LA Students’ Medical, Mental Health Records Leaked By Hackers
The data, including sensitive personal information, are appearing on the dark web via a ransomware group that has been targeting academic institutions, Bloomberg reports. California's plan to detain more people with mental illnesses is among other news from the state.
Bloomberg:
Hackers Leak LA Kids’ Mental Health Records, Taunt Victims
Families of students in Los Angeles are learning this week that their kids’ medical records are appearing on the dark web thanks to a notorious ransomware crew that’s extorting academic institutions. Kids’ medical and mental health records, in addition to 2,000 student assessments, driver’s license numbers and Social Security numbers, were published after a breach last year at the Los Angeles Unified School District, said Jack Kelanic, senior IT infrastructure administrator. The district is the second-largest in the nation, with more than 600,000 pupils in 1,000 schools. (Murphy, 3/1)
More health news from California —
AP:
California Bill Could Mean More Mentally Ill People Detained
More people in California could be detained against their will because of a mental illness under a new bill backed Wednesday by the mayors of some of the nation’s largest cities, who say they are struggling to care for the bulk of the country’s homeless population. Federal data shows nearly one-third of the country’s homeless population lives in California, crowding the densely populated coastal cities of the nation’s most populous state. California lawmakers have given local governments billions of dollars in recent years to address this, but often with mixed results that recently prompted a public scolding from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. (Beam, 3/2)
Los Angeles Times:
LAPD Officers Could Stop Responding To Some Nonviolent Calls
As part of its upcoming contract talks, the Los Angeles Police Protective League intends to tell city negotiators that it is willing to let other city departments or nonprofit agencies respond to calls about panhandling, illegal sidewalk vending, urinating in public, mental health episodes in which there is no threat of violence or criminal activity, and dangerous dog complaints in which “no attack is in progress.” (Zahniser, 3/1)
KHN:
Judge To Fine California Each Day It Fails To Complete Prisoner Suicide Prevention Measures
A federal judge said this week that she will begin fining California potentially tens of thousands of dollars daily after more than 200 prison inmates killed themselves during eight years in which state corrections officials failed to complete court-ordered suicide prevention measures. Addressing a chronic tragedy that has plagued the state for decades, Chief U.S. District Judge Kimberly Mueller said she will start the fines April 1 — $1,000 a day for each of 15 unmet safeguards until all the state’s 34 adult prisons are in full compliance. (Thompson, 3/1)
The New York Times:
Board Denies Parole For Sirhan Sirhan, The Assassin Of Robert F. Kennedy
A California panel on Wednesday denied parole for Sirhan B. Sirhan, the man convicted in the 1968 assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, in its first review of the case since Gov. Gavin Newsom decided last year that Mr. Sirhan, 78, should not be released. The parole board’s latest decision, which followed a hearing via videoconference from the state prison in San Diego, where Mr. Sirhan has been held, was the second time in three years that Mr. Sirhan’s release had been considered. He has spent more than a half-century behind bars for shooting Mr. Kennedy, then a candidate for president, inside the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles at the end of a campaign appearance in 1968. At the time, Mr. Sirhan was 24. (Hubler, 3/1)