California Criminal Defense Lawyers

At least 1,480 wrongful jailings have occurred at the L.A. County Jail over the last five years, something the Sheriff isn’t proud of. As a result, he has vowed to make significant changes including establishing a task force to look at the whys and the what can be dones. [Read More...]

A law that was rejected twice by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was passed this week by California lawmakers. Despite the continued opposition from the California District Attorneys Association, the bill requires prosecutors to corroborate any testimony from jailhouse informants. The law will go into effect next year. [Read More...]

A survey from the LA Times and the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences this week reveals Californians are more concerned about the troubled financial times than they are about releasing some offenders from prison. The survey showed most would rather see prison sentences be relaxed than spend any more money on incarceration. [Read More...]

Three advocacy groups are putting the pressure on Governor Jerry Brown to make some major changes that would both reform sentencing and save the state some much needed money. According to California Watch the groups are basing their recommendations on what they say the public wants. [Read More...]

Last year, the United States Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to sentence a juvenile to life without any chance of parole. Now, the California state supreme court will visit a case, trying to determine if three lengthy sentences adding up to 110 years would be barred under the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling. [Read More...]

Facing a challenge nearly every governor across the nation is simultaneously addressing, Governor Jerry Brown is proposing deep cuts in funding across the state government in an attempt to bring costs down. But one area he’s not cutting any funds from is the state corrections budget and the Sacramento Bee published a call to action for Brown this week, urging him to address sentencing in an effort to reduce prison overcrowding and ultimately costs. [Read More...]

Newly elected Governor Jerry Brown has voiced plans to reduce state corrections spending, something that must be done to accommodate the huge costs of running the California prison system on such a strapped state budget. He intends to send state inmates to serve their sentences at county jails. And while many people are applauding the idea, there are several issues with it—namely that the counties are similarly stretched thin. [Read More...]

A national report released this week shows incarceration rates for juveniles are falling across the country. California’s juvenile system locked up 10,000 kids in 1996 but only has 1,500 currently incarcerated today. This is a dramatic drop, coinciding with drops in juvenile crimes and a dramatic shift in juvenile justice philosophy. [Read More...]