Trial by Zoom Jury?
I was scheduled for jury duty just as the COVID-19 crisis came to a head in March and courts, along with everything else in the state, closed. With legal cases piling up and the coronavirus court lockdown still in place, the inevitable question arises: Will there be trials in California decided by juries watching on […]
Legislation Advances Allowing Sleeping, Hostile and Unintelligible Jurors
As a member of the public, who would you choose to serve as a juror on a serious criminal case? Jurors need to be responsible enough to get to court on time every day. They must be attentive to complex evidence. They must listen to and comprehend legal instructions from the judge. They must sit […]
California’s Deficit Requires that CALPERS, STRS Pensioners Pay Their Share
The economic toll Covid-19 continues to have on California is revealed in an announcement from Sacramento that the state budget faces a $54 billion deficit instead of an expected surplus. With the rainy day fund less than $20 billion, those cuts are falling on most every level of spending. The cuts will impact counties and […]
The Media, Obamagate and Newsom
Bill and Sherry wonder if Governor Gavin Newsom is being politically smart–or gutless–in cutting education to help make up the $54 billion state budget deficit. They question whether the media is digging up the full story on state finances. And they examine how the media, locked in the past, isn’t up to the challenge […]
Prioritize the Most Vulnerable in the Crisis
The spread of COVID-19 has exposed cracks in our nation’s pandemic response and rapidly changed our way of life. California leaders are working urgently to strengthen the level of care and support available to the most vulnerable among us, including our largest-in-the-nation population of older adults. As many as 400,000 older Californians are receiving care […]
Memorial Day
The editors at Fox and Hounds ask that you enjoy a respectful Memorial Day. We will resume with our regular postings tomorrow.
No Respite for Business vs. Labor Battles During Pandemic
The Covid-19 flame of disease, death and economic devastation has only served to bring aspects of the traditional battle between business and labor to a boil. Optimistically, one might think that the call of ‘all in this together’ would have different interests pulling on the same end of the rope in hopes of quick economic […]
What Will a Post-Virus Housing World Look Like?
The COVID-19 (Corona virus) pandemic sweeping the globe will go down in history as the single-most compelling incident of our time. It ranks up there with the devastation – to both property and the human psyche – of World War II. It’s kept us cooped up in our homes and wrecked the economy. It’s touched […]
More Budget Do’s and Don’ts
Having served in state government during two difficult budget periods (2003-4 and 2009-10) and on the Volcker-Ravitch State Budget Crisis Task Force in 2012, I have participated in and studied many bad and good state budget practices. Some takeaways: Maintain Perspective. As Governor Newsom pointed out last week, the state’s expected shortfall this time is […]