Prisons

The politically powerful prison guards’ union and Gov. Gavin Newsom have resisted a COVID vaccine mandate, despite growing outbreaks.

Good morning, California. It’s Monday, September 27. Law enforcement resists mandates California is preparing to roll out COVID-19 booster shots even as millions of residents have yet to receive their first vaccine dose and a dearth of rapid coronavirus tests threatens to fuel outbreaks across the state. On Friday, public health experts from California, Nevada, […]

A Stanford University study of the corrections department’s rehabilitation and reentry program shows it should be expanded.

California’s fierce debate around educational equity is about to get a lot fiercer. Today, a state Board of Education commission is set to review public comments responding to a controversial proposal to overhaul California’s math framework for 6.1 million K-12 public school students. The state’s proposed plan — which aims to “counter the cultural forces […]

In 30 of 35 California prisons, fewer than half of workers are COVID vaccinated. Some advocates urge the state to mandate staff shots.

California tripled the number of its prisons during the 1980s and 1990s, but now, as inmate populations drop, it's beginning to shut down some older facilities.

Good morning, California. It’s Tuesday, April 5. CalMatters politics reporter Ben Christopher here, filling in for Emily Hoeven. Emily will be back next week. Rife with indecision and inconsistencies As California nursing homes slowly recover from the COVID-19 siege that killed thousands, the role of state regulators in protecting the frail and elderly has come […]

California's district attorneys are squabbling over whether California should continue to soften criminal penalties.

California has evolved in how it treats victims of sex trafficking. But many victims, most of them Black women, are still sitting behind bars for crimes they committed while being trafficked.

California is testing whether easing up on penalties for crime will result in less crime in the long run.