Justice | CalMatters

Police hold their clubs as they form a line in front of supporters of President Donald Trump on Election Day in Beverly Hills on Nov. 3, 2020. Red states such as Florida and Georgia lead the way in decertifying officers with past problems, while there is no decertification in two of the bluest and biggest in the country – California and New Jersey. Photo by Ringo H.W. Chiu, AP Photo

Fired: California bill aims to decertify police for serious misconduct

by Robert Lewis July 26, 2021July 27, 2021

California is one of only four states without the power to permanently remove law enforcement officers from their jobs. Democrat lawmakers are trying to change that.

Hundreds of Britney Spears fans and supporters rallied in support of ending her 13-years-long conservatorship and the removal of her father, Jamie Spears, as her conservator, at the Los Angeles County Superior Courthouse on July 14, 2021. Photo by Ted Soqui, SIPA USA via AP Images

The Britney effect: How California is grappling with conservatorship

by Jocelyn Wiener July 22, 2021July 23, 2021

Outgunned: Why California’s groundbreaking firearms law is failing

by Robert Lewis July 21, 2021July 27, 2021

Judges stand for a portrait outside the Imperial County Superior Court on April 29, 2021. Photo by Shae Hammond for CalMatters

California judges don’t reflect the state’s diversity — how that could change

by Byrhonda Lyons June 23, 2021June 23, 2021

Will psychedelics become legal in California?

by Marissa Garcia June 10, 2021July 1, 2021

A Spanish-language church marquee is seen next to the Colusa County courthouse on May 25, 2021. According to 2019 U.S. census population estimates, Colusa County is 60% Latino and 27% foreign born, yet all of the judges in the county identify as white. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

In Absentia: No Latino Superior Court judges in these majority-Latino California counties

by Byrhonda Lyons June 8, 2021June 14, 2021

Russell Jeung, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, near the office of Chinese for Affirmative Action in San Francisco Chinatown on May 7, 2021. Jeung is an Asian American Studies professor at San Francisco State University. Photo by Harika Maddala

Inside the California organization tracking anti-Asian hate incidents

by Mallika Seshadri June 7, 2021June 8, 2021

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he has no plans to require prison employees to get COVID vaccines as a condition of employment. Here a condemned inmate is escorted by a guard back to his cell at San Quentin State Prison in this 2016 file photo by Eric Risberg, AP Photo

Newsom won’t require COVID vaccines for prison staff

by Byrhonda Lyons May 14, 2021May 14, 2021

About 57% of staff in California prisons have skipped COVID vaccines. In this image from 2018, inmates pass a correctional officer as they leave an exercise yard at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville. Photo by Rich Pedroncelli, AP Photo

Most prison staff refuse COVID vaccine — should California let them?

by Byrhonda Lyons May 11, 2021May 11, 2021

Kathleen Bils in her San Diego home on May 1, 2021, a year after her son was killed by a sheriff’s deputy. Photo by Ariana Drehsler for CalMatters

Is California’s new police deadly force law making a difference?

by Byrhonda Lyons and Laurel Rosenhall May 11, 2021May 11, 2021