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California Set To Reopen Strip Clubs Before Churches

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A California judge ordered San Diego to reopen strip clubs even as local officials crack down on churches.

San Diego Superior Court judge Joel R. Wohlfeil ordered the state to end any actions that prevent the clubs from “being allowed to provide live adult entertainment,” according to the decision. The owners of two strip clubs argued that their business is legally protected speech guaranteed by the First Amendment—the same argument that churches have been making about their own services.

The judge’s decision is not final as that in a full hearing, which will occur at the end of the month, but it temporarily allows the strip clubs to reopen for indoor services, as other institutions close. In their legal complaint, strip-club owners argued they have complied with social distancing requirements. They also warned that another shutdown would mean financial ruin. The judge temporarily sided with them.

Religious-liberty advocates said that the case could pave the way for lifting coronavirus restrictions against churches. Paul Jonna, special counsel for the Thomas More Society, which is representing churches challenging the restrictions, expressed confidence that this decision bodes well for the churches. If strip clubs are entitled to constitutional protections, then churches are as well, he told the Free Beacon. (Read more from “California Set To Reopen Strip Clubs Before Churches” HERE)

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California Legalizes Shoplifting With Predictable Results

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Through a series of measures starting back in 2014, the state of California has made it increasingly easy for people to commit property theft and get away with it. This trend has only accelerated during the ongoing riots, as cops are instructed to “disperse” looters rather than trying to arrest them. Even in cases where they do manage to catch somebody stealing, it’s too often not worth the trouble of taking them down to the station because they’ll just be released immediately without bail anyway. And as we’ve seen in other places like New York City, store managers in California are telling their employees to not interfere with looters for fear of being branded as racists on social media or even run into lawsuits over alleged discrimination. As a result, businesses are shutting down for good. That happened again this week as yet another Walgreens has closed its doors permanently. . .

We’re not seeing something new here that’s a result of the riots and looting, though the trend has definitely ramped up this year. This all started with the passage of Proposition 47. The state decriminalized theft such that stealing less than $950 worth of goods was only a misdemeanor, leading to a small fine, frequently far less than the value of the merchandise that was stolen.

The result of that change was felt immediately. The state has recorded increased levels of retail theft every year since prop 47 was passed. The steepest rise has been seen in what’s referred to as “mass grab and dash” robberies, where crowds of people meet up and enter a business all at once and begin grabbing everything they can carry and running out. Most stores only have one or two security personnel on duty at most so they can’t stop them all. And even if a couple of the looters are caught, they know they’ll be back out on the streets in an hour or two at most. (Read more from “California Legalizes Shoplifting With Predictable Results” HERE)

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California Sees Spike in Gun Ownership Amid Increase in Violence

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California has seen a surge in gun ownership since the coronavirus pandemic began as concerns about the recent spike in violence intensified, a new study shows.

Since the pandemic began, California has seen roughly 47,000 new gun owners, while an estimated 110,000 people acquired a firearm, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Davis and other institutions.

Among reasons cited by respondents was an increased fear in being the victim of a robbery as a result of the pandemic. Others reported they were “very worried” about violence happening within their neighborhoods. Some respondents said they purchased a firearm out of fear of racially motivated attacks.

The most common reasons given for firearm acquisition because of the pandemic was a fear of lawlessness, which was cited by 75.9% of respondents. More than half of the respondents said they worried about prisoner releases and nearly 50% of respondents worried the government had gone too far, according to the study.

Respondents who already owned a firearm said they purchased more ammunition during the pandemic because they also feared that there will be violence, the study showed. (Read more from “California Sees Spike in Gun Ownership Amid Increase in Violence” HERE)

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This City’s School System Changed Grading System to Combat Racism

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The San Diego Unified School District last week approved a major overhaul to its grading system as a part of a larger effort to combat racial discrimination.

The new changes came in response to data that showed disparities between the percentage of white and minority students who received D or F grades, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

According to the data, Black students accounted for about 20% of all D or F grades during the first semester of last year, while Native American and Hispanic students each accounted for 23%. By comparison, white students made up 7% of all D or F grades during that same period.

Under the district’s new system, non-academic factors like late work and classroom behavior will not be counted toward their overall academic grade. . .

The new system, which affects mostly middle school and high school students, will be implemented over this year and next. (Read more from “This City’s School System Changed Grading System to Combat Racism” HERE)

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Kamala Harris Ruthlessly Prosecuted Pro-Life Whistleblower for Reporting on Planned Parenthood Body Parts Trade

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The pro-life Center for Medical Progress (CMP) released a new video today, explaining how Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, as California Attorney General, colluded with Planned Parenthood to weaponize California’s video recording law. Harris attempted to punish CMP’s undercover reporting on Planned Parenthood’s fetal tissue harvesting and research programs.

The six-minute video features CMP founder and president David Daleiden, who developed and orchestrated the organization’s 30-month-long undercover study of Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry’s participation in the illegal sale of body parts from aborted fetuses, describing how at the behest of Planned Parenthood, Kamala Harris had California Department of Justice agents raid his home to try to stop him from publishing undercover reports.

Daleiden says in the new video, “I’m not the first person to ever record undercover video in California.” The video shows examples of local TV news journalists and activists recording and publishing undercover video reports in the state. “Yet somehow, I have become the first person to ever have the California video recording law enforced against me for news gathering,” Daleiden continues. . .

“It’s pretty obvious that the reason that I alone was targeted by Kamala Harris was because I dared to criticize Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry. What Kamala Harris did isn’t treating people fairly or equally under the video recording law,” notes Daleiden in the video. (Read more from “Kamala Harris Ruthlessly Prosecuted Pro-Life Whistleblower for Reporting on Planned Parenthood Body Parts Trade” HERE)

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Fake Ballot Boxes Popping up All Over California

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State and local election officials in California are investigating after multiple unofficial mail-in voting drop-off boxes have been reported in several counties in the weeks leading up to Election Day, Fox News confirmed Monday.

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a statement that his office is “coordinating with local officials to address the multiple reports of unauthorized ballot drop boxes.”

“Operating unofficial ballot drop boxes—especially those misrepresented as official drop boxes—is not just misleading to voters, it’s a violation of state law,” Padilla said. “This is also an important reminder. Voters are in control of how to return their ballot, and they have multiple safe and secure options for doing so. Ballots can be returned by mail, to any in-person voting location, or to an official secure drop box. Never hand your ballot over to someone you don’t trust.”

Padilla said Californians should only use official ballot drop boxes that have been deployed and secured by their county elections office. He said official county drop boxes are built with specific security protections, and ballots are retrieved only by designated county personnel.

He also directed those with questions about voting to go to official, reliable sources with county elections offices of the secretary of state’s office. Official ballot drop boxes and drop off locations can be found at caearlyvoting.sos.ca.gov. (Read more from “Fake Ballot Boxes Popping up All Over California” HERE)

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WATCH: Man Caught on Video Stealing Mail, Ballots From Mailboxes

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Video captured a man stealing absentee ballots while walking through a neighborhood in Escondido, California, a local news outlet reported.

Surveillance cameras from David Sprouse, a local resident, captured a man stealing mail from his home and houses nearby late Monday, Fox 5 San Diego reported.

“It was a younger looking man, [who] happened to come down the sidewalk. He was wearing a ball cap, face mask, gloves. He carefully opened up our mailbox and took out all of our mail,” Sprouse told Fox 5.

The thief then continued to search through the mail of additional houses, Sprouse said.

(Read more from “WATCH: Man Caught on Video Stealing Mail, Ballots From Mailboxes” HERE)

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California Officials Knocked Down Giant Trump Sign on Private Property, Claimed It Was a Safety Hazard

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Officials from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) knocked down giant white letters spelling “TRUMP” on the hillside of someone’s private property on Tuesday, citing it as a “life and safety issue.”

“This was a life and safety issue because there were concerns about distracted driving,” Chief Public Information Officer for Caltrans Lauren Wonder said.

The sign was located at the Sepulveda Pass hills just outside of the largely blue and Democratic-run Los Angeles adjacent to highway 405.

The first report of the sign came right before 7 a.m. from someone who “was apparently concerned it could spark a blaze” following multiple “destructive brush fires in the past few years.”

(Read more from “California Officials Knocked Down Giant Trump Sign on Private Property, Claimed It Was a Safety Hazard” HERE)

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California to Study ‘Reparations’ for Slavery

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The State of California will study reparations to black Americans, thanks to a bill signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

AB 3121 will create a nine-member “Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, with a Special Consideration for African Americans Who are Descendants of Persons Enslaved in the United States,” according to the text of the bill.

California was admitted to the Union in 1850 as a free state and has no history of legal slavery. . .

Despite California’s free history, the reparations task force is assigned the mission of evaluating the history and impact of slavery on the United States as a whole.

The goal, as with many California policies, is to be a model for liberal policies elsewhere — or, as Newsom said, according to The Hill, to be “a paradigm that we hope will be resonant all across the United States.” (Read more from “California to Study ‘Reparations’ for Slavery” HERE)

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School District Pushes ‘Systemic Racism’ Agenda After a Rope Swing Was Mistaken for a Noose

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A California school district announced that what “appeared to be a noose” was found hanging from a tree in front of home within the district. Local police concluded it was not a noose, but a rope swing for children. The school district swiftly responded, not by closing the investigation and moving on from the non-incident, but by instead imposing race education and “anti-racism” goals on students and staff.

The principals, assistant principals, and superintendents from both high schools in Piedmont Unified School District in Piedmont, California sent a message to parents, students, and staff in mid-September notifying them that although the intent of local rope swing was “innocuous,” the district would be discussing “systemic racism” and “identity privilege.”

The district’s statement used inflammatory language such as labeling certain identities as “dominant,” and informing families that they must “apologize” for the rope swing non-incident and others of its kind.

“While it is unlikely that most of us will replicate this particular act, it is likely that those of us with identity privilege have caused harm ‘unintentionally’ to those with non-dominant identities,” the district wrote. “Rather than absolving ourselves of responsibility, we must listen, reflect, apologize, and do better when we are told that the impact of our actions does not align with our intentions or perceptions of ourselves.” (Read more from “School District Pushes ‘Systemic Racism’ Agenda After a Rope Swing Was Mistaken for a Noose” HERE)

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