California Supreme Court

Although Los Angeles has released scores of youth offenders from its county-run juvenile halls and camps to prevent the grim march of the coronavirus, hundreds of young people charged with “non-serious or minor offenses” remain detained, according to recently filed court documents. 

An escalating pressure campaign that began with letters and public protests on behalf of hundreds of incarcerated youth in Los Angeles reached the highest court in California Tuesday – an appeal by advocates to save lives and prevent “devastating harm to young people in custody and their surrounding communities.”

A California appeals court has denied a request by the Los Angeles County District Attorney to reconsider dismissing charges against the social workers overseeing the case of Gabriel Fernandez, an 8-year-old Antelope Valley boy who was tortured and killed by his mother and her boyfriend in 2013. 

The California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a recent ballot initiative aimed at preventing the transfer of juveniles into the adult justice system could be applied retroactively to pending court cases.

Last week, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra weighed in by saying that California should play a greater role in protecting youth who are fleeing dangerous conditions in their home countries.  At the invitation of the Los Angeles Superior Court and the suggestion of the California Supreme Court, Becerra filed an amicus brief in the In re Denis G.

By Lesley Warren Child welfare advocates sounded the alarm earlier this month when the California Supreme Court issued its opinion on In re: William Taylor, a case involving housing restrictions imposed on certain paroled sex offenders in San Diego County that has been weaving its way through the judicial system for years.