Nevin Kallepalli                                                                               

Selected Writing
Independent journalist, New York City
UC Berkeley California Local Reporting Fellow at Shasta Scout, 2024-2026




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California requires county jails to meet minimum standards. That hasn’t prevented Shasta’s high rate of in-custody deaths
SHASTA’S JAIL HAS CONSISTENTLY PASSED MOST ASPECTS OF STATE INSPECTIONS AMID A WORRYING LEVEL OF DEATHS. A CLOSE LOOK AT THE STATE’S STANDARDS — AND THE CALIFORNIA BOARD RESPONSIBLE FOR EXAMINING DEATHS IN JAILS — SHOWS KEY GAPS IN OVERSIGHT.
Shasta Scout 
The family of 31-year-old John Adena — a former first responder and heart monitor technician who died in custody in 2019 while in the throes of what his family has described as an acute mental health crisis — is still pursuing a federal lawsuit over his death some seven years later.  “It’s been borderline unbearable,” Adena’s sister, Michelle Gallagher, said, describing the anguish her family has gone through during the trial process, which she referred to as an “extreme” measure to take just to be heard and acknowledged.

Gallagher knows that state oversight bodies have consistently reviewed and approved most aspects of the Shasta jail and its policies. But she doesn’t believe the state’s standards are high enough.