San Quentin, photo by Julie Vader via ShutterstockOPINION – As both a survivor of violent crime and someone who has had loved ones who are incarcerated, I commend Gov. Gavin Newsom for his bold new vision for California’s most infamous prison, San Quentin. In words and action, his administration is elevating the urgency to make corrective rehabilitation real in California, and creating
A dining room at the Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, which closed last year. (Photo: CDCR)With California’s prison inmate population flatlining, authorities are pondering the closure of three institutions. But many questions remain. The 2022-2023 state budget notes that there is a possibility of three prison closures during 2024 and 2025, based at least in part in the reduction of California’s prison population to about 94,000 in prisons and camps
Police officers in Los Angeles observe a public protest. (Photo: Matt Gush, via Shutterstock)OPINION: As members of our California communities call for reform, our state legislators have proposed almost two dozen bills aimed at fundamentally changing the practice of law enforcement in our state. Unfortunately, many of these bills were developed overnight, in silos and behind closed doors.
OPINION: As the Legislature hurries to complete its final month of work for the year, the Capitol is humming with activity as legislators present and vote on hundreds of bills, advancing them to the governor’s desk. In the case of each bill, the Legislature’s responsibility is the same: To carefully consider its policy merits and its long-term impacts on regular Californians, our economy and our state’s future.
A jail inmate clutches the bars of his cell. (Photo: Frank60, via Shutterstock)OPINION: The stated mission of this bill is to drastically reduce the number of individuals detained during pretrial. SB 10, written by Sen. Hertzberg, threatens the safety of victims by allowing the elimination of the private bail sector. The bail system in the state is no longer the determining factor. Instead, a computer program that makes a risk assessment of each arrested individual replaces the current system
Photo illustration of a nest egg. (Photo: Hidesy, via Shutterstock)If you don’t give city employees a pension, what happens? San Diegans voted five years ago this month to switch all new city hires, except police, from pensions to 401(k)-style individual investment plans, becoming one of the first big cities to take the plunge.