California voters made their voices heard, loud and clear, during November’s election to clean up crime across the state. A sweeping majority checked “yes” to Proposition 36 to punish repeat criminal offenders.
Prop. 36 became law on Wednesday across the state of California. It makes some theft and drug crimes a felony charge, including crimes involving the controlled substance fentanyl.
The law received the backing of law enforcement, businesses and lawmakers. They said it would address the state’s homelessness and fentanyl issue. During the pandemic, Los Angeles, Alameda, Sacramento and San Mateo counties saw an influx in shoplifting and burglaries.
District attorneys are working together on protocols under the new law, which will make it easier for big box stores and customers to report crimes.
Sacramento County’s District Attorney Thien Ho said the new law adds another tool for prosecutors.
“If you have two prior convictions for theft. The third can be charged as a felony. We can now combine and aggregate multiple cases together to charge a felony. When arrested, you will be taken to jail,” Ho said.
The new measure counters Proposition 47, reversing parts of what voters approved ten years ago to reduce California’s overcrowded prisons. Theft and drug crimes were reduced from felony convictions to misdemeanors.
While some touted the landmark law as a reform to crime, retailers and law enforcement blame the 2014 passage for the state’s rise in crime. The Public Policy Institute of California reported that shoplifting merchandise worth up to $950 increased by 28% over the last five years.
Supporters said since the law gives some people an option to seek drug help instead of prison time, it will address California’s drug crisis.
Prop. 36 creates a new category of crime called “treatment-mandated felony,” allowing a judge to order treatment and prevent people from returning to the streets.
Gov. Gavin Newsom opposes the law. He said Prop. 36 is based on lies and said there aren’t any residential treatment facilities for drug users in 21 of California’s counties. He tried to launch a countermeasure on the November ballot but ultimately canceled his efforts.
Newsom also pointed to Prop. 47, which helped save taxpayers more than $800 million in prison costs for petty crimes.
Top Democratic leaders and civil groups joined Newsom. They said the new proposition marks a “War on Drugs” and fails to address poverty or crime.
According to the state’s legislative analyst office, the new law will cost California millions of dollars while the prison population increases and court officials’ workload spikes.
US to payout nearly $116M to victims of sexual abuse at Calif. prison
The U.S. Bureau of Prisons agreed on Tuesday, Dec. 17, to a historic payout of nearly $116 million to more than 100 survivors of sexual abuse at a California women’s prison. The now-shuttered prison facility, internally dubbed “the rape club,” was plagued by rampant accusations of sexual abuse of prisoners by staff.
Eight former prison employees, including the former warden, have been convicted of sex crimes. Additionally, more than 20 workers were placed on leave and under investigation.
Officials announced the permanent closure of the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, in December 2024.
Tuesday’s settlement is reportedly the largest single payout in the U.S. Bureau of Prisons history. Under the agreement, each of the 103 women will be paid around $1.1 million.
One of the sexual abuse victims told the Associated Press that she hopes the settlement will help the healing process, but warned that “money will not repair” the harm done to them “or free survivors who continue to suffer in prison.”
The payout is a breakthrough for advocates fighting to end sexual abuse across the U.S. federal prison system.
A U.S. Senate inquiry in 2022 found that sexual abuse by staff against inmates happened at two-thirds of federal prisons in the United States over the past decade.
The settlement on Tuesday follows a separate class-action lawsuit last week in which the U.S. Bureau of Prisons agreed have some of its facilities court-monitored and publicly acknowledged rampant sexual abuse at FCI Dublin.
Pennsylvania prison accused of abusing inmates by depriving them of basic rights
Prison staff in Pennsylvania allegedly waged a “campaign of mass torture,” according to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Dec. 17. It alleges that guards outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in Dauphin County Prison, punished entire cell blocks after suspecting some inmates were smoking synthetic marijuana.
The lawsuit says that top jail officials cut power and heat. It also claims officials kept toilet paper, soap and warm clothing from prisoners during a monthslong punishment last year.
A Dauphin County commissioner said he is “deeply disturbed” by the accusations in the lawsuit. He maintains an investigation must play out to determine the “appropriate consequences.”
The abuses described by inmates happened in the prison’s restricted housing unit, typically for prisoners who break the rules and where jail officials believed inmates were using drugs.
Court documents note that prison officials responded to the alleged violations by taking personal items and shutting off communication outside the prison to inmates. Prison workers also allegedly cut the heat when temperatures outside were below freezing, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs are reportedly looking for monetary damages on behalf of the detainees. Defendants in the lawsuits include the warden, chief deputy warden and other prison officials.
The plaintiff’s lawyers say DCP has a “widespread and well-earned reputation as a troubled facility,” noting, “more than 20 people have died in custody at the jail since 2019.”
Biden commutes sentence of judge who sent children to jail for kickbacks
A former judge who received millions in kickbacks for sending children to for-profit detention centers had his sentence commuted by President Joe Biden. Michael Conahan was one of two former judges convicted in the “kids-for-cash” scandal that took place from 2003 to 2008 and impacted 2,500 kids.
Conahan pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges in 2011 and was sentenced to 17 ½ years in prison. He was released to home confinement in June 2020 after petitioning for compassionate release during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying he was in severe danger of contracting and dying from the virus.
Conahan was convicted alongside Mark Ciavarella, who is still serving a 28-year-sentence for honest services mail fraud charges. The pair received $2.1 million in kickbacks for sending kids to juvenile prisons with sentences that were disproportionate to their crimes.
Conahan was one of 1,500 individuals released during the pandemic who had their sentences commuted by Bide. The president said those individuals deserve a second chance.
The White House said in a statement that they are people, “who were sentenced under outdated laws, policies, and practices.”
“These Americans have been reunited with their families and shown their commitment to rehabilitation by securing employment and advancing their education,” the statement continued.
The mother of a young man who committed suicide in the midst of the scandal said she was shocked and hurt by the announcement.
“Conahan‘s actions destroyed families, including mine, and my son‘s death is a tragic reminder of the consequences of his abuse of power,” Sandy Fonzo told Citizens Voice. “This pardon feels like an injustice for all of us who still suffer. Right now I am processing and doing the best I can to cope with the pain that this has brought back.”
In 2015, an attorney who wrote the checks to Conahan and Ciavarella entered into a $7.5 million settlement with the juvenile defendants imprisoned in the scandal.
3 Americans imprisoned in China for years are now free after agreement
Three Americans imprisoned in China for years have been released and are coming home to the United States. The White House announced on Wednesday, Nov. 27, the agreement between Washington, D.C., and Beijing in the final weeks of President Joe Biden’s presidency.
The exchange is reportedly part of a prisoner swap with the U.S. releasing unidentified Chinese nationals, although the White House would not confirm those details.
The United States says the freed Americans were wrongfully detained and one had been facing a death sentence on drug charges. The other two U.S. citizens were imprisoned for alleged espionage and one faced a life sentence.
The U.S. said the White House had brought up the release of the three Americans over the past several years, including earlier this month when Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Cooperation Summit in Peru.
The release of the three Americans comes just months after Beijing released a pastor from California who spent nearly two decades in prison after being convicted of contract fraud.
Trump picks Bondi after Gaetz withdrawal; Hegseth responds to police report
President-elect Donald Trump wasted no time replacing his embattled attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz with Pam Bondi. We’ve got the details of her background. And a volcano in Iceland, once dormant for 800 years, has erupted again — for the seventh time this year. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, Nov. 22, 2024.
Trump picks Bondi after Gaetz withdrawal; Hegseth responds to police report
Bondi served as Florida’s first female attorney general from 2011 to 2019. A year later, she was one of the lawyers who defended Trump during his first impeachment trial where he was ultimately acquitted by the Senate. She also served on Trump’s Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission during his first term.
Bondi and Trump’s connection came under scrutiny in 2013 when she did not join a lawsuit against Trump in connection to fraud allegations toward Trump University. At the time, Trump’s foundation made a $25,000 donation to a campaign group backing Bondi. Both denied any impropriety.
The 59-year-old Bondi currently leads the legal arm of the conservative think tank America First Policy Institute, which worked with the Trump campaign to help shape policy for his upcoming administration. If confirmed by the Senate, she would oversee the Department of Justice.
In announcing his pick on his platform Truth Social, Trump said, “For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans – not anymore. Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting crime, and making America safe again.”
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) November 21, 2024
Gaetz, who resigned from Congress shortly after Trump nominated him, released a statement earlier in the day saying his confirmation was “unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition.” He also called Trump’s nomination of Bondi a “stellar selection.”
The former Florida congressman had been the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation regarding allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, including accusations he had sex with a 17-year-old girl. He has denied any wrongdoing and the panel did not agree on Wednesday, Nov. 20, on whether to release its report.
Now attention is turning to Trump’s pick for defense secretary, war veteran and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth. He met with Senators on Thursday as a newly released police report detailed allegations about an alleged sexual assault in 2017.
The report was released to media outlets in response to public records requests. No charges were filed in the case and Hegseth has said the encounter was consensual.
Hegseth spoke to reporters about the allegations Thursday.
“As far as the media is concerned, I’ll put it very simple: the matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared and that’s where I’m going to leave it,” he said.
Hegseth’s attorney said the allegations are false and Hegseth settled in 2020 only out of fear that he would lose his job at Fox News if the woman’s accusations became public.
Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey concedes to Republican rival Dave McCormick
The Associated Press called the race in favor of McCormick two days after the election.
It was one of the closest races in the state’s history — so close, it triggered an automatic recount under state law. Despite Casey conceding, the recount is still going on and results are expected Wednesday, Nov. 27.
Senator Bob Casey dedicated his career to bettering our commonwealth. Dina and I want to extend our sincere gratitude to Senator Casey, Terese, and their family for their decades of service, hard work, and personal sacrifice.
This is Pennsylvania’s fourth recount since 2004. None of the previous ones changed the outcome.
With McCormick’s victory, Republicans will control the U.S. Senate by a 53-47 margin, picking up four seats in the 2024 election.
Alabama carries out nation’s 3rd nitrogen gas execution
An Alabama prisoner became the third person in not just the state, but the U.S. to be executed with nitrogen gas Thursday night. Carey Grayson, 50, was one of four men convicted of murdering a female hitchhiker in 1994 when he was a teenager.
In a controversial move, Alabama began using nitrogen gas this year to carry out some executions. It entails the inmate inhaling pure nitrogen through a mask until he suffocates. Critics say it is inhumane and painful, but the state maintains the method is constitutional.
NFL issues security alert after homes of Mahomes, Kelce burglarized
The NFL has issued a warning for players after thieves burglarized the homes of two of its biggest stars in the league. Kansas City Chiefs players Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce had their homes broken into within days of each other last month in the Kansas City metro area.
The NFL put out a security alert Thursday saying the criminals target players’ homes on days the athletes have games. Players were told to take precautions and implement home security measures to reduce the risk of being targeted.
NFL officials also recommended players avoid updating social media with check-ins or daily activities until the end of the day and refrain from posting expensive items on their accounts.
Volcano on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula erupts for 7th time this year
In Iceland, a volcano has erupted for the seventh time just this year. This latest eruption happened late Wednesday night in Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula.
Tourists had to be evacuated from the Blue Lagoon, Iceland’s most famous tourist attraction. Iceland’s official tourism site said this most recent event, which created a nearly two-mile fissure, was significantly smaller than the last eruption in August which opened a 2.5-mile fissure.
Experts said the volcano had been dormant for 800 years before it became active again in 2021. Since then, a total of 10 eruptions have happened, including this latest one.
Ohtani, Judge named MLB’s most valuable players
Baseball superstars Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge both had award-winning seasons, and now, both have been named MVPs of their respective leagues.
For the second straight year, both MVPs have won unanimously!
2023 and 2024 are the only two times that both MVPs were unanimous selections. pic.twitter.com/tkmu3IHmem
In a unanimous decision on Thursday, the Dodgers’ Ohtani, who became the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in one season, claimed his third MVP title. It’s his first in the National League. He joins Hall of Famer Frank Thomas as the only two players to get MVP honors in both leagues.
Judge received his second American League MVP in the last three years.
The two culminated their MVP seasons by meeting in last month’s World Series, where Ohtani and the Dodgers walked away with the championship.
As of Monday, Nov. 18, 471 people had written to the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services regarding Smith’s hearing, NBC News reported. Only six of the letters were in favor of her release.
Smith’s ex-husband and the father of the children will also take part in the hearing and is expected to argue against letting her out, as is the former prosecutor who oversaw this case.
For Smith to be released, a simple majority of the seven-person parole board must approve it.
‘Tiger King’s’ Joe Exotic pens letter to Trump asking for pardon, role in cabinet
Joe Exotic has asked President-elect Donald Trump for a pardon and for a role in his new cabinet. Exotic shared the letter he wrote to Trump from prison with RadarOnline.
“Everyone hopes you keep the promises you made during your campaign, which include pardoning everyone sooner than later in January 2025. Some of those very people have been stuck in solitary confinement, forced to live like rats, have killed themselves in prison, or have died. Some, like myself, have fought like hell to hang on, hoping for you to win this election.”
Exotic also wrote that if he’s able to get out of prison, he’d like to become Trump’s Fish and Wildlife Service director. He appears in the 2020 Netflix docuseries “Tiger King,” which turned into a pop culture phenomenon.
In 2019 he was arrested and sentenced to 20-plus years in prison for animal abuse and attempted murder for hire, which stemmed from an alleged murder plot directed at fellow “Tiger King” star, Carole Baskin.
Exotic has denied all allegations. His legal team has also filed an appeal for a retrial.
New LA County DA takes on crime, weighs in on Menendez brothers case
Crime policies are a major point of contention among residents in California. Now, the newly-elected Los Angeles County District Attorney plans to get rid of what he calls a “pro-criminal” blanket stance by the current DA. Incoming Los Angeles County DA Nathan Hochman said he’ll go after low-level, nonviolent crime.
He said his first tasks will include an increase in gang-related sentencing, allowing prosecutors to file juvenile charges more freely and having prosecutors attend parole hearings with victims’ families so they can help argue against the release of convicts.
Hochman told The Associated Press he wants to reverse the culture maintained by his predecessor George Gascón.
“I want to send a message to criminals that basically the lines will be enforced again,” Hochman said. “They will be done in a proportional way. A common sense way.”
“A way that rejects extremes: both the extreme that we’ve been living with of decarceration, which says that certain crimes and certain criminals will not be prosecuted no matter what the facts and the law are- as well as the extremes of mass incarceration,” Hochman continued. “I reject both extremes.”
Hochman said he also wants to look at solutions that don’t involve filling up jails such as court-mandated drug treatment, community service, and restitution.
New plans for Mendendez brothers case
Among the multiple issues Hochman is taking on from Gascón, arguably the most notable is the Menendez brothers murder case.
In October, Gascón called for the release of the brothers after 35 years in prison for the murders of their parents.
Hochman now wants to review all the evidence as he questions the timing of Gascón’s decision so close to the election.
“If you decide this case based on just reviewing a Netflix documentary you’re doing a disservice to the Menendez brothers, to the victims family members and to the public,” Hochman told ABC News. “There’s a cloud over that credibility. Is it a just decision, or was it just a political ploy? There will be no cloud over whatever decision I do.”
Gascón denies his decision was politically motivated, saying he based his decision on a thorough understanding of the case.
Gaetz resigns from Congress after being picked as Trump’s attorney general
President-elect Donald Trump has made his selection for attorney general: Rep. Matt Gaetz. Why it might be an uphill battle for the Florida congressman to get confirmed. And we now know in a clean sweep, Republicans won control of the House of Representatives. Who GOP lawmakers voted to lead them in the next term. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
Gaetz resigns from Congress after being picked as Trump’s attorney general
President-elect Trump selected more names for key cabinet positions on Wednesday, Nov. 13, including nominating Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz for attorney general. That choice is being met with opposition from some Senate Republicans — who would need to confirm the pick.
“I think out of deference to us, he issued his resignation letter effective immediately,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said of Gaetz’s decision. “That caught us by surprise a little bit. But I asked him what the reasoning was, and he said, ‘Well, you can’t have too many absences.’ So, under Florida state law there is about an eight-week period to select and fill a vacant seat.”
Johnson said Gaetz’s resignation started the clock for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to call for a special election to fill the vacancy, which will narrow Republicans’ slight majority in the House.
In making his nomination, Trump called Gaetz a “deeply gifted and tenacious attorney…who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice.”
A bipartisan House Ethics Committee is in the final stages of its own investigation into Gaetz. Gaetz told the committee in September he was done cooperating with its investigation.
His resignation would put an end to that investigation, as the Ethics Committee does not have jurisdiction over former House members.
Trump’s announcement came during the House Republicans’ closed door leadership election, with lawmakers telling several news outlets that there were “audible gasps” in the room when they heard the pick.
In response to Gaetz’s nomination, multiple senators went on record not throwing their full support behind the decision. One senator told Fox News Gaetz “will never be confirmed” and another said it “ain’t gonna happen.”
Gaetz’s office has not responded to the criticism. Gaetz himself issued a statement on social media in response to the nod from the president-elect, saying, “It will be an honor to serve as President Trump’s Attorney General!”
Johnson wins nomination for speaker as GOP takes House majority
The landscape of Congress in the new year became clearer on Wednesday with Republicans winning enough seats to control the House. Victories in Arizona and California gave the GOP the 218 seats needed to make up the majority in the chamber.
Republicans will now have control of the House and the Senate when President-elect Trump takes office. GOP lawmakers voted on leadership in both chambers Wednesday.
House Speaker Mike Johnson won the nomination to remain on the job for another two years. A full house vote will take place in January. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and GOP Whip Tom Emmer were also reelected in their leadership roles.
In the Senate, Republican John Thune of South Dakota was elected as the next majority leader. The fourth-term senator will replace longtime leader Mitch McConnell.
Pennsylvania Senate race heads to a recount
While Republicans have won enough seats to take control of Congress, Pennsylvania’s Senate race is headed for a recount as Democratic incumbent Bob Casey refused to concede to his Republican rival, Dave McCormick, despite the race being called by the Associated Press.
Across our Commonwealth, close to 7 million people cast their votes in a free and fair election.
The American democratic process was born in Pennsylvania and that process will play out. pic.twitter.com/R2RirIa09j
While provisional and mail-in ballots are still being counted, unofficial results show the race to be within the one-half of 1% margin which automatically triggers a recount under state law. Currently, McCormick leads Casey by less than 30,000 votes.
Despite Casey refusing to concede, McCormick was on Capitol Hill Wednesday for freshman orientation, where he and other new lawmakers met with outgoing Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Suspect dead after explosion outside Brazil’s Supreme Court
Security concerns are heightened in Brazil after an explosion outside the country’s Supreme Court less than a week before G20 leaders are set to meet in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil’s Supreme Court is in the nation’s capital, Brasilia about 700 miles northwest of Rio.
Authorities said a man killed himself while detonating explosives in Three Powers Plaza, which is home to all three branches of Brazil’s government, after unsuccessfully trying to get into the Supreme Court with the explosives.
The vice-governor of the country’s federal district said the suspect blew up a car near Congress before heading to the Supreme Court. Police have not identified the attacker, but they believe he was working alone.
Teen ‘serial swatter’ behind hundreds of hoax threats pleads guilty
A prolific teenage “serial swatter” from California, has pleaded guilty to making hundreds of hoax calls about mass shootings and bomb threats to schools, religious institutions and government officials nationwide.
The Department of Justice announced Wednesday Alan Filion, 18, pleaded guilty in a Florida federal courtroom to four counts of making interstate threats. He faces up to 20 years in prison, as each charge carries a five-year maximum sentence.
Officials said from August 2022 to January of this year, Filion made more than 375 swatting and threat calls in various parts of the country including Maryland, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Washington, Texas and Florida.
“Swatting” is when someone makes false accusations to send a large number of law enforcement rushing to a location where there is essentially nothing going on.