Justice - CalMatters

A seven-member group of lawmakers, academics and judges is charged with recommending ways to revise California’s penal code. Image via iStock

Criminal justice reform panel scores legislative wins

by Byrhonda Lyons October 1, 2021October 9, 2021

An obscure committee examining California’s penal code saw more than half its recommendations go to the governor. Gov. Newsom signed all the bills.

barbed wire over a prison yard. A federal judge imposed a COVID vaccine mandate on state prison employees in a ruling issued in response to a lawsuit. Image via iStock

Criminal Justice

Judge requires COVID vaccines for California prison guards

by Byrhonda Lyons September 28, 2021October 13, 2021

illustration of car tow lot behind chainlink fence

CHP sidesteps feds to continue 30-day tows

by Byrhonda Lyons September 16, 2021September 16, 2021

San Jose police subdue a man prior to arresting him during a San Jose protest May 29, 2020, over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Civil rights organizations and demonstrators sued the city of San Jose, saying officers used excessive force against protesters. AP Photo/Ben Margot, File Photo

Bill to decertify police for serious misconduct clears Legislature

by Robert Lewis September 9, 2021September 10, 2021

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: New law lets California decertify police for serious misconduct

by Robert Lewis July 26, 2021September 30, 2021

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, 2021August 26, 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