Justice

The state’s prisons are no longer a world rehabilitation model, but Stockholm Prize winner Francis Cullen says the system could return to greatness.

Newly acquired state data shows that the Corrections Department transferred patients with serious mental illnesses an average of five times over a six-year period, underscoring a CalMatters’ investigation this year that revealed the practice and raised questions about the harm it could cause.

In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in Minnesota at police hands, California stepped up with a plan: Put the state in charge of investigating police shootings of unarmed people. CalMatters is tracking these cases and, so far, the Justice Department is struggling to keep up.

Unlike the U.S. Supreme Court, California’s highest court is more obscure and rarely issues polarizing opinions.

Gov. Gavin Newsom rejected legislation that would have made the nation’s most wide-ranging changes to solitary confinement.

“Red flag” laws have been slow to take off in many places, but San Diego’s program shows how advocates hope gun violence restraining orders can be used to prevent tragedy.

A bill before Gov. Gavin Newsom would force prosecutors to seek a judge’s approval to introduce rap lyrics to a jury.

A new report from a prisoners’ advocacy group finds Kings and Shasta counties have the state’s highest rates of residents incarcerated for crimes.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has nominated sitting Supreme Court justice Patricia Guerrero to be the high court’s chief justice. She would be the first Latina chief in a state where Latinos are under-represented on the bench.

Texas put a bounty on abortion providers and California did the same for illegal gun sales. But bounties have a long and troubled history — and critics say bringing them back is not a good idea.