Compliance

WASHINGTON - The massive leaks about U.S. spying systems caused sharp political and legal aftershocks Tuesday as the Justice Department prepared to file criminal charges against Edward Snowden, a government contractor who has publicly admitted disclosing highly classified telephone and Internet data-gathering operations. The vast scope of the government surveillance sparked the first federal lawsuit challenging its legality, a bipartisan effort in the Senate to declassify secret court orders that authorize the operations, and requests from Google and Facebook for permission to disclose more about National Security Agency requests for users' emails and other online communications.

The U.S. Senate is expected to vote next month on a bill that could require online retailers to collect sales taxes from customers in every state that imposes them. The measure has been bashed by opponents as a tax increase that would cripple small Web businesses. It's not, and it won't. Instead, the Marketplace Fairness Act would eliminate an outdated restriction that favors those who can shop online over those who can't or won't. That's reason enough for it to become law. For much of the last two decades, Internet retailers collected sales taxes only from customers in the states where they were headquartered or had employees.

Google said earlier this month it would close its Reader service because of low usage, but a report says the company also killed the RSS platform because it did not want to commit a full staff to it to ensure the service complied with privacy laws. After having to agree to multi-million dollar settlements with government agencies, Google Chief Executive Larry Page has been adding lawyers, policy experts and others to each of its teams who can deal with compliance and privacy issues, a report by AllThingsD says.

Google said earlier this month it would close its Reader service because of low usage, but a report says the company also killed the RSS platform because it did not want to commit a full staff to it to ensure the service complied with privacy laws. After having to agree to multi-million dollar settlements with government agencies, Google Chief Executive Larry Page has been adding lawyers, policy experts and others to each of its teams who can deal with compliance and privacy issues, a report by AllThingsD says.

A multi-agency compliance sweep in the California City area earlier this week led to the arrest of 29 people on parole or probation, authorities said Thursday. The operation took place Wednesday and included Los Angeles County deputies from the Lancaster, Palmdale and Altadena sheriff's stations who teamed up with their counterparts from the Kern County Sheriff's Office and officers from the California City Police Department, officials said. Parole agents from the state Department of Corrections and personnel from the Department of Children and Family Services also participated.

I would like to note some important points that were not mentioned in "Many Bars Fail to Keep Patrons From Lighting Up, Survey Finds" [Jan. 20]. The role of the county's public health department is to protect the health of all citizens, including workers who are exposed to deadly secondhand smoke through these bars and restaurants. California is one of only a few states to challenge the powerful tobacco lobby by enacting legislation like the Smoke-Free Workplace Law that provides a substantially healthier environment for employees and patrons of these establishments.

Ghastly events unfold in the taut and unsettling "Compliance," propelled by a logic so twisted it feels like the premise of a psychological experiment. Wielding only a prepaid phone, an aberrant compulsion and a false identity, a man holds a group of strangers in his sway by remote control, with devastating results. Writer-director Craig Zobel has shaped his material not as a shocker but as a clear-eyed exploration of some of the darkest, and most garden-variety, mysteries of human behavior.

Jerry K. Prinds has been promoted to director of franchise sales at Foodmaker's Jack in the Box restaurants division. John Roberts has joined Foodmaker as manager of corporate tax compliance in the tax services department.

Re "The wrong way on reentry," Editorial, June 3 I disagree with The Times' criticism of the Los Angeles Police Department's "compliance checks" of post-release supervised persons (PSPs). The L.A. County Probation Department has not been allocated sufficient resources to supervise the burgeoning PSP population and must work in partnership with local law enforcement in monitoring these individuals. Some 35% of these people released in the county claim an address in the city of Los Angeles.

"New Strategies Against an Old Enemy" (by David DeVoss, July 20) relied upon inflammatory language and innuendo to point an accusing finger at the business community. The story does manage to mention that air quality in the Los Angeles Basin is improving. This is due in large part to the implementation of the strictest air-quality controls in the nation--and to voluntary industry compliance that the article pooh-poohs. Our El Segundo facility is operated by employees who are nearly all residents of the basin, which is why so many of them take a personal interest in our environmental compliance.

The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday sought to determine whether Los Angeles airport officials have complied with a 2006 court settlement requiring them to spread the growth in flights at busy Los Angeles International Airport to others in the region. Supervisors directed the county counsel's office and William T Fujioka, the county's chief executive officer, to assess how well Los Angeles World Airports has implemented the agreement that ended a legal challenge to the plans of former Mayor James K. Hahn to modernize LAX. They must report to the board in 30 days.

Compliance Magnolia, $26.98; Blu-ray, $29.98 Available on VOD beginning Jan. 8 Craig Zobel's film dramatizes that bizarre news story from a few years back about a restaurant manager who forced an employee to strip on the orders of a man impersonating a policeman. Dreama Walker plays the luckless cashier, who by the end of the night is coerced into doing naked jumping jacks in a stockroom (and worse) because her boss (played by the remarkable Ann Dowd) tells her that a cop has accused her of stealing.

OAKLAND - A federal judge has placed Oakland Police Department reform efforts under his direct control, citing nearly a decade of inadequate attempts to comply with a legal settlement in a case that unmasked systemic police brutality and racial profiling. U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson on Wednesday signed off on an 11th-hour agreement reached last week between the city and plaintiffs' attorneys under which he will appoint a full-time "compliance director" with sweeping powers to dictate changes related to the case.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has reversed his support for a controversial deportation program, announcing Wednesday that he will not comply with federal requests to detain suspected illegal immigrants arrested in low-level crimes. The sheriff's dramatic turnaround came a day after California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris issued a legal directive advising that compliance with the requests is discretionary, not mandatory. Until then, Baca had insisted that he would honor the requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold some defendants for up to 48 hours.

For the most part, the group assembled in the Sofitel meeting room appeared classically corporate: heavy on suits and button-down shirts, wearing laminated name tags. Hotel memo pads and pencils were placed on tables for use during panel discussions. Attendees nibbled on pain au chocolat . Along a wall were slick trade-show banners - including one for the Sex & Mischief line of "fantasy-play accessories. " It featured a black-and-white photo of a stylish woman, smiling, clad in a collar and leash.

A multi-agency compliance sweep in the California City area earlier this week led to the arrest of 29 people on parole or probation, authorities said Thursday. The operation took place Wednesday and included Los Angeles County deputies from the Lancaster, Palmdale and Altadena sheriff's stations who teamed up with their counterparts from the Kern County Sheriff's Office and officers from the California City Police Department, officials said. Parole agents from the state Department of Corrections and personnel from the Department of Children and Family Services also participated.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters is examining why thousands of American Airlines passengers were stranded last week as the department tries to prevent a repeat of the disruptions. "What happened that American Airlines, a month after it reported it was in compliance with a directive, wasn't in compliance?" Peters spokesman Brian Turmail said. The review by Peters adds pressure on airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration, which she oversees, to firm up inspection practices.

Re "Restaurant Grades Get High Marks" (Oct. 17), about customers' responses to the restaurant grading system: Unfortunately, this program has a major flaw -- it is very unfair to the restaurants. Any violations must be immediately corrected. The health inspector returns to confirm the correction, but the letter grade will not be changed to reflect compliance until the next regular inspection. The restaurant can fight to have the sign changed more quickly, but it is very expensive and difficult.

USC and Athletic Director Pat Haden have responded to a recently posted Los Angeles Times story that included allegations that former Trojans athletes accepted payments from a local businessman while in school. The story says emails suggest that Scott Schenter, who used to work in the county assessor's office as an appraiser, provided football star Joe McKnight with a car and an airline ticket, and basketball player Davon Jefferson with about $3,700 in cash. Haden released this statement: "When allegations regarding Joe McKnight's use of a Land Rover arose in 2009, USC fully investigated the matter.

Ghastly events unfold in the taut and unsettling "Compliance," propelled by a logic so twisted it feels like the premise of a psychological experiment. Wielding only a prepaid phone, an aberrant compulsion and a false identity, a man holds a group of strangers in his sway by remote control, with devastating results. Writer-director Craig Zobel has shaped his material not as a shocker but as a clear-eyed exploration of some of the darkest, and most garden-variety, mysteries of human behavior.