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California superior courts received more than 200,000 petitions for resentencing or applications for reclassification during the first 13 months after voters approved Proposition 47.

With California’s growing focus on criminal justice reform comes expanding use of reentry courts as an alternative to cycles of re-incarceration. Reentry courts, a type of collaborative justice court for individuals released from jail or prison, offer...

The Judicial Council of California has been awarded $488,000 by the U.S. Department of Justice to study and identify issues related to defendants’ inability to pay fines and fees. The grant would include the development of an ability-to-pay...

In a recent policy paper the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) recommend policies and practices that courts can adopt to reduce the negative impact that fines and fees have on those unable to pay.

At its public meeting on January 19, Judicial Council members heard a report that the use of evidence-based practices in pretrial risk assessment can reduce misconduct and failure to appear rates for criminal defendants.

Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye directs immediate council action on four recommendations from the Futures Commission.

A new proposal by the Commission on the Future of California’s Court System seeks to do away with the oversized consequences of traffic tickets by making minor offenses civil violations.

Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye joins Governor Brown, Senator Hertzberg and Assemblymember Bonta in a commitment to cooperate on reforms.

A workgroup established by Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye to study California’s bail system issued a slate of recommendations Tuesday, saying money bail should be replaced by a risk-based assessment and supervision program that determines whether to jail defendants before trial based on their threat to public safety and their likelihood of making a court appearance.

Learn more about the Pretrial Detention Reform Workgroup's recommendations, the California bail system and other reform efforts nationwide.

At its meeting this week, the Judicial Council heard from the Pretrial Detention Reform Workgroup, approved legislative priorities, received an update on court innovation grants, and more.

In 2018, a number of new laws were created in the hope of expanding the rights of Californians through the court system.