About Those Props

Before you follow the Indy’s endorsements on the propositions, read the endorsements of four below.

Prop. 14 issues $5.5 billion in bonds for state stem cell research
YES — Cutting-edge medical research is needed more than ever; federal funding is limited. Okay, maybe I’m biased because I’ve had cancer, but the proposition has a very impressive list of supporters including American Association for Cancer Research, American Diabetes Association, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, ALS Association, Alzheimer’s Los Angeles, Arthritis Foundation, Sickle Cell Disease Foundation of California, and San Francisco AIDS Foundation

Prop. 23 requires physician on-site at dialysis clinics
NO — This proposition is opposed by American Medical Association and American Nurses Association/California; it would take doctors out of places they are needed. Also, if something goes wrong with dialysis you need a specially trained nurse or technician, not a doctor.

Prop. 24 expands the provisions of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
NO — While this ostensibly this adds protections, the ACLU opposes it and I’m certain that the ACLU lawyers are more capable of analyzing this than I am (or the Indy, for that matter).

Prop. 25 replaces cash bail with risk assessments for suspects awaiting trial
NO — While this seems like a no brainer — rich people tend to stay out of jail while awaiting trial while poor people who cannot come up with bail often languish in jail — the ACLU opposes it because replacing bail with a non-transparent algorithm can be equally or more biased.