DNA evidence — a speckle of spit or a drop of blood — can exonerate a suspect or help put them behind bars. Now California voters are being asked to expand the pool of DNA data that law enforcement taps into. A little-noticed provision of Proposition 20 would require law enforcement to...
Bloomberg Sees California as Model on Climate Change, Guns
LOS ANGELES — Mike Bloomberg's plan for California - export it. The Democratic presidential candidate and former New York City mayor likes a lot of what he sees in the Golden State and thinks its efforts on climate change, gun control and criminal justice reform set a benchmark for other...
Nashville Sheriff Reveals Johnny Cash Was Once Deputized
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A sheriff has presented the Johnny Cash Museum proof that the late musician who famously cultivated an image as an outlaw was in fact granted law enforcement authority decades ago. This week, Nashville Sheriff Daron Hall gave a blown-up image of Cash's September 1979 deputy sheriff commission card. It...
Will Gavin’s Law, Honoring Killed Educator, Clear First Hurdle?
Hundreds of family and friends of a Clovis Unified educator killed in a hit-and-run accident gathered at a Fresno park on Friday asking Assemblyman Jim Patterson (R-Fresno) one thing: Bring home justice for their beloved Gavin Gladding. “This is a very valid pursuit. We are encouraged. We are poised for...
Trump Says He's Eager to Sign Sweeping Criminal Justice Bill
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed a sweeping criminal justice bill Tuesday that addresses concerns that the nation's war on drugs had led to the imprisonment of too many Americans for non-violent crimes without adequately preparing them for their return to society. Senate passage of the bill by a vote of...
Trump Prods McConnell on Sentencing Bill: 'Go for It Mitch!'
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's reluctance to hold a vote on a popular criminal justice bill has angered top Republican senators and created an unusual rift with a longtime GOP ally, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. And on Friday, it also brought on a tweet from President Donald...
Kim Kardashian Meeting With Trump on Prison Reform
WASHINGTON — Reality television star Kim Kardashian West, who successfully pushed President Donald Trump to grant a pardon for a drug offender earlier this year, returned to the White House on Wednesday for a meeting with senior aides as part of the administration's efforts on criminal justice reform. Kardashian, who...
Bid To Toughen California Crime Laws Set For 2020 Ballot
SACRAMENTO — A bid to toughen criminal penalties has qualified for California's 2020 ballot, after delays pushed it past the deadline for voters to consider it this November. It would roll back criminal justice reforms implemented through voter-backed Proposition 47 in 2014 and Proposition 57 in 2016. The California Secretary...