From CalMatters...
California Empowered Immigrants to Speak Up at Work. Trump Could End Their Protections
11/10/2024California wants to protect witnesses in workplace investigations from deportation, but the Biden administration program for undocumented employees is at risk with Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
From CalMatters...
Will CA Ballot Proposition Mean More Deportations?
10/22/2024With proponents of Proposition 36 raising nearly $15 million so far — about three times as much as its opponents — and 71% of likely voters in support, it appears the statewide ballot measure will pass in November.
And that’s exactly what immigrant rights advocates are worried about.
From CalMatters...
No One Is Fighting a Proposition to Ban Forced Labor in California Prisons. Why It Could Still Fail
10/16/2024Supporters of a proposition to ban forced labor in California prisons believe they have a strong message centered on rehabilitation. But as Election Day nears, polls show it’s a toss-up or trailing.
From CalMatters...
California Collects Millions in Stolen Wages, but Can’t Find Many Workers to Pay Them
10/02/2024The state Labor Commissioner sometimes struggles to get back pay to workers when it reaches wage theft settlements. It tries social media, TV and hotlines. But money owed to employees is still sitting in state accounts.
From The Mercury News...
Election Guide: Proposition 36 Anti-Crime Measure
09/25/2024The Mercury News guide to the anti-crime and ant-drug dealing measure Proposition 36 on the November ballot.
From CalMatters...
UC Approves New Less-Lethal Arms for Its Police Force Amid Protest
09/19/2024The UC Regents approved campus requests for more tools for UC police months after campus protesters clashed with law enforcement.
From CalMatters...
6 Myths About California Crime as Voters Weigh Ballot Measure on Drugs, Retail Theft
09/18/2024Worries about retail theft and fentanyl deaths shaped a November ballot measure that would toughen some criminal penalties. Here are the facts about California crime trends.
From CalMatters...
CA Cities Jump on Homeless Encampment Bans
09/13/2024For five years, California officials responding to the homelessness crisis had to work around one big restriction imposed by the federal courts: Because they didn’t have enough shelter beds, cities generally couldn’t make homeless camps illegal.
From CalMatters...
No Sleeping Bags, Keep Moving: California Cities Increase Crackdown on Homeless Encampments
09/11/2024More than two-dozen California cities passed, strengthened or are considering ordinances that penalize people for sleeping outside, after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed cities to crack down.
From CalMatters...
1 in 6 CHP Jobs Are Vacant — Despite Historic Raises and Newsom’s Hiring Campaign
08/28/2024California Highway Patrol officers received historically high raises in 2022 and 2023, but it continues to face a high vacancy rate of 16%.
From CalMatters...
When Should Police Be Involved at School? A California Bill Would Let Teachers Make the Call
08/25/2024In 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.
From CalMatters...
Newsom’s Hands-on Approach to Crime in California Cities Gains Critics in Oakland
08/25/2024Gov. Gavin Newsom has taken to using state resources to fight crime on a local level. Not everyone in the cities he’s taken an interest in is thrilled with the results.
From The Sacramento Bee...
08/21/2024The Sacramento Bee explains Proposition 6, the initiative to ban involuntary servitude.
From CalMatters...
Gavin Newsom Signs New Retail Theft Laws as Voters Weigh Even Tougher Penalties
08/16/2024Gov. 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.
From The Sacramento Bee...
08/16/2024The Sacramento Bee explains Propisition 36, the anti-crime measure on the November Ballot.
From CalMatters...
CA Democrats Push Retail Theft Bills
08/07/2024Legislators 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.
From CalMatters...
CHP Justifies Its Officers’ Use of Force at Gaza Protests, Without Providing Evidence
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.
From CalMatters...
California Says ICE Detainees Have Labor Rights. They Earn $1 a Day Scrubbing Bathrooms
07/17/2024California failed to ban private detention centers. Now, it’s focusing on their working conditions, for immigrants who toil for $1 a day.
From CalMatters...
California Sent a Mentally Ill Man to a State Hospital. Then It Charged Him $760,000
07/17/2024California 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.
From CalMatters...
If Californians Vote to Ban Slavery This Fall, Will Prisoners Get a Raise?
07/16/2024California 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.
From CalMatters...
How California Laws May Help Shield It From Supreme Court Decisions
07/10/2024After 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.
From CalMatters...
The Supreme Court Took Powers Away From Federal Regulators. Do California Rules Offer a Backstop?
07/09/2024In 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.
From CalMatters...
Gavin Newsom Says Never Mind on CA Crime Measure
07/03/2024Assemblymember James Gallagher speaks during the floor session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on June 13, 2024. Photo by Cristian Gonzalez for CalMatters
From CalMatters...
Supreme Court Gives Cities in California and Beyond More Power to Crack Down on Homeless Camps
06/28/2024The 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.
From The Sacramento Bee...
SCOTUS Rules Cities Can Ban Homeless Camps
06/28/2024The 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.
From EdSource...
A Look at Police dispatches to Schools
06/05/2024EdSource reports that police are dispatched thousands of times per school day across California.
From CalMatters...
Apology for Slavery, Funding Frameworks for Reparations Advance
05/24/2024California lawmakers voted to offer an official apology for the state’s role in supporting slavery and moved several reparations bills but let others die.
From CalMatters...
Should California Doctors Report Domestic Abuse to Police? Here’s How Physician Lawmakers Voted
05/16/2024Pending legislation would lift requirements for California’s doctors to report all domestic abuse cases to police. The Assembly’s three physicians had different opinions.
From Los Angeles Times...
Metal Detectors, Fear, Frustration. College Commencements Altered Amid Gaza War Protests
05/04/2024At 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.
From SF Gate...
After Previously Being Cleared, Three Alameda Police Officers Now Face Manslaughter Charges
04/19/2024The 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.
From Los Angeles Times...
Senate Impeachment Trial Begins for Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas
04/17/2024Alejandro N. Mayorkas, a Cuban immigrant who grew up in California, is the first U.S. Cabinet official impeached in nearly 150 years.
From Los Angeles Times...
TSA Found More Than 1,500 Firearms on Airline Passengers in First 3 Months of 2024
04/11/2024A majority of the guns found were loaded, according to the TSA.