California Is Considering Ending Criminal Court Fees and Wiping Out Billions in Debt
Susann Prautsch/Getty Three years ago, during Brandon Greene’s first week working as a lawyer in a new clinic affiliated with the East Bay Community Law Center, he was handed a stack of cases to review. Each involved a client who was struggling to pay down the fines and fees that easily accumulate in California’s criminal justice system. It was his job…
The Last Black Man in San Francisco’s Walking Tour of a Lost City
Jimmie Fails (left) with “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” director Joe Talbot (right)A24 Around the bend of Bernal Heights Park, along the path they used to walk as teenagers, Joe Talbot and Jimmie Fails marveled at the scene before them: a trio of people contorting their bodies on yoga mats on an edge…
A California Lawmaker Has a Plan to Prevent Shady Doctors From Helping Parents Get Out of Vaccinating Their Kids
Getty When public health officials began investigating a Bay Area measles outbreak last year, the case led them to two boys who were supposed to be medically exempt from vaccinations. But neither of the boys had cancer, nor were they recent transplant recipients, nor did they have any number of medical concerns that would make…
I Was an Anti-Vaxxer—Until My 13-Year-Old Daughter Asked Me to Vaccinate Her
Melissa Wilcox and her daughter; courtesy of Melissa Wilcox; illustration by Mother Jones; Getty Earlier this year, we asked Mother Jones readers about their vaccination secrets, following the story of 18-year-old Ethan Lindenberger, who recently got vaccinated against his mother’s wishes. Melissa Wilcox, a mother of two in Tacoma, Washington, responded with a story about…
How a Gay Teen, an Internet Nazi, and a Late-Night Rendezvous Turned to Tragedy
Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. From his cage in the far back of a courtroom in Newport Beach, California, Sam Woodward looked around. He appeared to stand on his tiptoes for a moment, peering through the bars at the gallery where his parents and a couple of family friends sat.…
The Vulnerability of California’s Coast Is Terrifying
This story was originally published by High Country News. It appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The destructive impacts of climate change have become increasingly apparent in California, with brutal droughts, historic wildfires and extreme precipitation hammering the state. But new research suggests that the worst might be yet to come. By the end of…