9 minutes
Projeto prevê a criação de um Fundo Nacional de Reparação Econômica e de Promoção da Igualdade Racial Fonte
Projeto prevê a criação de um Fundo Nacional de Reparação Econômica e de Promoção da Igualdade Racial Fonte
14 minutes
Sign up for Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox.When Colorado lawmakers passed a law in 2015 allowing school districts to be held liable for school shootings, they intended to give both staff and students the opportunity to sue.“Should our schools have a duty to protect our kids and those who work there? Should our schools provide ‘reasonable care’? Senate Bill 213 says yes,” former state Sen. Bill Cadman said at a 2015 hearing on the bill that created the Claire Davis School Safety Act, named after a Colorado student who was killed in a school shooting.But more than a decade later, it’s not clear whether the law applies to school staff. Two deans who were shot and injured by a student at Denver’s East High School in 2023 are believed to be the first staff members to file lawsuits. Last month, a judge in one of the cases threw out the Claire Davis claim, spotlighting that the law may contain an unintended loophole.Colorado has a high-profile history with school violence dating back to the deadly mass shooting at Columbine High School in 1999. The parents and classmates of Claire Davis, who was shot by a fellow student at Arapahoe High School in Littleton in 2013, advocated for the bill that bears her name in the hopes that it would curb the violence.“If there is any state in the country that should be getting this issue right, that has the experience to help us get this right, it should be Colorado,” former state Sen. Andy Kerr said in 2015.But in removing the immunity provisions in state law that protected school districts from lawsuits and clearing the way for staff members who are seriously assaulted to sue, it appears lawmakers may have overlooked a hurdle: the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act.In a March ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Gordon P. Gallagher ruled that former East High dean Eric Sinclair can’t sue Denver Public Schools under the Claire Davis law. The law allows individual victims to collect up to $505,000 and multiple victims to split a total of $1,421,000. Even though Sinclair’s attorneys argued that blocking the former dean from suing under the Claire Davis law would make the law “meaningless or absurd” to school staff, the judge was not convinced. Because Sinclair was injured on the job, Gallager ruled that his claims fall under the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act.“Mr. Sinclair would not have been injured but for the fact that he was engaged in employment-related duties,” Gallagher wrote.Sinclair’s attorneys declined to comment for this story.Did state lawmakers foresee this problem?Workers’ compensation doesn’t appear to have come up when state lawmakers were debating whether to enact the Claire Davis law. Instead, much of the discussion focused on protecting students and ensuring that victims’ families had access to information about what happened. That discussion was likely driven by Davis’ death. The 17-year-old was shot in the head while she sat on a bench eating a cookie between classes. The 18-year-old student who shot her had exhibited threatening behavior and said he wanted to kill his debate coach. At the time the bill was being debated, Davis’ parents were in the midst of arbitration with the Littleton school district to gain access to information about the circumstances surrounding her death. In return, the Davises agreed not to sue.“Please don’t make the next mother beg for answers as to why her child was killed in a public school in the state of Colorado,” Claire’s mother, Desiree Davis, told lawmakers in 2015.Even though the scenario of teachers and other school staff being shot didn’t come up much in the debate, the law clearly intends to protect them. It says school districts and charter schools have a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect “students, faculty and staff” from reasonably foreseeable acts of violence, including murder and first degree assault.Former state Sen. Mark Scheffel, who co-sponsored the bill, said faculty and staff were purposely included. But he said he doesn’t remember any discussions about how the law would interact with workers’ compensation, likely because the issue wasn’t top-of-mind at the time.“In the testimony and the committees that followed, all of the discussion did tend to center around students,” Scheffel said in an interview this week.Joe Goldhammer, an adjunct professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and a longtime labor law attorney, said that if state lawmakers wanted to allow school staff to essentially double dip by getting hundreds of thousands in damages on top of their workers’ compensation money, they should have made that clear in the bill.Cadman, the other co-sponsor of the bill, declined to comment for this story. So did the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. Several local and national school safety and gun violence prevention experts said they haven’t followed the implementation of the law. Scheffel said he’d be hesitant to encourage state lawmakers to tweak the law just yet, after only one ruling in one lawsuit. He said the law was “delicately drafted” with input from the Davis family, and he wouldn’t want any changes to create more unintended consequences.“Working on this bill was one of the more gratifying moments I had as a senator,“ said Scheffel, who served in the state legislature for eight years. “It was heartbreaking and gratifying to try to wrap our brain around something we thought would make a difference.” Few lawsuits have been filed under the lawFew lawsuits have been filed under the Claire Davis law, and it’s not clear how many have resulted in monetary damages.. The family of Kendrick Castillo, an 18-year-old student killed in a 2019 school shooting, sued under the law and collected $387,000 from the charter school their son attended, according to court documents. Kendrick died after he lunged at a fellow student who had pulled a gun in class at STEM School Highlands Ranch.But the courts denied the Castillos part of what they wanted: a jury trial and public airing of the facts. The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled last year that a trial wasn’t necessary because the family had already collected the maximum amount of money allowable under the Claire Davis law. The school had deposited that sum in the court’s registry early in the case.Other lawsuits filed under the Claire Davis law have been dismissed. They include a lawsuit filed by the family of Luis Garcia, who sued Denver Public Schools after Luis was fatally shot while sitting in his car outside of Denver’s East High School in 2023. A judge dismissed the lawsuit because she found that Luis, a 16-year-old junior at East, was not killed on school grounds because his car was parked on a public street.Attorney Igor Raykin said several of the lawsuits he’s filed under the Claire Davis law have also been dismissed. His cases mostly involved bullying, including one where a student with autism was allegedly pushed down a flight of stairs by a classmate. All but two of the handful of lawsuits Raykin has filed have been thrown out, he said. The other two are ongoing.“It is still very, very difficult to sue a school for an injury to a child at the school,” Raykin said. “This is one of the things that pisses me off. Schools are going around and saying, ‘We’re going to get sued, and this is awful.’ No. It is still really hard to sue school districts under state law.”That’s not to say the Claire Davis law hasn’t had any effect. School safety experts say that in the wake of the law, schools sharply increased how often they conduct threat assessments to determine whether a student’s threats are credible and how the school should intervene. Chris Harms, director of the Colorado Office of School Safety, said the office provided about 20 threat assessment workshops to school districts in the six years before the Claire Davis law was passed. In the 10 years since, it has done more than 200.Harms declined an interview for this story. But she said by email that “even if (the law) hasn’t resulted in successful lawsuits, it has certainly resulted in trained threat assessment teams in our schools, which we believe has prevented targeted violence.”Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
14 minutes
Sign up for Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox.When Colorado lawmakers passed a law in 2015 allowing school districts to be held liable for school shootings, they intended to give both staff and students the opportunity to sue.“Should our schools have a duty to protect our kids and those who work there? Should our schools provide ‘reasonable care’? Senate Bill 213 says yes,” former state Sen. Bill Cadman said at a 2015 hearing on the bill that created the Claire Davis School Safety Act, named after a Colorado student who was killed in a school shooting.But more than a decade later, it’s not clear whether the law applies to school staff. Two deans who were shot and injured by a student at Denver’s East High School in 2023 are believed to be the first staff members to file lawsuits. Last month, a judge in one of the cases threw out the Claire Davis claim, spotlighting that the law may contain an unintended loophole.Colorado has a high-profile history with school violence dating back to the deadly mass shooting at Columbine High School in 1999. The parents and classmates of Claire Davis, who was shot by a fellow student at Arapahoe High School in Littleton in 2013, advocated for the bill that bears her name in the hopes that it would curb the violence.“If there is any state in the country that should be getting this issue right, that has the experience to help us get this right, it should be Colorado,” former state Sen. Andy Kerr said in 2015.But in removing the immunity provisions in state law that protected school districts from lawsuits and clearing the way for staff members who are seriously assaulted to sue, it appears lawmakers may have overlooked a hurdle: the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act.In a March ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Gordon P. Gallagher ruled that former East High dean Eric Sinclair can’t sue Denver Public Schools under the Claire Davis law. The law allows individual victims to collect up to $505,000 and multiple victims to split a total of $1,421,000. Even though Sinclair’s attorneys argued that blocking the former dean from suing under the Claire Davis law would make the law “meaningless or absurd” to school staff, the judge was not convinced. Because Sinclair was injured on the job, Gallager ruled that his claims fall under the state’s Workers’ Compensation Act.“Mr. Sinclair would not have been injured but for the fact that he was engaged in employment-related duties,” Gallagher wrote.Sinclair’s attorneys declined to comment for this story.Did state lawmakers foresee this problem?Workers’ compensation doesn’t appear to have come up when state lawmakers were debating whether to enact the Claire Davis law. Instead, much of the discussion focused on protecting students and ensuring that victims’ families had access to information about what happened. That discussion was likely driven by Davis’ death. The 17-year-old was shot in the head while she sat on a bench eating a cookie between classes. The 18-year-old student who shot her had exhibited threatening behavior and said he wanted to kill his debate coach. At the time the bill was being debated, Davis’ parents were in the midst of arbitration with the Littleton school district to gain access to information about the circumstances surrounding her death. In return, the Davises agreed not to sue.“Please don’t make the next mother beg for answers as to why her child was killed in a public school in the state of Colorado,” Claire’s mother, Desiree Davis, told lawmakers in 2015.Even though the scenario of teachers and other school staff being shot didn’t come up much in the debate, the law clearly intends to protect them. It says school districts and charter schools have a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect “students, faculty and staff” from reasonably foreseeable acts of violence, including murder and first degree assault.Former state Sen. Mark Scheffel, who co-sponsored the bill, said faculty and staff were purposely included. But he said he doesn’t remember any discussions about how the law would interact with workers’ compensation, likely because the issue wasn’t top-of-mind at the time.“In the testimony and the committees that followed, all of the discussion did tend to center around students,” Scheffel said in an interview this week.Joe Goldhammer, an adjunct professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and a longtime labor law attorney, said that if state lawmakers wanted to allow school staff to essentially double dip by getting hundreds of thousands in damages on top of their workers’ compensation money, they should have made that clear in the bill.Cadman, the other co-sponsor of the bill, declined to comment for this story. So did the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. Several local and national school safety and gun violence prevention experts said they haven’t followed the implementation of the law. Scheffel said he’d be hesitant to encourage state lawmakers to tweak the law just yet, after only one ruling in one lawsuit. He said the law was “delicately drafted” with input from the Davis family, and he wouldn’t want any changes to create more unintended consequences.“Working on this bill was one of the more gratifying moments I had as a senator,“ said Scheffel, who served in the state legislature for eight years. “It was heartbreaking and gratifying to try to wrap our brain around something we thought would make a difference.” Few lawsuits have been filed under the lawFew lawsuits have been filed under the Claire Davis law, and it’s not clear how many have resulted in monetary damages.. The family of Kendrick Castillo, an 18-year-old student killed in a 2019 school shooting, sued under the law and collected $387,000 from the charter school their son attended, according to court documents. Kendrick died after he lunged at a fellow student who had pulled a gun in class at STEM School Highlands Ranch.But the courts denied the Castillos part of what they wanted: a jury trial and public airing of the facts. The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled last year that a trial wasn’t necessary because the family had already collected the maximum amount of money allowable under the Claire Davis law. The school had deposited that sum in the court’s registry early in the case.Other lawsuits filed under the Claire Davis law have been dismissed. They include a lawsuit filed by the family of Luis Garcia, who sued Denver Public Schools after Luis was fatally shot while sitting in his car outside of Denver’s East High School in 2023. A judge dismissed the lawsuit because she found that Luis, a 16-year-old junior at East, was not killed on school grounds because his car was parked on a public street.Attorney Igor Raykin said several of the lawsuits he’s filed under the Claire Davis law have also been dismissed. His cases mostly involved bullying, including one where a student with autism was allegedly pushed down a flight of stairs by a classmate. All but two of the handful of lawsuits Raykin has filed have been thrown out, he said. The other two are ongoing.“It is still very, very difficult to sue a school for an injury to a child at the school,” Raykin said. “This is one of the things that pisses me off. Schools are going around and saying, ‘We’re going to get sued, and this is awful.’ No. It is still really hard to sue school districts under state law.”That’s not to say the Claire Davis law hasn’t had any effect. School safety experts say that in the wake of the law, schools sharply increased how often they conduct threat assessments to determine whether a student’s threats are credible and how the school should intervene. Chris Harms, director of the Colorado Office of School Safety, said the office provided about 20 threat assessment workshops to school districts in the six years before the Claire Davis law was passed. In the 10 years since, it has done more than 200.Harms declined an interview for this story. But she said by email that “even if (the law) hasn’t resulted in successful lawsuits, it has certainly resulted in trained threat assessment teams in our schools, which we believe has prevented targeted violence.”Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.
14 minutes
Apirilaren 29an izango da Dantzaren Nazioarteko Eguna. Horren harira testu hau argitaratu du ADDEk.
14 minutes
Apirilaren 29an izango da Dantzaren Nazioarteko Eguna. Horren harira testu hau argitaratu du ADDEk.
14 minutes
16 minutes
Arizona Republicans are hoping to turn every police department in the state into a processing hub for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. On Tuesday, the state House of Representatives gave preliminary approval to Senate Bill 1055, which would require law enforcement agencies in Arizona to notify ICE or U.S. Customs and Border Protection if they […]
16 minutes
Arizona Republicans are hoping to turn every police department in the state into a processing hub for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. On Tuesday, the state House of Representatives gave preliminary approval to Senate Bill 1055, which would require law enforcement agencies in Arizona to notify ICE or U.S. Customs and Border Protection if they […]
19 minutes
(The Center Square) – The time for lifting restraining orders would be extended to 25 years in California if a new bill passes in the Golden State this year. Senate Bill 1395, nicknamed “Kayleigh’s Law,” would increase the length of time for a restraining order from 10 years to 25 years, according to the bill author’s testimony during a Capitol hearing on Tuesday afternoon. “In California today, a child who has already been through unimaginable trauma is forced to return to court over and over again, face their abuser and re-tell their story just to maintain basic protection,” Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares, R-Lancaster and the author of the bill, testified during the Senate Public Safety Committee meeting. “That is not justice.” Recent amendments to the bill would allow a judge, at the time of sentencing, to issue a protective order for up to 25 years for felony sex offenses against minors, a change from the previous text of the bill, which would have allowed judges to grant permanent restraining orders. The most recent amendments also aim to make restraining orders longer so that survivors of those crimes don’t have to return to court multiple times to renew their restraining orders, which Valladares said re-traumatizes victims. “Before amendments, this bill allowed for a lifetime protection,” Valladares testified. “That does remain a goal of Kayleigh and myself, both in California and nationally because if the threat doesn’t expire, the protection shouldn’t either.” Kayleigh’s Law, which has passed in other states, was inspired by the experience of Kayleigh Kozak, who was sexually abused by her soccer coach as a child. According to NBC 12 News in Arizona, the coach was convicted and sentenced to lifetime probation. Kozak and her family got word in 2020 that he was petitioning to have the court lift his probation. “Kayleigh’s Law” passed in Arizona in 2022. Efforts to get the law passed in California started two years later. In 2024, Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, tried to get Kayleigh’s Law passed, but it ultimately failed. Valladares introduced the bill again in 2025 – Senate Bill 421 – but it failed passage in committee on April 1, 2025. This year’s version of the bill was introduced in February 2026. “As we know, women, who make up half our population, continue to face gender-based and sexual violence at disproportionately higher rates,” Katherine Squire, legislative analyst for the California Commission on Women and Girls, testified. “It can take tremendous courage and strength for survivors to come forward and face their abusers in court. It is unimaginable to consider what the long-term impacts are of having to repeatedly appear in court to re-justify their pain.” Opponents of Kayleigh’s Law, however, testified on Tuesday that they took issue with the length of time restraining orders could be in place if the bill is passed. “We appreciate the intention of protecting survivors of sexual violence, but we do not believe this bill is necessary given the sufficiency of existing law,” Alex Tuchman, deputy public defender for the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, testified. “The increase from 10 years is simply not needed.” Opponents said there were logistical reasons for why the bill didn’t make sense. “There are practical reasons why a 25-year protective order is not going to protect the victim,” Margo George, who spoke on behalf of the California Public Defender’s Association, testified. “To issue a protective order, the judge has to write on the protective order who the person is supposed to stay away from, and what location they’re supposed to stay away from, in order to give the notice.” The Senate Public Safety Committee did not vote on the bill as of press time on Tuesday because there were not enough members of the committee to constitute a quorum.
(The Center Square) – The time for lifting restraining orders would be extended to 25 years in California if a new bill passes in the Golden State this year. Senate Bill 1395, nicknamed “Kayleigh’s Law,” would increase the length of time for a restraining order from 10 years to 25 years, according to the bill author’s testimony during a Capitol hearing on Tuesday afternoon. “In California today, a child who has already been through unimaginable trauma is forced to return to court over and over again, face their abuser and re-tell their story just to maintain basic protection,” Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares, R-Lancaster and the author of the bill, testified during the Senate Public Safety Committee meeting. “That is not justice.” Recent amendments to the bill would allow a judge, at the time of sentencing, to issue a protective order for up to 25 years for felony sex offenses against minors, a change from the previous text of the bill, which would have allowed judges to grant permanent restraining orders. The most recent amendments also aim to make restraining orders longer so that survivors of those crimes don’t have to return to court multiple times to renew their restraining orders, which Valladares said re-traumatizes victims. “Before amendments, this bill allowed for a lifetime protection,” Valladares testified. “That does remain a goal of Kayleigh and myself, both in California and nationally because if the threat doesn’t expire, the protection shouldn’t either.” Kayleigh’s Law, which has passed in other states, was inspired by the experience of Kayleigh Kozak, who was sexually abused by her soccer coach as a child. According to NBC 12 News in Arizona, the coach was convicted and sentenced to lifetime probation. Kozak and her family got word in 2020 that he was petitioning to have the court lift his probation. “Kayleigh’s Law” passed in Arizona in 2022. Efforts to get the law passed in California started two years later. In 2024, Assemblymember Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach, tried to get Kayleigh’s Law passed, but it ultimately failed. Valladares introduced the bill again in 2025 – Senate Bill 421 – but it failed passage in committee on April 1, 2025. This year’s version of the bill was introduced in February 2026. “As we know, women, who make up half our population, continue to face gender-based and sexual violence at disproportionately higher rates,” Katherine Squire, legislative analyst for the California Commission on Women and Girls, testified. “It can take tremendous courage and strength for survivors to come forward and face their abusers in court. It is unimaginable to consider what the long-term impacts are of having to repeatedly appear in court to re-justify their pain.” Opponents of Kayleigh’s Law, however, testified on Tuesday that they took issue with the length of time restraining orders could be in place if the bill is passed. “We appreciate the intention of protecting survivors of sexual violence, but we do not believe this bill is necessary given the sufficiency of existing law,” Alex Tuchman, deputy public defender for the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, testified. “The increase from 10 years is simply not needed.” Opponents said there were logistical reasons for why the bill didn’t make sense. “There are practical reasons why a 25-year protective order is not going to protect the victim,” Margo George, who spoke on behalf of the California Public Defender’s Association, testified. “To issue a protective order, the judge has to write on the protective order who the person is supposed to stay away from, and what location they’re supposed to stay away from, in order to give the notice.” The Senate Public Safety Committee did not vote on the bill as of press time on Tuesday because there were not enough members of the committee to constitute a quorum.
25 minutes
Some SoCal cities are scrambling to create regulations and fees for personal delivery devices.
Some SoCal cities are scrambling to create regulations and fees for personal delivery devices.
28 minutes
Un an après sa signature, le pacte de stabilité sociale sénégalais fait débat. Ce texte tripartite : État, syndicats, patronat, prévoit une trêve sociale jusqu'en 2027. Mais depuis des mois, grèves et débrayages se succèdent dans l'Éducation, la Santé et les Transports. Ce mardi 21 avril, cinq ministres ont fait face à la presse pour défendre les avancées du gouvernement.
Un an après sa signature, le pacte de stabilité sociale sénégalais fait débat. Ce texte tripartite : État, syndicats, patronat, prévoit une trêve sociale jusqu'en 2027. Mais depuis des mois, grèves et débrayages se succèdent dans l'Éducation, la Santé et les Transports. Ce mardi 21 avril, cinq ministres ont fait face à la presse pour défendre les avancées du gouvernement.
29 minutes
COLUMBIA — Wanting straighter teeth, patients come across an online company that promises to fix their smile without ever having to sit in a dentist or orthodontist’s chair. They’re sent a kit to upload photos and take bite impressions, which they mail back to the company. That company, in turn, mails back clear aligner trays […]
29 minutes
COLUMBIA — Wanting straighter teeth, patients come across an online company that promises to fix their smile without ever having to sit in a dentist or orthodontist’s chair. They’re sent a kit to upload photos and take bite impressions, which they mail back to the company. That company, in turn, mails back clear aligner trays […]
34 minutes
Iowa lawmakers hit the goal end date for the 2026 legislative session Tuesday, but there are still several issues legislators must finish — or hope to tackle — before they can head home, including action on the state budget and property taxes. Tuesday was the 100th day of session. Legislators will no longer receive a […]
Iowa lawmakers hit the goal end date for the 2026 legislative session Tuesday, but there are still several issues legislators must finish — or hope to tackle — before they can head home, including action on the state budget and property taxes. Tuesday was the 100th day of session. Legislators will no longer receive a […]
34 minutes
(The Center Square) – California lawmakers are considering legislation that would expand required training for public officials to include instruction on anti-hate speech. Critics warn that the bill relies on a vague and potentially subjective definition that could be used to limit civil discourse. Assembly Bill 1578, authored by Assemblymember Corey Jackson, D-Riverside, would add one hour of anti-hate speech training to the sexual harassment prevention training already required for state and local officials. The bill, which was discussed April 15 by the Assembly Standing Committee on Local Government, is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday by the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization. The proposal would apply to a wide range of elected leaders, including state legislators, constitutional officers, city council members, county supervisors and school board trustees across all 58 counties. If passed, this would be implemented in 2028. This is part of a broader legislative effort led by Jackson and fellow Assemblymembers Josh Lowenthal, D-Long Beach and Patrick Ahrens, D-Silicon Valley. Lawmakers say the package draws on findings from the Commission on the State of Hate and aims to address hate in public spaces, workplaces and institutions through training and accountability. The legislative package also includes AB 2347 by Ahrens and AB 1803 by Lowenthal, which address related issues involving hate and bias. In an interview with The Center Square, Jackson said an existing formal definition of hate speech developed by the Commission on Hate Speech would guide the proposal, and he does not plan to create a separate definition. “This training is really to simply say ‘that your public statements, your social media posts can kill people,’ ” Jackson told The Center Square. The Center Square found no formal definition of hate speech by the Commission on the State of Hate, but Jackson highlighted that hate speech can also be a hate crime, which is a criminal offense. The training costs will be reimbursed by the state, but the exact amount has not yet been determined and will depend on the size of the districts. AB 1578 has drawn both support and opposition. The Alameda County Office of Education, located in Hayward, Calif., expressed support, stating that specialized training can help officials recognize and avoid language that perpetuates bias and better align intent with public impact. “In the current political climate, where discourse can often become polarized and inflammatory, it is more important than ever for elected officials to receive specialized anti-hate speech training,” Lucy Carter, the director of policy and governance at ACOE, wrote in a support letter to the Assembly Standing Committee on Local Government. Greg Burt, vice president of the California Family Council and a strong opponent of all three bills, argued that the term “hate speech” is vague and often subjective. He contends it is increasingly used to label political or philosophical disagreement rather than genuine threats or incitement to violence. According to Burt, this ambiguity allows people to dismiss opposing viewpoints by framing them as driven by hatred instead of engaging with their substance. “This is a tactic,” Burt told The Center Square. “It is being used by the left against those who they disagree with. They don't argue the substance of their position anymore. They simply claim the other people are motivated by hatred, and so when somebody is motivated by hatred, we don't have to listen to them.” “They have given up persuading people that their views are correct,” Burt added. “They're just using government power now to ban and shame those who might disagree with them by calling them hateful.”
(The Center Square) – California lawmakers are considering legislation that would expand required training for public officials to include instruction on anti-hate speech. Critics warn that the bill relies on a vague and potentially subjective definition that could be used to limit civil discourse. Assembly Bill 1578, authored by Assemblymember Corey Jackson, D-Riverside, would add one hour of anti-hate speech training to the sexual harassment prevention training already required for state and local officials. The bill, which was discussed April 15 by the Assembly Standing Committee on Local Government, is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday by the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization. The proposal would apply to a wide range of elected leaders, including state legislators, constitutional officers, city council members, county supervisors and school board trustees across all 58 counties. If passed, this would be implemented in 2028. This is part of a broader legislative effort led by Jackson and fellow Assemblymembers Josh Lowenthal, D-Long Beach and Patrick Ahrens, D-Silicon Valley. Lawmakers say the package draws on findings from the Commission on the State of Hate and aims to address hate in public spaces, workplaces and institutions through training and accountability. The legislative package also includes AB 2347 by Ahrens and AB 1803 by Lowenthal, which address related issues involving hate and bias. In an interview with The Center Square, Jackson said an existing formal definition of hate speech developed by the Commission on Hate Speech would guide the proposal, and he does not plan to create a separate definition. “This training is really to simply say ‘that your public statements, your social media posts can kill people,’ ” Jackson told The Center Square. The Center Square found no formal definition of hate speech by the Commission on the State of Hate, but Jackson highlighted that hate speech can also be a hate crime, which is a criminal offense. The training costs will be reimbursed by the state, but the exact amount has not yet been determined and will depend on the size of the districts. AB 1578 has drawn both support and opposition. The Alameda County Office of Education, located in Hayward, Calif., expressed support, stating that specialized training can help officials recognize and avoid language that perpetuates bias and better align intent with public impact. “In the current political climate, where discourse can often become polarized and inflammatory, it is more important than ever for elected officials to receive specialized anti-hate speech training,” Lucy Carter, the director of policy and governance at ACOE, wrote in a support letter to the Assembly Standing Committee on Local Government. Greg Burt, vice president of the California Family Council and a strong opponent of all three bills, argued that the term “hate speech” is vague and often subjective. He contends it is increasingly used to label political or philosophical disagreement rather than genuine threats or incitement to violence. According to Burt, this ambiguity allows people to dismiss opposing viewpoints by framing them as driven by hatred instead of engaging with their substance. “This is a tactic,” Burt told The Center Square. “It is being used by the left against those who they disagree with. They don't argue the substance of their position anymore. They simply claim the other people are motivated by hatred, and so when somebody is motivated by hatred, we don't have to listen to them.” “They have given up persuading people that their views are correct,” Burt added. “They're just using government power now to ban and shame those who might disagree with them by calling them hateful.”
34 minutes
Hikûmeta Amerîkayê sizayên nû li dijî 14 kes û kompanîyên li Îran, Tirkiye û Îmaratên Erebî yên Yekbûyî yên ku bi dabînkirina çekan ji Komara Îslamî ya Îranê re têne tawanbarkirin, ragihand. Wezareta Xezîneya Amerîkî dibêje ku ev alî beşdar bûne di dabînkirin an veguhestina çek û alavên leşkerî de ji bo rejîma Îranê. Wezîrê Xezîneyê Scott Bessent got, "Divê lêpirsîn li dij rejîma Îranê were destpêkirin ji ber rehînegirtina bazarên enerjiyê yên cîhanî û êrîşên bi mûşek û dronan yên ku...
Hikûmeta Amerîkayê sizayên nû li dijî 14 kes û kompanîyên li Îran, Tirkiye û Îmaratên Erebî yên Yekbûyî yên ku bi dabînkirina çekan ji Komara Îslamî ya Îranê re têne tawanbarkirin, ragihand. Wezareta Xezîneya Amerîkî dibêje ku ev alî beşdar bûne di dabînkirin an veguhestina çek û alavên leşkerî de ji bo rejîma Îranê. Wezîrê Xezîneyê Scott Bessent got, "Divê lêpirsîn li dij rejîma Îranê were destpêkirin ji ber rehînegirtina bazarên enerjiyê yên cîhanî û êrîşên bi mûşek û dronan yên ku...
35 minutes
The routes taken by migratory birds, known as flyways, often cross vast expanses of ocean. Six of these marine flyways have now been formally recognized by the U.N.’s Convention on Migratory Species, at the suggestion of scientists who published their findings on these flyways in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology. Tammy Davies, […]
The routes taken by migratory birds, known as flyways, often cross vast expanses of ocean. Six of these marine flyways have now been formally recognized by the U.N.’s Convention on Migratory Species, at the suggestion of scientists who published their findings on these flyways in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology. Tammy Davies, […]
35 minutes
Sin votación por los proyectos de ley vetados por el gobernador Josh Stein, la Asamblea General de Carolina del Norte inició el martes, 21 de abril, con nuevas propuestas la llamada “sesión corta” de 2026. La entrada Asamblea General de Carolina del Norte avanza negociación sobre Medicaid, vetos siguen pendientes se publicó primero en Enlace Latino NC. Asamblea General de Carolina del Norte avanza negociación sobre Medicaid, vetos siguen pendientes was first posted on abril 21, 2026 at 7:39 pm.©2024 "Enlace Latino NC". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at paola@enlacelatinonc.org
35 minutes
Sin votación por los proyectos de ley vetados por el gobernador Josh Stein, la Asamblea General de Carolina del Norte inició el martes, 21 de abril, con nuevas propuestas la llamada “sesión corta” de 2026. La entrada Asamblea General de Carolina del Norte avanza negociación sobre Medicaid, vetos siguen pendientes se publicó primero en Enlace Latino NC. Asamblea General de Carolina del Norte avanza negociación sobre Medicaid, vetos siguen pendientes was first posted on abril 21, 2026 at 7:39 pm.©2024 "Enlace Latino NC". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at paola@enlacelatinonc.org
35 minutes
Sin votación por los proyectos de ley vetados por el gobernador Josh Stein, la Asamblea General de Carolina del Norte inició el martes, 21 de abril, con nuevas propuestas la llamada “sesión corta” de 2026. La entrada Asamblea General de Carolina del Norte avanza negociación sobre Medicaid, vetos siguen pendientes se publicó primero en Enlace Latino NC. Asamblea General de Carolina del Norte avanza negociación sobre Medicaid, vetos siguen pendientes was first posted on abril 21, 2026 at 7:39 pm.©2024 "Enlace Latino NC". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at paola@enlacelatinonc.org
35 minutes
Sin votación por los proyectos de ley vetados por el gobernador Josh Stein, la Asamblea General de Carolina del Norte inició el martes, 21 de abril, con nuevas propuestas la llamada “sesión corta” de 2026. La entrada Asamblea General de Carolina del Norte avanza negociación sobre Medicaid, vetos siguen pendientes se publicó primero en Enlace Latino NC. Asamblea General de Carolina del Norte avanza negociación sobre Medicaid, vetos siguen pendientes was first posted on abril 21, 2026 at 7:39 pm.©2024 "Enlace Latino NC". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at paola@enlacelatinonc.org
36 minutes
On Tuesday, housing advocates testified to the Michigan Senate Housing and Human Services Committee about homelessness in the state — emphasizing the drastic need for a greater supply of affordable housing. Eric Hufnagel, CEO of the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness, detailed to the committee research from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, which has estimated that […]
36 minutes
On Tuesday, housing advocates testified to the Michigan Senate Housing and Human Services Committee about homelessness in the state — emphasizing the drastic need for a greater supply of affordable housing. Eric Hufnagel, CEO of the Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness, detailed to the committee research from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, which has estimated that […]
43 minutes
Connectivity isn’t a nice-to-have for coral reefs – it’s their lifeline. And now scientists know which reefs serve as vital ‘stepping stones’ for coral larvae.
43 minutes
Connectivity isn’t a nice-to-have for coral reefs – it’s their lifeline. And now scientists know which reefs serve as vital ‘stepping stones’ for coral larvae.
48 minutes
Time and again, colleagues told bear biologist Beth Rosenberg that her quest to develop a new and less invasive way of identifying and studying Alaska’s brown bears was a futile one. There were simply too many obstacles, too many unknowns, to overcome. “It just won’t work,” she heard repeatedly. Inspired by her hero, the acclaimed […]
Time and again, colleagues told bear biologist Beth Rosenberg that her quest to develop a new and less invasive way of identifying and studying Alaska’s brown bears was a futile one. There were simply too many obstacles, too many unknowns, to overcome. “It just won’t work,” she heard repeatedly. Inspired by her hero, the acclaimed […]
49 minutes
More than 500,000 Georgians have lost their health insurance coverage due to the expiration of pandemic-era enhanced health insurance subsidies, resulting in a 37% enrollment decline from January 2025 to April 2026. The Current is an inclusive nonprofit, non-partisan news organization providing in-depth watchdog journalism for Savannah and Coastal Georgia’s communities.
More than 500,000 Georgians have lost their health insurance coverage due to the expiration of pandemic-era enhanced health insurance subsidies, resulting in a 37% enrollment decline from January 2025 to April 2026. The Current is an inclusive nonprofit, non-partisan news organization providing in-depth watchdog journalism for Savannah and Coastal Georgia’s communities.
49 minutes
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — An immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” will remain open, an appeals court decided Tuesday, upholding its earlier decision to block a judge’s order for the facility to wind down operations because it didn’t comply with federal environmental law. A majority on the three-judge panel from the Eleventh […]
49 minutes
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — An immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” will remain open, an appeals court decided Tuesday, upholding its earlier decision to block a judge’s order for the facility to wind down operations because it didn’t comply with federal environmental law. A majority on the three-judge panel from the Eleventh […]