Akee on Potential for Privacy Loss Among Native Populations

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Associate Professor of Public Policy Randall Akee spoke to Digital Trends about the impact that “differential privacy” protections used by the U.S. Census Bureau could have on small Native populations. Increased concerns about compromising anonymity in its datasets have prompted the bureau to implement greater privacy measures. These include differential privacy, a data science method that involves introducing error, or “noise,” to protect individual records. The bureau hopes that its commitment to increased security will make people more willing to participate in the 2020 Census. However, some researchers worry that it is putting a higher value on privacy than access to reliable data. Akee spoke about the impact of privacy loss for smaller populations, like Alaska Natives. Tribal governments will have to decide their own level of comfort with potential release of information about their populations, he said. 

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Biden and Sanders Propelled by Voters of Color, Diaz Says

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Sonja Diaz, founding executive director of the Latino Policy & Politics Initiative at UCLA Luskin, joined a KPCC Airtalk episode to discuss the results of the Super Tuesday Democratic primaries and the role of black and Latino voters. According to Diaz, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders were “propelled by voters of color,” with overwhelming support for Sanders among Latino and younger voters and support for Biden among black voters. However, she said there is “no evidence that blacks and Latinos are voting against each other.” Instead, she explained, voters respond to the campaigns that targeted and invested in them, including hiring locally, having bilingual mailers and opening field offices in predominantly Latino communities. “It’ll be black and Latino voters deciding the outcome of this Democratic contest,” she said.

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Yaroslavsky Breaks Down Super Tuesday Wins and Losses

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Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, joined KCAL9 News as nationwide returns from Super Tuesday came in. The evening’s big surprise was the campaign comeback of former Vice President Joe Biden, said Yaroslavsky, a longtime public servant and political analyst. “This sudden change, this reversal of fortune at the presidential candidate level, is unprecedented,” he said, especially since the Biden campaign has been relatively low-budget. “As a politician, I used to dream of being able to win elections without spending a nickel. Biden did it nationally,” he said. But he cautioned, “Let’s not write off Bernie Sanders and consign him to the graveyard. Things, as we’ve seen in the last 72 hours, can change very quickly.” Yaroslavsky also said former President Barack Obama is wise to hold off on endorsing a candidate, as he may need to unite the Democratic Party in the event of a brokered convention. And he said Los Angeles County must overcome problems with its new balloting procedures before November. Otherwise, he said, “Democracy loses, because if people have to stand in line for two, three hours, it’s going to discourage people.”

 

Abrams Pioneers Juvenile Justice Research

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An article in EBP Society highlighted Social Welfare Professor Laura Abrams’ research contributions to a growing international discussion about the minimum age of criminal responsibility. The term refers to the youngest age at which an individual can be processed formally in the justice system, and is often determined by factors such as brain development, competency and childhood experiences. In the United States, separate juvenile justice systems have been created to emphasize rehabilitation over punishment, but the article points out that very few studies have been conducted on the appropriate minimum age of criminal responsibility. The article summarizes the findings of three studies conducted by Abrams to better understand the effectiveness of minimum age boundaries in the United States and the rest of the world. Abrams’ research highlights the variations and complications among different national and international juvenile justice systems and illustrates the importance of establishing age parameters into and out of the justice system.

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Latino Vote Will Shape Arizona Politics, Diaz Writes

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Sonja Diaz, founding director of the Latino Policy & Politics Initiative (LPPI) at UCLA Luskin, wrote an opinion piece in the Arizona Republic highlighting the importance of Latino voter participation not just in the presidential race but in state and local contests. An expanding Latino population in Arizona has led to increased voter turnout, a trend that Diaz expects will continue. The number of Latino members of the Arizona Legislature has grown from 19 to 24 members in the last five years, and the upcoming election is an opportunity for Latino voters to further transform statewide governance, she wrote. Diaz highlighted the importance of ensuring that everyone can exercise their constitutional right to vote to “maximize the potential of the Latino electorate.” And she said the 2020 Census, which could mean an additional congressional seat for Arizona, could produce political shifts that create lasting impact for generations to come.

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Sanders Speaks to Economic Frustrations in California, Tilly Says

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Urban Planning Professor Chris Tilly was featured in a Bloomberg article discussing how economic issues in California are swaying voters in favor of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign. In the run-up to the California Democratic primary, surveys indicated that Sanders’ promises of housing and health care affordability resonate with many Californians who are frustrated by rising rent and a lack of affordable housing across the state. According to Tilly, “There are two sides to the story of the health of the L.A. economy.” Even as incomes rise and the unemployment rate is at an all-time low, the costs of daily life for Californians are rising faster than wages. Tilly explained that low unemployment and steady job growth “reflect the wider U.S. economy, but there are people being left out and who are being caught in the gap between what a lot of jobs pay and what housing and other expenses are.”

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Diaz on the Latino Vote in 2020

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Sonja Diaz, founding executive director of the Latino Policy & Politics Initiative (LPPI), spoke to KPCC’s AirTalk about the impact of Latino voters on the 2020 presidential election. LPPI research showed that Latino voters in Nevada supported Sen. Bernie Sanders by almost 70%, a trend that is in line with national polls, Diaz said. She cited the Sanders campaign’s early efforts to engage with the Latino electorate and noted that voters want a candidate who will lead on diversity issues and address the discrimination and xenophobia facing the Latino community. On-the-ground organizing and face-to-face contact, not just big media buys, are key to a candidate’s success, she said. “It’s really about going out into the community, especially for unlikely voters or new voters,” Diaz said.

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Newton on Papadopoulos’ Congressional Run in California

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Jim Newton, public policy lecturer and editor of Blueprint magazine, spoke to Los Angeles magazine about George Papadopoulos’ congressional run in California. Papadopoulos, a former adviser to President Trump’s campaign, served 12 days in a federal correctional institution for making false statements during the special counsel investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He is currently running in the special election to represent California’s 25th congressional district. Running as a Republican, Papadopoulos hopes to get elected by relying on his Fox News fan base and his association with Trump, the article said. Hitching your star to Trump may work in some parts of the country but not in California, Newton warned. “An affiliation with Trump is just not enough to put you over the line. It may be enough to boost book sales and drive some name recognition,” but ultimately it is not enough to win a congressional seat, he said.

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Holloway Study Reveals Support for Transgender Troops

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Associate Professor of Social Welfare Ian Holloway spoke to Gay City News about the findings of a survey he co-authored that gauged support of transgender troops within the military. Two-thirds of the survey respondents indicated their support for transgender people serving in the U.S. military, a statistic that challenges the Trump administration’s ban on transgender people serving in the military. “In terms of our hypothesis about acceptance, we did expect to find high levels of acceptance — but I don’t think we expected it to be this high,” Holloway said. The report, also covered by LGBTQ Nation, found that support of transgender service members was higher among women, racial minorities, and gay, lesbian and bisexual people than heterosexual white respondents. According to Holloway, the survey “speaks to the importance of diversity in the armed forces, and there have been some concerted efforts to increase representation in the military.”

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Gilens on Wealth and Political Influence

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An Atlantic article about Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg’s financial situation quotes Public Policy Professor Martin Gilens on the disproportionate impact of wealth on government policy. The article explains that Bloomberg’s self-financed campaign has boosted his ability to compete against other candidates who are unable to adopt the same strategy. Bloomberg is worth an estimated $64 billion, which is 20 times as much as Donald Trump is worth, and his presidential campaign has already poured more than $400 million into advertisements, the article noted. A study co-authored by Gilens found that business lobbies and the wealthy “have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.” While money alone is not enough to win the race, the article expressed concern that Bloomberg’s wealth has warped the political system to become plutocratic and elitist.

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