Criminal Justice, Early California, Race, Women: 1850

Legislature passes laws:

• Allowing for the virtual slavery of Indian children and of adult Indians declared “vagrants” by judges. The law expires in 1863.
• Barring African Americans, Indians, and mulattoes from testifying against whites in criminal cases. The following year, the legislature bans testimony from the same groups in civil trials.
• Criminalizing abortion except in cases where the mother’s life is endangered.