Prisons

Justice

California spent $600 million to house and rehab former prisoners — but can’t say whether it helped

A $100 million-a-year rehabilitation program for former California prisoners grew with little oversight from the state corrections agency. It's unclear how many parolees wind up back in prison.

By Byrhonda Lyons • July 10, 2023

WhatMatters

Is California parole program worth $100 million a year?

California has spent more than $600 million over the past decade to house and rehabilitate parolees in the state’s single-largest reentry program for former prisoners. After all that money, state officials can’t say whether those services were effective in preventing future crime. That’s because the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has not tracked whether […]

By Lynn La • July 10, 2023

WhatMatters

Still waiting on a California budget deal

Legislators, advocates, policy nerds and reporters (including my CalMatters colleague Sameea Kamal) waited all weekend, but the big announcement of a budget deal between Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders never came. Instead, with time running short, bills were put in print that reflect some of the negotiations, even without an overall agreement. Leaders in […]

By Lynn La • June 26, 2023

WhatMatters

More momentum on California rent control

Is the tide turning in favor of California’s renters? Some signs say yes. On Wednesday, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that a San Jose-based developer and property manager must refund more than $331,000 to 20 tenants in overpaid rent. It’s the first use of a 2019 law, explains CalMatters’ housing reporter Ben Christopher, but “it […]

By Lynn La • June 15, 2023

Commentary

How can Gavin Newsom reform California prisons but still allow solitary confinement?

As California reimagines its prison system, a reformer who spent years imprisoned in isolation questions why Gov. Gavin Newsom's agenda has largely sidestepped the issue of solitary confinement.

By Kevin McCarthy • June 7, 2023

Justice

This California town was already dying. Then the state moved to close its prison

California is unwinding the prison-building boom of the 1980s and 1990s. The cuts are falling on small towns that banked on government jobs to anchor their communities.

By Nigel Duara • May 30, 2023

WhatMatters

Advocates: Don’t let L.A. drink from Mono Lake

With the Sierra Nevada snowpack reaching historic levels this year, state officials and residents sounded the alarm that the snowpack melt could trigger “ghost lakes” to expand and cause devastating floods. The rising water levels at Tulare Lake garnered particular attention, prompting Gov. Gavin Newsom to stop by the area in April to discuss emergency […]

By Lynn La • May 30, 2023

WhatMatters

AG Bonta: California police shooting cases will move faster

Although he’s eyeing to one day become California’s governor, for now Rob Bonta is still the attorney general. Today, that means preserving reproductive rights, preventing gun violence, enforcing housing laws — and investigating fatal police shootings of unarmed civilians. CalMatters’ criminal justice reporter Nigel Duara is tracking these cases and recently talked to families who […]

By Lynn La • May 23, 2023

WhatMatters

What the public doesn’t know about California legislative travel

Japan, Portugal, Switzerland — this is just a small sample of the many far-flung locations where California legislators travel, paid for by interest groups and nonprofit organizations. For the sake of transparency, lawmakers must submit trip reports to the Fair Political Practices Commission every year. The groups that pay for the travel, on the other […]

By Lynn La • May 18, 2023

Commentary

Why close Chuckawalla prison when Riverside County doesn’t want the California Rehabilitation Center?

As Gov. Gavin Newsom moves to close at least four California prisons, local officials and state legislators are trying to convince the governor to keep Chuckawalla Valley State Prison open and instead shutter the California Rehabilitation Center in Riverside County.

By Guest Commentary • May 1, 2023