Dear CalMatters reader,

For many domestic violence victims in California, the danger doesn’t end when their abuser is sentenced to prison. Instead it becomes a waiting game until the assailant is released.

Assemblymember James Ramos, a San Bernardino Democrat, wants California to institute a six-month safety net for survivors by issuing temporary protective orders that restrict contact during that critical window.

His proposal, Assembly Bill 285, aims to close the gap between the time a defendant is released and the victim secures a permanent restraining order.

“By issuing a criminal protective order, we ensure that upon an offender’s release, they cannot gain contact with those whom they victimized,” Ramos said. “This is especially important when it comes to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons as many of those cases stem from domestic violence.”

Last year Ramos introduced a related bill, AB 2695, which passed. It requires the state Department of Justice to track criminal incidents involving missing and murdered Indigenous people, and to record whether domestic violence incidents took place on tribal land. California tribes have been pushing for an emergency declaration to help address the high rate of unsolved cases that often stem from domestic violence.

Currently in California restraining orders can expire before someone convicted of domestic violence is released, leaving victims scrambling. 

“Survivors often live in fear of facing an eventual prison release date and potential contact with the offender,” San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson, a co-sponsor of the bill, said in a statement. 

Ramos’ bill would require a six-month restraining order to take effect before an abuser is released. Supporters hope this would give the survivor time to get permanent protective orders, said Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin, who is also a co-sponsor of the bill.

Under a temporary order, a judge could forbid communication with a victim; prevent the defendant from annoying, harassing, threatening or harming the victim, and order law enforcement agencies to provide protection for survivors and their family members, the bill states.

Susanna Barnett, executive director of Morongo Basin Unity Home, a nonprofit that serves people who have experienced domestic violence in Yucca Valley, said it’s a real worry for her clients.

“When the abuser has been released, he or she might be angry because they put them in jail or prison,” Barnett said. “They feel like it’s the victim's fault that they called the police or put a restraining order on them. It’s very common.”

When abusers come back, she said, “It is worse …They feel that they've lost that control, so they escalate to physical violence.”

She said judges sometimes deny restraining orders when a defendant has been in prison for a long time and no new offenses have occurred.

“If nothing has happened then they won't grant the restraining order, which is kind of an oxymoron, because we want these people to be safe,” Barnett said.

Riverside County Sheriff's deputies won’t participate in immigration enforcement, Sheriff Chad Bianco said last week. In a video message, Bianco disputed accounts that his deputies are raiding schools, businesses and churches.

“The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office and your deputies have not, are not and will not engage in any type of immigration enforcement,” Bianco said. “That is the sole responsibility of the federal government.”

Bianco said he would cooperate with U.S Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers “within the confines” of California’s sanctuary state laws. But he also vowed to fight Senate Bill 54, which set those protections, limiting what California police and sheriff’s departments can do to enforce immigration law. 

Also last week Bianco teased a “major announcement” on Feb. 17, sparking speculation that he’ll announce a bid for governor in 2026.

A Moreno Valley man has made it a quest to fight catalytic converter theft by pushing local governments to tighten laws around the crime, the San Bernardino Sun reported in a profile of the local activist.

Daryl Terrell pressed council members in cities throughout Riverside to adopt what he calls “one and you’re done” ordinances. These laws make it a misdemeanor crime for someone to possess a single catalytic converter not attached to a vehicle without proof of ownership, with fines up to $1,000. 

Terrell has proposed similar laws to county supervisors in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura Counties, arguing that catalytic converter theft hits lower income and working-class families hardest. 

Thanks for reading,