Todd Spitzer is an American attorney and politician serving as the district attorney of Orange County,California. Spitzer successfully ran for Orange County district attorney in 2018 against incumbent Tony Rackauckas. Spitzer had previously served as a deputy district attorney from 1990 to 1996 and,under Rackauckas,as assistant district attorney from 2008 to 2010.
Thomas John Umberg is an American politician who serves in the California State Senate. A Democrat,he represents the 34th district,which encompasses parts of northern Orange County and a small portion of Long Beach. Previously,he served in the California State Assembly,representing the 69th District. He is a partner at Umberg Zipser LLP in Orange County.
Michael S. Carona is a convicted felon and former sheriff-coroner of Orange County,California. He gained national prominence during the hunt for the killer of Samantha Runnion. After the quick capture of her murderer,Alejandro Avila,late night television host Larry King dubbed him "America's Sheriff" during an interview.
Stephen Lawrence Cooley is an American politician and prosecutor. He was the Los Angeles County District Attorney from 2000 to 2012. Cooley was re-elected in 2004 and again in 2008.
Nativo Lopez-Vigil was an American political leader and immigrant rights activist in Southern California. Lopez was a national president of the Mexican American Political Association and the national director of the Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana,a community service and advocacy organization for Mexican and Latin American immigrants throughout the United States.
The Fullerton Police Department of Fullerton,California,was established in 1904 when the city incorporated. The Fullerton Police Department currently employs 153 sworn officers and 78 civilian employees. It has a budget of about $35 million. The current chief is David Hendricks. The department has a Uniform Division,a Service Division and a Detective Division all commanded by officers in the rank of captain.
Arthur Paul Carmona served more than two years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of two armed robberies on the basis of eyewitness testimony. His case took on prominence in the ongoing debate in the legal community over the reliability of eyewitness identification. After his release,he had become an activist for the wrongfully accused.
Sandra Sue Hutchens was an American law enforcement officer who was the Sheriff-Coroner of Orange County,California. She was appointed to the position on June 10,2008,replacing acting sheriff Jack Anderson,who had led the department since the January 14,2008 resignation of Mike Carona. Prior to her appointment,she was retired from the position of division chief within the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Hutchens was elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. In 2017 Hutchens announced that she would not seek re-election for a third term. She endorsed the successful election bid of Undersheriff Don Barnes.
David Ormon Carter is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Marsy's Law,the California Victims' Bill of Rights Act of 2008,enacted by voters as Proposition 9 through the initiative process in the November 2008 general election,is an amendment to the state's constitution and certain penal code sections. The act protects and expands the legal rights of victims of crime to include 17 rights in the judicial process,including the right to legal standing,protection from the defendant,notification of all court proceedings,and restitution,as well as granting parole boards far greater powers to deny inmates parole. Critics allege that the law unconstitutionally restricts defendant's rights by allowing prosecutors to withhold exculpatory evidence under certain circumstances,and harms victims by restricting their rights to discovery,depositions,and interviews. Passage of this law in California led to the passage of similar laws in Florida,Georgia,Illinois,Kentucky,Nevada,North Carolina,Oklahoma,Ohio and Wisconsin,and efforts to pass similar laws in Hawaii,Iowa,Montana,Idaho,South Dakota,and Pennsylvania. In November 2017,Marsy's Law was found to be unconstitutional and void in its entirety by the Supreme Court of Montana for violating that state's procedure for amending the Montana Constitution. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reached the same conclusion as Montana under its own state constitution in 2021.
Scott A. Steiner is a Judge of the Orange County Superior Court in California,former Deputy District Attorney,former Chairman of the Orange Planning Commission,and former Adjunct Professor of California Evidence and Criminal Procedure at Chapman University School of Law. He is the son of former Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman William G. Steiner.
Donald P. Wagner is an American politician,currently serving as a member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors for the 3rd district and chair. He previously served as mayor of Irvine,California and as a Republican member of the California State Assembly,representing the 68th district,which includes portions of Orange County. In 2019,Wagner won a seat as a nonpartisan representative on the Orange County Board of Supervisors,representing District 3.
Kelly Thomas was a homeless man diagnosed with schizophrenia who lived on the streets of Fullerton,California. He died five days after being severely beaten by six members of the Fullerton Police Department whom he encountered on July 5,2011,in what was later described as "one of the worst police beatings in [US] history."
On October 12,2011,a mass shooting occurred at the Salon Meritage hair salon in Seal Beach,California. Eight people inside the salon and one person in the parking lot were shot,and only one victim survived. It remains the deadliest mass killing in Orange County history.
The Anaheim police shootings and protests of July 2012 involve two fatal shootings by police officers in Anaheim,California,and subsequent public protests. On July 21,Manuel Diaz was shot and killed by Anaheim Police officer Nick Bennallack after he ran from the officers. Protests ensued after the shooting. On July 22,Joel Acevedo was shot and killed by Anaheim police in an alleged exchange of gunfire,making the seventh fatal shooting by an officer in Anaheim in twelve months. Both shootings were ruled justified by the Orange County District Attorney's Office,but a federal jury later found Officer Bennallack guilty of excessive force.
Michael Aaron Persky is an American attorney and former judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court from 2003 to 2018. He gained attention after his ruling in the case People v. Turner,in which he in June 2016 sentenced Stanford University student Brock Turner to 6 months in prison for the sexual assault and attempted rape of an unconscious 22-year-old woman,Chanel Miller,which was a sentence recommended by the Santa Clara County Probation Department. Despite allegations that race,gender,and class bias influenced his lenient sentencing of Turner,the California Commission on Judicial Performance found that there was not clear and convincing evidence of wrongdoing in their investigation of the case. Nonetheless,Persky was recalled by voters on June 5,2018,during the 2018 California primary elections.
The 2018 Orange,County,California District Attorney election took place on June 5,2018 for the first round. Because no candidate received a majority in the first round,a runoff took place November 6,2018,to elect the Orange County,California District Attorney. County-level elections in California are officially nonpartisan. Because no candidate received a majority,a runoff was held on November 6,2018.
Scott Loren Sanders is an American criminal defense lawyer and an advocate for both criminal justice and police reform.
The 2022 California Attorney General election was held on November 8,2022,to elect the Attorney General of California. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta was appointed to the office on April 23,2021,following the resignation of Xavier Becerra to become the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Bonta won a full term.
The 2020 Los Angeles County elections were held on November 3,2020,in Los Angeles County,California,with nonpartisan blanket primary elections for certain offices being held on March 3. Three of the five seats of the Board of Supervisors were up for election,as well as one of the countywide elected officials,the District Attorney. In addition,elections were held for various community college districts and water districts,as well as the Superior Court.
