ICE agents have reportedly claimed to be police officers to gain consent to enter a person’s home – a tactic that is viewed as unethical, but within the powers granted to the officers. Civil rights groups supported Kalra’s bill, looking to stymie the Trump administration’s promise to use any and all available tools to deport undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes. Many groups fear Trump will expand deportations to include all undocumented immigrants, their families and relatives.   read more

The San Quentin News, the country’s only inmate-published newspaper, was honored last week by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists for producing “extraordinary journalism under extraordinary circumstances.” San Quentin prison authorities showed just how “extraordinary” those “circumstances” are when it suspended the newspaper for 45 days over the staff’s choice of a photograph in its December issue.   read more

Governor Jerry Brown, former GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, state Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez and Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom were among those notified by the FPPC that their lavish fundraisers held at Sloan’s home involved nonmonetary contributions—unbeknownst to them—from their host that were not permitted by the law.   read more

Companies like The GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), two of the industry’s leaders, want black and Hispanic prisoners because they tend to be younger than white inmates, due to the passage of mandatory sentencing laws in the 1980s that targeted drug offenders (who tended to be minorities). Younger prisoners are cheaper to care for than older ones, due to medical costs, which is why private prisons want more minorities.   read more

Responding to a record number of dangerous idiots in the nation aiming lasers at aircraft last year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced last week it is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for anyone who helps catch them. That could be a bonanza for Californians and, more specifically, residents of the Los Angeles–Burbank–Van Nuys region, where the most incidents were reported last year.   read more

A three-judge federal panel announced last month that time had run out for the state to correct conditions they deemed cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the Constitution, and that they would draw up their own solution within a month. This is that. The judges plan is a combination of early-release for prisoners, more flexible parole requirements and a dose of wishful thinking.   read more

Construction began in July on the $90-million project that would allow people to park on the American side of the border and walk through a U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoint to board a plane on the other side for a small fee. Passengers landing at the airport will be able to make the reverse trek. The border site is 20 miles southeast of downtown San Diego.   read more

Only reckless, web-surfing clickers and the truly deluded should be taken in by the big type at the top of the page, “Nancy Pelosi for Congress,” and skip immediately to the big “Donate” button at the bottom. The smaller type provides the red meat for those who hate the woman many see as the embodiment of the left coast liberal.   read more

Customers can check with their insurance companies directly for more definitive information, but like calls to Covered California, that could entail hours on the phone with no guarantee of a happy ending. Or the physicians and hospital themselves can be called. But, as customers are finding out, there is no guarantee that any of them have correct information.   read more

In all, the slaughterhouse recalled 8.7 million pounds of beef and cow parts from suspected diseased and unhealthy animals that allegedly did not receive a full inspection from the federal government. The meat products were shipped to distribution centers in California, Texas, Florida and Illinois between January 1, 2013 and January 7 of this year, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) investigated the company.   read more

Natividad “Nate” Lara Cervantes admitted taking bribes, as early as 2008, from companies looking to do business on the Marine base near San Diego. He copped to accepting $25,000 that year and $95,000 between then and 2011 in exchange for steering a combined $10.5 million worth of service contracts to Hugo Alonso Inc. (HAI) and MBR Associates, Inc. (MBRA).   read more

“Of greatest concern,” Kelso wrote in his report released last week, “were systemic and prison-wide failures that continue to pose a serious risk of harm—and deny basic rights—to the 1,200-plus prisoners (and 550-plus Armstrong class members) housed there.” Kelso listed eight general areas, and cited numerous individual instances, of failure at the 54-building, $839 million complex:   read more

The judge ruled last month that the government should clear Malaysian architecture Professor Rahinah Ibrahim, but held off releasing the text of his ruling to see if the Department of Homeland Security would do the right thing. The department claimed during the hearing of a lawsuit brought by Ibrahim that it had already taken her off the list and cleared her name, but the judge was skeptical and the professor and her daughter, who is a U.S. citizen, have not been allowed back in the country.   read more

The Temecula Downs Event Center is scheduled to host the state’s first running of the bulls on June 21, giving participants an opportunity to careen through Galway Downs while being chased by 24 antagonized animals weighing up to a ton. Unlike its inspiration in Pamplona, Spain, there will be no bullfight afterward. They are illegal.   read more

“CalFire failed to comply with discovery orders and directives, destroyed critical evidence, failed to produce documents it should have produced months earlier, and engaged in a systematic campaign of misdirection with the purpose of recovering money from the Defendants,” the judge wrote. He found the agency's actions "corrupt and tainted."   read more

The past two years, there were large leaps in the number of exonerations reported since 1989, but they were not necessarily a result of increased exonerations. “The main reason for the rapid increases in the number of exonerations in California and later in New York is the nature of the searches we have been conducting,” authors of the report wrote.   read more

Long Beach City College is going it alone in the first test of a new state law that lets community colleges charge students more money—a lot more money—for required classes that are much in demand. Supporters argue that the program adds classes that essentially pay for themselves without state funding, allowing more kids to graduate faster. Detractors see it as a backdoor effort to reduce government’s commitment to helping provide higher education to lower-income people.   read more