Tahoe Truckee Region Crime & Justice Digest

In rapid-fire votes in suspense file hearings, lawmakers determined the fate of hundreds of bills on crime, transgender students and more.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has closed two state prisons and he has plans to shut two more by 2025. A new contract for correctional officers offers new perks to the guards who stay.

San Francisco isn’t going to take last week’s robotaxi decision by the California Public Utilities Commission lying down. Joined by the city's transit authority board, fire department and board of supervisors, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed motions on Wednesday to halt the unrestricted expansion of autonomous vehicles for commercial use.

As the California Legislature reconvenes for the final five weeks of its session, the leader of the Assembly Public Safety Committee is under the spotlight. But Reggie Jones-Sawyer isn’t backing down.

Locally elected sheriffs manage California jails and are responsible for the safety of the inmates they hold. Record deaths in San Diego’s jail are shaping a plan for new statewide oversight.

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to make prisons a friendlier place for inmate families. An updated strip-search policy has some worried that families will face intrusive encounters during their visits.

Two recent reports on sexual harassment complaints filed against Cal State employees conclude inconsistent data collection makes it difficult to determine a reliable number.

The Biden administration’s app rule makes it harder for migrants to assert a right to asylum, advocates say. Lawsuits are sparking debate about immigration control, safety.

Thousands of Californians died from opioid overdoses in 2021. In response, many communities are making it easier to obtain life-saving overdose reversal drugs while some families are calling for tougher criminal penalties for fentanyl dealers.

California’s experimental new program targets methamphetamine addiction by rewarding patients with gift cards for negative drug tests.

Thirteen Republican state attorneys general have sent a cautionary letter to the CEOs of the 100 largest U.S. companies, highlighting the potential legal ramifications of using race as a factor in employment practices.

After several high-profile sexual harassment cases, Cal State needs more training, staff and outreach to students and employees, an outside firm concludes.

California lawmakers tried nine times to stiffen penalties for trafficking of a minor. The latest effort appeared to die — until a social media campaign forced Democrats to reconsider.

The number of reported hate crimes increased 22 percent in California in 2021. Following a model from Los Angeles County, state leaders launched a statewide hotline and resources.

The first-in-the-nation measure to add caste to state anti-discrimination laws, which passed the state Senate, survives the Assembly judiciary committee. The bill’s author refused to water down the measure further.

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California launched the California Immigration Detention Database, a tool to track complaints filed by immigrants in California detention facilities to seek redress against inhumane conditions.

The new California vs Hate network allows victims and witnesses of hate incidents to report anonymously and receive services. It is a “response to the rise in reports of hate incidents and crimes,” said Kevin Kish, director of the California Civil Rights Department.

A Whittell High School teacher is on administrative leave after he was arrested in a stalking case at Lake Tahoe.

Californians accused of crimes spend an average of five days waiting to see a lawyer. Shortening that time can help them keep their jobs, and spend less time in jail.

Fayçal Ziraoui flew to California from France, believing that the serial killer may have left a rock formation near Hell Hole Reservoir, west of Lake Tahoe in Placer County.

In May, a video featured a young woman named Brooklyn imploring viewers to tell the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation about the importance of EarnIn, part of a relatively new app-based industry that provides cash advances to people based on their wages.

California is considering banning the use of “reverse search warrants,” which compel tech companies to disclose the identities of individuals based on the location of their phone and internet search history. Abortion activists call it vital.

The deadline for bills to pass their first house in the California Legislature has come and gone. Most made it. A few failed. And a handful of intriguing bills that didn’t pass may resurface because their authors aren’t giving up.

In 2020, a fallen tree in Shasta County landed on PG&E energy conductors, which caused a fire that burned 56,338 acres and killed four people. On May 18, a $150 million settlement was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission regarding PG&E's involvement in the Zogg Fire.

The Placer County Superior Court has ruled in favor of Placer County in a lawsuit filed by the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, affirming the county Board of Supervisors’ constitutional authority to negotiate compensation for all county employees.

Newsom is closing and downsizing prisons across the state, putting the future of over a thousand incarcerated students at risk. College administrators say they have few resources to help.

California may be a Democratic stronghold, but it has also become a hotbed of right-wing, white supremacist and antisemitic activity, according to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League. The ADL report found more incidents and collaboration between groups.

David Scott Smith of Somerset and Travis Shane Smith of Folsom—the father and son accused of igniting the Caldor Fire in 2021—are set to make an appearance at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 22 and 23 in El Dorado County Superior Court Department 1.

With reports of scams targeting utility customers at an all-time high PG&E officials share tips with customers to help recognize the signs of a potential scam.

As a continued commitment to fighting the fentanyl epidemic in Placer County, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a proclamation declaring May 9, 2023, as Fentanyl Awareness Day.

South Lake Tahoe's Leanne K. Mayberry is the newest El Dorado County Superior Court judge. Judge Mayberry was appointed to the position by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

In the first ruling on a California gun law since the U.S. Supreme Court reduced the government’s authority to regulate firearms, the Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento upheld a ban on AR-15-style rifles, stating the weapons are “not typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes.”