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The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Court rules teaching yoga is ‘protected speech' as classes resume at San Diego beach
Yoga classes are back on at San Diego beaches this week after a federal appeals court ruled that a city ordinance restricting such activities was unconstitutional and that teaching yoga is 'protected speech'. The three-judge panel of the US ninth circuit court of appeals on Wednesday overruled a San Diego judge and decided in favor of two instructors who had sued over a law that San Diego passed in 2024 banning yoga classes of four or more people at shoreline parks and beaches. 'Because the ordinance targets teaching yoga, it plainly implicates [the instructors'] first amendment right to speak,' the ruling stated, finding that the ordinance violated the instructors' rights. The city had argued the rule wasn't specific to yoga, but commercial activity, as the instructors Steven Hubbard and Amy Baack's free classes can draw as many as 100 people who give donations for each class ranging from $5 to $40. 'The city's legitimate governmental interests in this case include the preservation, safety, and orderly use of its parks and beaches by all visitors and residents who visit them,' San Diego's attorneys wrote in court papers, adding that the city and county drew 32 million visitors in 2023. By Thursday, Hubbard had resumed teaching yoga to a dozen people underneath palm trees in the park at Pacific Beach. He said he was cited for his classes, which are free and open to all, at least 10 times since the ordinance took effect last year. He began holding classes on a livestream from his backyard, just across the street from the beach. Bryan Pease, a lawyer for both instructors, said a park official cited Hubbard for holding classes in the park even though he was not there. Outdoor yoga is a service to those who are disabled or can't afford yoga classes elsewhere, said Pease. 'It is a popular thing here. We're a beach community, and it's a way for people to access yoga that they wouldn't otherwise be able to,' Pease said. At the Pacific Beach park, John Noack, who has attended Hubbard's classes for four years, said he thinks the group was targeted because wealthy homeowners in the area didn't want people disturbing their oceanfront views. 'I personally see this as a triumph of community over a handful of elites,' Noack said.
Boston Globe
11-05-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
With Copley Square partially reopened, some people are not crazy about the new look
Steven Hubbard, sitting on one of the benches, said he 'hated' the revamped layout. 'It's too much cement, and they took away the greenscape,' Hubbard said, adding that the city needs more shade and trees. 'It's horrible.' But Crystal Rodgers, an archivist at the Boston Public Library, which faces the park, said she was 'mostly happy about it.' Advertisement When she moved to the city in the summer of 2022, the renovated section of the park was an 'unusable patch of grass,' she said. Now, there are more places to sit, Rodgers said, but she wishes there was 'a little more green footprint.' It seems everybody has an opinion on Copley Square's new look. 'Like many Bostonians, I was shocked to see the 'new' Copley Plaza, consisting of mostly barren open space. It is grey, barren and soulless and looks like a skateboard park,' Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft said in a statement last month. 'Where are the trees and green space, and more importantly, did the community have input here?' Mayor Michelle Wu 'needs to explain what happened,' Kraft said. On social media, several users slammed the makeover with some saying the park would've been better left untouched. Advertisement WHERE IS THE GRASS!! Why did it take 2 years to just pave everything over 😭 Copley Square Park, as it's officially known, partially Renovations began in July 2023, and the northeast triangle, between Trinity Church and Boylston Street, opened on New Year's Day this year. The fountain, lawn areas, and perimeter sidewalks are slated for In response to criticism of the new design, the city said the parts of the park that have yet to open will be the greenest. 'Copley Square Park's renovation is ongoing and in the final phase of the project, set to be completed by the end of 2025,' a spokesperson for the city said in a statement. The city gathered feedback from more than A lack of green seemed to be the most common complaint from visitors of the recently reopened portions of the square, which was designed by the firm Drafting the redesign began 'The resulting plan by Sasaki prioritizes accessibility, flexibility, and year-round functionality, ensuring that Copley Square remains a welcoming and sustainable public space for generations to come,' the city spokesperson said. Meg Mainer-Cohen, president of the Back Bay Association, attended the project planning meetings. Some of the city's thinking behind the redesign was to make the square more suitable for special events, she said. Advertisement Grass is easy to damage with overuse, she said, and the city wants more gatherings and community events to take place in the The square already is used to host First Night, staging for the Marathon and farmers markets. It is also sometimes is the site of public protests. 'This is such an important location, for the voice and entertainment of the public ... it's where people come to protest and voice concerns about things that are happening on a local, national, and international level,' she said. Mainer-Cohen also said the green space is going to be closer to the church, the area that is still under construction. The city did plant new trees, but they are 'harder to see because they're brand new' and 'acclimating to their new space,' she added. 'This is a space trying to evolve to the underlying needs and uses of the community while simultaneously having expanded trees,' she said. But Martyn Roetter, chair of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, said he worries the city is too focused on making it an event space. 'Our impression was that Sasaki and the city were pushing to turn Copley Square into a venue, like a smaller version of City Hall Plaza,' he said. The associations had advocated for a less costly repair project estimated at $4 million to $5 million. According to the city's final plan, the new Copley Square design aims to balance large events as well as everyday public use. Advertisement 'I think it's important for us to think about the role that our public spaces can have in creating the community events that strengthen our fabric as Bostonians,' Mainer-Cohen said. Emily Spatz can be reached at
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A New IRS-ICE Agreement Could Reduce Tax Revenue by $300 Billion Over the Next Decade
Earlier this month, the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) forged an agreement to share taxpayer data with federal immigration officials. According to a partially redacted memorandum of understanding, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) "will come to the IRS with the names and address[es] of taxpayers that they believe have violated federal immigration laws," reported CNN. The government has long encouraged undocumented immigrants who work in the United States to file their taxes. But the new agreement means that someone who pays his taxes in good faith could attract unwanted scrutiny and be at greater risk of deportation. Between 50 percent and 75 percent of undocumented immigrants pay taxes via federal income and/or payroll taxes, the Congressional Budget Office found in 2007. Undocumented immigrants are required to pay taxes, and doing so can help in their immigration cases down the line. The IRS has long "sought to keep information submitted by undocumented immigrants confidential," so the IRS-ICE agreement marks "a fundamental departure from decades of practice at the tax collector," reported The New York Times. If the agreement between ICE and the IRS discourages undocumented immigrants from paying their taxes, the U.S. could lose billions in tax revenue. In 2022, undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a left-leaning economic think tank. Over one-third of those tax dollars "go toward payroll taxes dedicated to funding programs that these workers are barred from accessing," including Social Security and Medicare, reported ITEP. The Budget Lab, a nonpartisan policy research center at Yale University, estimates that the IRS-ICE agreement could cause federal revenues to "come in roughly $300 billion lower" over the next decade. In addition to becoming more hesitant to file their individual income taxes, undocumented immigrants might increasingly take under-the-table jobs. Undocumented immigrants now have to weigh the risks of filing their taxes against the risks of not filing them. On one hand, the IRS could transmit their personal information to federal immigration authorities, potentially leading to their arrest and deportation. On the other hand, "failing to file taxes can have serious consequences, from penalties for tax evasion to negative impacts on immigration cases—including naturalization applications," wrote Steven Hubbard and Micaela McConnell for the American Immigration Council, a pro-immigration research organization. "This will be a targeted agreement that will go specifically after individuals who do perpetuate violence and enact crimes in this country," said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem last week. (That undersells how broadly the agreement may be applied.) Noem also stressed that "the American people need to be confident in the fact that their personal privacy will be protected." But increased data sharing between federal agencies always carries privacy risks. "If you are a U.S. citizen, your sensitive tax data could also be compromised by this short-sighted policy," argued immigration attorney Maurice Goldman. There's another major potential cost that native-born Americans could face: Immigrants, including undocumented ones, play an important role in reducing federal budget deficits and propping up programs like Social Security. With over $28 trillion in publicly held debt, the last thing the country needs is a policy that scares undocumented immigrants out of paying taxes—and punishes them for doing something the government has encouraged them to do for decades. The post A New IRS-ICE Agreement Could Reduce Tax Revenue by $300 Billion Over the Next Decade appeared first on
