More from The Appeal:
By appointing a reformer to replace the outgoing Xavier Becerra, Newsom has the chance to begin dismantling a sprawling, bloated system of prisons and jails that incarcerated nearly a quarter-million people as of 2018.
Jay Willis | January 14, 2021
The historical connections were on full display during Wednesday’s violence at the Capitol.
Jerry Iannelli | January 8, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it impossible for us to ignore this any longer.
Michelle Wu | January 7, 2021
It’s time for political leaders, no matter their party, to listen to voters—and provide financial relief from the pandemic.
Decades of exploitation, abuse, and racism in medicine have cost many Black Americans their lives during the pandemic. Now the government can act to prevent further harm.
Ruqaiijah Yearby | December 18, 2020
By winning a narrow majority in the upper chamber, Democrats could at last stop the Republican assault on voting rights—if its centrist members have the courage to do so.
Jay Willis | December 18, 2020
In the new year, every prosecutor’s office should commit to protecting victims and workers, holding police accountable, and keeping families together.
Chesa Boudin | December 17, 2020
The city says COVID-19 budget constraints will set back its plans to close the jail but people incarcerated there are suffering from the disease right now.
Jonathan Ben-Menachem | December 17, 2020
As a staff member of the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, I fight for all children, especially those impacted by systemic racism in our criminal justice system.
Catherine Jones | December 15, 2020
A reasonable society does not meet trauma with more trauma in the name of justice.
Ayanna Pressley | December 10, 2020
The Court’s willingness to infer discrimination against Judeo-Christian religions from poorly articulated remarks that accompanied a public health response to COVID-19 may make other laws and policies vulnerable to claims of religious discrimination as well.
Leah Litman | December 9, 2020
The coronavirus has ripped through our prison and jail populations, infecting and killing hundreds of thousands of people most vulnerable to COVID-19.
Brendon Woods | December 9, 2020
A concerted effort to review, resentence, and release is the right thing to do for those who have been unjustly sentenced. It is also the right thing to do for our community.
The CDC must immediately extend its emergency eviction moratorium to give the Biden administration and Congress time to provide additional emergency rental assistance.
After decades of harm, wrought by the war on drugs, the federal government has finally listened to the American people by voting to decriminalize marijuana.
Zachary A. Siegel | December 4, 2020