Sacramento County Crime & Justice Digest

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.

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.

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.

The Sacramento Police released a draft military equipment use report for comment at an upcoming public feedback session on July 22.

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

A roundup of how local area cities will adapt to the new Grants Pass v. Johnson ruling by the US Supreme Curt.

California advanced reparations efforts with an initial $12 million in funding included in the 2024-2025 state budget.

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.

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.

EdSource reports that police are dispatched thousands of times per school day across California.

On May 22 the US Senate confirmed Sacramento native Dena M. Coggins as a U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of California which includes Sacramento.

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.

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.

In its April 25 meeting, the Citrus Heights City Council heard a report from the police department detailing efforts to reduce shopping cart theft, noting that over 1,500 carts had been removed from city streets in 2023.

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.

It is the most important Supreme Court case about homelessness in 40 years, advocates say, and has the potential to affect much broader policy.

A Sacramento Superior Court judge has tentatively sided with California Attorney General Rob Bonta over the name of a proposed ballot measure that his office says would “restrict the rights of trans youth.”

The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has charged three East Bay police officers with involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 death of 26-year-old Mario Gonzalez.

Alejandro N. Mayorkas, a Cuban immigrant who grew up in California, is the first U.S. Cabinet official impeached in nearly 150 years.

A majority of the guns found were loaded, according to the TSA.

Thirty years after prisoners with disabilities sued the state of California and 25 years after a federal court first ordered accommodations, a judge found that state prison and parole officials still are not doing enough to help deaf and blind prisoners.

Gun Violence Expert Dr. Shani Buggs Talks Need For More Funding, Diverse Perspectives.

Since the center’s founding, Faith Whitmore and employees have served nearly 27,000 victims, including 13,000 children.

A judge ruled GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene can move forward with their lawsuit against two California cities where rallies were canceled.

The former council member and owner of the Viva Supermarket chain had charges of filing false tax documents and wage theft added to his December indictment.

Leaders from the National Urban League and four California chapters gathered March 13 at the Capitol to lobby for a bill that aims to restrict police from making traffic stops for certain low-level offenses.

California prison officials announced they will move the last 457 condemned prisoners out of San Quentin's death row by summer. They will be transferred to other state prisons and housed in the general population.

Over the weekend the Sacramento Sheriff's Department conducted an operation to combat retail theft in the Sacramento area. 96 people were arrested, with 10 people booked into the county jail. The ages of those arrested ranged from 11 to 62 years old.

After receiving bipartisan support, California Senate Bill 400, legislation intended to increase law enforcement transparency, was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Proposition E broadens police surveillance powers and Proposition F mandates drug screening and treatment for people receiving county welfare benefits who are suspected of drug use.

A report of a 12 month study which ended in February indicates almost half of those cited for drug usage were not residents of the city, leading to questions about city approaches to drug addiction.

Of all the races on your ballot, the least information is often available on local judges. Here are some ways to find out more about these candidates.