JusticeLA is cautiously celebrating Tuesday’s announcement from Los Angeles County Superior Court. On October 1, 2023, LA County will implement new misdemeanor and felony bail schedules that eliminate pre-arraignment money bail for many sections of the penal code. Notably, money-bail is still a factor for various charges, demonstrating that the Superior Court still needs to come a long way in understanding the consequences of wealth-based detention and the drivers of mass incarceration. | JusticeLA
JusticeLA is horrified by the brutality and negligence depicted in the videos coming out of Men’s Central Jail (MCJ). What is immediately clear from the videos and Keri Blakinger’s reporting is that people are not safe under the supervision of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) and that LASD personnel are collecting and storing footage of violence and medical neglect. We find the behavior on the tapes and the storage of the footage disgusting and inexcusable. | JusticeLA
For decades the community has voiced outrage at the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s (LASD) continued repression of the First Amendment rights of protesters and journalists. The department brutalized NPR reporter Josie Huang. Alex Villanueva personally threatened to arrest Spectrum News reporter Kate Cagle, and ran campaign ads targeting a private citizen to incite violence––using their face and name in accusations that he is a “paid activist Marxist.” Villanueva also ran a s...| JusticeLA
On March 30th, JusticeLA held a press conference and rally commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Men’s Central Jail Closure Report. Hundreds of community members gathered in front of Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration to demand a timeline for the closure of Men’s Central Jail, and tangible and significant investments in alternatives to incarceration. Echoing back the Board of Supervisors’ (BOS) own rhetoric of urgency, civil rights leaders, organizers, formerly incarcerated peo...| JusticeLA
Today marks two years since the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (BOS) adopted the foundational recommendations of the Alternatives to Incarceration Workgroup Final Report, a groundbreaking roadmap for decarceration and service expansion throughout the county. The model of the ATI Workgroup was unprecedented – not only in size and scope, but also in its inclusion of community decision-making power. Hundreds of community members were consulted and involved in the drafting of the repor...| JusticeLA
