WitnessLA

WitnessLA is a nonprofit organization that operates independently and without political bias, providing news related to criminal justice that serves the public's interest. Our primary emphasis is on how the juvenile and criminal justice systems impact the health and welfare of communities and their inhabitants, particularly in Los Angeles and surrounding areas.

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LA County Pays $2.7 million to Teenager who was the victim of “Gladiator” fights at youth hall

3 weeks ago | witnessla.com | Celeste Fremon

Another tragic puzzle piece has dropped into the ongoing catastrophe that is Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, in Downey, CA, in which young people in residence at LP, as it is called for short, are subjected to a range of abuses. As WLA wrote a week ago, Living conditions in Los Padrinos are so bad that the Board of State and Community Corrections declared it uninhabitable, and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Miguel Espinoza ordered the county to come up with a plan to close the facility.
WitnessLA is a finalist for SoCal Journalism Award!

3 weeks ago | witnessla.com | Celeste Fremon

At WitnessLA, we were very happy to learn that one of our ongoing investigative series made it into the finals of this year’s Southern California Journalism Awards,an important string of awards, which is sponsored each year by the Los Angeles Press Club. This year, WitnessLA’s continuing investigative series, “Rosa Gonzalez, The Whistleblower,” Part 1 and Part 2, is a finalist in the category of “Investigative Reporting, Crime Related,” for Online Publications.
The Case of the Vanishing Editor

4 weeks ago | witnessla.com | Celeste Fremon

While Assistant Editor Taylor Walker has been once more looking into the painful and ongoing issue of moving LA County’s young people between various youth lock-ups, each of these environments clearly “not fit for youth,” editor Celeste Fremon has been at work on a number of other critically important stories you won’t want to miss.
Probation Moving Incarcerated Kids Out of “Unsuitable” Juvenile Hall After Court Approval, But Oversight Commission Says Simply Relocating Kids Won’t Solve Root Problems |

1 month ago | witnessla.com | Taylor Walker

The Los Angeles County Probation Department began moving kids between youth lockups this week, as part of a plan to reduce the population inside Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall. Living conditions in Los Padrinos are so bad that the Board of State and Community Corrections declared it uninhabitable, and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Miguel Espinoza ordered the county to come up with a plan to close the facility.
Undocumented: The Price of the Promised Land

1 month ago | witnessla.com | Celeste Fremon

This past Saturday, April 26, when the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books opened its doors at the University of Southern California at 9:55 a.m, the campus was in the midst of being deluged by the cold hard rain that was falling on much of LA County that morning.
WLA Editor leading (very timely) writers panel Saturday at LA Times Festival Books

2 months ago | witnessla.com | Celeste Fremon

On Saturday and Sunday this coming weekend, April 26 and 27, 2025, the Los Angeles Times is holding its annual LA Times Festival of Books on the USC campus. Admission is free to everyone who attends this amazing line-up of events. It also happens that I’m moderating a terrific panel of writers at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. If you have the time, I think you’ll really enjoy it, as we’ll be covering some very timely topics.
A controversial prosecution, a series of threats, & the struggle to provide genuine oversight for the nations largest sheriff’s department - Part 2

2 months ago | witnessla.com | Celeste Fremon

The case of Diana TeranAs described in Part 1 of this series, it was a controversial set of criminal charges filed against a longtime local prosecutor named Diana Teran, that inspired lawyer Sean Kennedy, and the rest of the members of the LA County Sheriff’s Civilian Oversight Commission to file an amicus brief in support Teran. As WLA readers of Part 1 will remember, the filing of the brief subsequently precipitated a series of threats and retaliatory actions on the part of Dawyn R.
LA County Supes Order “Transparency in Planning During Probation’s Ongoing Crisis”

2 months ago | witnessla.com | Taylor Walker

On Tuesday, April 1, four of the five Los Angeles County Supervisors expressed their displeasure with the LA County Probation Department with a motion directing the department to be more transparent and involve the board, other county departments, and the community in its plans for “dramatic changes” to the juvenile halls and camps.
A controversial prosecution, a series of threats, & the struggle to provide genuine oversight for the nations largest sheriff’s department - Part 1

2 months ago | witnessla.com | Celeste Fremon

On Thursday, March 20, 2025, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna attended the monthly meeting of the county’s Sheriff’s Civilian Oversight Commission—or COC. The sheriff was scheduled to give a 30-minute presentation to the commission, in which he would attempt to answer 27 previously submitted questions regarding what he and his staff are doing to address the ongoing problem of deputy gangs that has plagued the department for more than a half century.
LA County Probation Presents “Global Plan” for Housing Youth in Halls and Camps

Mar 15, 2025 | witnessla.com | Taylor Walker

Two years ago, on March 7, 2023, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors directed the LA County Probation Department to develop what they called a “Global Plan” to reorganize and move incarcerated youth between the county’s juvenile halls and camps.