The Thorn West is a state and local news roundup compiled by members of DSA-LA. Our goal is to provide a weekly update on the latest developments in state and local politics, and to track the issues that are most important to our membership.
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Issue No. 13 - June 6, 2020
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- Ongoing uprisings demanding justice for George Floyd, the defunding of the police, and accountability for police killings have continued throughout Los Angeles; Black Lives Matter-LA has led actions at the home of Mayor Eric Garcetti and the office of District Attorney Jackie Lacey. Activism against police violence has created unprecedented support for demands to defund the police. As a result of continuous pressure by activists and ongoing protests and organizing, City Council President Nury Martinez has introduced a motion calling for up to $150 million in cuts to the LAPD to be redistributed to communities of color, and Mayor Garcetti has announced reallocation of $250 million from the city budget to health and education in the Black community and other communities of color. The People’s Budget LA coalition released a statement declaring victory but called for further cuts, with Melina Abdullah, a leader of Black Lives Matter-LA stating that “they need to go much further. $150 million looks big, until you realize it still leaves the LAPD with 51% of the city’s unrestricted revenues. That’s not at all acceptable.” The LAPD budget was previously $1.8 billion, which accounted for 53.8% of the unrestricted general fund of the city, and Mayor Eric Garcetti had previously proposed to increase the budget by 7% overall, which included generous raises and bonuses for officers. The LA City Council normally reviews and approves the mayor’s budget each year, but allowed it to go into effect without a vote this past Monday. It takes effect on July 1 and is currently open to amendment.
- Members of the California State Legislature’s Black and Latino caucuses introduced legislation that would make “carotid” neck holds illegal; Governor Gavin Newsom also announced his support for the restriction and for new use-of-force standards for protests.
- In an unprecedented move, LA Metro shut down the entire bus and rail transit system in response to this week’s protests, stranding protesters as well as essential workers. Metro also allowed its buses to be used to transport prisoners who had been arrested,
which several other city's transit departments had declined to do.
- Centro Legal de la Raza announced a hunger strike at the Mesa Verde ICE processing facility in Bakersfield, part of ongoing protests by detainees against unsafe conditions that increase risk of exposure to COVID-19.
- All government-run coronavirus testing sites in the city and county of Los Angeles have reopened as of Friday, after about half of the 36 sites were closed last week. Mayor Garcetti’s decision to close the sites made it more difficult to track and trace infections at a moment when city officials have expressed concern that large demonstrations could increase transmission of the virus.
- Countywide curfews have been lifted following a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of Black Lives Matter - LA challenging their legality. The full brief and a statement from the ACLU can be read here. Cities within the county still have the authority to set their own curfews.
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- Janeese Lewis George,endorsed by and a member of the Metro DC chapter of DSA, decisively won election to city council in Washington, DC. Lewis George ran on a host of progressive policies such as expanding housing affordability, getting money out of politics, providing higher paying jobs, enacting criminal justice reform, and defunding the police to spend money on social services.
- All current national DSA endorsements for 2020 can be found here.
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