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Yes, Slavery Is on the Ballot in These States
California banned slavery in 1850, two years before the Thirteenth Amendment outlawed the practice of owning other human beings. Yet as with the U.S. as a whole, the golden state allowed—and still allows—a form of involuntary servitude when it is viewed through the lens of punishment for a crime.
New LASD Whistleblower tells of the sheriff’s budget manipulations, rigged promotions, & an alarming array of other forms of corruption
A new whistleblower lawsuit against the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department in general, and Sheriff Alex Villanueva specifically, was filed Tuesday morning in behalf of Sergeant Vanessa Chow. It begins like this:. “Routine retaliation against whistleblowers did not start in LASD with the current sheriff, Alex Villanueva. Former sheriff Lee...
WitnessLA a finalist for Non-Profit News Award!
Every year the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) selects the winners of the INN Nonprofit News Awards to “honor excellence in journalism, leadership and community service across the field of nonprofit news.”. INN has yet to announce its winners for its 2022 awards. The will occur on September 21,...
More on the LASD Deputy who crashed & left the scene arrested for drunk driving
The Santa Clarita Valley Signal was first to break the news on Friday night that a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy crashed his department SUV into some bushes in the area of Stevenson Ranch, then managed to vanish from the scene before first responders arrived. The deputy, whose name...
Reefer Madness: Riverside County Sheriff’s Office Destroys Home due to… Solar Panels
On August 5, 2021, according to a civil complaint filed in federal court, Riverside County Sergeant Julio Olguin and around 20 deputies dressed in green fatigues and tactical gear used a battering ram to break down the side door of a home in Lake Elsinore, a bedroom community in Riverside County, California.
New LA Innocence Project, Funded by Exoneree, Will Partner With Forensic Scientists to Uncover Wrongful Convictions
Andrew Wilson spent 32 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Now, with a founding donation of $1 million from Wilson, a team of post-conviction attorneys and wrongfully convicted individuals has launched the Los Angeles Innocence Project (LAIP) at Cal State LA. The new program is unique...
After Decades of Fed Oversight, OIG Finds Medical Care at CA’s High Desert Prison “Inadequate”
After two decades of federal oversight of the state’s prison system, medical services at California’s High Desert State Prison still fail to meet constitutional standards, according to a newly released report from the state’s Office of the Inspector General, which provides independent oversight of the state’s prisons.
Nation’s First Standalone Prison Campus Celebrates Graduation
Against the backdrop of ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks and restrictions, Mount Tamalpais College (MTC) students graduated in an in-person ceremony in June at California’s San Quentin State Prison (SQ). Family members and other outside visitors received permission to come to the facility for the June 24 event, which honored the...
Efforts to gather enough valid signatures to put recall of LA DA George Gascón on the ballot fails a second time
Monday afternoon, Dean Logan, Los Angeles County’s Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, sent out a news release stating that his office had “completed the examination and verification” of all 715,833 petition signatures submitted for the recall of District Attorney George Gascón, and that not enough of the signatures were valid to get the recall on the ballot in November of this year.
What question do you wish someone would ask LA DA George Gascón?
WitnessLA—which in this case means me—is interviewing Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón tomorrow, Monday, Aug. 15. I’ve got a long list of questions already. But if any of you have a query that feels pressing, please get it to me tomorrow, Monday, before 10 a.m. by emailing me at celeste@witnessla.com.
College requirements for police forces can save Black lives, but may increase arrest rates
Editor’s Note: On January 1, 2022, Ab 89, the Peace Officers Education and Age Conditions for Employment (PEACE) Act became law in California, setting new requirements for law enforcement recruits. Specifically, the PEACE Act raises the minimum age for new police hires from 18 to 21. This may not be as impactful as it sounds, as fewer than one percent of the state’s law enforcement officers are younger than 21.
LA Grand jury continues its probe into the troubling incident of the neck-kneeling sheriff’s deputy & its cover-up
On August 4, according to Sheriff Alex Villanueva, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department got a subpoena, or multiple subpoenas, asking for the LASD to turn over records pertaining to the case of Deputy Douglass Johnson, who knelt for more than three minutes on the head and neck of jail resident Enzo Escalante, when Escalante was handcuffed and no longer resisting.
Survivors Call on CA Legislators to Expand Access to Victim Compensation to Include Families Impacted by Violent Police Encounters
Victims and advocates are urging California legislators to pass a bill meant to ensure that the families of people killed by law enforcement, as well as individuals whom police seriously injure, are eligible for state-level aid for victims. The bill, SB 299, would prohibit the California Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB)...
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis fires elected state prosecutor for signing a document in opposition to arresting women seeking abortions
Thursday morning, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced he had removed State Attorney Andrew Warren due to “neglect of duty.”. Hillsborough County State Attorney Warren, who has been voted into office twice, is viewed as a “rising liberal leader,” and also has a reputation for working well with law enforcement.
How do grand juries work? What is their role in criminal justice, & how & why prosecutors are using them to investigate efforts to overturn the 2020 election?
When former Los Angeles County sheriff Lee Baca, former undersheriff Paul Tanaka, and other members of the LASD were being investigated for obstruction of justice, and conspiracy to obstruct justice having to do with their part in the 2011 attempt to derail a federal criminal probe into corruption and brutality inside LA County’s jail system, those of us who were trying to figure out who might be indicted and when, got our best clues as to what charges might be upcoming by learning who was testifying in front of the federal grand jury convened for the purpose of the investigations, and what kind of questions witnesses were being asked.
Incomplete data reporting at the start of the pandemic masked a troubling trend in California school suspensions
Over the past decade, California has been making incremental progress toward reducing suspensions and expulsions — which are disproportionately used to punish students of color, low income kids, and kids with disabilities — and replacing reliance on school discipline with restorative justice practices. That progress appears to be...
New police accountability laws up demands on state agencies
California Department of Justice agents realized they were short-handed just hours after a Los Angeles police officer shot and killed an unarmed man on Hollywood Boulevard. A 911 caller told police the man was threatening people on the morning of July 15, 2021, waving what appeared to be a pistol in a busy tourist pocket. The object in his hand turned out to be a lighter with a pistol grip.
Sheriff Villanueva was coming to Monday’s hearing on deputy gangs. Now (predictably) he’s not
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s subpoena saga continues. Here’s the newest chapter in short. This past Friday, July 22, the LA County Sheriff’s information bureau confirmed to Kate Cagle and Spectrum News that Sheriff Alex Villanueva would indeed attend the Civilian Oversight Commission’s latest hearing on deputy gangs to be held on Monday, July 25.
Youth Diversion Programs in LA and SF Offer Kids Accused of Serious Crimes a Chance to Make Things Right
For a little over six months, kids accused of some serious crimes in Los Angeles County have the opportunity to avoid incarceration, court, and convictions through a special youth diversion program that brings kids into a restorative justice process with the individuals they have harmed, and gives victims a voice in the process.
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