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December 31, 2025
Prison Policy

The Menendez Brothers, Part 3: the Myth of the Model Inmate

December 30, 2025
Prison Policy

The Menendez Brothers, Part 2: How discipline plays an outsized role in CA parole decisions

December 30, 2025
Prison Policy

What the Menendez Brothers Parole hearings tell us about prison discipline, Part 1

December 29, 2025
#NoSafePlace

Is LA County’s women’s jail still an unsafe place for women to be? A new lawsuit says YES

December 28, 2025
#Oversight

LASD Oversight Part 3: LA County’s Inspector General has announced his retirement. But he has a lot more to tell us re: The struggle to provide genuine oversight for the nation’s largest sheriff’s department,

December 17, 2025
American Voices • Life and Life Only • Writers and Writing

Losing Joe McGinniss: December 9, 1942 – March 10, 2014

March 12, 2014
1 Comment

Journalist/author Joe McGinniss died unexpectedly on Monday, March 10. He’d been battling...

Death Penalty • Education • Innocence • Juvenile Justice • LA County Board of Supervisors • School to Prison Pipeline • Zero Tolerance and School Discipline

Fixing the “Truancy Crisis,” NYC Art Program Diverts Teen Taggers, Exonerated After 30 Years on Death Row…and More

March 12, 2014
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KEEPING CALIFORNIA KIDS IN SCHOOL AND ON TRACK On Monday, California Attorney General Kamala...

2014 Election • Innocence • Paul Tanaka • Prison • Prison Policy • Prosecutors • Sentencing

Big Problems With Idaho’s Private Prison…. A New Sheriff Candidate Debate!….CA Needs Sentencing Reform…Out of Control Prosecutors…..& Paul Tanaka Has a Plan – UPDATED

March 11, 2014
12 Comments

FEDS INVESTIGATE AWFUL PRIVATE IDAHO PRISON (ARE YOU LISTENING CALIFORNIA??) The FBI has launched...

LASD • Sheriff Lee Baca

WitnessLA on “Deadline LA” Monday at 3 pm, KPFK 90.7 FM

March 10, 2014
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Today, Monday, I’ll be on Deadline LA with Barbara Osborn and Howard Blume at 3 pm. You can...

CDCR • LA County Board of Supervisors • LA County Jail • LASD • Mental Illness • Prison • Reentry • Restorative Justice • Sheriff John Scott

Program Helps Kids in CA Lockup Repay Victims While Learning a Trade…LASD to Propose Early Release Risk Assessment Program…Sheriff Candidate Updates…and More

March 10, 2014
34 Comments

PROGRAM IN CALIFORNIA YOUTH FACILITY ALLOWS KIDS TO LEARN TECH INDUSTRY WHILE EARNING MONEY AND...

Charlie Beck • LAPD • Life and Life Only

Heartbreak Over Death of LAPD Officer Nicholas Lee

March 8, 2014
9 Comments

The word first went out at around just before 9 am Friday morning that an LAPD officer had been...

CDCR • Innocence • LASD • Solitary

More on the NY Mag Prisoner Hunger Strike Story, LASD Inspector General Wants Town Hall Meetings, a Rundown on Sheriff Candidates…and More

March 7, 2014
1 Comment

NPR’S FRESH AIR: HOW CALIFORNIA’S LARGEST PRISON HUNGER STRIKE WAS COORDINATED On...

2014 Election • ACLU • LASD • Prison • Prison Policy • Prosecutors

The First Debate Between Sheriff’s Candidates, Rikers Island & Solitary, San Diego Prosecutors Admit to Cheating, Raising $$ for the Sheriff’s Campaigns… & More

March 6, 2014
40 Comments

THE ACLU AND THE LEAGUE OF WOMAN VOTERS ANNOUNCE FIRST BIG DEBATE BETWEEN CANDIDATES FOR LA COUNTY...

FBI • LA County Jail • LASD • Pandora's Box • Paul Tanaka • Sheriff Lee Baca

3 Indicted Deputies Say Baca & Tanaka Gave Orders to Hide Informant Anthony Brown—& Other LASD Deputies Smuggled in Drugs for Sales in LA Jails

March 6, 2014
54 Comments

A motion filed Tuesday, March 4, in federal court seeks to dismiss criminal charges against three...

LASD • Sheriff Lee Baca

More Radio: WLA on KPFK with Jon Wiener at 4 pm, 90.7 FM

March 5, 2014
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At 4 pm Wednesday (actually more like 4:40 pm), I will be on KPFK (90.7 FM) with the excellent and...

Charlie Beck • LA County Board of Supervisors • LAPD • LASD • Obama • Race & Justice • School to Prison Pipeline • Zero Tolerance and School Discipline

LA Supe Molina Asks for LASD Internal Investigation Files…Breaking Out of Men’s Central Jail Cells…One Problem with “My Brother’s Keeper”…and More

March 5, 2014
6 Comments

LA SUPERVISOR MOLINA REQUESTS LASD FILES ON USE OF FORCE INSTANCES Los Angeles County Supervisor...

LASD • Sheriff Lee Baca • Uncategorized

WitnessLA on KABC 790 With Peter Tilden at 10 p.m.

March 4, 2014
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A QUICKIE NOTICE… I’ll be on Peter Tilden’s show tonight, Tuesday, a on KABC 790...

CDCR • Criminal Justice • Death Penalty • Foster Care • How Appealing • Human Rights • Prison • Prison Policy • Solitary • Supreme Court

After Brief Sunshine, Darkness Again at LA Family Court….Mental Retardation and the Death Penalty…Alabama’s Women’s Prison Problem….& More

March 4, 2014
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FAMILY COURT, WHERE FOSTER CARE CASES ARE DECIDED, IS CLOSED TO PRESS AGAIN IN AN APPELLATE COURT...

CDCR • Education • Foster Care • Juvenile Justice • LGBTQ • Obama • Prison • School to Prison Pipeline • Zero Tolerance and School Discipline

Fighting Zero-Tolerance in a North Carolina County…Why States Turn to Private Prisons…Foster Kids’ Need for Consistent Education…and Disney Cuts $$ to Boy Scouts Citing Anti-Gay Policy

March 3, 2014
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“MISSION CRITICAL” DOCUMENTARY FOLLOWS KIDS BEING PUSHED THROUGH THE...

LASD • Obama • Paul Tanaka • Race & Justice • School to Prison Pipeline • Sheriff Lee Baca • Supreme Court

Obama Launches Initiative to Help Minority Boys and Men, This Week at the Supreme Court, ALADS’ Sheriff Candidate Debate, and an Open Letter from Paul Tanaka

February 28, 2014
54 Comments

HELPING BOYS AND YOUNG MEN OF COLOR BREAKING FREE OF THE SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE On Thursday...

Innocence • LA County Board of Supervisors • LASD • LGBTQ • Paul Tanaka • Sheriff John Scott • Solitary

LASD News Roundup, the Post-Release Life of the Exonerated, Solitary Confinement Debate Gains Steam…And More

February 27, 2014
24 Comments

AN LASD CAMPAIGN WEBSITE PRANK When Assistant Sheriff Jim Hellmold and Long Beach Police Chief Jim...

FBI • LA County Jail • LASD • Los Angeles County • Paul Tanaka • Sheriff John Scott • Sheriff Lee Baca

DOWNFALL: Lee Baca, Paul Tanaka & the LASD

February 26, 2014
53 Comments

DOWNFALL: FORMER SHERIFF LEE BACA, HIS SECOND IN COMMAND PAUL TANKA AND THE STORY OF HOW THINGS AT...

Criminal Justice • LA County Board of Supervisors • LASD • Pretrial Detention/Release • Probation • Realignment • Reentry

Contra Costa Does Realignment Right….Supes Take Small Step Toward Civilian Oversight for the LASD….LA County’s Problematic GPS Monitoring….Justice Reform: the Good & the Bad News….

February 26, 2014
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CAN CONTRA COSTA COUNTY TEACH THE REST OF CALIFORNIA HOW REALIGNMENT SHOULD BE DONE? Yes, Contra...

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