Byrhonda Lyons
CalMatters ReporterByrhonda Lyons is a national award-winning video journalist for CalMatters. She creates compelling multimedia stories about how California policy affects people’s everyday lives. From the state’s mental health crisis, to an investigation into shady state contractors, her work aims to hold politicians accountable and educate Californians about the ins and outs of their state government. Byrhonda’s work has appeared on the PBS NewsHour, KPBS, KVIE-PBS, and local television stations throughout California. She’s won a National Headliner Award for her work during the 2018 elections. She has also received several awards from the California News Publishers Association (CNPA).
Prior to joining CALmatters, she was a freelance video producer and worked as a digital media specialist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service. She was also an editor for the San Quentin News, an inmate-run newspaper in California. Byrhonda is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. When she’s not working, you can catch her searching archives for trailblazing black women who have been left out of history books.
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Patricia Guerrero, a daughter of immigrants, would become the high court’s first Latina — significant in a state court system where Latinos are underrepresented. -
While some California courts pull back amid the Omicron surge, others forge ahead with business as usual. -
The politically powerful prison guards’ union and Gov. Gavin Newsom have resisted a COVID vaccine mandate, despite growing outbreaks. -
While four mostly Latino counties lack any Latino Superior Court judges, another 13 counties have a more than 30 point gap between the percentage of Latinos in the population and on the bench. Here’s what that means.
