San Francisco Public Press

Law & Justice

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How California’s Coercive Control Law Could Help Women Manipulated by Partners

Blanca suffered decades of psychological abuse from her husband, whose behaviors fall under a category of abuse sociologists and family law experts call coercive control.

Under a California law passed in 2020, the government is finally offering some acknowledgment of the harm she experienced. But the reform applies only in civil court — and can be used only in limited types of cases.

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San Francisco Rent Relief Tracker

Less than a month before statewide eviction protections expire on June 30, close to 51% of requested funds for rent assistance in San Francisco had been paid out.
2022-23 Ida B. Wells Fellowship Awarded to Yesica Prado

Type Investigations has named San Francisco Public Press multimedia journalist Yesica Prado a 2022-23 Ida B. Wells Fellow. She is one of four fellows selected for this national program. For her fellowship, Yesica will report on homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area.
PBS Public Editor Says Complaints Can Spark Community Conversations

With the proliferation of social media channels, misinformation and disinformation now spread as fast as the click of a trackpad. Even for a trusted outlet like PBS — nationally recognized for its family friendly programming and sober, nonpartisan news coverage — this era has brought a flood of digital rumors to quell. As the public editor at PBS, Ricardo Sandoval-Palos fields complaints for the organization and uses community feedback to cultivate conversations between viewers and PBS’s creative teams.
While SF Fought COVID, HIV Prevention Stalled

Over the past several months, health care providers have been warning San Francisco officials that while the city was focused on fighting COVID-19, rates of HIV infection and related illnesses were creeping in the wrong direction. From the very beginning, and throughout the HIV epidemic, which began in 1981, San Francisco led the way in prevention, care and treatment that came to be recognized around the world.
John Muir, Racial Politics and the Restoration of Indigenous Lands in Yosemite

John Muir has been honored extensively, with his name on many sites and institutions, including 28 schools, a college, a number of mountains, several trails, a glacier, a forest, a beach, a medical center, a highway and Muir Woods National Monument, one of the most visited destinations in the Bay Area. But in the time since the Sierra Club issued a nuanced statement in 2020 acknowledging some racist language in his early writings, some have come to believe that Muir’s legacy should be diminished, despite his contributions to the preservation of wilderness and later writings praising native tribes.
June 2022 SF Election Guide

A nonpartisan election guide featuring text and audio summaries of all San Francisco ballot measures for the election occurring June 7, 2022. • Proposition A — MUNI Reliability and Street Safety Bond • Proposition B — Building Inspection Commission • Proposition C — Recall Timelines and Vacancy Process • Proposition D — Office of Victim and Witness Rights; Legal Services for Domestic Violence Victims • Proposition E — Behested Payments • Proposition F — Refuse Collection and Disposal Ordinance • Proposition G — Public Health Emergency Leave • Proposition H — Recall Measure Regarding Chesa Boudin
Tax Cuts and Eroding Worker Protections Made Wealth Gap More Extreme

When we examine the massive wealth gap between the rich and poor in this country, what stands out most is how differently it affects the country’s white and Black populations. According to data from the Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances, the typical Black family has $24,000 in wealth. That is less than 13% of the $190,000 in wealth held by the typical white family.
How California Utilities Commission Undermines the Public Records Act

Despite vows to become more transparent, the California Public Utilities Commission has systematically violated the public’s right to know about its handling of deadly disasters and corporate scandals, according to court records and First Amendment attorneys. Applying century-old laws meant to fight corruption, the commission has effectively limited court enforcement of the state’s public records act. But a state appeals court on May 3 is hearing a lawsuit challenging that practice and could bring more transparency to the commission.

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