Los Angeles Times - 13.11.2019

CALIFORNIA

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019:: LATIMES.COM/CALIFORNIA

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Just minutes after the
U.S. Supreme Court’s hear-
ing on the legality of a federal
policy that protects more
than 700,000 young immi-
grants brought to the U.S. il-
legally, California weighed
in.
Scores of Californians —
students, lawyers, activists,
politicians — who attended
the hearing gathered at the
high court plaza in Washing-
ton, waving signs of support
for the young immigrants
known as Dreamers.
“Defend DACA,” many of
the signs read, colored in the
blue and gold of the Uni-
versity of California — a lead
plaintiff in the lawsuit that
sought to stop the Trump
administration from ending

the program known as De-

ferred Action for Childhood

Arrivals.

In Los Angeles, hundreds

of teens walked out of

classes, urging the court to

continue the policy that has

transformed Dreamers’

lives by allowing them to le-

gally work without fear of de-

portation since it was

adopted in 2012 by the

Obama administration.

Top state leaders, includ-

ing Atty. Gen. Xavier Be-

cerra and UC President Jan-

et Napolitano, vowed to

stand with the young immi-

grants no matter what the

court decides.

“These are young people

who have done all that has

been asked of them,” Na-

politano said in a teleconfer-

ence Tuesday. “To remove

their DACA protection in

the way that the Trump ad-

JOSEPH MORENO joins fellow high schoolers and others in a march in L.A. in support of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

Al SeibLos Angeles Times

Rallying to defend ‘Dreamers’

L.A. students walk out, state leaders vow support as court weighs DACA’s fate

By Teresa Watanabe,
Sonali Kohli
and Nina Agrawal

DEMONSTRATORSmarch above the 110 Freeway downtown. California has

the largest number of DACA recipients in the nation — more than 220,000.

Wally SkalijLos Angeles Times

[SeeDACA, B4]

Hunter faces

new allegations

Prosecutors say the

lawmaker was warned

in 2010 that spending

was illegal. B

Citizen stings

target ‘creeps’

Young people in San

Diego pose online as

underage and then

shame suitors. B

Times photo

editor dies

Alan Hagman was at

the newspaper for

more than 30 years. B

Steve Lopez’scolumn

does not appear today.

Lottery......................B

Several California Con-

gress members are calling

for stronger safety measures

on passenger vessels in the

aftermath of the Conception

dive boat fire that killed 34

people on Labor Day — one

of the worst maritime disas-

ters in the state’s history.

The Times reported

Tuesday that the U.S. Coast

Guard, which has the sole

authority to mandate safety

protocols, has often rejected

National Transportation

Safety Board

recommendations to im-

prove fire safety measures

for nearly 20 years.

As the House Subcom-

mittee on Coast Guard and

Maritime Transportation

prepares for a Thursday

hearing to learn details of

the Conception accident,

members of California’s con-

gressional delegation say it’s

time for the Coast Guard to

consider stronger protec-

tions.

“It is clear that serious

changes need to be made,

and they need to be made as

soon as possible,” Rep.

Salud Carbajal (D-Santa

Barbara) said in a state-

ment. “As we honor the lives

of the 34 people who were

lost too soon, we must be

certain concrete steps are

being taken to ensure there

are no more victims of trage-

dies like the Conception fire.

“Congress is holding the

hearing that I requested

with NTSB and the Coast

Guard to get more answers

on what happened aboard

the Conception. I will be

there and I will continue the

push for the strong, smart

safety regulations our com-

munities need.”

Rep. Julia Brownley (D-

Westlake Village) said the

subcommittee will hear from

investigators and regula-

tors, but the final NTSB re-

port and recommendations

are not expected to be re-

leased for months.

“In my view, it is abso-

lutely clear that more needs

to be done to protect the

lives and safety of passen-

gers and crew on these small

overnight vessels,” she said

in a statement. “I expect this

hearing is only the beginning

of our oversight efforts on

the Conception tragedy.”

The Coast Guard de-

clined to comment on why it

had not followed specific

NTSB recommendations,

but released a statement de-

fending its actions.

“The Coast Guard highly

values NTSB’s input and

A NEW

CALL TO

ACTION

ON BOAT

FIRES

House hearing on

Conception is set for

Thursday. California

members say Coast

Guard must respond.

By Mark Puente

and Richard Winton

[SeeConception,B4]

A former public defender
is entering the race to be Los
Angeles County district at-
torney, bringing a contrast-
ing perspective to a field oth-
erwise filled by career prose-
cutors and law enforcement
officials.
Rachel Rossi announced
her candidacy to unseat
Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey on
Tuesday, becoming the lat-
est in a wave of self-pro-
fessed reform candidates to
challenge for D.A. posts in
major cities in recent years.

“The prosecutor really is

the key toward change and

reform and focusing our

policies in a direction of safe-

ty and smart efforts rather

than blanket incarceration

of people on all levels of of-

fenses in a way that wastes

taxpayer dollars and doesn’t

promote public safety,”

Rossi said in an interview

with The Times.

Rossi, 37, joins former

San Francisco Dist. Atty.

George Gascon and L.A.

County Deputy Dist. Attys.

Richard Ceballos and

Joseph Iniguez in the push

to unseat Lacey. The dead-

line for candidates to file for

the March 2020 primary is

Dec. 6.

Similar to Lacey’s other

challengers, Rossi appears

intent on running a cam-

Former public

defender enters

packed D.A. race

Rachel Rossi will tout

reform as she runs

against prosecutors for

the L.A. County seat.

By James Queally

RACHEL ROSSIannounces her run for L.A. County
district attorney at the women’s jail in Lynwood.

Brian van der BrugLos Angeles Times

[SeeRossi,B5]

Five people injured in a

shooting at the Gilroy Garlic

Festival in July are suing the

event’s organizers, saying

negligent security contrib-

uted to the deadly en-

counter.

Randall Scarlett, an at-

torney representing the

shooting survivors, filed a

lawsuit in Santa Clara

County Superior Court on

Tuesday, four months after

the shooting in Northern

California that left three

dead and more than a dozen

injured. The suit says the

Gilroy Garlic Festival Assn.

and the security company

working the event, First

Alarm Security & Patrol

Inc., should have been aware

of the risk of a mass shoot-

ing, increased patrols and

secured the perimeter at the

event.

“They had an entire back

area [that] had no monitor-

ing whatsoever,” Scarlett

said at a news conference.

“What’s the price you’re will-

ing to pay to say the risk is

too great? Reasonable steps

would have avoided this

completely.”

The survivors are seeking

an unspecified amount in

compensation, partly to cov-

er growing medical costs,

Scarlett said.

Thousands were in at-

tendance at the popular

food festival at the “Garlic

Capital of the World” in

Santa Clara County when a

gunman later identified as

Santino William Legan

opened fire, authorities said.

AMBER BRUCE,23, center, stands for the national anthem with others attend-

ing a candlelight vigil at Gilroy City Hall on July 29, the day after the shooting.

Kent NishimuraLos Angeles Times

Survivors of shooting sue

Gilroy festival organizers

Five people injured

at the garlic-themed

event say it lacked

sufficient security.

By Alejandra

Reyes-Velarde

[SeeGilroy,B5]