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Police Conduct Reports in California

Three dozen news outlets across California collaborated on an investigative research project that resulted in the publishing a series of local news articles about “criminal cops;” police officers who have been convicted of crimes. The reports have stirred up controversy in the state capital, in police unions and among prosecutors and the public. Some legislators…

New Propositions That Could Undo Some Pending California Justice Reforms

Two propositions have qualified for the 2020 ballot in California, both of which aim to undo certain provisions of recently passed criminal justice reform laws. One proposition seeks to undo provisions of Propositions 47 and 57 as well as AB 109, all of which were aimed at reducing the prison population. The other seeks to…

White Collar Crime Podcasts: Five You Should Try

As the long days of summer disappear, your commute seems just a little longer in the dark, and the mood shifts toward home-body, I’ll suggest adding some white-collar crime podcasts to your listening habits. If you aren’t a podcast listener, maybe these will convert you into one. There are podcasts out there that are every…

Deadly Force Law in California

A new law signed by Governor Newsom last Monday strengthens the standard by which police can use deadly force in California. The new guidelines are among the toughest, if not the toughest, in the country. Governor Newsom and advocates believe this law may become a model for police deadly force standards nationwide. The law significantly…

Restorative Justice Program for Crime Offenders in California

With the new California state budget, the legislature allocated $5 million to fund an experimental “restorative justice” reform initiative. The criminal justice pilot program will be implemented in San Joaquin County over five years. San Joaquin is a logical choice as it has had a restorative justice program in place for more than 3 years,…

California Crime Rate Continues to Drop

Crime rates for 2018 are in from the California Department of Justice. The report shows violent crime cases, property crime, and juvenile crime fell in almost all regions across California. This continues the general downward trend in crimes per capita in California. While there was a bump upward in violent crime between 2014 – 2016,…

Proposition 63 Goes into Effect in California

July 1, 2019 is upon us, and that is the date major portions of Proposition 63 that will affect every-day residents of California go into effect. Proposition 63, also known as Background Checks for Ammunition Purchases and Large-Capacity Ammunition Magazine Ban Initiative, was approved by California voters in November 2016. The initiative, and related legislation,…

Facial Recognition Tech: Challenges for Criminal Defense & Civil Liberties

The Board of Supervisors in San Francisco broke modern surveillance ground a couple of weeks ago by banning facial recognition technology from use by city departments, including law enforcement. The city regulations additionally require all city departments to disclose what surveillance methods they currently use, and to get approval from the Board of Supervisors for…

What is Honest Services Fraud?

With the current news cycle covering the “college admissions scandal” a somewhat obscure term has been introduced into our collective water cooler chat in recent months: honest services fraud. Let’s take a look at what honest services is and a bit about what the fraud charges in these cases mean. In March of this year,…

Supreme Court Restrains Property Seizure: Civil Forfeiture

In a unanimous decision the justices of the United States Supreme Court have set some boundaries around the practice of “civil forfeiture” by state and local law enforcement. While the ruling provides some guidance, it left the specifics to lower courts to decide. Civil forfeiture is the practice by law enforcement agencies of taking and…

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