Placer County Local News: Crime & Justice

08/25/2024
In the final week of session, legislators are debating whether to give more leeway to public school teachers when to report students to law enforcement. Supporters say disabled and students of color are unfairly disciplined, but opponents say school safety is at risk.

08/21/2024
The Sacramento Bee explains Proposition 6, the initiative to ban involuntary servitude.

08/16/2024
The Sacramento Bee explains Propisition 36, the anti-crime measure on the November Ballot.

08/16/2024
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed bills that aim to make it easier to prosecute retail theft. He’s asking voters to reject a ballot measure that would impose even tougher penalties.

08/07/2024
Legislators are pushing ahead with a retail theft bill package in their continued opposition of Proposition 36 — a November ballot measure backed by law enforcement groups and Republicans (and some Democrats) that would roll back parts of 2014’s Prop. 47.

07/25/2024
“This doesn’t build public trust. Where is the evidence?” said Jeff Wenninger, a former Los Angeles Police lieutenant who oversaw use of force investigations.

07/17/2024
California State Hospitals can bill patients for the care they receive during confinement. The charges often run in the tens of thousands of dollars, putting vulnerable people in debt for years.

07/17/2024
California failed to ban private detention centers. Now, it’s focusing on their working conditions, for immigrants who toil for $1 a day.

07/16/2024
California courts have long upheld below-minimum wage pay for prison inmates working a wide range of jobs. A 2024 ballot measure that would ban forced labor could alter those decisions.

07/10/2024
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, California’s Democratic leaders moved fast to shore up reproductive rights: They persuaded voters to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution, approved a dozen bills strengthening abortion protections and passed a law in May to enable Arizona doctors to temporarily provide abortion services for their patients in California.

07/09/2024
In three rulings the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a body blow to the federal bureaucracy. From healthcare to climate to workers’ rights, California’s rules often go farther.

07/03/2024
Assemblymember James Gallagher speaks during the floor session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on June 13, 2024. Photo by Cristian Gonzalez for CalMatters

06/28/2024
The Supreme Court 6-3 ruling in the City of Grants Pass v. Johnson case found that the fining and arresting of homeless people does not violate Eighth Amendment rights.

06/28/2024
The ruling by the conservative court majority means cities no longer are prohibited from punishing homeless people for camping if they have nowhere else to go.

06/05/2024
EdSource reports that police are dispatched thousands of times per school day across California.

05/24/2024
California lawmakers voted to offer an official apology for the state’s role in supporting slavery and moved several reparations bills but let others die.

05/16/2024
Pending legislation would lift requirements for California’s doctors to report all domestic abuse cases to police. The Assembly’s three physicians had different opinions.

05/04/2024
At many universities across the country, graduation for the Class of 2024 will feel more like making it through airport security than a procession through a free-flowing campus green or a cheering stadium crowd.