- Reporter's Notebook: HHS Effort to Stop Human Trafficking
Every so often, a raid on a sweat-shop or a broken prostitution ring sheds public light on human trafficking in Los Angeles. But most of the time it goes on beneath public notice. Some 90 organizations are working with federal agencies to identify victims and report them to local authorities. Next week, the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health and Services will be in Los Angeles to help train law enforcement and social service workers.
The Legacy of "Tookie" Williams in South-Central LA
Governor Schwarzenegger will hold a clemency hearing tomorrow. Williams denies he committed four brutal murders, but the legal appeals appear to have been exhausted for his convictions back in 1981. Supporters say his death sentence should be commuted to life in prison without parole, because he has renounced his past leadership of the Crips and now urges young people to stay away from the gang lifestyle. Jervey Tervalon is a novelist, playwright and screenwriter who recently wrote in the LA Times, "I always thought Stanley Tookie Williams wanted to kill me." Joe Hicks grew up in Watts about 10 years before the Crips began terrorizing so many neighborhoods. He was a radical leftist before he directed the Human Relations Commission for Mayor Richard Riordan. He-s now Vice President of Community Advocates, which works for improvement in race relations.