California's Justice System is a Debt Trap

Erica Smith was making a fresh start. After being forced out of her home by domestic violence, she had spent the last three years cycling between homelessness and jail for petty offenses. But with the help of reentry organization Starting Over Inc., she finally secured stable housing and a job helping women who had experienced challenges like hers. She found community support in the Riverside chapter of All of Us or None. She was building a better life for herself and her daughter.

By Adrienna Wong

a blank check in the background, a pen in the foreground

When Kicking Around an Orange Gets You On Probation

By Andrew M., Plaintiff in SBX V. County of Riverside I was in 8th grade when it happened. I’ll never forget the feeling of those cold, clanky pairs of metal constraints. I was being handcuffed in front of my friends and classmates.

An orange on the ground

This County Criminalized Students for Bad Grades – Until Now

Since 2001, the Riverside County probation department has been needlessly funneling young people struggling with grades, behavior, trauma, and mental health into the criminal justice system. This direct line to the criminal system is the product of a partnership between local school districts and

By Sarah Hinger, Sylvia Torres-Guillén

Six youth and an adult sitting in a classroom with their desks forming a semi-circle. Three of the youth have their hands raised.

Open Letter: Jackie Lacey Must Stop Relying on Law Enforcement Officers with Histories of Misconduct, Dishonesty, & Racism to Prosecute L.A. County Residents

Every Day, prosecutors across Los Angeles County depend on law enforcement officers to prove cases against community members. Precinct reports, officer observations, and police testimony are commonly considered by judges and juries as the strongest pieces of evidence against the accused. But, not only should an officer's word be subject to the same level of scrutiny as that of the general public, growing reports of law enforcement misconduct highlight the danger of formulaically depending on officers to secure a conviction. District Attorney Jackie Lacey can stop this insidious practice of prosecuting cases that hinge upon the testimony of law enforcement officers with demonstrated histories of dishonesty, violence, and racism.

Jackie Lacey Must Stop Relying on Law Enforcement Officers with Histories of Misconduct, Dishonesty, & Racism to Prosecute L.A. County Residents

The Trump Administration’s Proposed “Mixed Status” Housing Rule Is Another Form of Family Separation

The world has watched in horror as migrant families have been forcibly separated, placed into camps, and subjected to the cruel conditions of detention, as part of the Trump administration's sustained assault on immigrant rights. The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) proposed

HUD Agents

How to Help Families at the Border Right Now

The images of Oscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter Valeria, who lost their lives trying to seek refuge in the United States, have left us haunted. They serve as an ever-important reminder of the urgency of the fight for immigrant justice on our southern border and the need to stand up to the Trump administration's policies denying humanitarian protection and basic due process to families fleeing for their lives. 

Demonstrators carrying signs with the text "Families Belong Together"

Fighting for Black Trans Women this Pride and Beyond

This Pride weekend, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion, let's march, let's celebrate, let's party. But first let us remember today and always that the lives of Black trans people, and specifically the lives of Black trans women, matter. Let's recognize and memorialize

By Arneta Rogers

A Trans flag as the background, in the foreground a silhouette of a person with text that reads: #SayHerName Michelle Washington Mulaysia Booker Jazzaline Ware Ashanti Carmon Claire Legato Dana Martin Chynal Lindsey Chanel Scurlock Michelle Simone

America, It Is Time to Talk About Reparations

We are two months away from the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved people arriving in what would become the United States of America. It is time to renew the public discussion about reparations to descendants of Africans who were enslaved as our country was forming and growing rich.

By Jeffery Robinson

Illustration of a Black man who is a slave, a man in KKK dress holding a rope for lynching, a banner that reads: "A man was lynched yesterday", a Black man with a sign that reads: "I am a man," and a man holding a flag that reads: "Black Lives Matter"

Abortion: The Hate Stops Here

Since January, politicians (overwhelmingly male) have passed laws severely restricting abortions in six states — Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio. These politicians have stopped pretending that their restrictions are about making abortion care safer. These laws are about taking away the right to abortion.

By Jennifer Chou, Ruth Dawson, Amanda Le

Abortion is healthcare. Abortion is a right.