
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