Rights and Liberties

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CEQA shakedowns and the mansion that Wal-Mart built

Liam Dillon in the Voice of San Diego has a sharp profile of San Diego lawyer Cory Briggs, an unapologetic user of the California Environmental Quality Act as a self-enrichment tool: “No attorney sues under the state’s main environmental quality

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Bring Ol’ Sparky back to CA?

California hasn’t executed anyone in more than 8 years. And just 14 since it was allowed again in 1978. Problems remain with lawsuits concerning the lethal-injection method. And a proposed initiative would shorten death-penalty appeals. But maybe Tennesses has found

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Swearengin had no faith in a) her constituents and/or b) herself

Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin — an articulate, TV-savvy, photogenic Republican — is a good bet to finish second in the June 3 state primary for controller behind former Assembly Speaker John Perez, a Los Angeles Democrat who will then go

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CA workforce participation hits 38-year low

The same state survey of labor statistics that led to headlines last week about California having its lowest unemployment rate in nearly six years also had some much less positive news. The California Center for Jobs & the Economy noted these stats

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Radicals almost burned alive UC official faulted for Occupy response

As the left’s thoughtcrime offensive gears up, the latest victim is former UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgenau, who backed out of a speaking role at Haverford University graduation ceremonies after campus “progressives” demanded it. They’re upset over Birgenau’s response to Occupy

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CA 2014 fire season: A test of government competence

The two worst wildfires in recorded state history struck San Diego County in 2003 and 2007, as I wrote about in today’s U-T San Diego. “In October 2003, the Cedar Fire … broke out in the Cleveland National Forest, started accidentally by

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CA joins national gun standoff

It’s a gun standoff like in a Quentin Tarantino movie — barrels pointed but nothing resolved for now. That’s why gun law in California and the rest of America won’t be standardized anytime soon. This month, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take

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TX routs CA in education test scores

Every time I write or speak on a radio show favorably about Texas compared with California, I get harsh online comments, emails and phone calls. The usual theme isn’t just that California is a nicer place to live. It’s that

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Jerry Brown expresses satisfaction with CA’s 24% poverty rate

If you live in a state that has by far the highest effective poverty rate in the U.S. — at just under one-quarter of the population — you would seem unlikely to express satisfaction with the economics status quo. But

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