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Solitary Confinement Reform and Other Bills May Get a Second Chance in 2024
California Governor Gavin Newsom has until the end of October 14 to sign and veto hundreds of bills that remain on his desk. After the deadline, WitnessLA will publish a roundup of the final status of the important justice bills state legislators passed. Before that final tallying, however, we wanted...
Deconstructing the conviction of Mark Ridley-Thomas: Part 6 – Bail & the landmark case known as Batson
Late Monday, the defense attorneys for Mark Ridley-Thomas filed a 37-page motion requesting bail for their client so that he won’t be in prison while they appeal his case to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. It is up to U.S. District Court Judge Dale S. Fischer, the jurist...
District Attorney Gascón Announces Exoneration of Man Wrongfully Convicted 27-years ago with a false confession: Here’s the story
Tuesday afternoon, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced the release from prison of Gerardo Cabanillas who, in April, 1996, was wrongfully convicted of robbery, kidnapping, and rape. “Today, we acknowledge a grave injustice…” Gascón said. “Upon thorough reexamination of the evidence and a comprehensive...
Suspect is arrested as members of Palmdale Sheriff’s Station & many more continue to grieve for murdered deputy
Approximate 36 hours after the unprovoked attack that resulted in the death of Palmdale Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, members of of the LA County Sheriff’s Department’s Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) took 29-year-old Cataneo Salazar into custody without incident. “The suspect barricaded himself in his house for several hours,” said...
CA bill would shift restitution from juveniles to State
Xochtil Larios entered adulthood with a $3,500 restitution debt to her name after years in the foster and juvenile justice systems. She was determined to move forward, but the restitution debt from a crime she was charged with as a teenager felt insurmountable. The debt impacted her “mentally, physically, financially,...
LA’s dangerous and abuse-ridden Men’s Central Jail sees three more deaths in a single week
WitnessLA gets calls from people inside of the county’s jail system on a semi-regular basis. A great deal of the time, the callers just want to talk to someone. But, in other instances, the jail residents–many of whom are past sources who’ve kept in touch—want know if we can get them some help with problems they are facing inside this or that facility, most particularly Men’s Central Jail.
40 years ago, the US began sending large numbers of kids to prison without hope of release. A former prosecutor looks at how things have changed
A South Carolina judge heard arguments in late May 2023 to reconsider the sentence for Jesse Osborne, who carried out a school shooting in 2016. Fourteen years old at the time, Osborne killed his father, then opened fire at Townsville Elementary School, killing a 6-year-old child and injuring others. He...
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