Justice

As California has faced its most devastating wildfire season on record, nearly a third of the people on the frontlines have been state prisoners. Despite their firsthand experience, many incarcerated people couldn’t become firefighters after being released. A new California law aims to change that and make it easier to hire formerly incarcerated firefighters. Until […]

In response to nationwide protests following the Minneapolis killing of George Floyd, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two new policing laws aimed at improving police practices in California. Starting Jan. 1, California will have its first statewide policy banning police from using a couple of neck restraints: carotid restraints, which temporarily cut off blood flow to the […]

More than 7,500 prisoners sent home in the program — which aims to slow the spread of COVID-19 — would have been released within months anyway. Thousands with health conditions remain in prison, and the virus keeps spreading.

The virus is surging in California's overcrowded prisons as early releases slow. And county jails are struggling with a backlog of inmates awaiting transfers to state facilities.

California voters rejected the Legislature’s decision to end cash bail. While it doesn’t mean the end of criminal justice reform, it does signal more work ahead.

Over the last three decades, Californians have swung from “tough on crime” conservatism to a more lenient, less punitive approach to criminal justice. Based on the results of this year’s election, it doesn’t look like the pendulum is swinging back anytime soon. Already the state had gradually eased up on sentencing standards, made it easier […]

Prop. 25 would use algorithms to advise judges on bail decisions. So why are some early boosters having second thoughts?

The state’s Division of Juvenile Justice will no longer accept newly convicted young people after July 2021 in a shutdown quickly signed off on by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Tens of thousands of people convicted of misdemeanors would have their DNA stored. District attorneys disagree about whether it would help solve violent crimes.