"When you say 'California,' rural is not one of the adjectives that comes readily to mind."
Legal Ruralism Blog
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6d ago
That is one of the most memorable comments from today's Public Policy Institute of California's event, "Spotlight on Rural California."  It was made by PPIC executive director Tani Cantil-Sakayue, former Chief Justice of the State of California, and it's one I appreciate given how difficult it seems to be to draw attention to rural issues, rural people, rural needs here in the Golden State.  It's an issue I've written about occasionally here on the blog, but more commonly ranted about verbally to friends and anyone who would listen.  One problem with people not thinking about th ..read more
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Right-wing political movement losing ground in California's rural-ish north state
Legal Ruralism Blog
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1w ago
Hailey Branson-Potts and Jessica Garrison report for the Los Angeles Times from Shasta County, California, a recent hotbed of election denialism and similar conspiracy theory madness.   (You can read some related past posts here, here, here, here, and here).  The headline is "One far-right leader ousted. Another barely hangs on. Is Shasta rejecting MAGA politics?, and the gist of yesterday's Times story about the March 5 election results follows:     Shasta County voters have booted from office a key figure in the county’s hard-right shift, even as ..read more
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My Rural Travelogue (Part XXXVII): New Cuyama and California's Valley of Enchantment
Legal Ruralism Blog
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1w ago
Cuyama Valley from New Cuyama (c) Lisa R. Pruitt 2024 I had the opportunity to visit the community of New Cuyama, California (population 542) last month, in northern Santa Barbara County.  The area is known as the Hidden Valley of Enchantment.   (c) Lisa R. Pruitt 2024 I first learned of the Cuyama Valley about a year ago when a student wrote this post about Harvard University buying up land there.  I was excited to be passing through the region (ok, well, it was a bit out of my way) and to have the opportunity to visit there myself.   While t ..read more
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On "non-rural rural" folks
Legal Ruralism Blog
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1w ago
That's the brain teaser in the title of Kristin Lunz Trujillo's latest paper in Political Behavior.  The full title is "Feeling Out of Place: Who Are the Non‐Rural Rural Identifiers, and Are They Unique Politically?"  Here's the abstract:  Previous work suggests rural identity often stems from direct experience living in a rural area, and that categorical group membership occurs before social identification. Puzzlingly, however, some U.S. survey takers not living in a rural area indicate that being rural is part of their identity. Using ANES data from 2020 (N=8280) and 2019 (N=3 ..read more
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More authoritative rebuttal of Schaller and Waldman's "White Rural Rage"
Legal Ruralism Blog
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2w ago
Kristin Lunz Trujillo, a political scientist at the University of South Carolina, writes in Newsweek today under the headline, "'White Rural Rage' Cites my Research.  It Gets Everything about Rural America Wrong."  Here's an excerpt:   Rural Americans' identity is much more about positive emotions they feel toward rural areas and much less about negative emotions toward others. The idea that white rural Americans in general experience unhinged levels of rage is laughable. If you want to see how ridiculous white rural Americans find the idea that they are enraged, they have ..read more
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Public defender crisis in Washington State afflicts both rural and urban counties
Legal Ruralism Blog
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2w ago
Daniel Beekman reported for the Seattle Times late last month on the indigent defense (aka "public defense") crisis facing Washington State, both its rural and urban sectors.  A few days later, Marcy Stamper reported for the Methow Valley News, out of nonmetro Okanogan County in north central Washington, under the headline "Public defenders struggle under big caseloads."   Here's an excerpt from the Seattle Times story, which provides the big picture:   Staffing shortages and burnout-inducing caseloads are squeezing urban areas like King County, rural areas like A ..read more
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"Small Towns. Big Opportunities."
Legal Ruralism Blog
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2w ago
Georgetown University's Center for Education and the Workforce recently published Small Towns, Big Opportunities.  The subhead is: "Many Workers in Rural Areas Have Good Jobs, but These Areas Need Greater Investment in Education, Training, and Career Counseling."   Here's the summary: Rural America has long been perceived as “left behind” by policies that leave it struggling while benefiting bustling urban cities and suburbs. That narrative holds some truth: rural America has a declining population, along with lower educational attainment and lower workforce participation than ..read more
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Krugman strikes again
Legal Ruralism Blog
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1M ago
Paul Krugman wrote yesterday in the New York Times under the headline, "The Mystery of White Rage."  His column seems to have been inspired by a new book by Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman, White Rural Rage:  The Threat to American Democracy.   Here's an excerpt from Krugman's column, which draws heavily from the book:   Technology is the main driver of rural decline, Schaller and Waldman argue. Indeed, American farms produce more than five times as much as they did 75 years ago, but the agricultural work force declined by about two-thirds over the same period, tha ..read more
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More from The Rural Voter (Jacobs and Shea), this time from Politico Nightly
Legal Ruralism Blog
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1M ago
Politico Nightly recently featured a short interview with Nicholas Jacobs and Daniel Shea, authors of The Rural Voter (2023). I've earlier blogged about the book here (well, in truth I picked up the Daily Yonder's review of the book).  Here's an excerpt from the interview with Politico:  Question:  Donald Trump won large majorities among rural voters in 2016 and 2020. What explains a Manhattan billionaire’s strong appeal in rural America? Jacobs: You have to get beyond Trump’s persona. You have to look beyond this idea that Trump is a typical Manhattanite. I think that’s where ..read more
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Humboldt County, California judge under fire for ethics violations as election looms
Legal Ruralism Blog
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1M ago
The headline from The Press Democrat (of Sonoma County, California but covering the north coast up through Humboldt), is "Humboldt County Judge Greg Kreis accused of sexual harassment, drunken bullying, throwing curveball into his reelection bid." Here's an excerpt from the deeply reported story by Andrew Graham and Marisa Endicott:  The commission that oversees California’s judiciary has served presiding Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Gregory Kreis a 35-page notice charging him with 19 ethical violations including drunken bullying of attorneys, lewd behavior toward women, poor ..read more
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