San Benito County Crime & Justice Digest

Cal State San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism found that hate crimes rose 12.9% between 2022 and 2023. The spike follows a particularly stark increase in crimes against Jewish people.

Sacramento attorney Mark Merin has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family of a man who died in May after being held at the county jail. Other inmates have died in recent years, and the jail is under a federal consent decree to improve its health care.

California correctional officers train like ‘they are going to war’ to work in state prisons. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to transform San Quentin could require a kinder approach.

Sean Loloee, a first-term Sacramento councilmember, has resigned from office—a move that came weeks after he was federally indicted on charges related to his business Viva Supermarkets.

Kern County agrees to better protect free speech in a deal with the state Justice Department—inspired by the county’s’ 2020 squashing of COVID contracts to organizations that advocated defunding police.

A new law, sponsored by Attorney General Rob Bonta, will create a fund designed to fully compensate victims of false advertising or unfair competition.

Under new state laws, five cities will test cameras to catch speeding drivers and cruising bans will be lifted statewide. The first is supposed to improve road safety, but critics of the second say it will endanger the public.

Under two new laws, employers in California can’t ask workers about their use of cannabis outside the workplace and can’t use hair or urine tests. Employees in construction are excluded, as are applicants for federal jobs with background checks.

The 33-year old Mexican-born man—who from toddler age has been a permanent legal resident of California—has reported abuse, unsanitary conditions and threats of force-feeding before his release from immigration detention in April.

Some firefighters and police officers who worked long enough in California to earn pensions are heading to more conservative destinations like Idaho in retirement. Some of these people even run for political office in these places.

Google has agreed to pay $700 million and will make changes to its app store it has resisted for years in order to resolve a lawsuit over whether its app store is an illegal monopoly.

The Exclusive Poultry Inc. agreed to pay $3.8 million in wages, damages and penalties in part for hiring children for dangerous work. The case is one of hundreds federal labor officials investigated last year.

The hearing began Dec. 4, spurred by opposition to the Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital bankruptcy filing from the California Nurses Association and National Union of Healthcare Workers. Judge Stephen L. Johnson will determine the hospital’s eligibility to receive bankruptcy protection.

A new select committee in the California Assembly dedicated to retail theft will hold its first hearing on Dec. 19. This allows the committee to get to work before the next legislative session on an issue that’s drawn much press for California in recent years.

San Benito County Sheriff Eric Taylor told BenitoLink the county auditor’s office discovered “hundreds of thousands” of dollars in misappropriated funds used to purchase merchandise under fraudulent accounts from the San Benito County Free Library.

Hunter Biden, a Malibu resident, is facing nine tax-related charges between the years of 2016 and 2019. It is the second criminal indictment for the son of President Biden, aside from a pending firearms case.

California’s “failure to protect” law allows child welfare agencies to take kids from households scarred by domestic violence. Advocates say the separation can worsen a family’s trauma.

Hackers stole data this week from Blue Shield of California. Historically, this type of data has sometimes wound up for sale on what’s known as the dark web, the part of the internet not typically included in search engine results.

A member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors has asked that the county wait until 2025 to implement pending state policy around conservatorships. The policy, which goes into effect Jan. 1, makes people suffering from severe addiction eligible to receive conservatorships.

Two people in the Los Angeles area have been arrested for stealing $9.5 million worth of electronics, shoes and other items. This comes on the heels of a successful raid where the CHP recovered $9 million more of stolen merchandise.

Families of people in jail or prison sometimes pay exorbitant amounts to accept phone calls from their incarcerated loved ones. Starting Dec. 1, these calls will be free in Los Angeles County.

David DePape had originally targeted Pelosi’s wife, Rep. Nancy Pelosi. He was convicted in federal court on Nov. 16 and still faces state charges.

Ana de Alba, a first-generation Mexican-American who is the daughter of farmworkers, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Alba was confirmed by a 48-43 vote.

A reporter visiting San Francisco from the Czech Republic was held at gunpoint and robbed of $18,000 of equipment. This comes at a time the city has been battling a reputation for being crime-ridden and dangerous.

David DePape admitted during cross-examination both that he attacked Paul Pelosi and that he knew who Pelosi’s wife was, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Center for Food Safety has filed arguments seeking to revoke the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ approval of nationwide permit 56, which authorizes industrial finfish aquaculture structures in ocean waters around the country. CFS represents a coalition of conservation, tribal, and fishing organizations.

Miguel Solorio, 44, has been exonerated for a murder he didn’t commit, with a judge ordering his release from incarceration after 25 years. Solorio worked with attorneys from the Northern California Innocence Project for his freedom.

Some venues in the San Diego area rely on paying workers under the table in cash, for rates that work out below minimum wage, an investigation by Voice of San Diego has found.

An evaluation of 34 adult prisons in California by the Office of the Inspector General found that 11 provided inadequate medical care and 23 provided adequate care. None were deemed proficient, the top designation.

Behavioral Health Management Services Manager Nancy Abellera and Hollister Police Department Officer Staci Esqueda have had success in reducing mental health crisis incidents through the Support, Awareness, Follow-up and Engagement (SAFE) program,

One of the few areas the Supreme Court has agreed on in recent years is free speech. Now, the high court will decide if protections extend to a woman who sued after being cited in 2017 for honking 14 times as she drove by a political protest.

Prison Policy Initiative released a new report that delves into the sheer magnitude of criminalization in the U.S., where reliance on incarceration outpaces most of the globe.