When the City of Lancaster and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department banished J. to the Mojave Desert, she came close to paying with her life.
District Attorney George Gascón’s battle for criminal justice reform in Los Angeles County, where long outdated policies have resulted in the largest jail system in the nation, had a setback this week that can’t be ignored.
“A counselor on a domestic violence hotline told me my life was more important than things and that I should get away quickly,” Deborah Kraft recalled. Leaving everything behind, Deborah drove west until she reached Orange County, where she entered the homeless shelter system.
With many of us doom-scrolling about democracy and the smooth transition of power, it’s easy to miss the local and state progress voters willed to life in California.