Criminal Justice

Three ballot measures test whether California voters endorse criminal justice reforms or believe they've gone too far.

AB 1950 would reduce probation to one year for a misdemeanor and two years for a felony, time period restrictions that research shows makes sense.

Bills sent to the governor will lead to fewer senseless arrests and fewer people unnecessarily sitting in prison and jail, while saving the state money.

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.

In a year when the coronavirus pandemic upended every aspect of normal life, the impact in the California Capitol was also dramatic. Lawmakers took an unprecedented two-month pause in the spring, when Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide order for people to stay home to prevent the spread of the virus. They returned to the […]

California’s patchwork reentry system is scrambling to find housing and services for former inmates. “What this pandemic has done is highlight the inadequacies in the system,” said one program director.

For generations, order and cleanliness had been Christina Lastra’s family’s way of fighting off poverty. But the day in July 1991 when her mother’s mysterious death was ruled an accident marked the end of the orderly life Lastra had been leading in Humboldt County. “We didn’t get peace. No one ever even thought of looking […]

The Elevate Justice Act would raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction from 17 to 19, producing effective changes for youth in the adult justice system.

A “Yes” vote on Proposition 25 means replacing a money bail system that criminalizes poverty with a fair system that assesses each individual’s public safety risk.

It almost sounds like kindergarten: Sit down and talk about what you did wrong. But these neighborhood courts are for adults — and aim to reduce incarceration and reimagine criminal justice.