Feature Archives

On November 4th, 2008, California voters passed Proposition 2 by a 63% to 36% margin. The new "Standards for Confining Farm Animals" statute phases out some of the most restrictive confinement systems used by factory farms — gestation crates for breeding pigs, veal crates for calves, and battery cages for egg laying hens — affecting 20 million farm animals in the state by granting them space to stand up, stretch their limbs, turn around and lie down comfortably.

Just a few days before the one-year anniversary of the aerial spraying for Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) in Santa Cruz, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) released two studies about the pesticide applications in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. While CDFA claims that these reports prove the safety of the eradication program, environmental groups and citizen advocates say that statement is misleading and point out fundamental shortcomings of both reports. Rather, they argue, they reveal another breach of the law by CDFA.

On November 4th, California voters passed Proposition 8. The proposition would amend the California constitution to specify that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Lambda Legal Defense, NCLR and the ACLU have urged the California Supreme Court to invalidate Proposition 8. The groups argue that Prop. 8 is invalid because it improperly attempts to undo the constitution's core commitment to equality and deprives the courts of their essential role of protecting the rights of minorities.

Supporters of same-sex marriage have protested the results of Tuesday's vote. On Friday November 7th, tens of thousands gathered at 5:30pm in San Francisco's UN Plaza for a No On 8 rally and marched to Dolores Park. Large protests have also taken place in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, Oakland, Redwood City, Palo Alto, Sacramento, Modesto and even in Salt Lake City.

In California, Proposition 8 passed, changing the California Constitution to ban same sex marriage. Proposition 2, a ban on mistreatment of farm animals, passed. Prop 5, which aimed to reform how the prison system deals with drug offenders, failed to pass. In San Francisco, a measure to bring JROTC back into schools passed. A measure to change how police deal with prostitution failed to pass. The SF Board of Supervisors has remained in the hands of progressives.

A coalition of fishing and environmental groups is alarmed that an executive order by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued earlier this year could further threaten imperiled populations of Central Valley and Klamath River salmon. The order, made during the budget impasse between the Governor and Legislature, terminated temporary help positions from the state’s payroll.

Tuesday November 4th, is election day in the United States. Most of the focus on the mainstream media has been on Obama and McCain, but several third party candidates are also running and there are many local and statewide races and propositions. In California, Proposition 8 threatens to end same sex marriage and in San Francisco, Proposition V threatens to reinstate JROTC in San Francisco schools. California state Proposition 2 will ban abuse of farm animals, while proposition 5 will change treatment of drug offenders to focus more on rehabilitation than incarceration. San Francisco Proposition K aims to reduce abuse of prostitutes through partial legalization; it would effectively cut off funding for prostitution busts, but would require the cops to pursue cases involving violent crime against sex workers.

On October 13th, a protest held outside of UC Berkeley's new animal testing facility drew media and cops. The protest marked National Primate Liberation Week, which featured demonstrations and press conferences across the country. Completion of the laboratory will lead to a seventy percent increase in animal research at the University, which already experiments on approximately 40,000 animals at any given time, including at least 15 primates.