Commentary

Violent offenses such as murder, robbery, rape, and assault are declining. Lower-level offenses, especially petty theft, minor vandalism, and minor status offenses like truancy, show the biggest increases in court dispositions per arrest. Yet lesser offenders are exactly the ones most successfully diverted to community-based and restitution programs.

Big tax increases would be needed to pay for the expansionist goals of Capitol Democrats, but they would be a heavy political lift.

Anyone who has witnessed an execution never forgets it. The memory of August (Boogie Woogie) LaFontaine's death by lethal gas, pushed far back into the darkest shadows of my mind, came to light again with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement of his moratorium on the state’s death penalty, an action taken in four states in recent years.

A collection of commentaries by Dan Walters over the past week.

Some charter parents assert their children’s charter school experience is positive. I can believe it. But sincere charter parents need to understand that while for some students charters can be beneficial, their overall impact on public education is destructive.

David Swerdlin, San Juan Capistrano The best incentive to find solutions to the homeless situation is as follows: That each politician’s family residence house no fewer than three families; the governor house five; politicians in Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and federal elected officials, house four. When viable solutions are implemented, we will move onto finding […]

To a 6-year-old child considering Proposition 187 of 1994, the question was simple: How could a government deny a human being the right to an education or health care just because they didn’t have proper documentation to live in this country?

If community colleges and charter schools should be accountable for academic outcomes, why not public K-12 schools?

Between 2010 and 2017, stolen firearms were used in at least 60 homicides in California, and 203 youths ended their lives because of unauthorized access to a firearm. AB 276 will hold gun owners accountable by requiring all firearms to be securely stored with Department of Justice-approved firearm safety devices.

California's Democratic politicians aren't very democratic when it comes to respecting the will of voters.