Sacramento DA Actions May Thwart Judicial Council Moves to Avoid COVID-19 in Jails
By Crescenzo Vellucci Vanguard Sacramento Bureau Chief SACRAMENTO – The Sacramento County District Attorney appears to playing…
Guest Commentary: Remembering History of Past Plagues
By Alan Hirsch Many people have mined the lessons from the 1918 Flu pandemic to understand the…
California Assemblymembers Ask Governor Newsom to Issue Executive Orders to Protect Detained Immigrants During COVID-19 Crisis
By Linh Nguyen CALIFORNIA — On Apr. 6, 2020, Assemblymember Rob Bonta from Oakland and 25 other…
Five COVID-19 Related Deaths at Oakdale Prison Results in ACLU Lawsuit against Federal Prisons
By Shellsea Lomeli In efforts to release incarcerated people with a high risk of being affected by…
NY DA Candidate Criticizes Governor Cuomo’s Inaction Following First COVID-19 Death at Rikers Island
By Julietta Bisharyan NEW YORK CITY –– Manhattan District Attorney Candidate Janos Marton filed a Freedom of…
Commentary: The Opportunity Presents Itself for a New Revolution in Local Government
In 1996, the internet was brand new and a friend of my aunt hired me to fly…
State Judicial Council Drops Bail to Zero for Most in Move to Blunt COVID-19
By Crescenzo Vellucci Vanguard Sacramento Bureau Chief SACRAMENTO – Progressive reforms sought for decades – the dissolution…
Reaction to the Judicial Council Reducing Bail to Zero
It was a highly anticipated move by the California Judicial Council and while we captured some reaction…
Transitioning into the Electronic Court System
By Nancy Martinez What will be the long-lasting effects of COVID-19 on the national criminal justice system?…
Over 100 Advocate Groups across the United States Call for the Suspension of Juvenile Fees and Fines
By Shellsea Lomeli In response to the health and economic crisis presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, a…
Monday Morning Thoughts: Science Will Have to Get Us out of this COVID-19 Mess
From the start the battle lines over COVID-19 have taken the shape of the political contours of…
Sympathetic Federal Court Panel Can’t Release COVID-19 Threatened State Prisoners
By Crescenzo Vellucci Vanguard Sacramento Bureau Chief SACRAMENTO – Just as a Sacramento Public Defender Office motion,…
Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 57 – Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez
Eric Gonzalez was appointed the DA of Kings County (Brooklyn), New York, in 2016 after Ken Thompson,…
Philadelphia District Attorney and Public Defender’s Offices Work toward Reducing Population of Incarcerated
By Lea Barrios PHILADELPHIA – District Attorney Larry Krasner and Public Defender Keir Bradford-Grey released a statement…
Sunday Commentary: California Has Led the Way on the Response to COVID-19
California so far has avoided the fate of Italy, Spain and New York. Why? Social distancing and…
National Lawyers Guild Opposes Cities’ Move to Stop Providing Records because of COVID-19
By Crescenzo Vellucci Vanguard Sacramento Bureau Chief SACRAMENTO – Cities in California – claiming they are already…
Health Council COVID-19 Summary – 4/2/20
by Tia Will Assuming that most of you will not read the minutes of the first remotely…
Council Lays Out Public Participation Process during COVID-19 Response
When the council met just under two weeks ago using a Zoom format, the meeting was disrupted…
Sacramento Public Defender Asks Appeal Court to Intervene, Release County Jail Inmates because of COVID-19 Threat
By Crescenzo Vellucci Vanguard Sacramento Bureau Chief SACRAMENTO – In what could be described as a bold,…
Guest Commentary: Voices Warning Trump about COVID-19 in Prisons Are Growing Louder
There are no good reasons for the president to keep vulnerable people behind bars any longer. By…