Patt Morrison for Monday, 1/04/10

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, January 4, 2010

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

1:06 – 1:30

What’s controversial about the 2010 Census? Quite a lot…….

According to the U.S. Census, the United States will enter 2010 with a population of 308.4 million, which is probably one of the least controversial aspects of what promises to be a tricky year for the Census.  From Congressional complaints about too much White House involvement to a major debate about whether or not—and how—to count illegal immigrants, the 2010 Census has become a lightening rod for political controversy.  There’s a lot at stake, and aside from the obvious Congressional representation and district reapportionment, the future demographic realities of a changing United States will become evident after the Census.  Will we get the count right?

 

Guests:

Robert Groves, director of the U.S. Census Bureau

ON TAPE

• Groves was appointed in April of ’09; before directing the Census he was director of the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center.

 

 

1:30 - 1:58:30

Red and Blue makes Green—L.A. gangs collaborating for the money

So you want the good news first? Reported gang-related crimes in Los Angeles are at a 30-year low. Ready for the bad news? LA County Sheriff’s Department announced that gangs that were once bloody rivals are now in business together. Yes, the gangs in Los Angeles have achieved bipartisanship.  So now instead of having 200 guys in conflict with 200 guys, you have 400 guys unified against the cops. Apparently the economy has forced local gangs to consolidate, in order to maximize profit—Warren Buffet would be proud. But what does that mean for the citizens of LA County? What does that mean for law enforcement?

 

Guests:

Sheriff Lee Baca, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

WILL CALL IN

 

Jorja Leap, adjunct associate professor of social welfare at the UCLA School of Public Affairs. She is currently the senior policy advisor on Gangs and Youth Violence for Los Angeles County Sheriff, Lee Baca, and she's working on a book to be published in 2011 on her experiences working with gangs in Los Angeles.

CALL HER

 

Father Greg Boyle, Jesuit priest and Director, Jobs for a Future and Homeboy Industries

CALL HIM

 

NOT CONFIRMED - DO NOT PROMOTE THIS GUEST:

Chief Charlie Beck, Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department

CALL HIM

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

A world without nuclear weapons—pipe dream or achievable goal?

Russia and the United States hope to start off 2010 with a bang of a different kind—the bang of destroyed and dismantled nuclear weapons, as the two countries approach agreement on a arms control treaty that would dramatically reduce stockpiles of nuclear weapons.  However, if President Obama is to be believed, the ultimate goal of arms control policy is eliminate all nuclear weapons, American and otherwise, in the world.  This dream scenario has been floated for almost as long as nuclear bombs have been in existence, but is it a realistic goal and how can paranoid countries be convinced to give up tens of thousands of nuclear warheads?

 

Guests:

Graham Allison, professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and director of Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs.

CALL HIM:

 

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association

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• The Arms Control Association is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting and supporting effective arms control policies.

 

 

2:30 – 2:58:30

Snitching:  Criminal Informants and the Erosion of American Justice

There are a lot of reasons a prison inmate will talk to his fellow prisoners, and there are even more reasons those prisoners will give up information, true or not, to authorities. For years the U.S. justice system has used this inside information, or snitching, to prosecute and convict a wide variety of criminals -- but is that information reliable?  How can differing motives stain the integrity of prison accounts, and is it fair to rely on these in court

 

Guests:

Alexandra Natapoff, author "Snitching:  Criminal Informants and the Erosion of American Justice.  She is a law professor at Loyola Law School here in Los Angeles.

IN STUDIO

 

 

Ted Rohrlich, former Los Angeles Times investigative reporter, he is probably most noted for an award-winning series that exposed the cozy relationship between law enforcement and the jailhouse informants who lied that they overheard "confessions" to win easier treatment. He also was co-lead reporter on a Pulitzer finalist investigation into inequities in murder investigations and prosecutions in Los Angeles County.

IN STUDIO OR BY TELEPHONE

 

 

Bruce Lisker, recently released from prison on bail, after a federal judge overturned his conviction for murdering his mother.  Testimony from a jailhouse snitch figured strongly in the prosecution's case. 

CALL HIM

 

 

Jonathan Serviss

Producer, Patt Morrison Program

Southern California Public Radio

NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles

89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3-KPCV-FM

626.585.7821, office

415.497.2131, mobile

jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org

www.scpr.org