Investigation

A foggy, empty street runs through a small rural town lined with wooden buildings and power lines. A pickup truck loaded with firewood is parked near a feed and hardware store with a faded sign. Trees with bare branches and forested hills are visible in the misty background.

Investigation

The Man Who Unsolved a Murder

If you’re accused of a crime, will someone investigate your side of the story? In California, there’s no guarantee.

经过

Anat Rubin

• 6 月 5, 2025

A courtroom in San Diego on Oct. 8, 2023. Photo by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters

Investigation

California is failing to provide a vital safeguard against wrongful convictions

If you’re accused of a crime, will someone investigate your side of the story? In California, there’s no guarantee.

经过

Anat Rubin

• 6 月 5, 2025

Black and white photograph of a roadside memorial of a cross, candle and flowers placed at the base of a stop sign in a rural intersection

Investigation

License to Kill

The California DMV routinely allows dangerous drivers with horrifying histories to continue to operate on our roadways. Too often they go on to kill. Many keep driving even after they kill. Some go on to kill again.

经过

Robert Lewis

• 4 月 14, 2025

A black and white photo of a car driving by a giant sign that reads "DMV" and "Department of Motor Vehicles" outside an office.

Show Your Work

How we reported on California’s deadly drivers

A CalMatters investigation finds that the California DMV routinely allows dangerous drivers with horrifying histories to continue to operate on our roadways.

经过

Robert Lewis

• 4 月 14, 2025

A roadside memorial at the base of a palm tree along a rural highway. A white wooden cross with handwritten messages is placed against the tree, surrounded by candles, flowers, photos, and other personal items. A car drives past in the background, showing how traffic continues near the site of the crash. The image documents a space where people are remembering someone who died.

Investigation

7 takeaways: How the DMV allows dangerous drivers to stay on the road

Officials may call driving a privilege, but they treat it as a right — often failing to take drivers’ licenses even after they kill someone on the road.

经过

Robert Lewis

• 4 月 14, 2025

A collage-style illustration in brown and beige tones. The illustration includes cut-out images of a dome-shaped shelter building; a homeless person holding a blue tent; a portrait of a person looking at the camera; rows of red shelter tents and text of complaints about the conditions at shelters. Portions of the text read: "I have black mold all over my walls. I have been exposed to it" and "program staff misusing services and resources intended for guests."

住房

‘A volunteer jail’: Inside the scandals and abuse pushing California’s homeless out of shelters

Shelters have become California’s go-to solution for homelessness. A CalMatters investigation finds the vast majority of residents stay homeless.

经过

劳伦·赫普勒

• 2 月 25, 2025