Matthew Heller

Thai Workers Claim Vindication In Long Battle With Farm Labor Contractor

After years of investigations and legal battles, a court finds that a U.S. farm labor contractor’s operations were rife with discrimination, abuse and intimidation.

Matthew Heller
By Matthew Heller
Human Trafficking Hawaii

LOS ANGELES -- Mordechai “Motty” Orian thought he had found the answer to his agricultural labor contracting problems. Workers from Thailand that he brought into the United States would be far less likely, he believed, to complain or abscond than those from other countries such as Mexico, China and Nepal, enabling him to meet the labor demands of

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Dog Trainer, Religious Leader Make Headway In Challenge To ‘No-Fly List’

People can land on no-fly lists without notice or sufficient opportunity for appeal, but there are some signs that this could be changing soon.

Matthew Heller
By Matthew Heller
no fly list

LOS ANGELES --- Ibrahim “Abe” Mashal could be excused for feeling like a character in a Kafka story. In April 2010, the former U.S. Marine from St. Charles, Ill., was denied boarding on a flight from Spokane, Wash., to Chicago. The ticketing agent told him he was on the “no-fly list” that is part of the U.S. government's anti-terror

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California Regulators Consider “Big Brother” Hazards Of Driverless Cars

Cars that drive themselves could be pulling out of sci-fi fantasies and Tinseltown dreams and into driveways and roads sooner than we think, sending privacy advocates into overdrive.

Matthew Heller
By Matthew Heller

LOS ANGELES --- The cars of the future are heading toward a dealership near you -- without a human being at the wheel. To Google Inc. and the other corporations that are investing millions of dollars to develop them, driverless, or autonomous, vehicles are a revolutionary combination of automotive and robotics technology that will yield enormous

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Dispute Over Odors From Hot Sauce Factory Scorches L.A. Suburb

A handful of residents are firing off allegations that a local hot sauce maker is emitting bad odors into the community, forcing the city to decide whether the factory is a public nuisance.

Matthew Heller
By Matthew Heller
bottles

IRWINDALE, Calif. --- The sparkling new, $40 million factory where Huy Fong Foods Inc. makes its world-famous Sriracha hot chili sauce is a 650,000 square-foot marvel of industrial automation. Computers control every step of the production process that begins with truckloads of red jalapeños being delivered to the Irwindale, Calif., factory. From

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L.A. Law Requiring Condoms On Adult Movie Sets Faces Key Court Test

Could a federal appeals court put a wrap on Measure B, a law requiring condom use on all adult film sets in Los Angeles County?

Matthew Heller
By Matthew Heller
Randy Spears, Nakita Kash

LOS ANGELES --- Southern California's association with the adult film industry has created thousands of local jobs, generated millions of dollars in film production permit revenue for local governments and earned the San Fernando Valley the monikers “Porn Valley” and “Silicone Valley.” In November 2012, that relationship suffered a stinging blow

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Rural Ariz. Residents Check Up On Checkpoint In Border “War Zone”

Fed up with an interior checkpoint that creates inconveniences and breeds discrimination, an Arizona community is banding together to fight the “temporary” stopping point.

Matthew Heller
By Matthew Heller
U.S. Border Patrol

LOS ANGELES --Every day of the school year, the children of the tiny Southern Arizona community of Arivaca ride a bus along a two-lane desert highway to and from their schools in Amado, 25 miles away. And every time they travel Arivaca Road, they encounter an obstacle guarded by armed U.S. law enforcement officials. Straddling the highway a few

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Calif. Moves To Expand Forced Treatment For Severely Mentally Ill

More California counties are turning attention to an 11-year-old law allowing judges to order involuntary outpatient treatment for people with severe mental illness.

Matthew Heller
By Matthew Heller
California Prisons Anti-Psychotics

LOS ANGELES -- At a public meeting on Feb. 25, the Alameda County, Calif., Board of Supervisors wrestled with a decision that could have a major impact not only on the mentally ill in their jurisdiction but also those across the state. Before the five supervisors was a proposal to adopt an 11-year-old state law — dubbed “Laura's Law” for a college

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