First Amendment

Henry Rollins: The Day After Bowie's The Next Day

[Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here on West Coast Sound every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the awesomely annotated playlist for his Saturday KCRW broadcast.] It's already an interesting year for album releases, and it's not even Record Store Day yet. B ... More >>

Theater to See in L.A. This Week, Including Family Strife and Sexual Taboos in Machu Picchu, Texas

Family trauma drama Machu Picchu, Texas (pictured above) grabs our Pick of the Week this week. Good reviews also for Noel Coward's Fallen Angels at the Pasadena Playhouse and David Henry Hwang's Chinglish at South Coast Rep. For all New Theater Reviews, and this weekend's comprehensive listing ... More >>

FTC Orders POM Wonderful to Stop Making Health Claims

POM Wonderful pomegranate juice is made from the Wonderful variety of the fruit, but that doesn't make it some wonder drug. The Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission have had enough of the company making medical claims such as that its products help reduce cholesterol, aid with ... More >>

$ellebrity: Photographer Kevin Mazur Discusses His New Film About Gossip, Paparazzi and the Cost of Fame

See also: *More L.A. Weekly Film Coverage It's possible that the price of fame has never been higher -- and not just in the tried-and-true Hollywood storylines of fame, fortune and the tragic falls from grace. In his new documentary $ellebrity, seasoned celebrity and event photographer Kevin Mazur ... More >>

Would You Buy Art Created by a Serial Killer?

Ever wanted to buy a half-eaten bag of Reese's Pieces, owned by Charles Manson? Well, for $425 they're yours, from a black market in serial killer memorabilia that has sprung up online. Now you can log on and buy charming watercolor paintings by child killers and hand-written letters from cannibals ... More >>

Henry Rollins: Gay Marriage Is Punk Rock

[Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here on West Coast Sound every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the awesomely annotated playlist for his Saturday KCRW broadcast.] Hats off to Washington state where, recently, hundreds of same-sex couples were legally married ... More >>

Porn Could Film In Pasadena Without Condoms

The little old lady from Pasadena might just be a MILF these days. That's because, after the passage of L.A. county's mandatory condom law for adult video, the old-money town is one of the few places in the area where producers won't have to force performers to roll one on. It's a point we've made ... More >>

Cindy Lee Garcia Sues Google, Innocence of Muslims' Maker

Cindy Lee Garcia, made famous after Gawker tracked her down and got from the actress that she felt duped into performing in the controversial Innocence of Muslims film, is suing the producer and Google, parent of YouTube. The filing, made yesterday in L.A. Superior Court and forwarded to the Weekly ... More >>

Los Angeles' War on Street Artists

The art world sees a vibrant movement. Metro's cops see jail fodder.

Marijuana Dispensary Lawsuit Seeks to Stop L.A. Pot Shop Ban From Taking Effect Sept. 6

Updated at the bottom with the city's response. First posted at 1:29 p.m. A group representing 300 marijuana dispensaries in L.A. filed suit today in an attempt to stop L.A.'s pot shop ban from taking effect Sept. 6. The Patient Care Alliance-Los Angeles was filing the suit at L.A Superior Court l ... More >>

Henry Rollins: The Column! Americans Will Never Give Up Their Guns

[Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here on West Coast Sound every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the awesomely annotated playlist for his Saturday KCRW broadcast.] In 1994, the Federal Assault Weapons Ban was signed into law by President Clinton. The law "su ... More >>

Alex Schaefer, L.A. Artist Behind Burning-Bank Paintings, Arrested for Chalking Outside Chase

Semi-famous local artist Alexander Schaefer -- the same guy whose paintings of burning banks (including Chase Bank) went viral last year after they prompted an LAPD investigation -- was arrested today around 12:10 p.m. for misdemeanor vandalism. Schaefer was chalking on the sidewalk outside the Cha ... More >>

Venice Beach Biennial Preview: 'Art World' Artists Meet Boardwalk Vendors

Kevin Bleyer

The Daily Show Writer Kevin Bleyer Rewrote the Constitution

A new, improved Constitution? The Daily Show writer Kevin Bleyer took on the task with his new book Me the People: One Man's Selfless Quest to Rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America. He talks with Lawrence O'Donnell at a Writers Bloc event this Friday. Here's our interview with Bl ... More >>

L.A. Tagging Crews Could Now Get Gang-Like 'Injunctions', Thanks to City Attorney's Settlement With MTA Vandals

L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich won a huge battle today in his war against the city's taggers and street artists. He settled with eight alleged members of a prolific Los Angeles tagging crew called the "Metro Transit Assassins," responsible for America's largest tag along the L.A. River. The pi ... More >>

Kelli Sager: Who's on First?

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2012 issue. Check out our entire People 2012 issue here. Kelli L. Sager doesn't seem intimidating. With her face framed by soft brown bangs, her warm manner evokes her small-town upbringing in Wenatchee, Wash. But some magnolias ca ... More >>

Darts Update: Dino M. Zaffina Back on the Attack

There are two things that any first-year law student could tell you are essential for courtroom success: don't make stuff up, and don't insult the judge. Perhaps Dino M. Zaffina didn't get the memo. As the Weekly's Chris Vogel first reported in February, Zaffina had become angry that the Southern ... More >>

Randy Kagan, Stand-Up Comic, Reportedly Assaulted at 'Hollywood Improv' for Making Fun of Girl in Front Row

Updated after the jump: A witness confirms the girl-in-the-front-row story. Meanwhile, Kagan, who sounds like he's having the worst week ever, gets really, really mad at us. He also calls his attacker a "fucking lunatic felon" and the Improv a chicken-wing factory. Originally posted at 12:05 p.m. ... More >>

Cop Watcher Jailed Twice

Video destroyed by Lee Baca's deputies

Kearian Giertz's Gay Marriage Comment Gets Him Booted From Fullerton High Event: ACLU To The Rescue

The lesson of the day for Kearian Giertz, a Fullerton High School senior who declared his support for same-sex marriage in front of an annual "Mr. Fullerton" campus pageant, is to keep your opinions to yourself, or you'll be publicly chastised. That's what happened after he was promptly swept away ... More >>

L.A. Fire Department's Public-Information Blackout: Is Withholding Response Times, Addresses Even Legal?

It was terrifying enough when L.A. Fire Department Chief Brian L. Cummings recently admitted to lying about his department's emergency response times to L.A. City Hall, leading to more dangerous cuts for LAFD. But the worst possible thing he could do, now that taxpayers have learned that their fire ... More >>

LAFD Chief Brian Cummings' Media Blackout Is Illegal and Self-Serving, Says LA.'s Top Free-Speech Attorney

[Update: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who hand-picked Cummings last September and has been lovingly tugging at the chief's puppet strings ever since, totally humiliated his political plaything this afternoon by demanding -- via passive-aggressive "open letter" -- that the LAFD go back to its old meth ... More >>

Rush Limbaugh's 'Slut' Comment Is Illegal Under Florida Law, Says Gloria Allred

Advertisers running for the hills can't spook Rush Limbaugh, America's most popular (and most conservative) talk-show host. Nor can half a nation of angry feminists. But ace celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred -- now there's a fembot to get scared of. We're talking the same L.A. attorney who helped forc ... More >>

Illegal Immigrants Win Right to Gather on Street Corners, Ask for Work (Radical!)

Looks like illegal immigrants really can hang out on a street corner and whistle at well-proportioned white women ask for work. In fact, the most conservative U.S. Supreme Court in decades says so (sorry John & Ken). The court today denied a petition to overturn a lower-court decision that says Red ... More >>

Federal Judge Says Chicks Can Slam Cheating Exes on Web; Gloria Allred Declares 'Victory for Women's Rights'

Bay City BombersMeet Stacey Blitsch, the new face of women's rights.​Gloria Allred, L.A.'s biggest name in celebrity litigation, has long fallen on the sexier side of women's rights. She's gone after pervy politicians like Herman Cain and Arnold Schwarzenegger for their rampant womanizing, and ... More >>

In Court Fight With Occupy L.A., City Attorney Carmen Trutanich Sees Many Cases Dismissed

​City Attorney Carmen Trutanich wants to teach Occupy L.A. a lesson about the First Amendment. But as the first wave of failure-to-disperse cases goes to court, the Occupiers are teaching him about the Sixth Amendment. That's the one that guarantees a speedy trial, as well as the right to confront ... More >>

Occupy L.A. Eviction: The View From the Inside

Editor's note: Freelance journalist Skylaire Alfvegren has been attending Occupy L.A. general assemblies since they first began two months ago. She previously covered the Nov. 17 arrests of 46 occupiers for the Weekly and was there last night as police moved in. On the 60th day of Occupy Los Angele ... More >>

Occupy L.A: Zuma Dogg Wades Into Hostile 99 Percenter Crowd at City Hall, Claims he Was Attacked by 'Mob'

Zuma vs. Occupy.​Why, you ask, do we here at LA Weekly care about Zuma Dogg, the sometimes-utterly-insane City Hall gadfly? We don't always agree with his politics, and his tweets about taking his last breaths for want of food and cash can be annoying. But you have to admit -- he's entertaini ... More >>

Halloween Limits on Riverside County Sex Offenders Unconstitutional, Says L.A. Group

Terry Tyson​Nobody loves a sex offender (except maybe his mom). As such, moves by California and, more recently, Riverside County to limit their participation in Halloween have been met mostly with support if not yawns. But a new, L.A.-based organization, California Reform Sex Offender Laws, ... More >>

Photography is Not a Crime: ACLU Suing L.A. Sheriff's Department For Detaining Photogs Simply Because They Took Pictures

Jonathan CastilloStop or we'll shoot.​Updated at the bottom with juicy details about how this anti-photog movement in policing actually grew out of an LAPD policy. First posted at 1:29 a.m. We got a lot of attention when we scolded Long Beach police Chief Jim McDonnell for declaring that deta ... More >>

Henry Rollins: The Column! Occupy America

​[Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here on West Coast Sound every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the awesomely annotated playlist for his Saturday KCRW broadcast.] My editor contacted me the other day and asked if I had an opinion on the Occupy protes ... More >>

John & Ken Show to See Major Advertisers Pull Out as a Result of Anti-Immigrant 'Hate,' Says Latino Media Group

johnandkenshow.comJohn y Ken.​Update: NHMC spokeswoman Rosalia Tenorio says the advertisers walking away from John & Ken are Verizon and AT&T Wireless as well as Vons and Ralphs, the last two of which are not currently running spots on the show but have in the past. First posted at 3:38 p.m. o ... More >>

Shepard Fairey Sticker-Bombs L.A. Department of City Planning

Los Angeles City Planning - Code Studies via Facebook"Shepard Fairey sticker bombs City Hall," writes the department.​Update: LA Weekly speaks with the recipient of the package, who is positively tickled. Interview at the bottom. Uh-oh -- the fight between muralists and the L.A political mach ... More >>

PHOTO: SpongeBob SquarePants Arrested in Hollywood for 'Fighting in the Streets'

Chris Seckler via TwitterYou should have seen the other guy.​Update: Mystery solved. Watch VIDEO of SpongeBob getting into a fight with two slovenly pink-haired Boulevardgoers, at the bottom. Updated with a close-up of SpongeBob, and mysterious twist: Was he acting a perv before the alleged s ... More >>

Buy Spray Paint in L.A., Give Your Address And ID For a Possible Police File Under Councilman Dennis Zine's Anti-Graffiti Proposal

Krylon​Updated at the bottom with reaction from the ACLU, which says this might not survive a constitutional challenge (what with freedom of speech and all). First posted at 2:35 p.m. Dennis Zine is the L.A. City Councilman who successfully got Aaron Brothers to back off its graffiti-themed b ... More >>

PornWikiLeaks Shuts Down: XXX Industry Worked With ... FBI, AIDS Group Against Website That Leaked Porn Stars' Personal Info?

Performer Justine Joli.​Here's a first (maybe): The porn industry is in bed with the FBI. Or so it says. And the two made magic happen from various positions in an attempt to polish off PornWikiLeaks, the website that posted the names and medical records of hundreds if not thousands of adult p ... More >>

Venice Beach Violence -- Shooting, Stabbing, Fighting -- Prompts LAPD to Send in The Troops Ahead of Summer

Tony Vera / YouTubeAnother day, another ambulance on the beach in Venice.​Looks like the LAPD is sending in the troops following at least three weekends of violence on and near the beach in Venice, including a stabbing last weekend and a shooting the weekend before that. Pacific Division lead ... More >>

Rave Ban at Convention Center Proposed by Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn

Caesar SebastianRavers get up at EDC.​The city of L.A. is considering a ban on raves at the downtown Convention Center, which it runs. Interesting, because the Convention Center doesn't host raves. And it could come under the control of Anschutz Entertainment Group, the LA Live-owning company ... More >>

Porn in America is a Human Rights Abuse in China's View: Agree?

Is porn a right, or a human rights abuse?​China has a problem with porn. Our porn. Being that we're in the adult video capital of America, we have to sit up straight whenever a world superpower calls us out for an industry that is a staple of Los Angeles. Here's what the annual Chinese Human ... More >>

John Quigley and Arcadia Oak Tree Sitters Reject DA Steve Cooley's Plea Deal: 'We're going to litigate this case to the hilt'

By Mark Cromer Mark CromerJohn Quigly and Julia Posin stand where government bulldozers wiped out 240 Arcadia Woodlands trees.​Los Angeles County prosecutors today offered the 'Arcadia Four' tree-sitters -- who protested the county's destruction of 249 old-growth oaks north of L.A. -- a ple ... More >>

Alexandra Wallace: Was UCLA 'Asians in the Library' Video One Big Publicity Stunt?

Co-Ed MagazineThe infamous Alexandra Wallace​Update: Wallace drops out of UCLA, right after school officials announce she will not be punished for her racist rant. Details after the jump. Alexandra Wallace may not be as dumb as she acts. For a UCLA pity admit whose poli-sci career is obviousl ... More >>

Cristian Gheorghiu, or L.A. Tagger 'Smear', in Court for Keeping Art Supplies at His House

Los Angeles TimesSmear in his garage studio​We have L.A. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich to thank for keeping dangerous criminals like Cristian Gheorghiu -- the graffiti artist better known as Smear, who has turned a life of crime into a legitimate career over the last few years, as detailed in ... More >>

Rave Promoter Reza Gerami Says He'll Fight (And Sue) For His Right to Party at L.A. Sports Arena

Go VenturesReza Gerami.​Much of the focus regarding raves at the publicly controlled L.A. Coliseum and Sports Arena has been trained on the promoter of last summer's controversial Electric Daisy Carnival, which attracted about 160,000 young people over two days. But there's another major prom ... More >>

Alexandra Wallace, UCLA Student, Rants on Asians for Phoning Tsunami Victims in the Library (VIDEO)

YouTubeOvernight celebrity Alexandra Wallace, pretending to be an Asian student on his cell phone​Update: Death threats, poli-sci finals and the First Amendment. Updated after the jump with the university's response. Plus: UCLA Chancellor Gene Block makes a video of his own, and bikini pics o ... More >>

At Last: 'Parent Trigger' Troop Files Lawsuit Against Compton Unified School District

PHOTO BY TED SOQUIThings just got real in Compton​Updated after the jump: Judge grants parents a restraining order against the Compton school district! Right after two big NorCal and SoCal newspapers released battling editorials on California's extreme "Parent Trigger" law -- the LA Times say ... More >>

David Wojnarowicz's A Fire in My Belly Comes to L.A.

Censored by the Smithsonian, now at the Hammer

Henry Rollins Column: How to Talk to Right Wing Talk Show Callers

Maura LanahanOur eminent columnist, Mr. Henry Rollins!​[The one and only Henry Rollins will be contributing a weekly column and far-reaching reportage to the music section of the LA Weekly. Look for your weekly Henry Rollins fix right here on West Coast Sound every Friday and make sure to tune ... More >>

Twitter Suspends Account Of Pro-Wikileaks Hackers, 'Anonymous' Opens New One

Twitter​Update: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON. No, really. Can someone please tell us. Updated after the jump: Twitter claims it was an "accident." Right. The official Anonymous account is still down. The others appear to be fake. Also, Sarah Palin was a victim. Originally posted at 5:50 p.m.

Fear and Self-Loathing

Stanley Kubrick's first feature, not to be denied