Justice

If feds try to ID deportable immigrants using Cal data, state will block access

Ever since Maribel Solache began teaching her own version of driver’s ed in Spanish two years ago, the classes—held around San Diego County —have been jammed. She estimates she’s helped some 3,000 students earn their licenses. But lately, apprehension has smothered that enthusiasm. En espanol: Para leer este articulo en espanol click aqui. “More people […]

By

Elizabeth Aguilera

• December 7, 2016

Elections

Who decides how minors are tried? Prop. 57 would change the answer

The scene that greeted Raymond Aguilar in his old Stockton neighborhood on his release from prison four months ago was too familiar: boarded-up windows, liquor stores, prostitutes and gang members walking the streets. Twenty-five years had passed since his conviction for second-degree murder, and nothing had changed. “Not a lot of money is being spent on the community,” […]

By

Minerva Canto

• November 2, 2016

Politics

Will state ban property seizure from people who aren’t criminals?

In civil liberties circles, she is known by the pseudonym of Elizabeth James—a retiree from the phone company who was contemplating a cross-country trip with her machinist husband. The two had worked for decades, raising two children and caring for her developmentally disabled sister, who lived in a home the couple had bought and remodeled […]

By

Glen Martin

• September 1, 2016

Politics

Judging the judges: Recalls may become easier, but is that better?

The reaction has been swift, viral and unrelenting. Shortly after Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky sentenced ex-Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner to only six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, the victim’s emotional 12-page court statement drew 13 million readers online, and a cyber-petition demanding the judge’s removal garnered well over a million signatures. […]

By

Katherine Seligman

• August 25, 2016

Politics

What to disclose when an abused child nearly dies

How much information should be available to the public in cases of severe child abuse? California lawmakers and the administration of Gov. Jerry Brown have been at odds over that question for the last two years. Legislators recently rejected a proposal to limit public access to reports on abuse so extreme that children nearly die. […]

By

Laurel Rosenhall

• June 7, 2016

Justice

California crime on the rise

After a decades-long decline in violent and property crime, early indications from cities across California point to a significant increase in lawbreaking. In California’s 68 largest cities, violent crime jumped 11 percent in the first six months of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. Among major U.S. cities, three California cities saw the largest […]

By

Matt Levin

• March 23, 2016