By Eyewitness News BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Kern County has agreed to pay out $7 million to settle a class-action lawsuit involving strip searches in its jails. Some inmates claimed they were strip searched either in a group without privacy or after the court had ordered them to be released. The settlement covers eligible beneficiaries who […]

Federal prosecutors had sought 10 years apiece, but federal judge express concerns about the health of the defendants if given lengthy prison sentences. Amanda Bronstad The National Law Journal | August 13, 2010 A federal judge sentenced a Beverly Hills, Calif., film producer and his wife to six months in prison and six months home […]

Thomas Goldstein was jailed 24 years based largely on a jailhouse informant whose credibility was questionable. The city denies his rights were violated but says it couldn’t risk a sizable jury award. August 12, 2010 | By Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times Long Beach has agreed to pay nearly $8 million to settle a lawsuit […]

Skid Row Defendant Puts Up a Pro Per FightBy Greg Katz Daily Journal Staff Writer LOS ANGELES – Patrick Dean has defied the odds, but now he may be defying common sense. The 38-year-old homeless man who was ensnared last year in a highly controversial Los Angeles program to clean up Skid Row has put […]

By Barb Stanton San Bernardino County has lost another costly lawsuit to the tune of approximately $25.5 million after a class-action civil lawsuit against the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s department was finalized in a settlement by a federal court. The lawsuit alleged that thousands of strip searches at San Bernardino County jails humiliated inmates. U.S. […]