The problem is especially prominent in South Dakota, where Native Americans represent about 8.5% of the state’s population but were victims of 75% of the fatal police shootings since 2000.
In the nearly two and half decades since 9/11, the ongoing tension between the rights and freedoms of individuals and government authority has shifted the balance decidedly in favor of authoritarian state control.
In October, a Reddit user leaked audio of a meeting between Ron Herrera, President of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, and Los Angeles council members Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León. On the recording, the council members made racist remarks about Indigenous peoples and African Americans.
Raised in South Central Los Angeles, Zavala took issue with the death penalty at an early age after seeing “the racial disparities of whom it’s applied to and the fact that numerous people have been found innocent after being sentenced.” He believes all people are capable of personal transformation, and should not solely be judged by the worst thing they’ve ever done.
Ollin Law is re-envisioning the law and criminal justice in California. With our roots in communities beleaguered by violence, poverty, and police misconduct, we’ve taken it as our mission to transform the practice of law from a zero-sum game of winners and losers into a tool for healing, self-improvement, and reconciliation.
