• Twitter

wla

Criminal Justice Journalism in the Public Interest
  • Columns & Interviews
  • Series
  • Investigations
  • Bill Watch
  • Youth to Power
  • The California Justice Report
  • About Us
  • Support WitnessLA
#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
#Documented/Undocumented

Undocumented: The Price of the Promised Land

April 30, 2025
COVID-19 & Justice

States Halt Jury Trials Again, Leaving Many Defendants in Jail

December 9, 2020
12 Comments

By: Jenni Bergal, Stateline With the latest wave of COVID-19 sweeping through the country, many...

#YouthJusticeReimagined • COVID-19 & Justice • Youth Justice: Healing Not Punishment

More Than 58 Percent of Kids in LA County’s Juvenile Halls Quarantined for COVID-19 Exposure, as High Numbers of Staff Continue to Test Positive

December 8, 2020
9 Comments

For most of December, the number of youth in quarantine due to their exposure to someone with...

CDCR & COVID-19

California Prisons Still Slammed by Coronavirus, Report 1,445 New Cases in Three Days, Hitting Record High

December 7, 2020
1 Comment

More than eight months into the coronavirus crisis, California’s prison system is full of...

Death Penalty

As Trump & Barr Rush To Execute People, More Than 90 Prosecutors & Law Enforcement Leaders Across the U.S. Say STOP!

December 6, 2020
14 Comments

"When we choose death, it is irreversible: we can never go back and overturn a wrongful conviction...

#YouthJusticeReimagined

Should 14-and-15-Year-old Kids be tried as Adults? New LA DA Gascón says No, as a Case That Could Permanently Decide the Question Goes to CA Supremes

December 2, 2020
28 Comments

On Tuesday, December 1, the California Supreme Court heard a much-watched case having to do with...

#GivingNewsDay

Today Is #GivingNewsDay & WitnessLA Needs Your Help!

December 1, 2020
3 Comments

Today is #GivingTuesday — or #GivingNewsDay as nonprofit newsrooms across America are now...

Community & Justice • Parole Policy • Probation

Community Supervision Is Overused, Overly Punitive, and Fuels Mass Incarceration, Justice Leaders Say

December 1, 2020
1 Comment

Approximately 4.4 million (or 1 out of every 58) adults were on probation or parole in the United...

Dispatches from San Quentin

Testing Negative in San Quentin

November 30, 2020
Add Comment

“I’m required to take the test every week or be disciplined with a 115 (a rules violation) for...

School Discipline Reform • Zero Tolerance and School Discipline

Op-Ed: School Suspensions Don’t Just Unfairly Penalize Black Students – They Lead to Lower Grades and ‘Black Flight’

November 25, 2020
14 Comments

By Charles Bell, The Conversation School suspensions are intended to deter violence and punish...

Columns, Op-Eds, & Interviews

Op-Ed: In Big city child welfare Philadelphia gets a little better, Los Angeles gets worse, & the “professional kidnappers” are hard at work in Phoenix

November 23, 2020
Add Comment

In addition to tracking the propensity of states to take children from their families, the National...

DJJ Watch

Realigning CA’s Juvenile Justice System Must Come With Significant Change at the County-Level, Says Report

November 20, 2020
Add Comment

The impending closure of California’s long-troubled juvenile prison system, the Division of...

DJJ Watch

New Report Says CA Endangers Kids in State’s Youth Prisons As COVID Round 2 Continues to Rise

November 18, 2020
23 Comments

A new report and accompanying fact sheet from the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ)...

Women and Justice • Women's Issues

Soaring Drug Arrests Account for Much of the Exploding Incarceration Rate Among Women

November 16, 2020
3 Comments

Over the past few years, reporting on and public awareness about the plight of...

Alternatives to Incarceration

LA County Voted to Invest in Social Services Via Measure J. Now the Supes Must Prepare.

November 13, 2020
6 Comments

On November 3, 57 percent of voters in Los Angeles County approved Measure J, a ballot initiative...

Columns, Op-Eds, & Interviews • Prosecutors & Reform

Op-Ed: Working with the “Most Unlikely DA in America” Gave Me Hope

November 12, 2020
Add Comment

Over the three days it took to drive from Los Angeles to South Texas, I began to have fears and...

Veterans

Veteran’s Day: With Deep Gratitude for our Brothers & Sisters Who Serve and Have Served

November 11, 2020
Add Comment

Here are a few literary thoughts to honor our veterans, and all that we owe them. We’ll begin...

LASD • LASD's Deputy Gang Problem • Law Enforcement

LA County Supes Approve $3.9 Million Settlement for the Family of Ryan Twyman, After Deputies Shot 34 Bullets Into His Car

November 11, 2020
14 Comments

On June 6, 2019, two Los Angeles County deputies fired nearly three dozen rounds into a white Kia...

Alex Villanueva

LA County Supervisors Vote to Explore how they can remove Sheriff Villanueva — should they think it necessary

November 10, 2020
158 Comments

On Tuesday afternoon, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a motion that asks how...

View All
Support WitnessLA

WLA’s NEW California Justice Report

 
READ & SUBSCRIBE!
Sign up for our re-launched California Justice Report newsletter, which will bring you email notifications of WitnessLA’s best stories & recent chapters of investigative series that we promise you won’t want to miss. All for FREE.

Editor’s Selections

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

Recent Tweets

Subscribe to the California Justice Report:

  • Home
  • 10 Rules of Commenting
  • Contact
  • Twitter