The entrance to a private detention facility in Otay Mesa in San Diego County. (Photo: Simone Hogan, via Shutterstock)OPINION: The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare numerous issues related to health, equity and justice in our state. One of the most dire circumstances highlighted by the pandemic are the deadly conditions faced by those in immigrant detention facilities in California.
Photo illustration of a voter's reminder for the Nov. 3, 2020 general election. (Image: Prostock-studio, via Shutterstock)Qualifying a proposition for the ballot – much less convincing millions of voters to support it – is always a Herculean task. In the best of times, it requires a near limitless supply of money, talent and luck. Nobody right now thinks we are in the best of times. Many months now into the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of people instead feel trapped inside a George Orwell novel.
A researcher handles a liquid nitrogen bank containing suspended stem cells. (Photo: Elena Pavlovich, via Shutterstock)OPINION: In our new financial reality, our state and you as voters are faced with tough decisions. Come November, you will decide the fate of California’s stem cell institute. This decision has never been more important to the future of California’s health care, for the patients and their families, than it is now.
State Attorney General Xavier Becerra addresses reporters in Sacramento. (Photo: AP/Rich Pedroncelli)California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who has filed 40-plus lawsuits against the Trump Administration, has been a darling of many California Democrats. Now he finds himself in a court fight against some of his admirers.
The execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison. (Photo: Wikipedia)OPINION: Democrats ask that as California Gov. Jerry Brown leaves office he provide mercy to California’s 739 death row inmates. The governor of California has the power to issue pardons, commute sentences or grant clemency to individuals convicted of crimes in the state. The state Legislature does not review this power.
A ready-to-eat meal kit. (Photo: Process, via Shutterstock)OPINION:Across the Sacramento region, color-coded placards tell diners whether a restaurant passed a food safety inspection. In some counties, you can even use a smartphone app to check an eatery’s safety rating before you head to dinner. But for meal kits delivered to our homes from services like Blue Apron, safety standards can be as opaque as the cardboard box the food arrives in.
The execution chamber at San Quentin PrisonRon Briggs was always an ardent supporter of the death penalty. His father John Briggs, former state assemblyman and senator, was a driving force behind a 1978 initiative that expanded the list of special circumstances required for a death sentence. But today, Ron Briggs is one the biggest opponents of capital punishment. He campaigned for Proposition 62, which would have ended the state’s death penalty and was rejected by voters this month.
San Quentin state prison, home of California's death row, which currently holds nearly 750 inmates. (Photo: Mark R., via Shutterstock)Field Poll: Proposition 62, the initiative to repeal the death penalty in California and replace it with life in prison without the possibility of parole, is narrowly supported by likely voters. The latest Field-IGS Poll finds 48% of likely voters saying they intend to vote Yes when presented with the official ballot summary that voters will see when voting on Prop. 62 in the November election.
A vaccination in progress. (Photo: Komsan Loonprom)At least three lawsuits have been filed seeking to overturn California’s new law that prevents children from attending public or private school or day care without getting mandatory vaccinations.
The execution chamber at San Quentin prison. (Photo: CDCR)Will November mark the death of the death penalty? This fall, Californians will be asked yet again whether they would like to abolish capital punishment. Voters last faced the issue in 2012, a presidential election year, and rejected the idea.