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Civil Liberties

May your 4th of July weekend be a safe one, and may you find joy in these strange times.

July 4, 2025
#JusticeBriefs

Three judges from the 9th Circuit weigh in on the Trump v. Newsom battle over CA’s National Guard

June 20, 2025
#NoSafePlace

LA County Pays $2.7 million to teenager who was the victim of “Gladiator” fights at youth hall

June 5, 2025
Journalism Awards & Prizes

WitnessLA is a finalist for SoCal Journalism Award!

June 1, 2025
#JusticeBriefs • #QuickTakes

The Case of the Vanishing Editor

May 30, 2025
#YouthJusticeReimagined • LA County Probation • LA Probation Oversight Commission • Probation • Unsuitable 4 Youth

Probation Moving Incarcerated Kids Out of “Unsuitable” Juvenile Hall After Court Approval, But Oversight Commission Says Simply Relocating Kids Won’t Solve Root Problems

May 29, 2025
Alex Villanueva

Are Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s “criminal investigations” of so-called adversaries chilling oversight of the LASD? A report says yes.

July 15, 2021

An alarming new report was introduced during the last few minutes of the virtual meeting of the...

#SafetyIssues

Low-Income People of Color Bear Brunt of Rising Pedestrian Deaths (including in Los Angeles)

July 12, 2021

Los Angeles traffic took a giant dive in 2020, But traffic violence and deaths on LA's streets did...

#MeTooBehindBars

No Safe Place: When LA County Probation officials got reports that a staff member sexually assaulted a teenager, why did they fail to protect her?

July 8, 2021
13 Comments

In mid April, 2019, a teenage girl who was a resident at LA County Probation's Central Juvenile...

Death Penalty

Nationwide, the death penalty continues to decline despite the former president’s execution spree

July 6, 2021

As WitnessLA readers know, last week, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland  instituted a...

#MeTooBehindBars

Watch for an important new #MeToo Behind Bars story later this week

July 6, 2021

We have a new and disturbing story coming on Thursday of this week that is part of...

Life and Life Only

Happy 4th of July, 2021

July 4, 2021

We wish you a joy-filled 4th of July as we honor that day in the summer of 1776 when the remarkable...

Death Penalty

US Attorney General Merrick Garland places a moratorium on scheduling federal executions

July 1, 2021
1 Comment

On Thursday, July 1, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Attorney General Merrick...

Women and Justice

Troubling Rise in Jail Deaths Nationally, While U.S. Jail Population Becomes More Female

June 29, 2021

In a new report by the Prison Policy Initiative, research analyst Leah Wang, points to recently...

Alex Villanueva

Do Threats, Extortion, & Ongoing Failure-to-Cooperate Make Civilian Oversight of the LA Sheriff’s Department Completely Impossible?

June 28, 2021

"The list of lawful orders that the sheriff has disobeyed gets longer every day," said a very...

Sentencing Reform

The U.S. Supremes will decide whether or not to hear three significant cases having to do with sentencing reform

June 27, 2021

Sunday, Douglas A. Berman at Sentencing, Law, and Policy reminded those of us who are watching...

Indigenous rights

How Federal policy has failed to protect Indigenous women

June 21, 2021

U.S. attorneys prosecuted about 60% of crimes reported on Indian reservations; 65% of the cases...

Race & Justice

Happy Juneteenth!

June 19, 2021

On this first Juneteenth since it officially became a federal holiday, we chose the irreplaceable...

Columns, Op-Eds, & Interviews

Op-Ed: The Case for Defunding the Police & What That Really Means

June 18, 2021

Crisis responders use de-escalation tactics and peer support to resolve conflict, instead of guns...

Columns, Op-Eds, & Interviews

Op-Ed: She Reached Out for Help and Got Her Kids Taken Away

June 16, 2021

She told the officers the truth. Yes, she had survived multiple instances of domestic violence from...

Human Rights • Immigration & Justice

AG Merrick Garland Restores Asylum for Women, Families, and others Facing Domestic Violence, Gangs, & Similar Threats

June 16, 2021

On Wednesday, June 16, Attorney General Merrick Garland took what justice advocates are calling...

#YouthJusticeReimagined • DJJ Watch • Youth Justice: Healing Not Punishment

Closing CA’s youth prisons the right way means adequately funding oversight of youth justice “realignment” to the counties

June 15, 2021

Last fall, when Governor Newsom signed SB 823 into law in order to gradually close...

Justice Watch

Justice Wins Big at the Pulitzers

June 14, 2021

The Pulitzer Prizes were announced on Friday, June 11, at 1 p.m. Eastern, and for those who were...

Alternatives to Incarceration

“Racially Charged: America’s Misdemeanor Problem,” a new film on the damage done by the nation’s lowest level criminal charges

June 10, 2021

The U.S. has a misdemeanor problem. Misdemeanor charges make up over 80 percent of the criminal...

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Editor’s Selections

  • Criminalizing California’s Foster Kids
  • Los Angeles County’s Youth Probation Camps Have a...

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