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#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
Books & Justice

WLA Editor leading writers panel Saturday at LA Times Festival Books

April 20, 2025
Collateral Consequences • Reentry

Hitting the Assembly Floor: Bills to Expand Access to the Political Process to People With Felony Records

August 30, 2019
32 Comments

The California Assembly will soon consider two important measures that seek to expand access to...

Recidivism

New Report Fills in Gaps in What We Know About Recidivism and “Frequent Utilizers”

August 29, 2019
1 Comment

A new report reveals that there are at least 428,000 so-called “frequent utilizers”...

Violence Prevention

Success of Red Flag Laws Might Depend on Mental Health Teams

August 28, 2019
1 Comment

[Editor’s Note: In California, counties have varied widely in their use of the state’s...

CDCR • Drugs & Drug Treatment

String of Fatal Overdoses at Lancaster Prison Points to Urgent Need for Treatment on the Inside

August 27, 2019
23 Comments

David Weed was two months shy of his 38th birthday when he died from an overdose of fentanyl and...

Criminal Justice • District Attorney • LASD

CA Supremes Vote Unanimously In Favor of “Brady List” of Misbehaving LA Sheriff’s Deputies Going to Prosecutors

August 26, 2019
69 Comments

On Monday morning, August 26, the California Supreme Court voted unanimously that it is permissible...

LASD

The Story of a Sniper Wounding An LA County Sheriff’s Deputy at the LASD’s Lancaster Station Turns Out To Be a Hoax

August 25, 2019
74 Comments

The story was alarming. Late on Wednesday afternoon, August 21, the word went out that, just a few...

Education • Prison

After Pell Grants Left Prisons, Higher Ed Behind Bars Dropped by Half

August 23, 2019
1 Comment

Twenty-five years ago, in 1994, U.S. lawmakers passed a “tough-on-crime” bill that...

DJJ Watch • Guns

DJJ Watch: Visitor Brings Hidden Cache of Weapons to Stockton Youth Detention Facility

August 22, 2019
5 Comments

On Saturday, August 10, a 24-year-old man was arrested after attempting to visit one of...

Bill Watch • School Discipline Reform • School to Prison Pipeline • Willful Defiance

Opinion: We Must Disrupt the School-to-Prison Pipeline

August 21, 2019
5 Comments

By Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) Despite recent efforts to reduce California’s prison...

Bill Watch • Police

Gov. Newsom Signs “Historic” Bill to Set Stricter Police Use-of-Force Standards

August 20, 2019
13 Comments

On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 392, a bill by Assemblymembers Shirley Weber...

Alex Villanueva

Judge Orders Sheriff to Make Rehired Deputy Mandoyan Turn in His Badge, Uniform, & Gun … Plus Other Interesting Villanueva-Related Events of the Past Week

August 19, 2019
94 Comments

On Monday, August 19, LA County Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff ordered a preliminary...

Women and Justice

Recently Pardoned Activist Susan Burton On Trauma, Forgiveness, and Waking Up

August 19, 2019
5 Comments

At age 67, Susan Burton is a nationally known advocate for restoring civil and human rights to...

Bail Reform

$68 Million in State Funding Goes to Local Pretrial Reforms, While CA Voters Wait to Decide Fate of Bail Reform Law

August 17, 2019
5 Comments

San Francisco's longstanding pretrial program is saved by not receiving state funding.

Probation

California Gets New Research Institute to Study Probation Practices and Reforms

August 15, 2019
3 Comments

Thursday, August 15, was the official launch of a brand-new research institute in California that...

Jail • Jail Reform • LA County Board of Supervisors • LA County Jail • LASD

The Historic & Amazing Day When LA’s Supervisors Dumped Their Monster Jail Project, the Sheriff Told Scary Stories, & Sup. Sheila Kuehl Pronounced Incarceration a “Failed” Experiment

August 14, 2019
30 Comments

"It's a rare and impactful moment...a confluence that happens when an idea whose time has come...

Youth Justice: Healing Not Punishment

County Supes Vote Unanimously to Officially Explore Moving LA’s Juvenile Justice System OUT of the Probation Dept.

August 13, 2019
22 Comments

Just after 4 p.m. on Tuesday, August 13, in a unanimous vote, the Los Angeles County Supervisors...

LA County Board of Supervisors • LA County Jail • LASD

UPDATED – Supes Vote to Cancel Controversial $1.7 Billion Men’s Central Jail Replacement Contract

August 13, 2019
22 Comments

UPDATE: In a historic 4-1 vote, the LA County Board of Supervisors has chosen to cancel the...

Sex Trafficking

Surviving Through Trauma: Sara Kruzan on Trafficking, Her Incarceration, Freedom and Activism

August 8, 2019
2 Comments

By Tony Inglis, INSP In 1995, 17-year-old Sara Kruzan was sentenced to life imprisonment without...

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