Patt Morrison for Friday, 1/15/10

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Friday, January 15, 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

The constitutional take on marriage: Prop. 8 and the future of marriage rights

The first week of opening statements and testimony in the federal lawsuit against Proposition 8, the initiative that banned same-sex marriage in California, has come to a close and the framework for the legal battle has been laid.  At issue is how the Constitution of the United States should be interpreted to view the rights of any particular group to get married, and really how and when the government should control that right of marriage.  Considering that the word marriage appears nowhere in the constitution this isn’t a very easy task.  We look back at the first week of the Prop. 8 case and look forward at how the right to marry will be viewed once it’s all said and done.

 

Guests:

Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California & a civil rights attorney

IN STUDIO

 

Eugene Volokh, professor of free speech law, religious freedom law & church-state relations law at the UCLA School of Law

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1:30 - 1:39

OPEN

 

 

1:41 – 1:58:30

The fight for the First Amendment… right?

In November of 2009 former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay, Col. Morris Davis was fired from his job at the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress after publishing an opinion piece admonishing the Obama administration’s decision to try some of the Guantanamo detainees in federal courts and others in military commission trials. Now the ACLU is involved and has filed a wrongful termination suit against the CRS for violating Col. Davis’ First Amendment right to free speech. Did Col. Davis knowingly eschew the CRS policy on outside speaking and writing or was he truly fired for speaking as a private citizen on matters that had nothing to do with his job?

 

Guest:

Col. Morris Davis, former Assistant Director in the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Division of the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress and Chief Prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay from 2005 – 2008

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2:06 – 2:30

Hashing out California’s marijuana bill

Tuesday a bill seeking to legalize marijuana in California won initial approval from a legislative committee. The measure would tax and regulate marijuana in the same way alcohol is controlled. State tax collectors have estimated the bill could bring in nearly 1.4 billion in revenue and much of those funds would go to fund drug abuse education and prevention programs. Patt mediates a blunt debate on both views on the prohibition of marijuana and takes your calls.

 

Guests:

Steven Gutwillig (GUT-wil-lig), California State Director of the Drug Policy Alliance Network

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John Lovell, Government Affairs Representative for the California Peace Officers' Association

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2:30 – 2:49

Did you Reid what he said?

Periodically a book is released with shocking details about politicians in this country, prompting apologies and sometimes even resignations. Enter Harry Reid. In Mark Halperin’s new book "Game Change," he chronicles the 2008 campaign and election through information, anecdotes, and quotes. The Senate Majority Leader makes a comment that had many of his peers and voters, stunned. When talking about the United States being ready for a black president, Senator Reid stated that the country would support Obama, because he is “light-skinned” and because he speaks “with no Negro dialect…” Patt talks to political analyst Mark Halperin about the political fall-out from Reid's 2008 remarks.

 

Guests:

Mark Halperin, Editor-at-Large and Senior Political Analyst for TIME

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2:49 - 2:58:30

The Wronged Man and the courageous woman

Julia Ormond stars in a new Lifetime original movie where she plays a paralegal struggling to overcome doubts about the culpability of a wrongfully accused man. Her role in the movie doesn’t stray too far from who Julia is in real life. She’s a supporter of The Innocence Project, a national litigation organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system. The British born actress also founded a non-profit organization which fights to stop slavery and end human trafficking. Patt sits down with actress and activist Julia Ormond about her upcoming movie and her other endeavors. 

 

PATT:  “The Wronged Man” will air on the Lifetime Movie Network on January 17 at 5 pm and again on January 18 at 5 pm, both times Pacific.

 

"The Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking has launched a month-long awareness campaign that will increase the knowledge and understanding of human trafficking in order to help abolish slavery in Los Angeles. Information on the awareness campaign
events can be found at CAST's website, at www.castla.org." 

 

Guest:

Julia Ormond, actor and human rights activist. Her films include "Legends of the Fall" opposite Brad Pitt, "Sabrina" with Harrison Ford, and international pictures such as "Smilla's Sense of Snow" and "Resistance."

ON TAPE

 

 

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