Investigating policing, courts, incarceration, and reform efforts across the Central Valley.
Dismal Freedom Press investigates the institutions that hold enormous power over people's lives — law enforcement agencies, district attorneys' offices, courts, and jails. From police use-of-force patterns to bail reform and public defender caseloads, we follow the data and documents that reveal how the system actually works in the Central Valley.
At its July 8 meeting, the Stockton City Council voted 7-0 to approve long-delayed police and fire labor contracts — less than two weeks after a civil grand jury report found the council had exhausted its entire $500,000 annual investigation budget by midyear.
Federal investigators found thousands of racist, misogynistic text messages among Antioch police officers. The resulting indictments, case dismissals, and DOJ pattern-or-practice investigation revealed a structural accountability gap in a city that grew faster than its oversight systems.
ICE agents shot Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez on April 7 near Interstate 5 in Patterson. His attorney says eyewitnesses contradict the official account, and El Salvadoran court records show a 2019 acquittal on charges cited as justification for the stop. SB 873 advancing to protect courthouse areas.
Sixty days from crime to arrests in the Stockton mass shooting. Esparto fireworks explosion arrests include a sheriff's lieutenant. Federal drug trafficking indictments. Residents say "people don't want to drive to work" due to immigration enforcement fears along I-5.
Alameda County's Public Defender's Office formally challenged a judge over the systematic absence of Black jurors — a case with implications for jury selection practices across California.