Videos

To connect South Gate voters with the contenders in the City Council race, the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles (LWVLA), the League Women Voters of Whittier, and the South Gate Patch Latino will hosted a candidates forum Feb. 25.

All three candidates showed up to participate in the 90-minute forum, which will give the community an opportunity to explore key issues in the race. Issues included: Walmart, the city's sale tax measure, education, gun control, the possibility of contracting out the city's Police Department and more.

Candidates are vying for two open City Council seats on the March 5 ballot. Two are seeking re-election, while one is making a first run for public office.

The candidates are Bill De Witt (Incumbent); Gil Hurtado (Incumbent) and Ricardo Reyes.

The entire forum, including the introduction and the candidates' closing statements, can also be viewed here.

Judge Wesley, Sheriff Baca, Laurel Gord (Friends Committee), Hanna Dershowitz (ACLU-SC), Kaile Shilling (Violence Prevention Coalition, Professor Laurie Levenson, Deputy Chief Reaver Bingham.

On Saturday, August 18, 2012, the LWVLA with the support of many other organizations sponsored a forum on Sentencing Reform at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.Panelists included Superior Court Judge David Wesley, Sheriff Leroy Baca, Loyola Law School Professor Laurie Levenson, and representatives from the Probation Department Deputy Chief Reaver Bingham), the ACLU (Hanna Dershowitz, Criminal Justice reform Advocate), the Violence Prevention Coalition (Coalition Director, Violence Prevention Coalition), and the Friends Committee on Legislation (Lauren Gord). Click here to view part one of the video. Click here to view part two of the video.

Panelists addressed strategies to reverse extremely high state and local incarceration rates, 67.5% recidivism rates, overcrowding, and the accompanying burdensome costs to California taxpayers. Over 100 forum attendees heard moderator Judge Wesley outline 160 years of sentencing in California with the forewarning that "history repeats itself." Sentencing started in the 1800s when there was no prison at all in California! Since then laws have been enacted, rescinded, reenacted until it has become very confusing. It was recently determined that the medical conditions within the state prisons were unconstitutional and needed instant correction. The latest dictum came from the U.S. Supreme Court which determined that the extreme overcrowding in California prisons resulted in unconstitutional "cruel and unusual punishment". The state's response was to shift some of the responsibility to the local counties with a series of stipulations and new rules to follow. To see just where we are in this continuum, please review the attached video of the expert panelists discussing these topics.

Over 100 people joined LWVLA, Zocalo Public Square, and the California Supreme Court Historical Society on October 5, 2011 in a local discussion on the triumphs and tribulations of our 100 years of experience with direct democracy. Learn more about the issue on our live webcast by clicking here.

Moderator: Trudy Schafer, Senior Director for Program, League of Women Voters of California

Panelists:

• Carlos Moreno, Former Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court

• Joel Fox, Small Business Action Committee's President

• Peter Schrag, The Sacramento Bee's former editorial page editor

• Robert Stern, Center for Governmental Studies President

This event was made possible due to a generous grant by Martin Kellner. Mr. Kellner's donation was made in honor of his wife Dorothy Kellner. Mrs. Kellner was a dedicated member of the League of Women Voters. Her service included that of president of the League of Women Voters of Beverly Hills and president of the League of Women Voters of California. Additional funding was provided by the California Supreme Court Historical Society.

See Event Photos!here

Gerrymandering Film Available Online for Free: The widely-watched film, Gerrymandering, is now available through November 15th for free online viewing. Watch it today and learn more about why the League is working coast-to-coast to improve the redistricting process.