Charlotte Laws

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Charlotte Laws

Charlotte Laws
Born May 11, 1960
Atlanta, Georgia

Charlotte Laws (born May 11, 1960) is an American author, local Los Angeles politician and talk show host, community activist, and animal rights advocate.[1] As a former actress, some of her credits can be found under her Screen Actors Guild name Missy Laws.[2]

Laws is currently serving her second term on the Greater Valley Glen Council[3] in Valley Glen, California. She is the first politician[4] to run on the platform that she represents all beings in her district, not just the humans whom she maintains are the elite.[5] She publicly promotes moving from a democracy to what she calls an omniocracy, a government with representation for all living beings.[6]

In May 2006, Laws was appointed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to serve on the city’s 912 Commission.[7] In 1999, the Los Angeles City Charter mandated that a commission would be formed seven years later to review the progress, successes and failures of the city’s Neighborhood Council system.

She is the founder and president of two organizations: the Directors of Animal Welfare (DAW)[8] and the League for Earth and Animal Protection (LEAP).[9] She also sits on the board of the Center on Animal Liberation Affairs (CALA), a scholarly center created to advance the debate about animal liberation.[10] In 2006, Laws was the recipient of the Los Angeles Animal Humanitarian Award.

In October 2007, Laws became the host of her own Los Angeles TV show called Uncommon Sense. Laws and her guests discuss current events.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Education

Animal rights

Notable activists
Greg Avery · David Barbarash
Rod Coronado · Barry Horne
Ronnie Lee · Keith Mann
Ingrid Newkirk · Alex Pacheco
Jill Phipps · Henry Spira
Andrew Tyler · Jerry Vlasak
Paul Watson · Robin Webb

Notable groups
Animal Aid · ALF · BUAV · GAP
Hunt Saboteurs · PETA
Physicians Committee
Political parties · Primate Freedom
Sea Shepherd · SPEAK · SHAC

Issues
Animal liberation movement
Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act
Animal testing · Bile bear · Blood sport
Covance · Draize test
Factory farming · Fur trade
Great Ape research ban · HLS
Lab animal sources · LD50
Nafovanny · Open rescue
Operation Backfire · Primate trade
Seal hunting · Speciesism

Cases
Britches · Brown Dog affair
Cambridge · Pit of despair
Silver Spring monkeys
Unnecessary Fuss

Notable writers
Steven Best · Stephen Clark
Gary Francione
Gill Langley · Tom Regan
Bernard Rollin · Richard Ryder
Peter Singer · Steven Wise

Films, magazines, books
Behind the Mask · Earthlings
Arkangel · Bite Back
No Compromise
Animal Liberation

Related categories
ALF · Animal testing
Animal rights · AR movement
Livestock · Meat

Related templates
Agriculture · Animal testing
Fishing

This box: view • talk • edit

After completing high school at The Lovett School in Atlanta, Georgia, Laws attended the University of Florida in Gainesville and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She moved to Los Angeles in 1981 and completed bachelor’s degrees in Theatre (1985) and Philosophy (1996) at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). She earned two master’s degrees from the University of Southern California (USC) in Professional Writing (1986) and in Social Ethics (1997), as well as a Ph.D. in Social Ethics (2000). In 2003, she completed post-doctoral coursework at Oxford University, England.

[edit] Acting and writing career

Laws studied acting at the Academy Theatre of Atlanta and the Estelle Harman Actors Workshop in Los Angeles. She worked as a model and actress in movies and television until her late 20's.

In 1988, Laws authored a popular book called Meet the Stars, which details how the average person can succeed in the entertainment industry.[11] She promoted the book on Larry King Live, Oprah Winfrey, The Late Show and over a hundred radio and television shows throughout America and Canada.

From 1997-2000, Laws wrote for the British magazine Mad Dogs and Englishmen and since then has become a syndicated columnist. Her articles on current events, philosophy and social issues have been published in the "Los Angeles Daily News," "E the Environmental Magazine," "Opinion Editorials," "LA Times" and "Newsweek."[12]

[edit] Personal life

Laws was adopted at birth and tracked down her birthparents in her late twenties. She is known for saying, “You can never have too many parents.”[13] Prior to acting and writing, Laws experimented with a number of jobs. She was a cab driver, private investigator, backup singer for an Elvis imitator, nurse, fashion designer, aerobics instructor and antiques shop owner. Laws has also been a licensed Realtor since 1987.[14]

She married English barrister and California attorney Charles Parselle in the 1990’s and has a daughter named Kayla, who is an actress.

[edit] Works

  • Laws, Missy. Meet the Stars. Ross Books, 1988, ISBN 0-89496-002-4.
  • Laws, Charlotte. "Jains, the ALF, and the ELF: Antogonists or Allies?" Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of Mother Earth, edited by Steven Best and Anthony J. Nocella. AK Press, 2006. ISBN 1-904859-56-9.
  • Laws, Charlotte. ARMed for Ideological Warfare. (forthcoming)

[edit] See also

[edit] Further reading

[edit] References

  1. ^ United Press International, "Animal Groups Zero in on pharma," July 26, 2006.
  2. ^ "Internet Movie Database"
  3. ^ Official Poltical Website - Charlotte Laws of Valley Glen
  4. ^ Greater Valley Glen Council members are considered politicians in that they campaign for office, are elected, are part of the city government and make binding decisions regarding taxpayer funds that are entrusted to them. They also fit the official definition of a politician. However, some people would not call them politicians because their decisions are advisory with respect to policy-making, and they receive no compensation for their local political work.
  5. ^ Davidow, Ben."Caged Reality," The Paly Voice, April 5, 2005.
  6. ^ Laws, Charlotte."From Democracy to Omniocracy", Opinion Editorials, March 15, 2005.
  7. ^ "Laws Appointed to the 912 Commission", Studio City Sun, June 30, 2006, p. 5.
  8. ^ Fleck, Denise. "Directors of Animal Welfare: Helping Los Angeles Communities and the Animals that Inhabit them"
  9. ^ "League for Earth & Animal Protection"
  10. ^ "CALA Website"
  11. ^ "Amazon.com Website"
  12. ^ "Biola University Conference"
  13. ^ The Bachelorette Book, April 30, 1998.
  14. ^ Charlotte Laws Fan Club - Acting, Modeling

[edit] External links