JAWS CAMP 2026: Criminal Justice, Immigration and the Jailing of Undocumented Workers
JAWS CAMP 2026: Join us Sunday, Oct. 4 at the conference for a panel centered on criminal justice, immigration and the jailing of undocumented workers. The panel will be moderated by Celeste Fremon (founder of Witness LA) and features reporters Byrhonda Lyons and Victoria Valenzuela, who focus on criminal justice and prisons, as well as Susan Seager, founder and director of the Press Freedom Project at the UC Irvine School of Law. The panel will examine how local criminal justice intersects with immigration detention, the challenges of investigative reporting and legal hurdles to information access.
JAWS’ annual Conference and Mentoring Program (CAMP) will be held Oct. 2-4, 2026 at the Hyatt Centric Delfina in Santa Monica, California.
Registration for the conference is open! Reserve your spot now:
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:
CELESTE FREMON
Celeste Fremon is a long-time LA journalist specializing in gangs, law enforcement, criminal justice and education reform, and the author of G-Dog and the Homeboys. In March of 2007, she left conventional deadline journalism to found WitnessLA, a social justice news website. She did so with a grant from the Justice and Journalism fund. She has written for the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine, the LA Weekly, Ms., The Huffington Post, MSNBC, and Salon. She taught literary journalism as it relates to social justice at UC Irvine, and reporting and news writing at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Her work has been honored by The American Library Association, The LA Press Club, The Society of Professional Journalists, PEN USA, The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, The Western Publishing Association, Sunday Magazine Editors’ Association, The Missouri School of Journalism, and the John S. Knight Fellowship.
BYRHONDA LYONS
Byrhonda Lyons is an investigative reporter who focuses on systematic failures across California’s courts and criminal justice system. Lyons creates stories in various formats to reach different audiences, from TikTok to long-form television stories to written articles. Her work has led to change across California. Recently, Lyons' reporting on California's conservatorship system resulted in a Superior Court Judge being reassigned, and a new judge cracking down on conflicts of interest in Ventura County. In addition, the California DMV changed its policies after her reporting exposed that the agency was collecting millions of dollars from vehicle auctions without notifying owners. Lyons was a 2019 recipient of a National Headliner Award. She has been nominated for an Emmy Award and was a finalist for the 2024 Best Investigative Journalism Award from the Institute for Nonprofit News. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism and Arkansas's oldest historically Black college, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. She is currently at fellow John S. Knight Journalism Fellow Class of 2027 at Stanford University.
SUSAN SEAGER
Susan E. Seager is founder and director of the Press Freedom Project at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, a student law clinic providing free legal services for independent journalists in California. The clinic is co-counsel in a civil rights lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department, LA Press Club v. City of Los Angeles, which won a federal court order barring the LAPD from firing projectiles at journalists during anti-ICE protests. She previously worked as a media attorney at Davis Wright Tremaine in Los Angeles and worked as a journalist for over 10 years before going to law school at age 40.
VICTORIA VALENZUELA
Victoria Valenzuela is an independent journalist covering individuals and families impacted by incarceration. She has been published in the Guardian, LA Times, Prism, Truthout, USA Today, BuzzFeed News, LA Public Press, Ms. Magazine, Bolts, and more. She has a master's degree in specialized journalism with a focus on social justice and investigations from the University of Southern California.
SEE THE FULL CAMP SCHEDULE
FAQs
Where is Conference and Mentoring Program (CAMP) 2026? CAMP 2026 will be held October 2-4 at The Hyatt Centric Delfina, located at 530 Pico Blvdin sunny Santa Monica, CA. The hotel is steps from the world-famous Santa Monica pier along with restaurants, shops and entertainment.
The CAMP Site Selection Committee chose Santa Monica based on feedback from members urging a balance between an urban setting allowing easier travel with access to a get-away-from-it-all vibe. The committee also took into account the venue’s capacity, support for conferences, cost and location. We chose this location intentionally for its walkability, safety and convenience, prioritizing an environment where attendees can focus on community, learning and connection without added logistical stress.
What happens at CAMP? This will be JAWS’ 41st CAMP. While the format and size have varied over the years, the goal has not: to bring women* journalists together from different specialties, beats, demographics and geographies to share with, learn from and empower each other. There will be structured presentations and workshops, planned social events and free time for unstructured relationship-building and city exploration. The current, rough agenda is as follows:
Oct. 1: Self-organized social activities for early arrivals
Oct. 2: Daytime workshops, evening welcome reception at Ms. Magazine offices
Oct. 3: Morning plenaries, lunch provided, afternoon sessions, Books & Browse evening reception
Oct. 4: Morning member meeting, morning sessions, lunch provided, afternoon sessions
Oct. 5: Self-organized social activities for late departures
Will meals be provided? Yes! Lunch will be provided Saturday and Sunday. Other provided meals and receptions will be announced. Meals not on the official schedule will be unstructured, allowing attendees to explore nearby eateries and spend time together away from the venue.
What is the CAMP refund policy? CAMP registration at the Early Bird rate is non-refundable and non-transferable. Regular registration can be transferred before September 1, 2026 upon written request to hello@jaws.org.