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California mom rips Newsom-backed ‘diversion program’ that appears to benefit her son’s killer
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Compounding layers of leniency in California laws are allowing drivers charged with vehicular manslaughter to walk away with clean criminal and driving records, prompting calls for reform from victims’ families.
Allison Lyman, who is looking for accountability for the crash that killed her son last year, believes soft-on-crime laws passed under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s tenure have weakened accountability for road deaths, amounting to what she described as «negligence.»
«You know, our hunch is this was all happening during ‘soft on crime,’ ‘let’s clear the jails,’» Lyman said of California’s laws.
«And the consequence now is us — with these drivers right back on our roads.»
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, pictured alongside Connor Lopez, right, the son of Allison Lyman who was killed in a car accident on April 23, 2025. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images; Allison Lyman)
Lyman’s son, Connor Lopez, was killed in a collision on April 23, 2025, when Harkit Kaur, a 50-year-old woman, turned into a clear view of incoming traffic and blocked the path of Lopez’s motorcycle, according to eyewitnesses to the accident.
Kaur did not show signs of intoxication after taking a standardized field sobriety test, police reports indicate. Fox News Digital reached out to Kaur’s legal representation.
After the accident, Lyman was shocked to hear the death was considered a «misdemeanor» under California laws dealing with non-violent crimes — something amounting to less than a shoplifting crime. But her shock only grew when she was told Kaur could soon have the accident wiped entirely from her record through a law Newsom approved in 2020.
«I won’t ever forget the day I sat in front of the DA. He said something about a ‘diversion program.’ And then we learned: Governor Newsom signed AB 3234 into law,» Layman explained.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom takes questions from the media after announcing the state is suing the White House to restore SNAP funding before the cutoff during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. (REUTERS/Fred Greaves)
That law expanded judges’ authority to grant pretrial dismissal in some misdemeanor cases, allowing charges to be completely dismissed if defendants complete court-ordered programs and «would deem the arrest upon which diversion was imposed to have never occurred.»
The law can apply to more than just traffic violations.
«And then the charge is dismissed. It is erased,» Lyman said. «The driver that killed Connor has never lost her license. I’ve seen her driving,» Lyman said.
Lyman noted that Kaur hasn’t yet officially received a diversion ruling and will receive a final sentencing ruling next week.
Coupled with other Newsom-approved laws, Lyman said courts are specifically told to consider diversion ahead of possible jail sentences.
«I zoomed in for a woman whose husband was killed in Sacramento. It’s a misdemeanor. She has the same judge as Connor. And the judge was talking about making his decision and cited this code that I had never heard of — 17.2. And it was another law passed in 2023 that essentially tells judges to consider everything, including diversion, before jail,» Lyman said.
Newsom approved 17.2 through AB 2167 — a law that requires «a court to consider alternatives to incarceration including collaborative justice court programs, diversion, restorative justice and probation.»
In the wake of her son’s death, now one year ago, Lyman is working with state lawmakers to advocate for SB 953 — a law that would require all vehicular manslaughter to be reported to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
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The California state capitol building in Sacramento on National Urban League California Legislative Advocacy Day on March 13, 2024. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for National Urban League)
Sen. Roger Niello, R-Calif., the bill’s sponsor, explained his legislation would put two points on the defendant’s driving record, regardless of diversion.
«Under current laws, a speeding ticket can now have a greater reflection on a driver’s record than killing somebody with a car. A diversion does not change the fact that a fatality occurred,» Niello said at a press event earlier this week.
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«The DMV cannot do its job of determining who poses a risk and who does not.»
SB 953 advanced unanimously out of committee on Tuesday.
Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office.
gavin newsom, safety, in court, law, california
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Chicago resident living in shadows of Obama Presidential Center reveal chaos caused by years-long construction
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CHICAGO – A man who has lived on Chicago’s South Side for 18 years and now lives in the shadow of the newly opened Barack Obama Presidential Center described to Fox News Digital the havoc he says the years-long construction project wreaked on his housing complex.
Akoma Amanze is a local cab driver who lives in Jackson Park Terrace, a low-income housing community directly across the street from the 19.3 acre campus dedicated to the 44th president.
Over the weekend, while thousands of people from across the country — celebrities and ordinary folks alike — swarmed the area to visit Obama’s new campus that features a museum, library, gardens and recreational activities, Amanze and other residents took in the spectacle.
But Amanze told Fox News Digital the buzz across the street was nothing new. While he made it very clear that he supports Obama, and described living at Jackson Park Terrace as a «very good experience,» Amanze and others in his complex dealt with massive headaches caused by the construction.
OBAMA CENTER EMBEDS ‘INDIGENOUS’ LAND MESSAGE ON CONTROVERSIAL SITE
Jackson Park Terrace resident Akoma Amnaze speaks with Fox News Digital from his housing complex across the street from the Obama Presidential Center on June 19, 2026. (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital)
He described the construction process, which began in 2021, as «sometimes very, very disturbing.»
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«He’s my man, and I’m excited that this site is here» said Amanze, referring to Obama, «but as a resident, there has been a lot of things [that] have stopped us here.»
The Barack Obama Presidential Center towers over Jackson Park Terrace, a low-income housing complex across the street, on June 20, 2026. (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital)
«On two occasions, my apartment flooded while they were digging the lower level of that project,» he said. «Two times. And I had to deal with the ramifications of that twice. Those ramifications were that all my apartment was flooded, and I had to throw away everything on the floor. Boxes, papers, clothes, I had to throw them away.»
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He said he had to suck the water out of his home himself, and then clean the entire mess up himself. Despite the destruction, according to Amanze, neither the complex’s management nor representatives from the Obama Center offered to help deal with the fallout, financially or otherwise.
A sign outside Jackson Park Terrace, a low-income housing community across the street from the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Photo taken on June 20, 2026. (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital)
Then there was the reverberation from the digging, he said.
«Sometimes, you stay in bed or in the apartment, [and] the digging — sometimes when they were digging deep— [it] would be shaking your bed,» he said. «I had that experience all through the construction.»
OBAMA’S LEGACY PROJECT OFFERS LITTLE HOPE FOR CHICAGO’S SOUTH SIDE RESIDENTS
Across the street used to be a community park where Amanze said he «more or less raised all [his] children.»
The Barack Obama Presidential Center towers over Jackson Park Terrace, a low-income housing complex on Chicago’s South Side, on June 20, 2026. (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital)
«In fact, my last child, that is 14 today, there used to be a favorite swing on that park where I took him every time he starts crying or he starts showing signs of stress,» Amanze said. «I take him there, and I put him on that swing, and I swing him up and down, and then he will fall asleep, and then I bring him back home.»
The park is gone now, but Amanze is not bitter.
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«When things are happening that you do not have the power to stop, you just have to learn to live with it,» he said. «I just learned to live with it. I’m not upset. I’m excited that my brother Obama was able to establish something this big in my neighborhood. At least in my mind, I’m a part of the history.»
barack obama, chicago, local, housing, parks, politics
INTERNACIONAL
Violencia, déficit fiscal y crisis sanitaria: los desafíos que enfrentará Abelardo de la Espriella en Colombia
De confirmarse su triunfo en el escrutinio definitivo, Abelardo de la Espriella asumirá el poder el 7 de agosto próximo en un país sacudido por el recrudecimiento de la violencia armada, una grave crisis sanitaria y un déficit fiscal que pondrá en jaque al nuevo gobierno de Colombia.
El abogado y mediático outsider ganó el balotaje de este domingo con menos de un punto de ventaja sobre su rival de izquierda, el senador Iván Cepeda, heredero del presidente Gustavo Petro, según el conteo provisorio. El escrutinio final se conocerá en los próximos días. Cepeda adelantó que pedirá la impugnación de más de 30 mil mesas por “irregularidades”.
En poco menos de dos meses, y de ratificarse el resultado, De la Espriella jurará como nuevo mandatario por los próximos cuatro años con promesas de “mano dura” contra la inseguridad. Pero ese es solo uno de los problemas urgentes que deberá afrontar en el corto plazo.
Los tres grandes desafíos del nuevo gobierno colombiano
Colombia iniciará el 7 de agosto una nueva era marcada por tres grandes desafíos:
- Violencia armada. De la Espriella ha centrado su campaña en sus planes contra la violencia armada y la inseguridad. En los últimos tiempos, el país vivió un recrudecimiento del accionar de los grupos ilegales a pesar de la política de diálogo llevada adelante por el gobierno saliente.
El asesinato del precandidato presidencial Miguel Uribe Turbay el año pasado marcó un punto de inflexión en la violencia política que sacude el país desde hace décadas.
Se estima que hay unos 27.000 hombres y mujeres en armas desparramados en 16 zonas en disputa territorial entre las disidencias de las históricas Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), el Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), grupos paramilitares, carteles del narcotráfico y otras organizaciones criminales.
Abelardo De La Espriella en campaña (Foto: REUTERS/Jair Coll)
Son zonas donde la presencia del Estado es casi nula y donde retenes de grupos armados mantienen el control territorial, a menudo sacudido por combates entre los mismos grupos ilegales. Así, en los últimos meses se reportaron enfrentamientos, atentados y hasta ataques con drones en distintas zonas asoladas por la violencia.
Pero además hay un aumento de la violencia urbana. “La criminalidad hoy es mucho más fuerte. Es un problema cada vez mas importante. Hay ciudades como Cali y Barranquilla que están experimentando tasas de homicidio muy elevadas”, dijo a TN el analista Carlos Moreno, docente de la Universidad Javieriana de Bogotá.
De la Espriella prometió un modelo de “mano dura” inspirado en el presidente salvadoreño, su admirado Nayib Bukele, que en pocos años logró pacificar su país tras décadas de dominio de distintas pandillas. Lo logró con arrestos masivos de decenas de miles de supuestos delincuentes y un tendal de denuncias de violaciones a los derechos humanos, torturas y víctimas.
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De la Espriella promete replicar el modelo con la construcción de megacárceles como el polémico Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo levantado en las afueras de San Salvador para albergar a decenas de miles de presuntos pandilleros. También prometió “bombardear” a los grupos ilegales y poner fin a las políticas de diálogo impulsadas por el presidente saliente.
Pero Bukele, según las denuncias de la oposición, avanzó también sobre la democracia con un control absoluto de los tres poderes del Estado, un escenario que, según analistas, le sería muy difícil de replicar a De la Espriella.
“En Colombia, las instituciones y los contrapesos son más fuertes. No va a poder hacer lo mismo, pero intentará imitarlo”, dijo Moreno.
- Crisis sanitaria. Este es otro de los grandes desafíos que enfrentará el nuevo gobierno.
“El sistema sanitario está al borde del abismo y el nuevo presidente va a tener que hacer algo de manera urgente para evitar que toda la estructura colapse”, dijo Moreno.
El analista afirmó, en este escenario, numerosas instituciones de salud no atienden a enfermos con cierto tipo de seguro médico. “Estas empresas no están pagando”, comentó. Así, se rompe la cadena de pagos y los colombianos están sufriendo serios inconvenientes a la hora de atenderse ante cualquier dolencia. “Hay centros que comenzaron a cerrar servicios y hay clínicas que ya no atienden partos”, dijo Moreno.
- Déficit fiscal. Otro de los problemas urgentes que afrontará de la Espriella es el frente económico.
En ese marco, Colombia sufre un pronunciado déficit fiscal del 7% del PBI. Además, la deuda pública que supera el 64% del producto bruto interno. La inflación en Colombia cerró el año 2025 en 5,10 %, en baja en relación al año anterior. En tanto, la economía registró un crecimiento interanual del 2,2% en el primer trimestre de 2026.
“El problema fiscal es serio. De la Espriella ha prometido fuertes recortes, quitando ministerios e instituciones”, dijo Moreno.
Sin embargo, el nuevo presidente no tendrá mayoría en el Congreso para aprobar sus iniciativas, por lo que estará obligado a negociar alianzas con la derecha tradicional.
“Deberá armar acuerdos con por lo menos cuatro partidos para generar una mayoría suficiente para encarar transformaciones radicales”, concluyó el analista.
Colombia, Abelardo de la Espriella
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