Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 1269 into law on Oct. 13.

Also known as “Wakiesha’s Law,” the legislation, authored by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Ladera Heights), requires county and city jails to promptly notify families when an incarcerated individual is seriously hospitalized or dies while in custody.

“If your loved one died in custody, you have the right to know, and you deserve to know,” Bryan told members of the Assembly Public Safety committee in April.

In March 2016, 36-year-old Wakiesha Wilson was found unresponsive in her cell at the Los Angeles Police Department Metropolitan Detention Center. She was later pronounced dead. Her family was not notified for four days, forcing them to contact the coroner’s office themselves.

Bryan created the bill to increase tran

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