Assembly Passes 'Opt-Out' Option From Immigration Enforcement Program
The state Assembly's public safety committee has passed a bill that would let California counties "opt-out" of full participation in a federal immigration enforcement program called Secure Communities. As it stands now, fingerprints of all inmates booked into local jails and cross-checked with the FBI's criminal database are forwarded to immigration officials.
Cell Phones in Prison May Remain Legal
In most states, if you smuggle a cell phone into a prison, you could end up serving time behind bars yourself. But California has no law to keep contraband cell phones from inmates. A fact that former prison guard Robert Johnson is very familiar with.
State Considering Raiding Early Childhood Intervention Programs to Pay for Medi-Cal
Back in 1998, California voters decided to fund early childhood intervention programs with tobacco taxes. Now, with the state budget in crisis mode, there's talk in Sacramento of diverting that money to fund Medi-Cal. That decision is prompting several counties to sue.