News Coverage

Alameda County may not be as big or busy as its southern counterparts, but by at least one measure, it outpaces almost every rival: According to a study released Monday, more youth die by violence here than in any county except Los Angeles.

Government reformers and youth advocates have long called for the state to get out of the business of juvenile corrections.

Police Officials Say Cutbacks Jeopardize Gains in Fighting Crime, While Some City Leaders Put Focus on Other Approaches.

Sumayyah Waheed, Director of our Books Not Bars Campaign, discusses funding for California's youth prisons.

Joaquin E. DiazDeLeon, a former Fresno gang member [and current member of the Ella Baker Center's Families for Books Not Bars network - ED], spent two years inside California's juvenile prison system. What he found there, he said, was no better than the streets he came from.

Gov. Jerry Brown's bid to abolish the state youth prison system could save hundreds of millions of dollars and quicken the pace of reform at county facilities. But the changes could remove important barriers that keep some juvenile offenders out of adult prisons.

The budget Gov. Jerry Brown presented calls for the most sweeping criminal justice overhaul in state history -- the elimination of the youth prison system...

Kim and his cohorts are still riding high from the successful campaign to stop Proposition 23, which would have suspended California's Global Warming Solutions Act.

Ron Dellums is credited with improving public safety, promoting green jobs and securing $200 million in stimulus funds. But his media problems and ambivalence about public life left him derided by many as a do-nothing.

Now that the glow from her mayoral election win has faded, Jean Quan is getting down to business. And that means tackling Oakland's biggest problem - its finances.