Commentary
Survivors of sexual assault in California prisons should be freed
Prisoners who are sexually assaulted by guards often face retaliation. A survivor argues the safest option is to release them from prison.
Criminal Justice
Justice
5 things to know about California’s backlog of police shooting investigations
Investigations in to fatal shootings by California police take so long that officers often cannot be decertified or charged with most crimes.
Justice
How a George Floyd-inspired California law accidentally weakened police accountability
Investigations into fatal shootings by California police now take so long that officers often can't be decertified or prosecuted, a CalMatters investigation shows.
Justice
In a first, California Supreme Court reverses a death sentence under new racial justice law
A Los Angeles prosecutor likened a Black murder suspect to a Bengal tiger. Decades later, the California Supreme Court found that trope showed unacceptable racial bias.
Investigation
California has a public defender crisis. A new bill seeks to force the state to confront it
Counties would have to report their public defenders' workloads under the proposed legislation.
Justice
Has psychiatric care become a get-out-of-jail-free card in California? The debate is heating up
Californians accused of crimes can receive mental health treatment rather than prison time under a 2018 law. Lawmakers are revamping the rules following reports of violent offenses.
Commentary
California corrections budget benefits more than inmates from prison sports expansion
California lawmakers want to expand organized sports at state prisons, but an incarcerated journalist fears it will benefit the corrections department more than inmates.
Commentary
California’s parole process is already arduous; be careful how you change it
As lawmakers weigh changing elderly parole, a retired parole board officer notes that only 3% of parolees have committed crimes upon release.
Justice
A $7 cheeseburger reopened debate over bail in California. Here’s what the Supreme Court found
A homeless man was arrested after using stolen credit cards to buy a meal and then spent six months in a Bay Area jail. His case triggered a debate over expensive bail.
Justice
Should sex offenders qualify for elderly parole at 50? Lawmakers rush to change rules
The potential release of two men who were convicted of molesting children in the Sacramento region has California lawmakers racing to revise elderly parole rules.