U.S. Department of Justice

Matthew Keys Helped Anonymous Hack Los Angeles Times Website, Feds Allege

See details, at the bottom, about the story that was hacked. Federal authorities say a former Tribune Co. employee handed the digital keys of the Los Angeles Times over to Anonymous hackers who then changed an online feature story. The allegation came as Matthew Keys, 26, was charged with "conspir ... More >>

Budweiser Attempting World Domination, Justice Department Says 'Hell Naw'

Anheuser-Busch, brewer of Budweiser, has been looking to buy Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo for $20.1 billion, giving them ownership of brands like Corona, Pacifico and Negro Modelo. But yesterday, the Justice Department sued to stop the merger, saying it would lead to an unfair market share for Anheus ... More >>

Top 10 Marijuana News Stories For 2012, LA Weekly-Style

If you like drama and marijuana together, then 2012 was the year for you: It was jam-packed with topsy-turvy cannabis news. As the Obama administration cracked down on medical marijuana dispensaries in California, the president himself said pot users in marijuana-legal states shouldn't be prosecut ... More >>

Marijuana: Some Cops Actually Happy About States' Weed Legalization

Federal authorities might not be so giddy about the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington, but some city cops are. Well, some. The group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, long opposed to state and federal laws that make jail-bait of tokers in California and elsewhere, is absolute ... More >>

Fan Landers: Is My Band Accidentally Aiding a Right-Wing Extremist?

Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls' Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you ... More >>

Obama's Marijuana Moments: Top 5 Stances, Statements And Subterfuges

The Left Coast is rejoicing today after President Obama announced that same-sex couples should be able to marry. And it wasn't lost on us that he made the statement on the eve of a fundraising trip to George Clooney's house tonight in the hills above Studio City. Maybe the timing was intended to he ... More >>

Obama: Marijuana Dispensary Busts by Feds Aren't About to Stop

If you think President Obama is a liar for promising to hold back on federal prosecution of medical marijuana and then seeing his feds bust more pot shops than they did under George W. Bush, maybe you're not listening to him carefully enough. Obama says that, perhaps, you misinterpreted his words w ... More >>

Marijuana as Religious Right? California Court Says It's Possible

Do some folks have the religious right to use marijuana as part of a sacrament? It's a question we joked off when L.A. marijuana dispensary owner NJ Weedman sued the city of L.A. after his Liberty Temple II was targeted for extinction: He claimed the religious right to cannabis because the shop was ... More >>

Is 'Teflon' L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca the Next Sheriff Joe Arpaio?

A scowl worthy of Sheriff Joe?​Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has become the posterboy of tough, rogue immigration policing in the age of Bush/Obama. (And don't think for a second that conditions have improved for America's huddled masses under the "HOPE" banner of the latter. In fact, the ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 9/19-9/23

Flickr/Lauren Manning​ In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "And I suspect I've just offended the ghosts of 50 generations of Basque gourmets." Want Angulas, Spanish Baby Eels? Get the Fake Version. "Everything looks better in The Life Aquatic: wetsuits, s ... More >>

Marijuana Advocates Fuming Over Obama Administration's Confusing Stance on Medical Marijuana Enforcement

Obama, smoking.​One would think that President Obama, an admitted onetime pot smoker who is about as liberal a leader one could get in the White House, would be somewhat of a hero for the medical marijuana movement. His administration even told feds to stand down on pot enforcement in states ... More >>

California Inmate Sukhjinder Basra Sues State for Threatening Him to Trim His Beard

democraticunderground.comDo prisoners have a right to beard?​We take personal freedoms very seriously in California -- as do we our right to sue the shit out of anyone who treads on our land of the free. To demonstrate, SoCal ACLU lawyers pounced on the religious-freedom case of Sukhjinder Ba ... More >>

Animal-Rights Activists Send 'AIDS-Tainted' Razor Blades, 'Hell Awaits You' Note To UCLA Professor

UCLA MagazineWhatcha got for me today, Doc​UCLA neuroscientist David Jentsch, who performs drug tests on vervet monkeys at the university, was the target of a particularly gnarly animal-rights protest this week. He received a package at his home containing alleged AIDS-infested razor blades a ... More >>

After U.S. Puts Heat On Department Over Racial Profiling, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck Sings A Little 'Kumbaya'

LAPD Chief Beck marks his first year.​A week after news emerged that the U.S. Department of Justice stated the LAPD might not be over its racial-profiling past, Chief Charlie Beck said improving "racial harmony" and "constitutional policing" are top concerns as he starts his second year as L.A ... More >>

LAPD Union Says Racial Profiling Among L.A. Cops A Myth

Ted SoquiProfiling in a diverse city, with a diverse force?​After the U.S. Department of Justice expressed concerns this week that some LAPD officers might be up to their old, racial-profiling ways, the union that represents L.A. cops called b.s. on the notion. The Los Angeles Police Protecti ... More >>

Spanish-Language Robo-Calls Urge Some In South L.A. To Head To The Polls Wednesday (When They'll Be Closed)

NBCRobo Phone habla Espanol?​We hope nobody fell for it, but Kathay Feng of California Common Cause reports that some Spanish speakers in the L.A. area received "robo calls" informing them that the election was Wednesday. An effort to dilute the Democratic vote or simply a dumb prank? Dunno. ... More >>

If California Legalizes Pot, The Feds Might Sue: Boy, The Obama Administration Really Doesn't Want Us To Vote For Prop. 19

Up In SmokeThe U.S. drug czar is sounding a little like Sgt. Stedenko to us.​Just because California might legalize pot doesn't mean that enforcement against the drug will go up in smoke. Nope. In fact President Obama's drug czar told Associated Press (via LAist) that if we liberate cannabis, ... More >>

Eric Holder: Feds Will Crack Down On Marijuana If Prop. 19 Passes

Eric Holder​Attorney General Eric Holder has announced that the U.S. government will "vigorously enforce" federal law against marijuana if California voters elect to legalize the drug next month.In a letter to former administrators of the DEA, Holder stated that the Department of Justice "strongly ... More >>

DEA Raids Las Vegas Pot Shops; L.A. Party People Bummed

​Just this week marijuana dispensary backers were whining to the Los Angeles City Council about its tough pot-shop law (even though it's not even being enforced). They're lucky they're not in Las Vegas, L.A.'s own Jersey Shore in the desert, where the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration this ... More >>

Drug Enforcement Administration Hiring Ebonics Translators

​Calling SoCal's's own Snoop Dogg: If the rap game doesn't pan out, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has a job for you. It's looking for Ebonics translators. That's right. It turns our that when some DEA agents hear suspects say stuff on tape and in person, they get those question-mar ... More >>

New California Website Warns Public When Sex Offenders Bolt

Paul Pellerito via Flickr​ A site to warn the public when sex-offender parolees remove GPS ankle monitors has been created by the California Department of Corrections, according to a statement by the department. Member of the public can sign up to get email alerts about the parolee violation ... More >>

Rep. Brad Sherman Unwittingly Gets Fox News Gum In His Hair Over Black Panther Case

Rep. Brad Sherman​ Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat who represents the Valley, has become a Fox News star because he doesn't watch enough Fox News or read right wing blogs that have gone absolutely blotto about a 2008 voter intimidation case involving the New Black Panther Party. The awesome sp ... More >>

Who Can Fix Camp Nobody?

Los Angeles County probation camps offer abuse instead of rehab

Maxine Waters Leads Challenge Of Comcast-NBC Deal

​Los Angeles-based U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters is leading a sizable group of congressional leaders in questioning federal approval for the proposed takeover of NBC Universal Inc. by Philadelphia-based cable and content company Comcast. Both entertainment conglomerates have a sizable presence in th ... More >>

Alleged White Supremacist Gets Three Years For Lying To Obtain Passport In L.A.

​An alleged white supremacist practiced his anti-minority skills mostly in Nevada, but it was a little trip to one of the most diverse cities in the world that got him in hot water with federal authorities. Ross Hack, 38, drove to Los Angeles in the summer of 1998 to get a passport, and he lie ... More >>

Morning Sixpack: A News Roundup

Feds Probe Inglewood Cop Shootings The Justice Department announced it will investigate Inglewood's police force and instances in which its members have shot unarmed civilians and allegedly used excessive force. L.A. TimesAnna Nicole Smith Figures Arrested The late Anna Nicole Smith's friend and att ... More >>

Out of Prison, Not Free

Prison Break's back – Just don't call it 24's hick cousin

Joe Donnelly Meets the New Boss, Mike Lacey

The Phoenix cowboys ride again

The Sex Files

When you find yourself in one and can’t get out

Martha and Barry’s Big Britches

Supersized Celebrity Crimes

Check This Out

Libraries quietly sound alarm against PATRIOT Act

Ghosts in the Machine

When you're lost in El Centro's immigrant detention center you may be lost for good

Dumb and Dumberer

Why the FCC shouldn’t consolidate without concessions

Fighting Words

Independent voices at the L.A. Times and real independent filmmaking

Hold the Politics

Why the government in the weeklies’ antitrust case should leave ideology alone

Watching Big Brother

Volunteers monitor round two of Ashcroft’s “special registration” program

The Year in Media

I'm sorry Momma

Another FBI Agent Blows the Whistle

New evidence that the Bureau quashed another terror probe before 9/11

Urban Naturalist: The $5.5 Billion Bird

McVeigh et al.

Congressional hearing to examine possible Middle East link to Oklahoma City bombing

The Back Story

A reading list

The War at Home

Drug War Index

Uneasy Rests the Crown

Coming Alive

The City Council figures out its new role

Suing the CIA

Mom tackles the agency

Cops vs. Cops

Agencies ask Culver City to back off

Reno Relents on Refugees

Deportation hiatus to mark turning point?