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SB 649 is a common-sense bill that would reform California’s drug sentencing laws for simple possession so that a felony penalty is not automatic. Instead, district attorneys will be able to decide when use a misdemeanor charge. This would reduce incarceration costs of people charged with non-violent, low-level drug possession.The bill gives prosecutors the flexibility to charge low-level possessi... Read More

The TRUST Act will restore community relationships with local police by making clear that local jails cannot hold people on immigration-based detention requests when they pose no risk to public safety. Read More

AB 154 will improve abortion access by increasing the types of trained health professionals who can provide early abortions. The bill will authorize nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and physician assistants to perform early abortions safely within the terms of their licenses. More than half of California's counties lack an accessible abortion provider. As a result, many women dela... Read More

SB 744 would keep school districts from forcing some students to be transferred to non-mainstream schools against their will, which has a disparate impact on students of color. In particular, it would make sure that most students who have won an expulsion proceeding can't be involuntarily transferred to a different, less desirable school.SB 744 would also put due process safeguards in place for st... Read More

AB 1266 will ensure that California public schools understand their responsibility for the success and well-being of all students, including transgender students. It will allow transgender students to fully participate in all school activities like sports team and have access to facilities that match their gender identity. The Los Angeles Unified School District, which is the second largest sch... Read More

Today parents and physicians filed an update to the lawsuit against Clovis Unified School District, seeking permission from the court to add new information about how the district’s revised sex education is still out of compliance with California law. Last August the plaintiffs sued the district for violating the state’s comprehensive sex education law. The lawsuit was brought by two parents in th... Read More

Solitary confinement completely isolates immigration detainees: They are generally confined to a small jail cell for twenty-three hours a day, with little to no human contact, and a slot in the door through which officers pass their meals. In some Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities, their one hour of daily “rec” time takes place in a human-size cage or in a narrow concrete yard o... Read More

On Aug. 12, 2013, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the historic School Success and Opportunity Act into law, ensuring transgender youth have the opportunity to fully participate and succeed in schools across the state. Assembly Bill 1266—which goes into effect on January 1, 2014—was authored by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and passed the California State Senate and Assembly earlier this summer. Th... Read More

California must follow the Attorney General’s lead. We must abandon the failed and costly policies of the past that have left far too many people locked up for far too long who don’t need to be kept behind bars to keep our families and communities safe. Now is the time to focus on front end sentencing reforms, especially for low-level, nonviolent drug crimes, that will reduce wasteful spending on ... Read More

Taxpayers spend more on the criminal justice system than what it would cost to educate every young person in California. AB 420 addresses the school-to-prison pipeline and will keep more kids in front of a blackboard instead of behind bars. Read More