June 15, 2020 Media Brief
Orange County
Voice of OC: Is Coronavirus causing a spike in Orange County homeless deaths?
Homeless people are continuing to die at record-high levels in Orange County, with 34 deaths in April and 30 in May, compared with an average of 18 monthly deaths in the prior 12 months.
OC Register: Coronavirus: Orange County reports a record high of 304 new cases and 4 new deaths as of June 14.
The Orange County Health Care Agency reported another 304 cases attributed to the coronavirus as of Sunday, June 14, bringing the total number of cases to 8,573. Four new deaths also were reported.
Voice of OC: Santa Ana will again consider police oversight along with budget, police salary concessions
The discussion comes in the wake of national and local protests over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, which has in turn driven newfound public pressure on local officials to look at law enforcement’s role in politics and public safety.
Voice of OC: Anaheim City Council rejects legalizing cannabis shops, debates revenue and timing
During a three-hour, tense cannabis debate during last Tuesday’s council meeting, Councilwoman Denise Barnes, who opposed cannabis shops, said people like Chamber of Commerce President Todd Ament would benefit from the shops.
Voice of OC: Irvine Mayor faces growing criticism over Facebook blocking
Calls are building for Irvine Mayor Christina Shea to apologize for blocking residents who posted comments she viewed as defamatory on her Facebook page under posts discussing the Black Lives Matter movement and her support of the Irvine Police Department.
Labor
Associated Press: Supreme Court rules LGBT people protected from job discrimination
The court decided by a 6-3 vote that a key provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 known as Title VII that bars job discrimination because of sex, among other reasons, encompasses bias against LGBT workers.
OC Register: Coronavirus: Do I have to go back to the office when it reopens?
California is ahead of the curve in terms of its laws, according to legal experts. California labor code says that you have a right to refuse unsafe work, but the question of whether your generalized fears amount to unsafe work, that’s unlikely. There has to be some objective reason. If an employer said, “I don’t want you wearing masks” … that might give you grounds.
California
LA Times: In major victory for California, Supreme Court rejects Trump’s challenge to state sanctuary law
California’s lawyers argued the Constitution’s 10th Amendment makes clear that state officials need not enforce a federal law. They relied in part on a 1997 opinion written by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, which held that federal authorities may not “commandeer” state or local officials to carry out a federal law.
Publication Date: June 15, 2020
