This Independence Day, let’s remember what we are

Our declaration of revolt against kings and intrusive parliaments was possible because of the theoretical framework provided by Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke, Thomas Hobbes and others.

From our earliest days, the pursuit of knowledge in this country was never just about learning—it was a civic act.

The Department of Justice’s heavy-handedness has served Combs well.

Here we go again. This week, the Senate unveiled, honed and passed its version of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” and it’s a fiscal monstrosity. What was already an oversized mess in the House has been supersized into a $4 trillion ode to unseriousness.

In a better world it would be rather touching, the way that for many years now — for decades — the members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors have acted as if they were protecting incarcerated Angelenos in the hell hole that is Men’s Central Jail by acting as if jail qua jail were the problem and promising not to build another one if Central were torn down.

You don’t need a new king. You don’t need a different ruler. You need to be free.

This was a gutsy move to achieve a needed result.

Maybe all supervisors can revisit the vote and donate the raises back to county taxpayers.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has long had a cozy relationship with the California prison guards union.

When it comes to Californians’ right to fairly access our justice system, few things are more maddening than learning that artificial impediments such as limits to government’s ability to use technology often deprive us of that right.