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      A Battle Over Murals Depicting Slavery

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      More from our inbox:Corporal Punishment in SchoolsWhat We Don’t Know About Ron DeSantisHelp for CaregiversCalifornia and the Colorado RiverGuns and CrimeThe murals in the Chase Community Center have been covered at Vermont Law and Graduate School in South Royalton, Vt.Richard Beaven for The New York TimesTo the Editor:Re “Artist and School Spar Over Murals of Slavery” (front page, Feb. 22):The decision to cover these murals is totally outrageous. One doesn’t learn from the past by covering it over. You learn by studying, and that is what an educational institution should provide. You don’t erase, or cover over, the past because it is unpleasant or disturbing.Of course it is, and continues to be, disturbing, but when you literally come face to face with it as these murals make possible, you then must consider what that discomfort means in terms of both our history as a nation and our laws and actions today.The school should take down the panels, expose the murals and their history once again and provide context and the opportunity for discussion.Elaine Hirschl EllisNew YorkThe writer is the president of Arts and Crafts Tours, which hosts trips about 19th- and 20th-century art and architecture.To the Editor:The quote from a law student who was distressed by a visual depiction of slavery by a white artist — “The artist was depicting history, but it’s not his history to depict” — is most disturbing. The argument is not whether the artistic merits of the mural should be considered? Or that the mood of the piece may be too harsh for a student center?Those who think censoring painters or other artists by limiting their creative themes according to their race or ethnic identity are closed-minded, and will erode free artistic expression.Steve CohenNew YorkTo the Editor:The diverse reactions to the murals in the article can be attributed to a debate over the periods that influenced the artist’s painting style.The intent of the school and the artist to represent the state’s role in helping slaves escape via the Underground Railroad was admirable. Yet the figurative style still harkens back to the comedically formulaic and stereotypical blackened ones of minstrels’ stage entertainment prevalent in the U.S. in the 19th and early 20th centuries.The spirit of mockery seen in the most famous minstrel, Jim Crow, persists today in the form of white supremacy, voter restriction and inequity. That style’s history would not be lost on many viewers.A discussion hosted by the school’s National Center for Restorative Justice about this issue could be a powerful learning tool for us all.Theresa McNicholCranbury, N.J.The writer is an art historian.Corporal Punishment in SchoolsCharles Lavine, the chairman of the New York State Assembly Judiciary Committee, is among the lawmakers who have filed bills to bar corporal punishment in private schools.Mark Lennihan/Associated PressTo the Editor:Re “Bills Push Corporal Punishment Ban in New York Private Schools” (news article, March 3):I was shocked to read that physical violence against children is still tolerated in some New York schools. I suffered the occasional whack from the nuns in parochial school, usually for “having a fresh mouth,” but that was many years ago. I thought that anachronistic practice had long since ended.I support the effort of Assemblyman Charles Lavine and his colleagues to protect students and bring all of our schools into line with the progressive values of a modern society.John E. StaffordRye, N.Y.What We Don’t Know About Ron DeSantis Scott McIntyre for The New York TimesTo the Editor:Re “My Fellow Liberals Are Exaggerating the Dangers of Ron DeSantis,” by Damon Linker (Opinion guest essay, nytimes.com, Feb. 27):Mr. Linker misses the point of voters’ anxiety about Florida’s governor. The fear stems not from what we know about Ron DeSantis, but what we do not. We know that he shares Donald Trump’s penchant for bullying, bigotry, trolling and media manipulation.What we do not know is whether Mr. DeSantis shares Mr. Trump’s contempt for the presidential oath of office. Will Mr. DeSantis use the bully pulpit to undermine faith in our elections, as Mr. Trump did? Will he try to overturn the results of a free and fair election, as Mr. Trump did? We cannot know, because Mr. DeSantis refuses to enlighten us.Until he speaks forthrightly to these questions, voters (not just “liberals”) have a right to view Mr. DeSantis as more dangerous than Donald Trump.Indeed, all Republican candidates should be expected to repudiate Mr. Trump’s malfeasance. Trust has been violated, and must be restored if we are to move forward together again as one nation.Andrew MeyerMiddletown, N.J.Help for CaregiversPresident Biden at an Intel facility under construction in New Albany, Ohio, in September. Pete Marovich for The New York TimesTo the Editor:Re “Funds to Bolster U.S. Chip-Making Come With Catch” (front page, Feb. 28):The Biden administration’s efforts to leverage its investments in semiconductor infrastructure to expand child care are laudable and much needed, but the policy falls short of supporting millions of Americans caring for aging or disabled loved ones who also need support to stay and succeed in the work force.The 32 million working caregivers at this end of the spectrum continue to be left out of administrative and federal action to support working families. For example, working caregivers of older adults, people with disabilities and people living with serious medical conditions were excluded from the expansion of paid leave for federal workers and from the emergency paid leave provisions of Covid response legislation. As a result, these caregivers are more likely to report negative impacts at work because of caregiving responsibilities.Using administrative authority to help caregivers balance care and work is urgently needed given stalled efforts in Congress to pass policies like paid family and medical leave, affordable child care, and strengthened aging and disability care. But without a comprehensive approach, millions of family caregivers will continue to be left behind.Jason ResendezWashingtonThe writer is the president and C.E.O. of the National Alliance for Caregiving.California and the Colorado RiverA broken boat, which used to be underwater in Lake Mead now sits above the lake’s water line because of a decades-long megadrought, outside Boulder City, Nev., Feb. 2.Erin Schaff/The New York TimesTo the Editor:Re “California Wants to Keep (Most of) the Colorado River for Itself,” by John Fleck (Opinion guest essay, nytimes.com, Feb. 23):The essay does not acknowledge that only California has voluntarily offered to significantly cut its use of Colorado River water in the near term under a proposal that also ensures that cities in Arizona, Nevada and across the Southwest have the water they need for their residents.California’s proposal strikes a balance between respecting longstanding law and recognizing that every city and farm that relies on the river must reduce its water use — precisely the sense of fairness and shared sacrifice that Mr. Fleck lauds.The six-state proposal took the presumptuous approach of assigning the vast majority of cuts to water users that didn’t sign on: California, Native American tribes and Mexico. Ignoring existing laws will likely land us in court, costing time we don’t have.We have to work together to keep the Colorado River system from crashing and protect all those who rely on it. We can do this through developing true consensus through collaboration — not by bashing one state or community.J.B. HambyEl Centro, Calif.The writer is chairman of the Colorado River Board of California and the state’s Colorado River commissioner.Guns and CrimeTo the Editor:Re “Chicago Reflects Democratic Split on Public Safety” (front page, March 2):As Republicans look to exploit crime — gun violence in particular — as a campaign issue, Democrats would do well to point out the G.O.P.’s unwillingness to prevent illegal guns from spilling across state borders early and often.Bruce EllersteinNew York More

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      ‘Help us fight’: California farmers ask for more aid after deadly storms

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      ‘Help us fight’: California farmers ask for more aid after deadly stormsDespite a new relief fund in Sonoma county, farm workers face economic catastrophe when storms and fires strikeAs a series of deadly storms whipped through California’s wine country, liquefying fields and turning vineyards into wading pools, thousands of farm workers in the region were forced to stay home. Though the power has been long since restored and roads reopened – many of them are still confronting an economic catastrophe.For Isidro Rodriguez, the storms caused him to lose half his monthly income – about $1,100.TopicsCaliforniaClimate crisisWorkers’ rightsFarmingMigrationUS politicsfeaturesReuse this content More

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      Democrat Barbara Lee announces bid to replace Dianne Feinstein in US Senate

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      Democrat Barbara Lee announces bid to replace Dianne Feinstein in US SenateLee is the highest-ranking Black woman in House Democratic leadership and seeks to take seat in hotly-contested raceUnited States congresswoman Barbara Lee on Tuesday formally launched her campaign for the Senate seat held by the retiring Dianne Feinstein, joining two fellow House Democrats in the race in the nation’s most populous state.California senator Dianne Feinstein, 89, announces she will not seek re-electionRead moreIn a video posted on Twitter, Lee ran through a list of the personal and professional battles she has taken on in her life, including fighting to be her school’s first Black cheerleader, championing protections for survivors of domestic violence and being the only member of Congress to vote against the authorization for the use of military force after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.“Today I am proud to announce my candidacy for US Senate. I’ve never backed down from doing what’s right. And I never will,” Lee said in the video. “Californians deserve a strong, progressive leader who has delivered real change.”Today I am proud to announce my candidacy for U.S. Senate. I’ve never backed down from doing what’s right. And I never will. Californians deserve a strong, progressive leader who has delivered real change.#BarbaraLeeSpeaksForMe pic.twitter.com/sEjmABg2BS— Barbara Lee (@BarbaraLeeForCA) February 21, 2023
      Lee, a former chair of the congressional Black caucus, filed federal paperwork last week to enter the campaign shortly after the 89-year-old Feinstein announced she would step down after her term ends next year. Feinstein, the oldest member of Congress, has held the seat since 1992.Democratic US congresswoman Katie Porter, who is known for her use of a whiteboard during congressional hearings, and Adam Schiff, the lead prosecutor in then President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, announced their Senate campaigns last month.The three Democratic candidates occupy much of the same political terrain, so the race could be shaped by other factors that distinguish them.Lee’s district in the San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most liberal in the country and includes Berkeley and Oakland. Porter represents a politically divided district in Orange county, south-east of Los Angeles, that was once a conservative stronghold. Schiff’s district runs north from Los Angeles and includes Hollywood and Burbank, where he lives.Lee is the highest-ranking Black woman appointed to House Democratic leadership, serving as co-chair of the Policy and Steering Committee. Schiff and Porter are white. Lee, at 76, is the oldest of the group. Porter is 49, and Schiff is 62.In a nod to her age, Lee said she was the same fighter she has always been.“For those who say my time has passed, well, when does making change go out of style?” she said in the video. “I don’t quit. I don’t give up.”There are no Black women in the Senate, and there have been only two in the chamber’s history: Vice-President Kamala Harris, who was California’s first Black senator, and Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois, who served one term.None of the candidates has run statewide before. They face the challenge of becoming more widely known, though they each have established political reputations.Lee and Porter have been leaders in the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Schiff describes himself as a progressive champion but was once a member of the House’s centrist Blue Dog Coalition.Why are Americans paying $32m every hour for wars since 9/11? | Barbara LeeRead moreLee has long been on outspoken defender of abortion rights. In 2021, she was one of several members of Congress who shared personal testimony about their own abortions during a congressional hearing.She became pregnant at age 16 in the mid-1960s. Abortion in California was illegal at the time, so a family friend helped send her to a back-alley clinic in Mexico, she said at the time.She had no ill effects from the procedure, but she said many other women weren’t so lucky in that era.Democrats are expected to dominate the contest in the liberal state. A Republican hasn’t won a statewide race in California since 2006, and the past two US Senate elections had only Democrats on the November ballot.TopicsCaliforniaUS CongressUS politicsDemocratsDianne FeinsteinSan FrancisconewsReuse this content More

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      Barbara Lee Running for Senate in California

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      Ms. Lee, the sole member of Congress to oppose a broad war authorization after the Sept. 11 attacks, is joining the race for Senator Dianne Feinstein’s seat.WASHINGTON — Representative Barbara Lee, who stood alone against authorizing military action after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and remains a leading antiwar voice in Congress, entered the 2024 Senate race in California on Tuesday, becoming the third prominent Democrat to run for the seat being vacated by Dianne Feinstein.Ms. Lee, 76, the highest-ranking Black woman appointed to Democratic leadership in the House, unveiled her Senate bid in a video that highlighted the racism she fought against in her youth and the struggles she faced as a single mother and a survivor of domestic violence.“No one is rolling out the welcome mat, especially for someone like me,” Ms. Lee said in the video. “I was the girl they didn’t allow in.”The announcement, which had been anticipated for weeks, has further set the stage for one of the most competitive and expensive Senate races in California in decades. Ms. Feinstein, 89, who was first elected in 1992, plans to retire at the end of her term. The race to replace her now includes Ms. Lee, who represents a district that includes Oakland; Representative Katie Porter from Orange County; and Representative Adam Schiff from Los Angeles.In an interview, Ms. Lee said she wanted her campaign to give a platform to missing voices, including on the burden of inflation on families, the high costs of child care and other issues.Senator Dianne Feinstein to RetireThe Democrat of California, who was first elected to the Senate in 1992, plans to serve out her term but will not run for re-election in 2024.Her Announcement: Senator Dianne Feinstein, 89, made official a retirement that was long assumed by her colleagues, who had grown concerned about her memory issues.Key Moments: For generations, Ms. Feinstein has been an iconic American political figure. Here are nine key moments from her decades-long political career.The Race to Succeed Her: Ms. Feinstein’s retirement clears the way for what is expected to be a costly and competitive contest for the seat she has held for three decades.The Candidates: Representatives Katie Porter and Adam B. Schiff did not wait for Ms. Feinstein to retire to start campaigning for her seat. Others could join soon.“There are so many issues that I have experience with that I don’t believe are being raised in the Senate as they should be,” she said. “Lived experience and representation in government not only matter for women or for people of color — they help strengthen the country.”Ms. Lee, who plans to hold a rally on Sunday in the San Francisco Bay Area, faces an uphill battle. She has not faced a competitive challenger in her 25 years in Congress. Her two Democratic opponents, Ms. Porter and Mr. Schiff, have more robust fund-raising networks and have made national names for themselves as antagonists of former President Donald J. Trump and his administration.Ms. Lee has long been known as the only member of Congress to vote against authorizing military action after the Sept. 11 attacks. She spent the last two decades trying to repeal that expansive war authorization, which presidents have used to wage wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, in addition to carrying out military strikes elsewhere in the world.That antiwar stance has helped make Ms. Lee popular in her district and throughout the party, but she has not used it to build a fund-raising colossus. In the last three campaigns, she has raised a total of $5.83 million — less than a quarter of the $25.5 million Ms. Porter raised during just the 2022 campaign cycle.At the end of December, Ms. Lee had only $52,353 in her campaign account, according to the latest report filed with the Federal Election Commission. By comparison, Ms. Porter had $7.4 million, and Mr. Schiff — who became a prodigious fund-raiser after his turn as the lead Democrat and then the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee during the Trump years — reported having $20.9 million.Still, high-dollar fund-raising has not always translated into success in California. And Ms. Lee has the advantage of having her base in the Bay Area’s Alameda County. When it comes to turnout, Alameda County is home to some of the most reliable Democratic primary voters in the state.Ms. Lee’s campaign could attract support from national Black leaders and women’s groups focused on increasing the number of Black women in office. There are no Black women currently serving in the Senate. Only two Black women have ever served in the chamber in its 233-year history: Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois, who served one term in the 1990s, and Vice President Kamala Harris.A super PAC supporting Ms. Lee, called She Speaks for Me, has already been registered with the F.E.C.Ms. Lee said she was building a campaign similar to the one led by Karen Bass, who won election last year as the first female mayor of Los Angeles and the city’s second Black mayor. Ms. Bass’s operation, which relied not only on extensive advertising but also a strong network of volunteers and canvassers, helped her defeat a billionaire real estate developer.“Money is always big,” Ms. Lee said. But it wasn’t everything, she added. “We have to have a ground game. We have to inspire people to vote and to believe that I can deliver for them.”Her announcement video touches on the racial segregation she endured as a child and her hardships as a young woman, including having “an abortion in a back alley when they all were illegal” and escaping a violent marriage. It also seeks to remind voters of her legacy beyond the war-authorization vote, highlighting her work on L.G.B.T.Q. legislation and her push to make global AIDS funding a priority.Ms. Lee has written about her family’s experience in segregated El Paso, Texas, where she was born. Her mother almost died giving birth to her — she was denied admission into a hospital because she was Black and had to deliver Ms. Lee on a gurney in a hallway. As a child, Ms. Lee had to drink from separate water fountains and could not step inside one of El Paso’s most historic theaters. After moving to California’s San Fernando Valley, Ms. Lee became her high school’s first Black cheerleader after she successfully fought a discriminatory selection process that kept Black women out of its squads.“To do nothing has never been an option for me,” Ms. Lee said in the video.Ms. Lee went on to become one of the first students to integrate the University of Texas at El Paso. Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress, inspired Ms. Lee to go into politics. By then, Ms. Lee was a Black Panther volunteer and a single mother with two young boys pursuing a degree in social work at Mills College in Oakland. She went to work for Representative Ronald Dellums of Oakland and eventually became his chief of staff before serving in the California Legislature. She was elected to the House in 1998.The Senate race has already divided top Democrats.Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, has endorsed Mr. Schiff and called donors and supporters on his behalf. Ms. Porter has the support of Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who was her professor at Harvard Law School. A crucial endorsement in the race could come from Senator Bernie Sanders, one of Ms. Lee’s allies and the winner of the state’s Democratic presidential primary in 2020.Shane Goldmacher More

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      Could California be the latest state to restore voting rights to felons?

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      Could California be the latest state to restore voting rights to felons?Proposal would allow prisoners to vote in what advocates see as a matter of racial justice – but challenges lie ahead Before having his sentence commuted by Governor Gavin Newsom last year, Thanh Tran served ten and a half years in prisons and jails across California, a time he described as the “most traumatizing and dehumanizing experience of my life”.Had he been able to vote during that time, he said he would have maintained some hope that his community still cared about him.“The focus of incarceration right now in California is about punishment, but if I had the ability to vote, it would still create that tie to the community,” said Tran, now a policy associate with the Oakland-based Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. It would be like the community saying, “Thanh, we still care about you out here,” he said. “We know your sentence will one day end and we want you to return home and be a good neighbor to us.”The untold story of how a US woman was sentenced to six years for votingRead moreNow Tran is a leading supporter of ACA 4, a constitutional amendment introduced last week by California assemblymember Isaac Bryan that would restore voting rights to California’s prisoners – a population that is disproportionately non-white.California is one of at least three states where lawmakers this year have introduced proposals to allow citizens to vote while serving time for felonies in state and federal prison. Democratic lawmakers in Massachusetts and New York have also filed bills and amendments to end felony disenfranchisement.If any of the proposals succeed, the states would join Maine, Vermont and Washington DC in allowing people to vote while incarcerated. Along with the states restoring rights to people with felony convictions upon release from prison, this marks a time when states are slowly erasing Jim Crow-era laws that have prevented people with felony convictions from ever fully regaining their rights.But advocates still face steep challenges.While Washington DC successfully ended felony disenfranchisement in July 2020 when the city council passed a bill unanimously, the efforts this year will face uphill battles, and other states that have attempted to do the same in recent years have run into roadblocks. In Oregon, a legislative attempt stalled in early 2022, despite strong support from Democratic lawmakers. And legislation proposed in Illinois also stalled in committee. Similar unsuccessful bills have also been introduced in Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Mexico and Virginia.Across the country, an estimated 4.6 million Americans are barred from voting due to a felony conviction, according to the Sentencing Project, a research and advocacy group focused on decarceration. The rate at which African Americans are disenfranchised currently is 3.5 times higher than non-African Americans.When Bryan, who chairs the California assembly’s election committee and has a background in criminal justice advocacy, was elected to represent a portion of Los Angeles in the legislature, he started thinking about how policy could better connect incarcerated people with their communities. He said he realized that cutting people off from society by revoking their right to vote doesn’t benefit anyone. “People touch the criminal legal system because they felt disconnected from society,” he said. “Disconnecting them further doesn’t make any of us safer.”“Overall democracy thrives when everyone is included, and that includes people who are currently incarcerated,” he added.Of the more than 95,000 people in the California state prison system, 80% are people of color or people from poor and disadvantaged communities, according to Antoinette Ratcliffe, executive director of California-based non-profit Initiate Justice.‘Stakes are monstrous’: Wisconsin judicial race is 2023’s key electionRead moreFor that reason, Bryan, who represents part of Los Angeles, says ending California’s practice is a matter of racial justice. “We know that our criminal legal system is full of bias and we know that it disproportionately exacerbates the negative conditions of life for Black, brown, poor, indigenous communities.”Bryan noted that the vast majority of California’s prisoners will return home, and allowing them to maintain a connection to their communities lowers recidivism rates and helps their potential for success.To become law, the constitutional amendment would need to pass with a two-thirds vote in both chambers of the legislature and then be approved by a majority of voters on the ballot.If passed, incarcerated people would cast ballots at their last place of residence before being incarcerated. California has eliminated prison gerrymandering, meaning people are counted for purposes of reapportionment where they last resided instead of at their prison location – a practice that can be manipulated to give people living in localities with prisons disproportionate representation.Bryan also pointed out that California currently allows people serving time in jail for offenses other than felonies to vote inside the jail, so “questions about whether you can facilitate an election in a carceral setting have already been answered through that process”.Assemblymember Tom Lackey, a Republican who serves as vice-chair of the election committee, shared his opposition to the proposal, tweeting: “Criminal acts should have consequences. Voting is a sacred privilege, not an absolute right of citizenship.”California’s proposal comes at a time when other states are also considering expanding their electorate to include more people with felony convictions. The number of people disenfranchised due to felony convictions nationally has declined by 24% since 2016, according to the Sentencing Project, as states have changed their policies and state prison populations have declined modestly.A number of states have taken measures in recent years to extend voting rights to people on probation and parole, including California, where voters approved Proposition 17 in 2020, allowing people on parole to vote. California is now one of 21 states where people lose their right to vote while incarcerated but regain the right upon release.Rightwing group pours millions in ‘dark money’ into US voter suppression bidRead moreThis year, the Democratic-controlled Minnesota house of representatives passed a bill that would restore voting rights to individuals on parole, probation or community release, and now the bill heads to the state senate, which is also controlled by Democrats. In Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas and Virginia, lawmakers have also proposed bills to ease restrictions on voting rights for people with felony convictions.Progress has been stymied in other states, including North Carolina, which restored voting rights to roughly 56,000 people on parole and probation before the 2022 election. But the now Republican-controlled state supreme court heard a challenge to the law in early February and appears poised to roll back that expansion.Bryan said he hopes his proposed constitutional amendment will get more states thinking about restoring voting rights to everyone.“As we lead in California, a lot of the rest of the country follows,” Bryan said. “I think that’s a good thing and it’s an opportunity to show what change can look like and what progress can look like.”TopicsCaliforniaThe fight for democracyUS prisonsVotes for prisonersUS politicsfeaturesReuse this content More

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      Senate Race in California Reflects Fight for Democrats’ Future

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      With Senator Dianne Feinstein’s retirement, the party is gearing up for a clash on issues including gender, race, ideology and even geography.LOS ANGELES — Even before Senator Dianne Feinstein of California announced her retirement on Tuesday, the race taking shape for the seat she has held since November 1992 was poised to become one of the most competitive and expensive in the country. Now, the incumbent’s imminent departure has raised an urgent question for California Democrats: Whose turn is it?Two members of Congress have jumped in, with a third expected to join soon, and the 2024 contest is already revealing ideological, generational, regional and racial divides within the party in America’s most populous — and arguably bluest — state.Representatives Katie Porter and Adam Schiff, two Democrats who amassed national profiles opposing former President Donald J. Trump and his administration officials, have announced campaigns to replace Ms. Feinstein, 89, who said on Tuesday that she would retire at the end of her term. Ms. Porter and Mr. Schiff have spent recent weeks aggressively accruing major endorsements, reporting seven-figure fund-raising hauls and crisscrossing the state to court voters and donors.And Representative Barbara Lee, the highest-ranking Black woman appointed to Democratic leadership, is planning to join the field before the end of Black History Month. No Black women are in the Senate, and there have been only two in the chamber’s more-than-230-year history: Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois, who served one term in the 1990s, and Kamala Harris, who became vice president in 2021.Representative Adam Schiff has already raised millions for the Senate race, and he has a notable endorsement: Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker.Mario Tama/Getty ImagesThe race for Ms. Feinstein’s seat is unlikely to determine control of the Senate — at least five other states will be fiercely contested by the two parties. In deep-blue California, Republicans have become all but irrelevant in the higher echelons of government. But the departure of a defining figure of the state’s politics opens up a seat with outsize influence because of the size of California’s economy and population.The next senator will help oversee a state that has been transformed during Ms. Feinstein’s 30 years in office. Its Latino population has become its largest demographic. Its Democratic Party is trying to redefine itself in the aftermath of the Trump era, and the divide between a wealthier and whiter San Francisco and a poorer and more diverse Los Angeles has only widened.More on CaliforniaA Settlement: San Mateo County has agreed to pay $4.5 million to the family of a Black man who died in 2018 after a deputy used a Taser on him during a struggle that began when officers saw him jaywalking.Covid State of Emergency: The state’s coronavirus emergency declaration, which gave Gov. Gavin Newsom broad powers to slow the spread of the virus, is set to expire on Feb. 28.In the Wake of Tragedy: California is reeling after back-to-back mass shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay.Medical Misinformation: A federal judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of a new law allowing regulators to punish doctors for spreading false or misleading information about Covid-19.Ms. Porter, Mr. Schiff and Ms. Lee would all usher in an ideological shift, one decidedly to the left of Ms. Feinstein, who in recent years has drawn anger from the left flank of her party over her bipartisan approach and deference to Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices. Ms. Porter and Ms. Lee have served in leadership of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and though Mr. Schiff has not joined the group, he has increasingly struck progressive tones after once counting himself a member of the Blue Dogs, a group of conservative Democrats. A victory for either Ms. Porter, 49, or Mr. Schiff, 62, would signal a long-awaited break in a generational logjam, as well as a change in regional power.Representative Katie Porter has had both substantial fund-raising and the endorsement of Senator Elizabeth Warren.Brian Snyder/ReutersUntil recently, the Bay Area has dominated the state’s politics, producing some of its most marquee figures, including Ms. Feinstein, Ms. Harris, the former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Gov. Gavin Newsom. Ms. Porter’s district is in Orange County, and Mr. Schiff represents a northern slice of Los Angeles. Given California’s demographic shifts, some Democrats believe the state’s next senator should also capture its growing racial and ethnic diversity.It is not the first time that California has been at a similar inflection point. When Ms. Feinstein first ran, in 1992, women were outraged at the treatment of Anita Hill during the confirmation hearings for Justice Clarence Thomas. Four women won Senate seats that year in a watershed moment for American politics, and California became the first state in the nation to be represented by two female senators.Nearly three decades later, after the 2020 presidential election, women’s groups and Black leaders lobbied Gov. Gavin Newsom of California to choose a Black woman to fill the seat vacated by Kamala Harris, who had been the only Black woman in the upper chamber until she was elected as vice president. Mr. Newsom ultimately named Senator Alex Padilla, the state’s first Latino senator and its secretary of state at the time. But Mr. Newsom pledged to choose a Black woman to fill Ms. Feinstein’s seat should she retire before her term ended. The former Senator Barbara Boxer, who won the 1992 election along with Ms. Feinstein and served in the upper chamber until she chose not to seek re-election in 2016, played up the highly qualified bench of candidates and said they would all have the chance to make their cases. Ms. Boxer was still weighing her endorsement, but she said she believed the moment called for a strong progressive unafraid “to fight some of the forces that have been unleashed by Donald Trump.”“We are in one of those moments in history where we need the toughest leaders and those who are really not fearful,” she said.Even before Ms. Feinstein announced her plans to step away after her term ends in January 2025, California political strategists and observers had begun to debate just who that progressive might be. This month, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and 14 other members of the California delegation said they would endorse Mr. Schiff if Ms. Feinstein chose to retire.There was not much surprise at Ms. Pelosi’s endorsement of Mr. Schiff, a loyal lieutenant whom she elevated to some of the toughest jobs in Congress. But Ms. Pelosi rarely weighs in on Democrat-on-Democrat races, and the timing was unusual because the election is not until November 2024. Asked why she believed it was important to endorse Mr. Schiff early, Ms. Pelosi said she believed he would make “a fabulous senator.”“And I did what I wanted to do,” she said in a brief interview last week, as she briskly left the House gallery.Ms. Boxer called Ms. Pelosi’s decision “brave” and “very typical Nancy.” “She is straightforward with people,” Ms. Boxer said.But the move drew criticism, too. Aimee Allison, the founder and president of She the People, a political group that supports progressive women of color in politics, called the decision “cynical” because it curtailed the path to victory for a Black candidate with a stellar party track record. She was referring to Ms. Lee, who has been known for progressive stances, and who was the sole lawmaker in Congress to vote against invading Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks.Women of color and Black women in particular face barriers to fund-raising and support from the Democratic establishment, Ms. Allison said. “They have hashtags to thank us,” she said of Democrats. “But Black, Latina, Asian American women — AAPI women — Native American women, we want to be represented.”Representative Barbara Lee is expected to join the Senate race soon. She will be at a fund-raising disadvantage at the outset.Sarahbeth Maney for The New York TimesIn interviews last week, some Democratic voters were split on how much they would factor issues of race and gender into their decisions, with some arguing that the state’s leadership was already diverse and others contending that its highest ranks were not diverse enough. Others pointed to the profanity-laced audio recordings of Latino City Council members mocking people in racist terms as evidence that even representation based on identity was no guarantee of an inclusive perspective.Mr. Schiff and Ms. Porter, for their part, acknowledged the importance of issues of race and gender in the Senate race, though they said how much they factored into the result would ultimately be up to voters. The two also have also sought to draw sharp contrasts between their candidacies.On a chilly, overcast Saturday, Mr. Schiff, a former prosecutor who led Mr. Trump’s first impeachment trial, billed himself as a staunch defender of democracy and a progressive leader committed to creating jobs and tackling climate and gun safety issues. In Congress, he said, he had dedicated himself to becoming an expert on national security issues, exposing torture and working to overhaul the nation’s surveillance system.“I took on these fights because they mattered, because they made Americans’ lives better, our system more just, our kids’ future more secure,” he said before some 600 supporters at the union hall parking lot in Burbank, where he launched his first run for Congress more than two decades ago. “And then I took on the biggest fight of my life against Donald J. Trump.”At a parks and recreation center in Huntington Park, where Ms. Porter met with Latino environmental justice activists and community leaders on Friday, the congresswoman described herself as a political newcomer and a single mother who had never taken corporate PAC money and who would be willing to challenge both parties on issues like child care and paid family leave.Ms. Porter, who studied under Elizabeth Warren at Harvard, garnered national prominence as she grilled corporate executives and government officials in congressional hearings, often turning to a handy whiteboard to explain complex topics. She pointed to her victories in a competitive swing district as evidence that she could win without compromising her progressive values.“I have had three really hard races and have won every one of them,” she said in an interview.Karina Macias, a Huntington Park council member who had taken a walk through the neighborhood with Ms. Porter that morning, said she had not made an endorsement in the race.“Obviously, diversity is important, being a Latina woman myself,” she said. “For me, it is that, but also who is coming to talk to these cities that have been screaming for years to get some attention from Congress to make sure that we get that discussion on our issues.” More

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      California senator Dianne Feinstein, 89, announces she will not seek re-election

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      California senator Dianne Feinstein, 89, announces she will not seek re-electionFeinstein, who has sat in US Senate since 1992, sets off race among Democrats to succeed to vacant seat Dianne Feinstein , the 89-year-old senator from California who has served in the chamber for three decades, said she will not seek re-election in 2024.“I am announcing today I will not run for re-election in 2024 but intend to accomplish as much for California as I can through the end of next year when my term ends,” Feinstein said in a statement.Senate musical chairs: California prepares for political battle over Feinstein vacancyRead moreHer announcement has been long anticipated and comes after several fellow Democrats have already announced plans to run for her seat. The news also comes after years of speculation about the senator’s mental fitness and concerns that Feinstein, who would be 91 by election day, was experiencing memory problems.In a statement on Tuesday, Feinstein said she will spend the remainder of her term prioritizing legislation to mitigate the effects of severe wildfire and drought in the west, improve access to healthcare and combat gun violence.She will also focus on “promoting economic growth – especially to position California for what I believe will be the century of the Pacific”, she said. “And I will use my seniority on the appropriations committee to ensure California gets its fair share of funding.”Fellow California Democrats are already fighting over the rare Senate opening Feinstein’s retirement will create. Among the candidates are Katie Porter – the young, southern California representative known for wielding a whiteboard at House hearings – and Adam Schiff, a liberal darling who led the first impeachment of Donald Trump. Representative Barbara Lee has also reportedly told colleagues she is running.Still others are expected to launch their candidacy following Feinstein’s announcement. Schiff, who earned the endorsement of the former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, made sure to note that he had first consulted with Feinstein. And Pelosi noted that Feinstein would have retained her support had she chosen to seek re-election.Feinstein has had a long career in politics, starting in 1960 as a member of the California women’s parole board. She was elected to the San Francisco board of supervisors in 1969 and became mayor in 1978 following the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk.She was the first woman in the city’s history to hold the position and faced sexism from colleagues and the media throughout her career. She became known for her moderate, centrist politics, winning her Senate seat in 1992.“Even with a divided Congress, we can still pass bills that will improve lives. Each of us was sent here to solve problems,” she said. “That’s what I’ve done for the last 30 years, and that’s what I plan to do for the next two years.”TopicsDianne FeinsteinDemocratsUS politicsUS SenateCalifornianewsReuse this content More

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      California gun laws can’t stop mass shootings without federal support

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      AnalysisCalifornia gun laws can’t stop mass shootings without federal supportJoan E GreveThe Golden State will struggle to stop mass shootings and protect citizens until uniform federal laws on firearms are signed The recent mass shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay have brought devastation, outrage and shock to Californians. As the state grieves the loss of 19 residents, one question continues to arise: how could this happen in the state with some of the strongest gun laws in the US?Victims named in mass shooting at Half Moon Bay mushroom farms in CaliforniaRead moreCalifornia’s gun laws include bans on the military-style assault weapons and large-capacity magazines that have been used in many mass shootings. It is one of just two states, along with New Jersey, to receive an “A” rating from the gun safety group Giffords, based on the strength of its firearm regulations.Gun rights proponents have cited the two shootings as evidence of the ineffectiveness of California’s laws, but groups like Giffords fiercely reject those arguments. California’s firearm mortality rate has declined dramatically in the years since tougher regulations were enacted, gun safety groups note.But in a nation where firearms outnumber people, the groups say, such horrific attacks will continue without a coordinated federal response to gun violence.“California is one state of 50,” said Nick Suplina, senior vice-president for law and policy at the gun safety group Everytown. “There’s just no question that strong, uniform federal laws are substantially better than a mixed bag of strong and weak state laws.”‘Gun violence across America requires stronger action’Research indicates that California’s many gun laws have proven quite effective in reducing the number of deaths caused by firearms. According to the gun safety group Brady, California’s rate of firearm mortality rate declined by 55% between 1993 and 2017, compared to a decrease of 14% across the rest of the US in the same time period. Advocates credit the decline to California’s gun regulations, a number of which went into effect in the early 1990s.“California has transformed itself in the past generation,” said Ari Freilich, state policy director at Giffords. “People came together time and again to strengthen gun safety laws [and] learn from tragedy.”California now has 107 gun laws on the books, more than any other US state. In addition to the bans on military-style assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, California has a ban on gun silencers. Like 18 other US states, California has a “red flag law” that allows authorities to seize guns owned by those deemed to be a danger to themselves or others. In situations of domestic violence or workplace harassment, California residents can petition a court for a restraining order to have firearms taken away from their partner or employee.The gun used in the Monterey Park shooting appears to fall under the state’s definition of an “assault weapon”, so it is unclear how the attacker was able to purchase the firearm in 1999, when California had already banned such weapons. The sale of large-capacity magazines like the one used in Monterey Park is now illegal in California, although that state ban may not have been in effect when the shooter purchased the magazine. Authorities have said that the semi-automatic weapon used in Half Moon Bay was legally purchased by the gunman.Unfortunately, a gun violence restraining order was not issued before the attacks in Monterey Park or Half Moon Bay. As Freilich said, an important piece of lawmakers’ work must be ensuring that citizens know their legal options so they can be prepared to respond if they suspect potential gun violence.“Sometimes it’s making sure the right judge files the right paperwork at the right time,” Freilich said. “That’s the kind of unglamorous work that will save a victim’s life.”In addition to the need for more education around existing laws, Giffords released a memo outlining further legislative steps that California can take to reduce gun violence. The proposals include creating a gun violence prevention and victim recovery fund and strengthening restrictions on the sale and marketing of ghost guns, which are untraceable firearms often assembled at home from kits bought online.Even if California legislators can enact those policies, the state still faces significant challenges. The conservative-leaning US supreme court has displayed its willingness to challenge state gun policies, ruling last year to strike down a New York law that placed strict regulations on carrying firearms in public.‘Tragedy upon tragedy’: why 39 US mass shootings already this year is just the startRead moreAnd the looser gun laws of neighboring states pose another challenge. Many California residents can easily travel to Arizona, where assault weapons and large-capacity magazines are not banned.“In this country, a state’s gun laws are only as strong as its closest neighbor with weak gun laws,” Suplina said. “It’s important to remember just how easily weapons are bought and sold in neighboring states.”That reality underscores the urgent need to pass more gun regulations at the federal level, Suplina and his allies argue. Last week, Joe Biden once again called on Congress to swiftly pass a nationwide assault weapons ban that could help prevent mass shootings in the future.“Even as we await further details on these shootings,” Biden said, “we know the scourge of gun violence across America requires stronger action.”‘California has the strictest gun laws’Additional federal action on gun safety currently seems unlikely now that Republicans, who show little appetite for tackling the issue, have regained control of the House.The gun lobby and its allies on Capitol Hill have embraced a markedly different perspective on the lessons to be learned from the most recent tragedies.In the days after the shootings that rocked his home state of California, Republican House speaker Kevin McCarthy dismissed questions about the possibility of enacting more federal regulations to combat gun violence.“Having lived in California my entire life,” McCarthy said last week, “California has the strictest gun laws there are and apparently that did not work in this situation.”Suplina attacked such talking points, which often surface in the wake of mass shootings that occur in liberal-leaning states, as “straw man arguments”.“Advocates on the other side like to point to every aberration and say that that must mean that nothing is working, but we don’t do that in other areas,” Suplina said. “We don’t say that seatbelts don’t work because there’s an accident in the car that leads to a fatality.”Gun reformers feel history is on their side despite bleak outlook in CongressRead moreDespite widespread Republican opposition, Biden was able to sign one gun safety bill, the Bipartisan Safer Communities, into law last year. The bill expanded background checks for the youngest gun buyers and invested in mental health and violence intervention programs, but advocates acknowledge that the law does not go far enough.Without a more robust, coordinated federal response to gun violence, every American state remains vulnerable to attacks, advocates say.“California has the strongest gun safety laws in the country overall and some of the weakest gun safety laws in the western world,” Freilich said. “A lot of folks wonder how this could happen in California. Well, there are more than a million guns that were legally bought and sold in California last year.”Tragedies like those in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay remind Americans of that painful truth, Suplina said. As California mourns another 19 lives taken by guns, this moment could serve as a call to arms for the many Americans seeking change.“When we go through calamities like California has recently, more people step up to do more at the local, state and federal level,” Suplina said. “There really aren’t any communities that are immune from gun violence in America. And more and more people are taking action to do something about it.”TopicsUS gun controlCaliforniaNew JerseyGun crimeUS politicsanalysisReuse this content More