Civil rights attorney based in Los Angeles and Co-Director of the Advancement Project in Los Angeles
Civil rights attorney based in Los Angeles and Co-Director of the Advancement Project in Los Angeles, a policy and legal action group
PROFILE
Constance Rice
Guest
FROM Constance Rice
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
The Long, Racially-Charged History of the Chokehold Eric Garner was killed by a chokehold, even though the NYPD banned the tactic more than 20 years ago. How frequently do police still use chokeholds, despite decades of controversy over them and bans around the country? We look into that question, as well as the LAPD’s racially fraught history with the tactic.
Which Way, L.A.?
The El Salvador Gang Connection One of the factors leading to City Hall’s latest focus on gangs was a massive report by civil rights attorney Connie Rice. She just back from El Salvador with a study of the connections between gangs in that country and gangs in LA.
Which Way, L.A.?
Racial Politics Behind Race For Millender-Mcdonald Seat The 37th Congressional district includes most of Long Beach, Carson and Compton. In a special election tomorrow, voters will choose a replacement for Juanita Millender-McDonald who died of cancer in April. Even if nobody wins outright, the winner of the Democratic primary is expected to beat any Republican in a runoff. Like many predecessors, Millinder-McDonald was African-American. To replace her, the two leading candidates are African-American Assemblywoman Laura Richardson and Hispanic State Senator Jenny Oropeza . Millender-McDonald’s daughter, Valerie McDonald, is also running. All are Democrats, but the contest has raised questions about what’s been called an unwritten rule of Los Angeles politics.
Which Way, L.A.?
King Harbor Hospital on Life Support Closing down LA County’s King/Harbor hospital once seemed unthinkable. Yesterday, Los Angeles County Supervisors asked the health department to draw up contingency plans. After years of substandard care and needless deaths, the federal government has threatened to withdraw their half of the budget. After pleas for delay and promises to retrain the staff, more than 40% of licensed vocational nurses failed to pass tests on their professional skills. The incident that best dramatizes conditions at King/Harbor is the videotaped death of a woman who writhed on the floor while hospital staff ignored her. Edith Isabel Rodriguez was buried yesterday in Tehachapi.
Which Way, L.A.?
Los Angeles: Fifteen Years Later It’s still called a “riot,” an “uprising” and a “civil disturbance,” depending on the point of view. What’s indisputable is that fifty five people died fifteen years ago, thousands were injured and 1,100 buildings were damaged or destroyed. After the National Guard and Marines helped stop the violence , Mayor Tom Bradley asked Olympics Czar Peter Uberroth to form Rebuild Los Angeles, a private group which came to be called RLA. They said the cost of restoring and improving devastated neighborhoods would be six billion dollars. When the RLA went out of business five years later, it could only count five hundred million. We begin our segment with John “Hope” Bryant, founder of the nonprofit organization “ Operation Hope ”. Photo Credit: DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images
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