This year, one of the best ways to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. might be going...
Harassment of Grieving Families Is More a Problem of LASD Management and Policy Than Individual Deputies, Says Inspector General
"I hope that the Sheriff's policy goes into effect soon, I hope that it is enthusiastically...
New Year, New Bills: Closing a Loophole in Police Transparency Law, Combatting Violence Against Native Women, and More
It’s January, and that means new and rejuvenated criminal justice bills are just starting to...
Former Sheriff Lee Baca’s Long & Winding Legal Road Comes to An End as He is Ordered to Begin His Prison Term On Feb. 5
Former LA County Sheriff Lee Baca is going to federal prison. According to the order signed by U.S...
Budget Breakdown: Money for Diversion, Probation Reform, and More
On Friday, California Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled his plans for the 2020-2021 budget, a $222.2...
U.S. Supreme Court Says “NO” To Former Sheriff Lee Baca’s Appeal—Opening the Path to Prison
On Monday morning, the United States Supreme Court denied former LA County Sheriff Lee...
In a Devastating Accident, Off-Duty LA County Sheriff’s Detective Was Struck & Killed When Helping A Woman Who had Fallen in the Street
Members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department along with the West Hollywood...
Why Re-Arrest Doesn’t Mean You’re a Failure
The justice system traditionally uses a simple metric to determine whether an individual continues...
Voting After Prison: The Movement in CA and Beyond to End Voter Disenfranchisement
In just two states, Maine and Vermont, people with past felonies can immediately vote upon release...
5 Things to Know as California Starts Screening Children for Toxic Stress
Starting this year, routine pediatric visits for millions of California children could involve...
Nearly 3,400 People With Mental Illness Could Be Safely Diverted From LA County Jail, Says New Report
Approximately 61 percent of the mental health population locked inside Los Angeles County’s...
Controversial Company That Profited From the “Troubled Teen” Industry Now Has Millions from the Feds to Open a Lock-up for Immigrant Kids in Los Angeles
It seems that past allegations of abuse notwithstanding, the feds saw VisionQuest as an ideal...
Op-Ed: DA Lacey Continues to Praise Diversion Over Jail for the Mentally Ill, But Her Prosecutors’ Actions Tell a Different Story
Jackie Lacey’s talk about treatment not cells for the mentally ill is meaningless until she and...
Threatened With $4 Billion in Lost Profit, GEO Group Sues California Over Private Prison Ban
Two days before California’s private prison ban bill, AB 32, took effect on Jan. 1...
A Quick Look At WitnessLA’s Most-Read Stories of 2019 as We Welcome 2020!
As we closed out 2019, we spent some time examining exactly which stories, series, and topics rose...
A New Year’s Eve Message From WitnessLA
This has been a full, complicated, and always interesting year in the world of justice in Los...
In a Surprise Move, Supervisors Name Ray Leyva, Former Sheriff’s Department 2nd in Command, As Interim LA Probation Chief
In an unexpected move, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has named former LASD...
New Screenings for Childhood Trauma Raise Hopes, Challenges
California health officials are gearing up for the launch of a statewide screening effort that aims...