Hosted by Barbara Bernstein

The Bush Administration is now history but their criminal acts live on. How do we as a nation hold these characters accountable for the many apparent crimes they committed during the past 8 years. Locus Focus host Barbara Bernstein talks with Ben Davis, Professor of Law at the University of Toledo College of Law, about his efforts to get Attorney GeneralEric Holder "to appoint a non-partisan independent Special Counsel to immediately commence a prosecutorial investigation into the most serious alleged crimes of former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Richard B. Cheney, the attorneys formerly employed by the Department of Justice whose memos sought to justify torture, and other former top officials of the Bush administration."

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/prosecutorstatement

The Oregon state House of Representatives has passed a bill requiring greater oversight of so-called TARP funding in Oregon.
The US Congress passed the TARP, or Troubled Asset Relief Program, in the last days of the Bush administration, providing over seven hundred billion dollars in bailouts to banks and finance companies.
According to State Representative Chip Shields, who introduced the TARP Oversight bill in the Oregon House, the Federal Government has not provided enough oversight on how the money has been used. Oregon State Representative Chip Shields, who introduced the TARP Bank Oversight bill that has passed the Oregon House.

The Rooney Bill, passed Friday by the Oregon House and now moving along in the Senate, will require universities in the state to use affirmative action laws when hiring new sports coaches.
Previously, schools were allowed to violate state affirmative action laws in order to speed up the hiring process.
Sam Sachs, who has pushed for passage of the bill, says that this is necessary because of the continued disparity in hiring of sports coaches
The bill was originally written to apply to football coaches in the state, but was expanded to include all college sports coaches.

Portland’s City Council voted today to extend the so-called sit-lie ordinance.  This measure makes it illegal to sit or lie down on a public sidewalk in downtown Portland.
It was set to expire in June, but the City Council has extended the ordinance until October.
Homeless activists and supporters gave passionate pleas during last week’s city council meeting, calling on the councilors to let the measure expire.
But the city council was not moved by their pleas.
Only Randy Leonard voted against the extension.
Devin Debernardo is with Sisters of the Road, a group which works with the homeless in downtown Portland

Last week, President Obama reached his first 100 days in office, triggering a media flurry of speculation about how well he's doing. Communities of color - already hurting before the lastest round of troubles - have been measuring up the new president as well. Is President Obama pushing to create justice for all or is he too bogged down in the legacy of his predecessor? What should we be doing to push the president down the path of racial equity?