San Jose has begun dismantling its last large homeless encampment after weeks of outreach and offers of housing. Workers...
Op-ed: Public safety and fairness are not expendable budget items
On paper, the latest Santa Clara County budget cuts may seem like another depressing day in modern American governance: County leaders have established preliminary budget reduction targets of $18.5 million for the District Attorney’s Office and $4.5 million for the Public Defender’s Office. Both offices have addressed their respective targets with a set of tiered, prioritized proposals that strike a balance that will provide for both a vigorous prosecution of alleged crimes and a robust defense of those accused. But the size of these targets requires cuts that would deeply damage the criminal justice system, for everybody: victims, defendants and...
