Santa Cruz County Crime & Justice Articles

‘You small, pathetic man,’ Gavin Newsom wrote in a Twitter post suggesting he’d pursue criminal charges against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over recent migrant flights to Sacramento.

Programs would dispatch mental health workers, not police.

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.

More than 4 percent of death penalty convicts have been wrongfully convicted, data shows. But courts including the U.S. Supreme Court have failed to provide protections for the innocent facing death at the hands of the state.

The death penalty remains legal in California, but Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a moratorium on executions in 2019. Will capital punishment end in the state? Here’s what’s happening.

By Jennifer Mount Welcome Sergeant Kyle Matson to the San Lorenzo Valley! Matson is our new Sheriff’s Community Policing Sergeant, a role previously held by Sergeant Jason Dunn. Matson comes to SLV after 14 years of policing efforts throughout Santa …

The California Supreme Court has kept the state at the forefront of legal issues surrounding abortion, the death penalty and same-sex marriage, starting in its earliest days in the Gold Rush era.

Fears that violent crime is out of control on the streets of California cities rose after the murder of a well-known tech exec. But what are the facts and do they back up the rising moral panic about crime?

Three mass shootings with at least six fatalities have already taken place in California in 2023, resulting in 25 deaths. Statistically however, California has been below average for the United States in rate of mass shooting deaths.

New multi-use building might be the most interesting space in downtown Santa Cruz

The task force members are discussing monetary and nonmonetary reparations ideas to compensate for slavery and racism. Some say they want policies to prevent future harms against Black Californians.

In a 10-2 decision, a 12-person jury has found Caltrans partly responsible for the 2019 death of 22-year-old pedestrian Josh Howard along Highway 9. In a verdict announced Wednesday afternoon in Santa Cruz County Superior Court after days of deliberation, …

The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday heard arguments in a potential landmark case that could roll back Section 230, the 27-year-old law that protects free speech on social media and other online platforms. Which way were the justices leaning?

Plus, sidewalk vending rules updated.

Google may be forced to sell off its $200 billion online advertising service if a new lawsuit by the federal Department of Justice claiming that Google acts as a monopoly succeeds.

State and local officials are still asking law enforcement to prevent gun violence. Community leaders believe gun violence should be treated as a public health crisis, and incorporate prevention strategies that address the social factors in areas most at risk.

2022 was a year that needed a lot of explaining. And California Local was there. Here are our 10 most important explanatory journalism stories from the year gone by, from immigration to cryptocurrency to wealth inequality and more.

With a flurry of new laws ready to take effect, the Pajaronian took a look at a handful of the more notable ones, which take on several aspects of criminal justice, health services and firearms.  WALKING A FINE LINE Before …

How two UC professors dove into the weed world of Santa Cruz and beyond to explore the future of legal cannabis

Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge loses life to pancreatic cancer