Black Lives Matter

Gov. Gavin Newsom and top California lawmakers pledged to continue combating police brutality and racism after ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted Tuesday of murder and manslaughter charges in the death of George Floyd last summer. But many of the sweeping police reforms promised in the wake of Floyd’s death and nationwide protests stalled […]

Helen Jones knows her work to improve Black lives is a long term project. She firmly believes that voting is one way to ensure change.

Coronavirus, of course, detonated our every expectation of 2020. For the most fortunate, this created room for new pastimes, new priorities. For the least so, it hollowed out holes that can never be filled. Nor was COVID our only profound challenge. There were raging wildfires, again. There was an overdue reckoning with racism, again. There […]

Legalizing duplexes, triplexes and quads in single-family neighborhoods seemed revolutionary a few years ago, but the political landscape has shifted.

Months before Election Day, tensions had been building in Bakersfield between Black Lives Matter supporters and a group of Trump backers calling themselves the 1776 Patriots. They’ve clashed in parking lots, on sidewalks and in the road, leading to three arrests–one of a BLM protester brandishing a firearm, another of a 1776 Patriot openly carrying […]

California prepared for the worst but voters largely were masked and socially distanced, and unrest was limited to isolated protests.

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 […]

Good morning, California. It’s Thursday, October 29. (Yes, I know I said it was September in yesterday’s newsletter; the pandemic has warped my sense of time.) Traditional vs. progressive Beyond the criminal justice propositions on California’s November ballot, the upcoming election will also serve as a barometer for the role Californians think district attorneys should […]

Chief executives of some of America’s largest companies have engaged in a new initiative to advocate for public policy changes to secure equal justice.

A bill on Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk would authorize a reparations study for Black Californians. But a prominent scholar says he hopes California's effort won't detract from the national conversation on redressing slavery.