Articles Posted in Uncategorized

In January 2025, the arrest of former Stockton Police Lieutenant Augustin Lorenzo Telly sent shockwaves through both local government and the wider law enforcement community.  After more than two decades in uniform, Telly now finds himself on the other side of the law.  He is facing felony charges including solicitation of assault with a deadly…

In recent years, the California Legislature has been very proactive in introducing significant changes to the state’s sentencing laws in an effort to rectify the devastating results caused by the state’s tough-on-crime policies, which have led to excessively punitive sentences and have had an extremely harmful effect on poor and minority communities. In addition, long…

Tens of thousands of residents of Los Angeles had a horrific start to the year. The devastating wildfires that swept through Los Angeles County had a profound impact on the entire community and, for several weeks, became leading topic of conversation and news across the world. The raging blazes caused mass destruction burning over 38,000…

On September 29, 2024, the Governor of California signed into law a new bill that would create a uniform resentencing procedure. In the past decade, the California legislature has passed numerous bills that have provided incarcerated individuals with the opportunity to ask courts to have their sentences recalled and reduced. Some of these ameliorative statutes…

By the early 2010s, California’s prison system was overcrowded and it cost the state billions of dollars each year. The situation was so bad that in 2011, the United States Supreme Court ruled that California has to reduce its prison population. Fortunately, in 2014, Californians voted in favor of Proposition 47, or the Criminal Sentences.…

There are different ways a person can challenge their conviction and seek post-conviction relief. In the past few years, the California legislature has made significant changes to the state’s sentencing laws in an effort to rectify the devastating results caused by the state’s tough on crime policies, which have led to harsh and excessively punitive…

As a general matter, federal courts are forbidden to modify a sentence after it has been imposed. However, there are a few narrow exceptions to that rule. One such exception is Rule 35(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. This rule allows for a sentence reduction if the defendant has provided substantial assistance to…

In the last few years, the California legislature has made an effort to rectify the devastating results of the state’s traditionally tough on crime policies. The laws enacted during the tough on crime era resulted in exceptionally long sentences, mass incarceration, and overcrowding of prisons. At the same time, research has shown that not only…

In the last few years, numerous studies have shown that racial biases and discrimination have been widespread across California’s criminal justice system. It is undisputed that, in the last few decades, California’s tough on crime policies have disproportionately affected marginalized communities and people of color. For example, in its 2020 report, the Committee on the…

One of the main principles of our criminal justice system is that the punishment has to fit the crime. However, in the 1990s, California’s leaders pursued very actively tough on crime policies and during that time more than a hundred different sentencing enhancements were enacted. Throughout the past three decades, these enhancements have added many…