How California Got Convinced to Lock More People Up
California just voted in harsher penalties despite low crime rates, thanks to TV news, a $16 million campaign, and a slow defense by criminal justice advocates.
Jonah Valdez
Jonah Valdez is a reporter for The Intercept covering politics, U.S. foreign policy, Israel and Palestine, human rights issues, and protest movements for social justice.
He previously was a staff writer with the Los Angeles Times where he joined the paper as an inaugural member of the L.A. Times Fellowship. For the Times, Valdez covered stories about environmental justice, gentrification, transportation, labor, pop culture, and the Hollywood industry. Valdez got his start covering local news for the Southern California News Group. His work can also be found in The Guardian, Voice of San Diego, and the San Diego-Union Tribune. He was raised in San Diego and now resides in Los Angeles, where he also writes poetry and is working on his first collection.
He previously was a staff writer with the Los Angeles Times where he joined the paper as an inaugural member of the L.A. Times Fellowship. For the Times, Valdez covered stories about environmental justice, gentrification, transportation, labor, pop culture, and the Hollywood industry. Valdez got his start covering local news for the Southern California News Group. His work can also be found in The Guardian, Voice of San Diego, and the San Diego-Union Tribune. He was raised in San Diego and now resides in Los Angeles, where he also writes poetry and is working on his first collection.
Contacts:
- jonah.valdez@theintercept.com
- @jonahmv.05 on Signal
- @jonahmv on X
Posts:
Democrats Blow Their Chance to Block Trump’s Resurgence
On climate, immigration, and Israel’s war on Gaza, Harris ran to the right — alienating voters.
Israel’s War on Gaza
“Every Choice Is Loss”: Voters on Their Decision Amid Genocide in Gaza
Progressive Americans opposed to Israel’s U.S.-funded war in Gaza face a difficult choice: whether or not to vote for Harris.
Israel’s War on Gaza
ACLU Leadership Rejects Staff Demands to Condemn U.S. Role in Israel’s Gaza War
More than 650 ACLU staffers signed a petition calling on the organization to decry the ongoing war and divest from Israel.
Israel’s War on Gaza
She Exposed a Prestigious Medical Journal’s Silence on the Holocaust. Now She’s Asking About Gaza.
A historian who exposed the New England Journal of Medicine's silence on Nazi atrocities confronted the journal’s treatment of Gaza during a Harvard symposium.
Israel’s War on Gaza
U.S. Journalist Jeremy Loffredo Released After Being Detained by Israel for Four Days
Jeremy Loffredo was taken into custody on suspicion of “assisting an enemy in war” for his reporting on Iran’s missile attack.
Florida Counties Refuse to Evacuate Jails in Hurricane Milton Flood Zones
In areas where people are being ordered to leave, those incarcerated in jails have no choice but to stay.
Israel’s War on Gaza
One Year of Empty Rhetoric From the White House on Israel’s Wars
The Biden administration has consistently said Israel should not kill civilians as it sends Israel more weapons to kill civilians.
Israel’s War on Gaza
Columbia Law School Told Professors to Call Campus Police on Student Protesters
As Columbia braces for October 7 anniversary protests, an email to faculty over the weekend instructed them to call security if students disrupt classes.
Israel’s Lebanon Blitz
U.S. Citizens in Lebanon “Abandoned” by the State Department as Israel Invades
The State Department coordinated massive evacuations from Lebanon in 2006 and Egypt in 2011. What’s different now?